Baking & Snack - September 2020 - 69

EQUIPMENT
Mixing

Keep Your

Cool

Maintaining proper
temperature in the
mixer improves product
quality and ensures
ease of processing.

by Joanie Spencer

Whether it's cookies, crackers, bread or cake, baked
goods require mixing. And mixing requires energy,
which creates heat. That's where the science of baking
comes into play: Too much heat can disrupt a formula
and send a finished product to the feed mill instead of
down the line and onto store shelves.
"Warm doughs out of the mixer can affect product scaling as well as the machinability of the dough
from the divider to the panning process," said Terry
Bartsch, executive product manager, dough systems,
AMF Bakery Systems. "Warm doughs will often become
sticky or tacky during the rounding process, which can
affect the quality of that process and create doubles in
the intermediate proofer or panning stage."
It's true that baking is an art, but when it comes to
mixing, the science cannot be ignored.
"Batter temperature is specific to each application,
but since baking is an exact science dealing with sometimes erratic ingredients, temperature is a critical value
to monitor in the process," said John Ross, Charles Ross
& Son Co.
To keep consistent quality and avoid processing problems down the line, maintaining proper temperature is
the key, but it can be impacted - and controlled
- by several different factors.

Zeppelin Systems USA, also emphasized the importance
of water temperature as it comes into the mixer.
"You see a lot of people trying to control not only
the water temperature, which has historically been the
strongest lever a baker would have, but also the other
raw ingredient temperatures," he said.
When it comes to flour, seasonality can be a factor,
especially considering bulk storage in outdoor silos that
can heat up during summer months in warm climates.
"Summer temperatures can have a negative effect
on the temperature of most ingredients," Mr. Bartsch
said, noting that flour temperatures can reach more
than 100°F. And the ambient temperature inside the
bakery can also have an effect on the hand added minor ingredients.
Some bakers will control ambient air in the mixing
room for bulk and minor ingredients.
"They know if they have minor ingredients sitting
beside the mixer that the ambient temperature can affect those ingredients before they go into the mixer,"

A cooling system with
glycol offers a good
heat transfer through
the jacket into the
mixing head.
E.T. Oakes

Mercury rising
So, temperature goes up in the mixer. That's the
result of its very action - energy and friction -
and it can't be ignored. That said, various factors can affect dough temperature that can
also be controlled right at the mixer.
"Flour and water temperature influence
the general temperature of the dough,"
said Patricia Kennedy, president, WP
Bakery Systems. "If it gets too warm, it creates a lot of problems during the makeup
stage because the dough will stick on the
downstream equipment."
Joe Cross, engineering and process manager,

www.bakingbusiness.com / September 2020 Baking & Snack 69

http://www.bakingbusiness.com

Baking & Snack - September 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Baking & Snack - September 2020