The goal of commercial bakers is often producing the most buns and rolls as quickly as possible without harming product integrity. On the surface, these goals can seem at odds with each other. The latest ingredient technology allows the dough to withstand the intense forces it endures as it flies through production lines, but modern equipment and operational strategies aim to balance high capacity with preserving product quality.

“High line performance and high quality are not necessarily a contradiction,” said Matt Zielsdorf, director of sales, Fritsch USA, a Multivac company.

The key, he said, is adhering to the dough’s parameters and process times to get the most out of the production line. 

It would be logical to assume that getting the most throughput out of a bun and roll line simply requires speeding up production to max out the capacity of the equipment. However, increasing speed is not the same as optimizing the equipment, which makes an operation more efficient by preserving product quality while running continuously.

“The configuration and equipment selection are important considerations in balancing throughput with product quality,” said Joakim Nordell, export sales manager, Stewart Systems, a Middleby Bakery company. “Each step in the total process from mixing to packaging will impact the result of the finished product. A single machine will not make up for the weakness or shortcoming of the overall design of the line.”

These two principles — optimized dough processing and continuous production — enable bakers to thread the needle of preserving product quality while keeping up with capacity demands.

This article is an excerpt from the August 2020 issue of Baking & Snack. To read the entire feature on bun & roll technology, click here.