Outside of the equipment itself, stale time influences the quality of the slices. Whether slicing a loaf of sandwich bread, artisan bread, baguette or bagel, stale time will have an impact. The amount of staling, however, has to be just right.

“You don’t want the product to be so aged that it crumbles as soon as the knife hits it,” said Tim O’Brien, vice-president of sales, Urschel Laboratories. “At the same time it needs to be aged some so that it’s not gummy.”

Keeping stale time consistent with every shift helps keep the slice quality consistent. To get the most out of their slicers, bakers must properly cool and stale their bread the same way every day, said Craig Kominiak, sales consultant, Erika Record. By slicing bread at the same time, or letting it sit the same amount of time every shift before it’s sliced, bakers can ensure that their blades are seeing the same type of product density, and this keeps every slice the same.