This industry is extremely diverse in needs and shelf-life requirements.
Linde offers an array of products and services for the customer production process.
Our typical offers include carbon dioxide (CO2) flour chilling, storage fumigation, chilling, freezing, and Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP).
Bakery - Pasta applications need:
Storage & Handling
Ingredients and raw materials are received in both bulk and packaged form. These are stored and distributed to scaling areas for use in the bakery. The largest volume ingredients in bakeries are flour, sweetener, shortening/oils and yeast/leavening. In large bakeries, these ingredients are stored and conveyed in bulk handling systems.
Most bulk flour storage systems are silos that are discharged into pneumatic handling systems through which they are conveyed to the mixers in the bakery.
To help ensure that dry ingredients remain dry during storage and distribution around a bakery, Linde has developed a system to control the temperature of flour or other dry ingredients which are pneumatically conveyed for the storage silos to the use points. This closed loop system has an added value of pest and fumigation control in the storage silos by blanketing the storage container with a high concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2).
Product Cooling
After baking, the product must be cooled to about 21°C (70° F) prior to packaging. During cooling the additional moisture loss firms the product sufficiently to withstand handling during subsequent operations and packaging.
Without proper coolers the product can be too tender, too moist and prone to breakage. Finally, product that is too moist will weep after packaging and can increase the tendency to mould.
Cooling is generally done on air cooled spirals. During this operation, the product is exposed to the ambient environment and airborne mould. Linde provides freezing and chilling solutions that increase productivity and product quality.
Product Handling & Packaging
Operations in this area include slicing, bagging and wrapping. The fragility of some baked products requires care in handling to minimise loss.
Linde can help increase shelf life of the final product through product chilling, freezing and the use of MAP. The criteria for further processing depend on the staling mechanism of the product and the desired shelf life for the product. Some of the methods available include:
- Cryo Mechanical Assist: The growing influence on the mass merchandiser of rapidly changing consumer preferences can introduce uncertainty around product planning. To thrive in this environment, the producer must be able to respond to market needs rapidly. To help facilitate the necessity of rapid increases in production rate, Linde can provide an attractive low capital and efficient means of increasing the capacity of the product freezing operation is by staging a cryogenic freezer in front of an existing freezer.
- Product Firming to Improve Packaging: The inherent fragility of bakery products can be a challenge to the packaging operation. By firming the product prior to packaging, the incidents of damage can be reduced while maintaining the rate necessary to control operational costs.
- Crust Freezing for Product Slicing: With the increase in the casual serve restaurant and food service sector, the "Thaw & Serve" category for bakery products has been increasing rapidly. Changes in market demographics (smaller households) and increased consumer nutrition awareness are leading bakers to produce 'portion-controlled' products. The 'cereal' or nutrition bar markets are one of the more rapidly growing categories in the market. All of these factors are leading to increasing interest in product slicing. Crust freezing the product prior to slicing and packaging is a cost effective means of increasing production rates without damaging the product.
- Modified Atmosphere Packaging: The growing awareness by the consumer about nutrition issues is creating a demand for low additive products. In addition, industry consolidation is increasing the distribution radius for products. MAP can be an effective means to achieve the balance between shelf life and product quality.
- Chilling/Freezing Using Cryogenic Freezers: With the increasing growth in the food service sector, casual dining and the 'in store' bakery, the use of bakery mixes, frozen dough products and 'Thaw & Service' products is rapidly increasing while meeting the need to 'deskill' the baking process. Cryogenic freezing is a cost effective means of producing these products in facilities that a low capital and flexible to meet the need for variety in the production.
- 'Creaming' of Fillings with Nitrogen: Product appearance and attractiveness is a particularly important selection criteria for bakery products. The use of nitrogen to 'cream' bakery fillings can significantly improve their appeal to the consumer.
