Burlington, IA-based Baker’s Prides’ 32,000-sq-ft brick bakery, located in the downtown area of the Mississippi River community, features two processing lines, one making loaf breads and the other more specialized breads, buns and dinner rolls. Richard McCoy serves as its director of operations.

The plant includes two Shick 160,000-lb flour silos as well as Great Western sifters. A Shick bulk system delivers flour to hoppers above the mixers. The bakery follows the sponge-and-dough process.

Mixing is located on an upper level of the plant, so dough feeds by gravity into the Oshikiri four-pocket divider. After dividing, dough pieces roll through a Baker Perkins rounder, and then the dough balls travel to a Peerless sheeting and moulding station. The dough drops into strapped pans previously conveyed under a Mallet pan oiler.

After proofing 55 minutes, the pans are unloaded and travel under a Burford sprayer and topping machine before entering the Baker Perkins lapped oven. After baking, breads are depanned and travel through an overhead racetrack conveyor for a 55-minute cooling cycle before entering the packaging area.

The bakery runs two packaging lines. The bread line features Bettendorf Stanford slicers and an AMF 50D bagger, and each packaging line ends with a Burford twist-tyer.

Despite its age, this plant and its systems have been extremely well maintained, and as such, it continues to ­efficiently produce quality breads.