Baking & Snack - November 2020 - 86

OVENS

OVEN TECHNOLOGY
heat flux at the beginning of the bake along with adequate moisture.
" The best combination to achieve this oven spring requires direct-gas-fired blue flame on top and infrared on
the bottom of the product for a higher density of heat
transfer per burner, " Mr. Bijkerk explained. " The second
zone and last zone can be a gentler bake using radiation heat in combination with convection and impingement heat. "
Marie Laisne, Mecatherm's oven product manager,
said the M-TA oven offers a " mixed " technology for each
heating zone, permitting bakers to select from six combinations of adjustable heat-transfer modes.
" In addition, the precise management of the hygrometry in each of the oven modules allows the achievement of a tailor-made baking curve for the product, "
Ms. Laisne said.
Ondrej Nikel, director of engineering, Topos
Mondial, suggested hybrid baking isn't difficult to design
because the ovens are modular, which enables various

IT TAKES A COMBINATION
OF THE LATEST IN
TECHNOLOGY AND PROCESS
CONTROLS TO MAKE SURE
THAT A WIDE VARIETY OF
PRODUCTS ARE BAKED TO
PERFECTION EVERY TIME.
thermal elements to create different heating conditions
in each zone. Bakers, for instance, can combine cyclothermic heat with direct-fired, convection or impingement technology.
" It allows you to find your sweet spot with the temperature that works for the product, " Mr. Nikel said.
" Cyclothermic equipment by J4 has the duotherm feature, which adds the air impingement to the cyclothermic zones. You don't have to have one or the other. With
the J4, you can get both. With the cyclothermic section,
you get the steady temperature, while the duotherm feature varies the speed of air, changing the convective heat
transfer intensity in real time. "
Mr. Zvoncheck of Reading Bakery Systems said hybrid ovens enable bakers to make fermented laminated
crackers by blending the best of two technologies.
" The DGF technology is a very direct, intense heat on
the product, which basically yields a strong Maillard and
caramelization reaction on the surface of the cracker,

86 Baking & Snack November 2020 / www.bakingbusiness.com

advances at a rapid rate

Not long ago, veteran baking engineers
grumbled that nothing has changed in 50
years when it came to oven technology.
That's no longer the case. During the past
decade, new digital controls, energy-saving
oven designs and space-age advances in
conductive materials have transformed how
batters and doughs are baked.
Bakers have seen significant new
developments in ovens even since the 2019
International Baking Industry Exposition, the
industry's last major in-person trade show.
AMF Bakery Systems, for instance,
introduced an emission-free, direct-fired,
hydrogen-fueled tunnel oven. The modular
Multibake VITA Tunnel Oven by AMF Den
Boer allows bakers to reduce carbon dioxide
emissions by 99.9% within the baking
process while reducing the cost of utilities.
At Middleby Bakery, Auto-Bake offers its
direct-gas fired convection oven as electric
convection. Scott McCally, president, AutoBake Serpentine, said this oven is 40% more
energy efficient than its gas-fired model.
To increase the baking precision of its
stone oven, Mecatherm finely controls the
oven jump at the beginning of the process
by adjusting the temperature of the stone
when the product is deposited.
" A new feature was developed to increase
the control of the energy transmitted by the
stone to the product throughout the baking
phases to set the desired bottom crust
thickness and color of the product, " said
Marie Laisne, Mecatherm's oven product
manager.
Meanwhile, Topos Mondial simplified the
proofing and baking process by linking the
two processes with a single chain belt. No
transfer conveyors or other systems are
needed between the oven and the proofer.
" It's something that bakers have been
requesting recently, " said Ondrej Nikel,
director of engineering, Topos Mondial. " As
an engineer, I get excited every time I can
eliminate moving parts. I love these obvious
tricks that make an oven much simpler to
operate. With this proofer-oven marriage,
there are fewer things that break and require
maintenance, and you'll never have to clean
or lubricate all the hardware. "

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Baking & Snack - November 2020

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