Baking & Snack - April 2020 - 94

MIXING

A rotating bowl
combined with
kneading attachments
can efficiently knead
dough and reduce
mixing time.
Diosna

breaker bar adjustment that we can play with to get it
closer - or further away - from the agitator bar, depending on the type of dough."
Diosna also placed a focus on kneading in the design
of its Wendel mixers, which feature rotating bowls and
two counter-rotating wendel kneading attachments.
"These attachments rotate in opposite directions and
are inserted from above to achieve higher efficiency, reduce dough mixing time and the aw-value," said Enrico
Gamma, general manager, Diosna USA and Canada.
Mr. Knott noted that Bühler Group employs a twostage process that includes blending ingredients and
kneading the dough.
"That creates the particular type of rheology we need,"
he said. "The kneading and gluten development affect makeup and determines how effective the proofing
will be."
Additionally, Bühler Group offers batch and continuous mixers, and Mr. Knott has observed many bakers
choosing to go the continuous route for its ability to
control the kneading action.
"I have seen a trend toward continuous mixing for
higher throughputs and flexibility and to control the
amount of kneading," Mr. Knott said. "With a continuous mixer, you have close control over the energy."
The Codos System from Zeppelin Systems USA also
focuses on gently kneading dough in a continuous mix-

ing system that maintains a constant dough temperature
and touts an approximate 30% reduction in energy use.
It's important to note, though, that energy is not the
only factor that bakers should seek to maintain.

Controlling the dough
For the baking process in general, control is the name
of the game. For bread dough, that's especially true in
terms of time, temperature and energy, and it starts at
the mixer. While bakers must consider how mixing affects dough rheology, some suppliers may argue that
modern mixing technology can inherently eliminate
that concern.
"The whole concept of measuring properties of dough
was, frankly, an attempt to make the process more
stable," said Jim Warren, vice president, Exact Mixing,
Reading Bakery Systems (RBS). "In the case of continuous mixing, we've done that. Now, the continuous mixer
controls the ingredients, the recipe, the temperature and
the mix time. The goal of continuous mixing is not to
make your product better. The goal is to make the best
product all the time."
Mr. Warren chalked that up to the fact that, in a continuous system, ingredients go into the mix together.
"You're not adding 1/8 of a pound to 2,000 lbs," he
said. "It's all one stream, so there's no question about
a continuous mixer's ability to finely distribute micro
ingredients."
For bread, dough development is a staged process
that requires precise control, especially from stage
to stage.
"It takes energy to knead the dough," Mr. Morabito
said. "And if you graph that energy, it starts to peak up
and take more as the dough is kneaded. When you hit
that peak, many mixer suppliers have meters to measure the energy going into the dough. Once
you hit the peak, that's when you're fully
mixed and need to stop."
When bakers can exert control over
the dough, it becomes more consistent,
and the benefits go far beyond the mix.
"The higher elasticity and extensibility of a
dough made in a Diosna Wendel mixer and the
makeup of this less sticky dough means it will be
easier and more secure," said Ronald Falkenberg,
master baker and sales and application manager,
Diosna USA and Canada. "The proofing range
will be much higher and the baked products
more consistent with better volume because of
the hydration increase."
When it comes to controlling the dough, Mr.
Cross noted that continuous mixing creates
"unparalleled" consistency.

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