Because they handle raw ingredients, mixers require a high standard when it comes to sanitation.

In addition to following the principles of sanitary design for grain-based foods, bakeries should consider integrating cleaning stations into production.

“These systems use high-pressure jets, eliminating the need for brushes and ensuring thorough sanitation without compromising batch quality,” said Melanie Gay, marketing manager, VMI, a technology company of Coperion. “They also decrease cleaning time and the risk of cross-contamination.”

Bill Everett, global account manager, Peerless Food Equipment, a technology brand of Coperion, mentioned that the company’s KleanVue mixers rely on a grid coupling as part of their direct-drive transmission.

The system not only requires dozens of fewer parts than a belt drive but also makes the washdown cleaning process less complicated.

Open frame mixers allow the sanitation crew to easily clean the area under the bowl. Marc Ferree, global account manager, Shaffer Mixers, a technology brand of Coperion, noted that the company’s mixers also come with direct-drive agitators that eliminate pulleys, belts or chains that need periodic inspection and adjustments. He added that the company’s low-volume, high-pressure clean-in-place (CIP) system uses less water, leading to a quicker turnaround and sanitation time.

The open design is slightly different on E.T. Oakes mixers.

“We put everything on a stainless steel frame, but we don’t put guards around everything, only what is required,” said Bob Peck, vice president of engineering, E.T. Oakes. “If there are moving parts, you need guards for safety reasons, but we received feedback from our customers that they like the open design so that they don’t have to remove as many guards for sanitation or maintenance.”

He added the design saves about one hour when properly washing down a medium-sized mixer.

Peck explained that most companies rely on CIP strategies to simplify the sanitation process for continuous mixers. Typically, these mobile or stationary systems come with different tanks that first wash with a water flush, then rely on sanitizers, cleaning agents or caustics to complete the process. Oakes can provide dual purpose pumps to aid in the CIP process.

“CIP systems are pretty effective,” he said. “The pipe size may determine how many gallons per minute (gpm) you need. It needs a turbulent flow to get to all the nooks and crannies. A 2-inch piping may need 55 gpm of fluid to clean it. The general rule is the larger the pipe, the more gpm you need.”

Terry Bartsch, executive product manager, AMF Fusion, a part of AMF Bakery System, follows the tagline of “robust, sanitary and ease of maintenance” for the company’s mixers.

He defined robust as the thickness of the stainless steel material and parts that provide the longevity of the mixer.

At the 2025 International Baking Industry Exposition, to be held Sept. 13-17 in Las Vegas, AMF will feature its redesigned line of mixers that all have an open frame for cleaning.

Moreover, all AMF mixers will have a similar style of bowl tilting mechanism with a common drive for simplifying maintenance. 

From a maintenance perspective, Murphy said HMIs on mixers should actively monitor faults to reduce catastrophic equipment failures and offer on-screen guidance to quickly recover from these events. 

Additionally, remote access allows vendors to support bakeries with fault recovery systems or to adjust a mixer’s operation.

This article is an excerpt from the April 2025 issue of Baking & Snack. To read the entire feature on Mixing, click here.