Baker Perkins exhibits new equipment at Gulfood

Baker Perkins will exhibit its latest equipment and process technology for confectionery, bread, biscuit, granola, bar and food extrusion at Gulfood Manufacturing (Dubai, UAE, 29-31 October 2019).

Starch-free depositing system

Among these is a new system ideal for small batch production of nutraceutical and functional confectionery, and for 3D jelly manufacture – areas where starch moguls cannot operate, and where demand is rising. The low-volume cooking and depositing system offers the benefits of starch-free production at outputs from 25 to 1500 kg/hour across a range of hard and soft confectionery products. It brings the benefits of starch-free depositing – high quality, high efficiency, versatility and hygiene – to companies producing confectionery in small batches, including those needing to make a variety of products on one line. The system comprises the Turbofilm continuous cooker and ServoForm Mini starch-free depositor, using the same process and control technology as Baker Perkins’ well-established high-output ServoForm depositors.  

Compared to conventional methods such as the starch mogul, die forming or cut-and-wrap, starch-free depositing provides an economic, high quality, smooth product with accurate weight, size and shape characteristics.   

ServoForm Mini Depositor for small batch production of nutraceutical and functional confectionery (Photo: Baker Perkins)

Baking bread: Mixers and forming systems

For breads, Baker Perkins offers new technology allowing high-speed mixing in hot climates on Tweedy mixing systems. This is particularly relevant to the growing market in the Middle East for tin or pan bread produced at high outputs on automated plant. The company has a successful track record of supplying mixing and forming systems to bakeries in the region.

New Tweedy SuperCool technology uses an enhanced cooling jacket to reduce the temperature rise during mixing by up to 5.5°C, therefore it can be used in almost every climate without the need for complex and costly ice addition or flour cooling. 

The process combines radically enhanced bowl cooling with advanced control technology to provide precise management of dough temperature in any climate.  The Tweedy SuperCool system can be retrofitted to existing installed mixers.

Baker Perkins dough mixing and dough forming systems for plant bakeries producing high-quality pan bread are designed to maximize quality and minimise cost. Gentle dough handling arising from innovative design, combined with the latest control technology, produces bread at new levels of consistency and excellence.   

Tweedy bread dough mixer ideal making bread in hot climates (Photo: Baker Perkins)

Biscuits, cookies, and crackers

Baker Perkins has completed new design projects in key areas, including a patented servo-driven wirecut, a new rotary moulder, a sheet forming and cutting system, the new HiCirc oven, and an encapsulation system for filled cookies and bars.

These latest additions for the production of all kinds of soft and hard biscuit, cookies and crackers, can transform performance, minimise costs and add brand new products to a range.   

Complete, automatic production plants include mixing, dough forming, baking and cream sandwiching technology. The equipment harnesses the latest engineering and control expertise to maximise performance while making machines easier to operate, maintain and clean.

New systems for granola production

The granola market is expanding rapidly, and Baker Perkins has developed a series of complete systems to make a variety of either breakfast cereal or bars.  The latest development is new equipment to make crunchy granola bars; it extends an equipment range which already includes regular granola bars and baked granola cereal.

The new process involves compressing a sheet of pre-mixed granola to a higher density than conventional cold-formed granola bars, in order to achieve a biscuit-like product with a sharp bite.   It was developed to fill a distinct, emerging niche market.

Granola represents a significant opportunity for food manufacturers thanks to its rapidly increasing popularity both as ready-to-eat breakfast cereal and cereal bars.  

From healthy to indulgent bars

There is significant growth potential in the bar market, with room for new products in the health, diet, and indulgence sectors. In addition to granola bars, Baker Perkins uses wirecut technology to make a variety of fruit filled, energy, cookie and breakfast bars.

The key to sustained growth and market share is to continually add interest and variety, and Baker Perkins offers proven equipment that enables imaginative manufacturers to extend their product range. Baker Perkins' TruClean wirecut allows filled bars to be produced with an unlimited variety of sweet and savoury fillings, including low fat options. 

Food extrusion

The widening capability and flexibility that twin-screw extrusion brings to food production, plus ingredients and TVP (Texturised Vegetable Protein) is highlighted by Baker Perkins at Gulfood.  

Twin-screw extrusion, used to produce core ingredients, is hygienic and energy efficient:  all the action is in the short barrel – components in, product out seconds later.  And if a market changes, the extruder can be adapted for a wide choice of other applications.

Breadcrumb is a typical example in the ingredient industry.  The traditional process for making breadcrumb involves mixing, forming and baking bread before discarding the crusts, drying and grinding. The same product can be made with no waste using only a twin-screw extruder.  As well as the enormous savings in space, equipment, energy and labour this brings, the process is also much more flexible, enabling quick and easy switching between different recipes.

Baker Perkins twin-screw extrusion technology for snack production is at the heart of versatile systems producing a wide range of high-quality snacks. In a market driven by innovation, extrusion offers manufacturers the ability to either add to their range or switch production to a completely new product without investing in a complete new line.     

A complete range of unit machines combined with the process knowledge and engineering expertise to build them into reliable and flexible high-output systems enables Baker Perkins to provide lines for rotary cooking or extruding virtually every kind of ready-to-eat cereal, from traditional corn flakes to modern filled pillows.