Baker Perkins to debut new bakery technology
Baker Perkins is to showcase its new equipment and end product technology for the biscuit, cracker and bar industries, including a three-roll sheeter and gauge roll, at Interpack.
The new TruClean three-roll sheeter and gauge roll for crackers and snacks completes the upgrade of Baker Perkins’ range of sheet forming and cutting lines, bringing benefits in maintenance and hygiene, with lower costs and faster changeovers. The lines comprise either a three-roll sheeter or a laminator to take a bulk feed of dough and form it into a sheet, ready to pass through gauge rolls which achieve the chosen thickness and then a rotary cutter before baking.
This approach to hygienic design, the company says, was instigated to meet a clear demand from the industry for higher standards. It involved redesign of machinery in order to reduce debris and places where it could collect and make access much easier.
Baker Perkins will also highlight a new servo-driven version of its wirecut range, which is said to be more versatile and flexible. A patent has been applied for the TruClean Servo Wirecut for soft dough cookies and bars, which uses servo motors to drive the wirecut mechanism, bringing improved automation and flexibility to production.
The two-axis servo system is said to provide variability to the cutting and return paths, enabling optimum cutting performance, even at high speeds or on difficult dough.
The remaining parts of the wirecut process – hopper, feed rolls, filler block and dies – are carried over from the previous version of the TruClean wirecut, ensuring that product characteristics, high accuracy weight control and easy cleaning are maintained.
An encapsulating module for enclosed, filled cookies will also be showcased at the show. For the first time, cookies enclosed by dough can be produced on a module attached to a standard wirecut machine – previously a separate unit was necessary.
The process involves pumping a continuous stream of filling into the centre of the dough cylinder formed at the wirecut die. A set of iris-die cutters crimp the dough and filling, forcing the dough to enclose the filling.
Fillings can include any ingredients which are low enough in viscosity to be pumped, including chocolate, caramel, cream, peanut butter or jam.
In addition, Baker Perkins will present its high speed multi-purpose batch mixers, which can handle dough for biscuits, cookies and crackers. Loading and discharge are fully automatic to reduce labour costs and mix cycle times – three batches can be achieved every hour.
Interpack, the international packaging fair for the food, beverages, confectionery, bakery and non-food industries, will take place in Germany from 4-10 May.
