Ranging from breads to bagels, through cakes and cookies, to pastries and pasta, the dry foods and bakery sector covers a huge range of flour-based products. Increasingly, it also includes bakery mixes and frozen dough products. These are growing in popularity, to accommodate the expanding convenience and thaw & serve markets, while also meeting the need to “de-skill' the baking process. Processing needs and shelf life requirements are just as diverse as the baking processes themselves.
In a bakery, temperature control is essential, for instance to ensure that dry ingredients (such as flour, sweetener, shortening and yeast/leavening) remain dry and pest-free during storage and distribution. Before being packaged, baked goods must be cooled to around 21°C. Without proper cooling, the product can be too tender, overly moist and prone to breakage. In the next step, processes such as slicing, bagging and wrapping call for careful handling due to the sensitive nature of the foodstuffs. Before slicing portions of products, for example, it is often helpful to freeze the crust, in order to maintain its rigidity and shape for subsequent freezing.
To meet these needs, we have developed a range of chilling, freezing, fumigation and inerting technologies and services. These ensure the perfect fit for each step in your processing chain.
Pre-processing
We have developed a dedicated closed-loop temperature control system. In storage silos, this has the added advantage of pest and fumigation control, as it blankets the storage container with a high concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2).
Cooling
We have also developed a range of freezing and chilling solutions to cool baked goods quickly and effectively. Unlike air-cooled spirals, these increase productivity and product quality by optimizing moisture content and reducing the tendency to mould. Cryogenic cooling also helps to retain taste and texture.
Handling & Packaging
Depending on your shelf life and processing requirements, we offer a range of technologies and applications to optimize handling and packaging.
Cryogenic chilling/freezing
Cryogenic freezing is the ideal way to firm up products prior to packaging. We offer a range of gentle yet highly effective cryogenic freezers. You can use these as standalone solutions or combine them with existing freezers for rapid scale-up without a massive capital outlay.Modified atmosphere packaging
We offer dedicated gas mixtures to enhance product quality, extend shelf life and increase product reach.Creaming
We can advise you on the benefits of nitrogen for 'cream' bakery fillings making such products much more appealing to your consumers.
