Taking a novel approach

Wholesale distribution now accounts for more than 25% of the family business’ sales, compared with 10% in 2010, and Pretzel Baron has the capacity to grow. Mr. Gottenbusch predicted that wholesale will comprise 50% of the family business in three years.

Currently, production operates on two shifts or 16 hours a day, five days a week. Because the line is so automated, only about 20 people work in the operation at this time. All of them, except for plant manager Don Kross, who collaborated on the startup of the operation and oversees day-to-day management, had no experience in the baking industry. Other key personnel include Kerry Haines, controller; Rick Hillard, chief engineer; Paul Gottenbusch, sanitation manager; and Michele Branham, corporate quality assurance.

In many ways, Mr. Gottenbusch prefers unskilled labor. By training people from the proverbial blank chalkboard, there are no bad habits to erase. Everything follows the bakery’s established standard operating procedures based on food safety and statistical process control. “Typically, bakers all have a pride in what they do, and they like to tweak or adjust because of their baking knowledge,” he explained. “I wanted people without baking knowledge so they wouldn’t feel the urge to make adjustments to the dough on their own.”

Such training is also helping the operation become certified by the Safe Quality Food (SQF) Institute in the near future. “With a new crew and a new building, we are creating a culture of food safety as opposed to training people who were not used to SQF’s requirements,” Mr. Gottenbusch observed.

Overall, the facility includes 50,000 sq ft for processing, 26,000 sq ft for warehouse space and 8,000 sq ft for offices and other space. During Baking & Snack’s visit, the pretzel line turned out a steady stream of 2-oz twisted items. Mr. Gottenbusch pointed out that production relies on a small-batch philosophy to provide front-end control of the process, which takes about 2 hours and 45 minutes from mixing through packaging. It’s not uncommon to run up to 60 batches per shift feeding a steady stream of fresh dough to the 360-ft pretzel line.

Specifically, an operator adds 50-lb bags of flour along with chilled water and other minor ingredients to create doughs that mix for 7 to 8 minutes in a Topos Mondial 350-lb spiral mixer. Depending on the product, batch sizes vary. However, because the mixing procedure is so straightforward, training operators and documenting the process for variability and traceability remains relatively simple, according to Mr. Gottenbusch.

After automatically hoisting the bowl, the batch tumbles into the hopper of a Topos Mondial dough chunker feeding the Fortuna 6-pocket divider that’s capable of cranking out 8,000 pieces an hour — or more than enough capacity to feed the line when Pretzel Baron installs the third twister.

Following a 5-minute intermediate proof, the dough balls enter the Fritsch makeup system, where an initial roller sheeter slightly flattens the pieces before they enter a two-roller sheeter and curling chain to create the strings. These pieces ride down a conveyor where the strings then are diverted to one of the two twisting systems.

During the setup process, Mr. Gottenbusch worked with Fritsch programmers to replicate how a master baker ties traditional German soft pretzels. “The twisters are like people,” he said. “They both have their own signatures and provide an artisan effect where one product doesn’t look exactly the same as the one next to it. The customers like it because it looks like they made them in the back of the house.”

A retractable conveyor then lines up the 2-oz pieces into rows of 10 across on a belt that slowly feeds the Pfening 60-ft tunnel proofer. Inside the two-zone proofer, the pieces travel through the first zone’s heat and humidity that evenly flows up and around the products. In the second zone, the pieces receive dry heat that creates a slight skin prior to entering the caustic bath. In some ways, it’s more like creating a bagel than a roll or loaf of bread. “It’s counterintuitive for a baker, but you want a skin on the product that will make it shine after it goes though the caustic bath,” Mr. Gottenbusch observed.

The pieces pass through a waterfall of caustic solution to tumble into the cooking tank, giving the pieces a hot bath to create the distinctive pretzel color and texture. Automatic controls monitor and adjust the temperature and pH of the solution throughout the process. The pretzels then bake in the two-zone, indirect-fired oven at 380 to 450°F for 7 to 10 minutes, depending on the product’s size. As demand expands, the bakery may add a third zone to the oven to provide 50% more capacity, according to Mr. Gottenbusch.

After baking, the rows of pretzels travel along a cooling belt, making two 90° turns to head back to a G&F mechanical spiral flash freezer set at -15°F where they dwell for about 50 minutes.

Afterward, the frozen products are diverted to a choice of multiple packaging systems, including one that uses a Bettendorf Stanford slicer, UBE bagger and Burford twist tyer for retail products. The department is also outfitted with a Bosch Doboy flowwrapper for individually wrapped 6-oz pretzels, each with a small, coarse salt pack for topping. Additionally, products are bulk packaged in cases with salt packs in cases for foodservice and other accounts. “People love the fact that they can add the amount of salt to the way they like it,” Mr. Gottenbusch said. The bakery will install additional packaging capabilities depending on customer requests, he noted.