Accuracy might be the most obvious way bakers can save on ingredient costs. Proper width control for dough band forming reduces trim. Ingredient costs are lowered with precise depositing. It comes down to the basics. 

“You have to do a proper assessment of your quality control,” said Dave Kollar, senior sales manager, Rondo. “Reassess product specifications and weights to ensure they are within standards. Ensure that line operators are making proper adjustments and running the line correctly.” 

Equipment that is consistently precise helps bakers get the highest yield out of ingredients and not waste anything. 

“Precision ensures that you optimize the ingredient usage per piece, which is one way to reduce waste,” said Chuck Sena, director of sales and marketing, Axis Automation. “Precision also means applying topical ingredients like sprinkles, icing or streusel in the right location so that the need to recycle or reclaim ingredients is minimized. Even those most efficient reclaim systems generate a certain amount of ingredient loss.” 

Rademaker offers a butter pump for its sheeting and laminating lines that provides accurate application of butter, one of those premium ingredients experiencing price fluctuations. The pump processes industrial-style fat blocks into a consistent band to apply to the dough sheet before laminating.  

At the depositor, E.T. Oakes’ mass flow meter provides an accurate flow and ensures that the deposits are hitting the appropriate weights. 

“If you have more accuracy then you’re giving away less,” explained Bob Peck, vice president of engineering, E.T. Oakes. “The weight doesn’t save ingredients, but it does improve upon giving too much product away because bakers will be hitting closer to their target weights.” 

This article is an excerpt from the March 2023 issue of Baking & Snack. To read the entire feature on Sweet Goods Processing, click here.