Edinburgh-based Double D Food Engineering said the energy savings provided by its new Solid Band Continuous Oven will benefit major players involved in the manufacture of high volume bakery products that are deposited directly onto belts for cooking such as biscuits, pies and sausage rolls.
Ian Wallace, international sales support director at the company, told BakeryandSnacks.com that the new oven is energy efficient in that it can produce large volumes of goods in the same time scale as a rack equivalent.
Labour reduction
“The continuous oven is suited to manufacturers that produce thousands of units of the same product, and they can keep the line running round the clock with the minimum of labour input,” he said.
He said that the unit is modular so that it can be adapted to enable greater capacity when required by the individual processor, and as Double D is now a division of JBT FoodTech, it can be integrated with JBT’s range of Frigoscandia freezers and coolers so that the entire depositing, baking, cooling and packaging process can take place without any contact from human hands.
Moreover, he continued, a sensor can also be fitted at the start of its continuous tunnel to trigger the oven to shut down when there is a gap in product delivery, thus ensuring further savings in utility costs.
Wallace said that the solid band also eliminates the crow’s feet mark associated with traditional woven belts.
Product innovation
He said that the baking industry is becoming more complex with demand from retailers for new products such as ‘tear and share’ breads with toppings such as sundried tomatoes and olives, as well as naan and pitta breads.
The sales director claims this demand is driving product development at bakeries, with the more innovative proving to be the more recession hardy.
Flexibility
According to Wallace, Double D’s solid band belt can facilitate such innovation in that the speed and cooking can be adjusted.
He explained that the technology is the same as used in the company’s Revoband Continuous cooker for food processing with the solid band featuring zones that can be independently controlled, and both top and bottom impingement allowing products to be baked to exact specifications.
“The system directs a stream of hot air directly at the product being cooked, from both above and below the travelling belt, thus providing excellent consistency and colour,” said Wallace.
Hygiene
He said that the belt is also easy to clean as there are no small areas in the solid band where carbon and other foreign matter can get trapped.
“The belt can be easily scraped and oiled to prevent sticking, and for deep cleaning a Clean In Place (CIP) system can be integrated if required.”
Baked good manufacturers can trial new recipes on the oven and experiment to get the desired effect with products at the company’s technical centres in the UK, Sweden and the US, added Wallace.
The oven is available to bakery processors worldwide.