Bakeries making bread and switching between different types of loaves will need to switch settings down the line or make other adjustments, depending on the different types of bread they are baking. 

Even those with long production runs of the same product are monitoring the doughs and making adjustments if things change. Smart dough and recipe management can add value to increase overall equipment effectiveness (OEE), said Johan Laros, managing director, Royal Kaak North America Inc.

“OEE improvement can be obtained by harmonizing proof and bake times, temperatures and relative humidity settings as much as possible,” he said. “Kaak advises dough technologists to apply variations in the dough recipe to compensate for variations in proof and bake times, temperatures and relative humidity.”

Moving from a standard white or wheat loaf to a denser bread with a lot of inclusions requires adjustments at the mixing, proofing and baking stages, said Dan Alper, product marketing manager, AMF Bakery Systems.

“Adjustments to mixing time, speed and hydration levels, along with ensuring even distribution of inclusions, are crucial for achieving proper gluten development, consistency and preventing overworking or stickiness in denser doughs,” he said. “The baking stage involves adjusting baking temperatures, steam levels and durations to ensure denser and textured breads are thoroughly baked, achieving the desired internal crumb structure and preventing a burnt crust.”

In this same scenario, Jim Fontaine, bakery field sales manager, Reiser, mentioned the importance of adjustments needed at the mixer and divider.

“As far as mixing, you may need to adjust low- and high-speed times and add inclusions within the last minute or two of mix,” he said. “Product should flow from fastest to longest in terms of proof and bake. At the divider, it varies by the machine. With our Vemag dough dividers, it is generally just a change of recipe and possibly a double screw depending on the finished desired grain.”

In the case of rye bread that involves a highly hydrated dough, the dough is dosed into pans rather than being placed like a regular bread dough, said Franck Ellenbogen, sales director, North America, Mecatherm. Radiant and convection oven heat help with a variety of loaves, including this type of bread.

“The use of convection on the bottom of the tins allows it to be heated more quickly and to increase the volume of the product,” he said. “The convection technology provides a homogeneous heat distribution around the products and the heating of the tins, in order to obtain an even crust color and thickness on all sides of the product and to avoid caving.”

Mike Scouten, vice president, sales and customer service, Stewart Systems and Baker Thermal Solutions, both part of Middleby Bakery, said the bakeries he’s worked with adjust their baking times but generally keep the proof times the same for all products. That’s because the proofing times on bread are generally longer than bake times, so it’s easier to adjust at the oven as needed when making a switch. 

“They vary their ingredients to have a consistent proof time. What varies is the bake time,” he explained. “If you change varieties, if your proof time is the same, it doesn’t matter if you have a gap in your proofer.”

Nicola Menardo, president, TP Food Group, North America, pointed out that proper production planning is vital when making a shift from one type of bread to another.

“For instance, while proofers have short reaction times when it comes to adjusting processing temperature, things are not necessarily the same with ovens, where reducing the temperature of baking chambers is not immediate,” he said.

Bakers are responding to consumer demands for breads that are artisan quality in a variety of ways, including using tools available to them to set their breads apart from others and producing breads with special toppings.

“Bakers can differentiate their products through the moulding or makeup process by employing creative techniques such as using multiple dough pieces in one pan to create unique shapes and textures, incorporating decorative scoring patterns, adding toppings or fillings during the shaping stage, and experimenting with different dough compositions and lamination methods to produce distinct layers and flavor profiles,” Alper said. “These techniques not only enhance the visual appeal and variety of their offerings but also provide opportunities to create signature products that stand out in the market.”

Some bakers are splitting their breads or topping or enrobing them with seeds, oats or a dusting of flour to create an artisan feel, Scouten said.

“Everything is happening between the proofer and oven,” he pointed out. “They’re spraying a glaze on it, they’re splitting, they’re doing different toppings. That’s how they’re really differentiating their product and making it look different from other products. They’re making it artisan looking without it really being artisan.”

A four-piecing or six-piecing system on the moulder as well as turning the cut dough pieces 90 degrees before panning provides an adapted cell structure in the final bread, Laros said. 

Ken Johnson, president, Gemini Bakery Equipment, noted Gemini’s Deco Seeder can enrobe breads in seeds, oat flakes or other toppings to create an artisan loaf.

“Gemini also offers a ‘Twister’ attachment that cuts a moulded loaf into three or four pieces, turns the pieces and deposits them into a bread pan perpendicular to the pan,” he said. “This produces a finer crumb texture.”

Scouten said he has seen bakers reducing moulding on some lines.

“In certain cases with tin bread, people have gone to a simpler moulding process for a lot of products,” he said. “They are skipping the sheeting and rolling step, and now they’re just dropping the rounded bread dough ball under a pressure board. With the ingredients they’re using, it doesn’t make any difference. The product quality is nearly the same.”

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