Avoid Making Common Mistakes When Baking With Commercial Bakery Equipment

In almost every culture, baked goods have a high place of honor on the table. That’s because enjoying a hot, freshly baked product evokes a feeling of comfort and satisfaction, even for those with dietary restrictions. With people consuming more cookies and bread, everything from the ingredients to the commercial bakery equipment makes a difference.

The Science of Baking

Baking is an exact science. Most baking recipes include fat, sugar, leavening agents, and flour. How those ingredients are incorporated is done in sequence to help create a chemical combination that, if altered, can affect the outcome of the product. Accurately following recipes to the letter and ensuring dry goods are leveled off when measured can’t be overstated. Without this, many dishes fail before they even enter the oven.

A critical part of the science of baking is the hydration ratio. Defined as the amount of water divided by the amount of flour used, the amount of liquid used impacts the type of dough produced. The higher ratio of water to the flour used means a thinner crust with large holes seen in artisan bread. Imagine a crusty ciabatta or sourdough – their hydration ratios must be high to achieve classic looks and taste. One alteration in that process and the bread won’t turn out as expected, causing waste and disappointment. Four of the most popular types of bread in the United States are crusty options. So getting the hydration correct is essential.

The Bakery Workflow

The setup of the bakery production workflow is essential. Think of it like a symphony playing a well known piece of music. It won’t make sense if one part is skipped or placed in the wrong order. The same thing happens with baking. Depending on what’s baked, there are two initial ways the process could proceed:

Measuring > Mixing > Baking

Measuring > Mixing > Proofing > Baking

After baking, if the items are to be immediately served, it heads to the cooling process and on to decoration or storage/packaging. Other goods might need to be frozen after baking to prep for later use. Following these steps and not skimping on the process can make or break how the baked item turns out. That’s where Doyon commercial bakery equipment can help with production and labor.

The Equipment

Producing high-quality baked goods is easier than ever with the right equipment in your commercial kitchen.

Water Dosing

As discussed above, dough hydration can impact the outcome of a product. Consider using water meters to control pressure, flow rate, and dosing for large-scale productions. Water is the second most prominent ingredient used in the creation of dough. How it tastes and its chemical and mineral content can affect fermentation rates and final flavor. So it’s crucial to have water filtration systems to ensure a high-quality final product.

Mixing

Commercial bakery equipment should always include either a planetary or spiral mixer. A multi-purpose mixer that can handle whipping, beating, and kneading, a planetary mixer works best for those who need to knead bread but also make cake mixes, incorporate meats, or create sauces. Spiral mixers are perfect for making a lot of dense dough regularly. Doyon spiral mixers have a unique design that stops the dough from overheating while kneading, helping improve gluten development.

Shaping

Giving a consistent shape to the dough helps with even baking. Using dough dividers/rounders and dough sheeters helps with labor, prevents waste, and provides a uniform appearance to each item.

Proofing & Retarding

When baking bread, the word ‘proofing’ usually refers to the final rise that dough goes through before being placed in the oven. Proofing requires temperatures between 72 and 100 degrees Fahrenheit with 85 to 95 percent humidity. This is hard to achieve without assistance. The act of retarding dough slows the fermentation process to help with production schedules, increases flavor in the finished product, or produces a darker crust once baked. Retarding needs to be done from 12 to 18 hours, from 38 to 65 degrees Fahrenheit. With Doyon’s roll-in Proofers and Retarder Proofers, air flow maintains the exact temperatures and humidity needed.

Baking

Baking takes precise temperatures and sometimes steam to get the perfect crust for loaves of bread, pizza, and pastries. From roll in rotating rack ovens to stone deck ovens to convection ovens, there’s a bakery oven for every item produced in a commercial kitchen.

Portioning & Cutting

Slicing bread evenly without damaging the bread can make or break sales. Equipped to cut different thicknesses up to 250 loves per hour, the CPF bread slicer has a mechanically assisted infeed and accommodates all types of bread, including artisan.

Retherm & Par Baking

For foodservice businesses limited on space, choose from one of the NU-VU countertop convection ovens. Great for retherming pastries to serve or to bake from frozen, these ovens work well in coffee shops, convenience stores, and grocery stores.

Industry Segments

Doyon and NU-VU can help create everything from cookies, bagels, artisan bread, delicate pastries, and pizza from start to finish. The key to creating high quality products is using high quality equipment. With Doyon and NU-VU, baking in-house doesn’t require extra labor or skill. Only your staff’s imagination.

Let Doyon help you discover the right commercial bakery equipment for what you are baking.

References

Taste Atlas