Commercial bakeries use a variety of dry toppings depending on the types of baked goods they are producing. Something that is easy to overlook is how factors, such as airflow and temperature, can impact whether dry toppings are able to adhere to the baked goods.
Topping adherence may not seem like a significant issue on the surface, but it can affect efficiency and the quality of your products.
In this article, we will discuss the factors that can impact dry topping adherence in a commercial bakery. We will also touch on finding bakery equipment suppliers so you can invest in the best equipment.
Commercial Bakery Equipment: What Impacts Dry Topping Adherence?
If you mass-produce baked goods with toppings, it is essential to make sure the dry toppings adhere well. It is quite common for bakeries to encounter issues with dry ingredients not sticking, leading to reproducibility issues and ingredient waste.
It can be difficult to know what exactly is causing these adherence issues, but there are a few things that you should look into first:
- Airflow: Airflow is essential for ensuring bakeries are safe for employees and meet food safety standards. Ventilation removes flour dust, grease vapors, and airborne contaminants from the air. However, excessive airflow can cause the tops of baked goods to become dry before the dry toppings are added, reducing their ability to adhere.
- Humidity: A certain amount of humidity is important for commercial bakeries, as you do not want to dry out your baked goods. Baked goods such as dough and pastries, need to remain moist, especially before baking. Having too little or too much humidity can affect dry ingredient adherence, either causing toppings not to adhere or causing too many toppings to adhere.
- Temperature: Although it is important to keep food products cold during the manufacturing process, if they become too cold, toppings won’t adhere. Also, if the temperature gets too high, it can pose a variety of food safety risks.
- Flour: Another factor that can cause dry ingredients to fail to adhere to baked goods is all-purpose flour. If your baked goods are dusted with too much dry flour, it will suck up all of the remaining moisture, preventing any dry toppings from sticking.
Equipment to Improve Topping Adherence
If you are having issues with your baked good toppings, there are certain pieces of equipment you can invest in to help. Keep in mind that some equipment may not suit your manufacturing needs, as many issues with toppings not adhering are related to the environment.
At Quantum, we offer a variety of topping equipment to help streamline the manufacturing process and improve overall quality. Our equipment includes dry/granular ingredient applicators and cheese/topping applicators.
Our dry/granular ingredient applicators can dispense granules, seeds, salt, spices, and Parmesan cheese, while our cheese/topping applicators can dispense shredded cheese, IFQ ingredients, vegetables, and other dry ingredients.
These applicators are specifically designed to dispense an accurate amount of toppings every time, and prevent ingredients from sticking together.
How to Streamline Bakery Operations
Having issues with bakery toppings not adhering can significantly slow down the manufacturing process. But that isn’t the only issue commercial bakeries may run into.
Here are additional tips to streamline bakery operations to maintain efficiency and grow your production.
Use Automation
The number one step to grow your bakery is to invest in automated equipment. If you rely on manual labor, it can result in significant bottlenecks.
However, automated technology allows you to speed up or slow down production as needed throughout the year. It also automates many repetitive tasks, eliminating the risk of human error.
At Quantum, all of our bakery equipment uses automated technology that allows high-speed production and better reproducibility.
Increase Flexibility
To improve production and grow your bakery, make sure your processes and equipment are flexible. You should be able to add additional baked goods to your product line as needed, depending on consumer trends and seasonal demands. It is also important to invest in equipment that can grow with you and speed up or slow down as your production needs change.
Have an Ergonomic Design
If you want to streamline production, one of the best ways to equip your bakery is through an ergonomic design. An ergonomic design is human-centered, taking a holistic approach to workplace layout. The purpose is to improve efficiency and employee well-being by creating a seamless workplace that enables employees to do their work with ease.
One common example of ergonomic design includes creating a workspace where employees have easy access to everything that they need.
How to Find the Right Bakery Equipment Suppliers
Finding the right bakery equipment suppliers can be challenging, especially if you are looking for something specific. After all, commercial bakery equipment is a big investment, and you don’t want to purchase the wrong option. It’s also essential that you invest in modern equipment that takes advantage of the latest technology.
Here are some questions to ask yourself before choosing an equipment supplier:
- Does the equipment come with warranties?
- Does the equipment use automated technology?
- Is the supplier’s equipment easily integrated with your current system?
- Is the equipment specifically designed for commercial bakeries?
- Does the supplier offer any customization options, such as the width and length of the equipment?
Invest in Cutting-Edge Bakery Technology From Quantum
Are you wondering how to streamline bakery operations to improve efficiency and quality? At Quantum, we offer cutting-edge commercial bakery equipment specifically designed to help commercial bakeries stand out. All of our equipment is equipped for high-speed production, allowing you to increase output without decreasing quality. Contact our team today to learn more about how our equipment can be customized to fit the needs of your bakery.