Baking & Snack - April 2020 - 84

COOKIE TECHNOLOGY

Versatile cookie
depositors handle a
wide range of inclusions and provide
appearances
that range from
handmade to sharpedged pucks.
Reiser

When Rheon updates its co-extruder for cookies,
the company focuses on reducing the trip the dough
takes from hopper to extruder. This includes eliminating pinch points that could damage or bottleneck the
dough. These co-extruders also reduce back pressure on
the dough as it's extruded, which also reduces friction
and heat.
"The back pressure creates a lot of friction and force,
which breaks particulates," Mr. Giacoio said. "The standard machine is about 4.5 to 1 back pressure, but we can
get our machine to a 1.5 to 1 back pressure, which is almost no back pressure whatsoever."

Reiser's Vemag double-screw portioning system divides the dough gently while retaining piece identity.
The system also works with an array of attachments to
give the product its final form - from a sharp edged
puck to a "hand-scooped" look.
Friction and temperature work on a dough and make
it more dense, which is not ideal for gourmet cookies.
"You really want the appearance to look good in
texture and bite, and the best way to do that is to put
minimal work or lowest stress on the dough as it goes
through the machine," Mr. Pallottini said.
RBS uses a low-force system on its new Genesis Pro
WCS to push the dough through with less damage to the
inclusions. It does this with a pair of feed rollers.
"The secret really is all about the tolerances and tightness of holding everything parallel to one another in a
certain dimensional range," he said. "If you look at our
system, it's a hopper, a pair of feed rollers, a filler block
and a die, and that's really what's getting the dough
through. It's pretty simplistic, but the trick is designing
everything so the tolerances and the feed roller are all
tightly parallel to the filler block."
The biggest threat, however, is the dividing itself. If
the gap in the feed rollers or the diameter of the extruder
head isn't large enough, then premium inclusions risk
not making it through intact.
"The secret ingredient is the design of our extruding
heads," Mr. Fusari said. "We have been working on two
main features: increasing extrusion efficiency through
bigger diameter rollers and improving their superficial
grip to the dough."
This improved grip has the benefit of reducing friction, preventing inconsistent temperature throughout
the dough.
"The important thing is making sure the gap in the

EXPAND the portfolio with fast changeovers
The more versatile equipment is -
and the more cleanable - the more
value it brings to bakers who are
interested in keeping their product
lines diverse. That requires equipment that not only protects gourmet
cookie dough and premium inclusions but also enables fast changeovers and sanitation.
"Flexible solutions that make
changeovers quickly are more efficient and reduce degradation in
dough at rest," said Cesar Zelaya,

bakery sales and technology manager, Handtmann.
Reading Bakery Systems (RBS)
designed its new Genesis Pro WCS
for easy access to the die filler
block. The head pivots up for simple
extraction of the die/filler block.
These components can be removed
for cleaning in a washroom.
"We've set up the harp to be
removed without tools, and you can
usually changeover in five minutes
to a different die or filler block," said

Sam Pallottini, director of cookie,
cracker and pet food sales, RBS.
For more versatility, he recommended having a spare head on
hand to reduce sanitation downtime. That changeover, he estimated,
could be done in 15 to 20 minutes.
When it comes to changeovers
between products, Minipan developed a range of heads that feature
adjustable pitch between the rollers.
These can adapt to different recipes
and their inclusions.

84 Baking & Snack April 2020 / www.bakingbusiness.com

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Baking & Snack - April 2020

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