Baking & Snack - December 2024 - 60

DONUT PROCESSING
WHEN IT COMES TO PROCESSING
TRENDS, SIMPLICITY, EFFICIENCY, AUTOMATION
AND DATA GATHERING ARE VITAL FEATURES FOR HIGHCAPACITY
DONUT PROCESSING APPLICATIONS.
Automated sheeting lines
along with a semi-automated
finishing process
provide flexibility and
labor-saving efficiency in
a single operation.
Rademaker USA
line, the biggest potential issue is that all production is
dedicated to one line, " he said. " As long as production
runs smoothly, everything is fine; however, any issues
with the fryer, or any other equipment on the line, could
jeopardize the entire production until the issue is resolved.
Fortunately, current fryer systems are highly reliable,
and with regular, basic preventative maintenance,
donut fryers can be expected to have an extremely high
level of uptime. "
He noted the obvious downside with multiple lines
is the cost of investment and the space they require in
the plant.
For versatility, Kozenski mentioned that Heat and
Donut producers are
turning to automated
systems to reduce
labor while simplifying
the process
to accommodate
today's workforce.
Belshaw Adamatic
Control builds donut fryers with adjustable rods on the
main conveyor to allow for a rod/product pitch adjustment
that's appropriate to different product sizes.
" This allows for a very wide range of piece sizes while
keeping production on a single fryer, " he said.
Moline Machinery recently relaunched its website to
provide more detailed information on the two classes
of yeast-raised donut lines involving a mid- and a highvolume
system. Typically, mid-sized lines can produce
up to 18,000 donuts an hour while larger lines can make
roughly 40,000 3-inch ring donuts, or 70,000 minis
an hour.
" The difference is in the makeup, " Moline said. " Our
mid-volume systems are compact with an auto-loading
stamper. It's a machine that cuts the donut, removes
the trim, and then it cuts the hole from the middle and
removes it before it finally loads them into the proofer
with just one piece of tooling. That cutter rack can be
changed from one product to another in less than a minute.
The high-volume systems have a separate cutter, a
separate hole-picker, a dedicated attachment for trim
dough and a spreading conveyor for certain lanes. They
also have a different proofer loading device. "
For cake donuts, McCally said, Auto-Bake offers
its FlexAgility technology, which can produce several
formats of donuts on the same line with the agility to
change between them quickly.
" Auto-Bake customers maximize their investment by
producing several products on the same line, " he said.
" One line can make many products. This saves space,
operational costs and overall investment risk. "
Keeping it simple
When it comes to processing trends, simplicity, efficiency,
automation and data gathering are vital features for
high-capacity donut processing applications.
" Customers like simple machines with intuitive digital
interfaces, " said Nicola Menardo, president, TP Food
Group North America. " Simplicity is synonymous with a
lower maintenance burden and more operational availability
that supports greater quality and consistency. "
He added that efficiency can be defined in several
ways.
" With fryers, efficiency can be measured by how
much one stresses the frying oil or by how efficient the
thermal exchange is, " Menardo explained.
He added that automation and data gathering are keys
to ensuring constant quality in food processing and in
creating a safer operation, lowering operational burdens
on operators who can then perform additional activities
on the production floor if needed.
Roger Dillon, marketing coordinator for Belshaw
Adamatic, echoed that donut producers are looking for
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Baking & Snack - December 2024

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