Stability, consistency and a solid game plan about how to handle trim dough are crucial to running successful sheeting and laminating lines. 

“Managing the waste on a sheeting or laminating line begins with using the right amount of ingredients and consistent mixing procedures,” said Nick Magistrelli, vice president of sales, Rademaker USA. “Once the dough is handed off to the production line, the line can be equipped with automatic dough flow features that minimize the interaction an operator has with the machine.”

A stable process is vital to achieve consistent dough quality, said Tim Beyer, master baker and technologist, Fritsch, a Multivac Group company.

“The more stable the entire process — same dough temperature, mixing process, recipe, flour quality, ambient temperature, etc. — the fewer waste products,” he said.

Minimizing trim dough does not necessarily mean eliminating it. Carefully figuring out how scrap should be used in formulas and being consistent about when and how it’s added into the mix is critical. 

“Trim dough can really become an ingredient in your formulation, and the No. 1 thing you can do to minimize issues on your whole production line, so you are able to have a continuous and consistent amount of trim dough that you are presenting back to your mixing system,” said David Moline, president, Moline Machinery. “That’s something that can definitely be automated. That’s something we do quite often. It just depends on how purpose-built the line is for any specific product.”

If bakers fully automate that process, it goes a long way toward minimizing waste. 

“One example would be your traditional American split biscuit,” Moline said. “It’s one of the very common methods of producing that is a dual extrusion where you’re producing in excess of 50% trim dough by design in the pattern that you cut. Then the trim dough can be handled a couple of ways. In this application, it can be sent back to its own dedicated extrusion system, so you layer two continuous ribbons of dough on top of each other: one stream of fresh and one stream of trim.”

Highly hydrated yeast doughs are the ones that are cut and formed and out of choice are reworked under the new dough sheets or taken back to mixing. Or Danish doughs are taken to the sheeter’s hopper or an additional extruder to form a second layer in a product, said Maarten van der Coer, sales director, Verhoeven Bakery Equipment Family. 

Moline explained that another way to automate involves sending trim dough back from a sheeting and laminating system to an automated weighing and scaling system that is part of a mixing operation. Here, the scaling system would automatically dose, weigh and incorporate the proper amount of trim dough at the right time so that it’s used in the next batch of dough.

Side trim is one of the largest contributors of waste on sheeting and lamination lines, noted John Giacoio, Rheon USA. 

“In a traditional line, side trim is increased because the tension on the dough causes the sides of the sheet to snap back and become wavy or inconsistent,” he explained. “This is a clear sign your dough is stressed. This inconsistency requires the bakery to take more side trim so that its product can be formed from the more consistent center portion of the sheet.”

Controlling the width of the sheeted dough band reduces the excess on the sides, pointed out David Kollar, senior regional sales manager, Rondo.

“Get your dough as close as possible to the cutter’s width without going under,” he said. “By making your line run as efficiently as possible, ensure the steps before the cutting begins are optimized to create a good product, such as proper mixing and machine programming.”

Paolo Betto, application manager, GEA Bakery, suggested a good practice is putting the scrap, which is generally dryer than fresh dough, in the back of the first sheeting machine.

“This way, the scrap is located under the sheet of fresh dough, and the finished product will show a more uniform appearance to its top when handled by the final consumer,” he said.

Beyer recommended returning the dough scraps directly to the mixing process, which can enhance a product. 

“A scrap dough content of 10% to 15% is no problem,” he said. “On the contrary, the scrap dough works like a pre-dough and contributes to flavor development and greater fermentation stability.”

The dough characteristics and the type of equipment in the overall process dictates how to best manage the reworked dough, Magistrelli said.

“There are automated solutions available to weigh and batch the scrap to be reintroduced to the mixer,” he said. “When taking the rework back to the beginning of the sheeting and lamination process, it is important to have the right component structure to create a homogeneous dough sheet to maintain consistency.”

The key to minimizing waste on a laminated line is to reduce the amount of scrap, thereby maintaining product quality, Giacoio said. 

“This is where a stress-free line will help to reduce the amount of scrap,” he said. “The best place to add back the scrap to minimize loss of quality is to bring it back to the mixers. By doing this you are not impacting the perfect layering being made at the laminator.” 

This article is an excerpt from the July 2024 issue of Baking & Snack. To read the entire feature on Sheeting & Laminating, click here.