Industrial & custom-made: thinner and better
Even for industrial baking, all bakeware and coatings American Pan delivers are custom-made to perfectly fit the manufacturing needs of the bakery. The majority of baking pans are made of aluminized steel can be used anda blend optimized to be resistant and conduct heat well. Stainless steel can be used and is a very strong material with the advantage of being very corrosion-resistant, but it lacks in heat conductivity, by comparison. Aluminum is also used, but while it has exceptional heat conductivity, it may not be strong enough for many automated bakeries.
The company uses different types of aluminized steel. Aside from the standard blend, American Pan developed the ePAN steel in collaboration with its providers, which is used to make lighter, thinner, and stronger baking pans. The pans made with it not only come with benefits regarding usability but contribute to the efficiency of the process overall: lighter pans also mean energy and time savings, as they will heat up and cool down quicker; they are easier on the production line and need less energy to be moved around. “One of our customers was able to reduce their oven temperature, and others could decrease their baking time with ePAN bun pans,” American Pan’s specialist adds. The ePAN steel is currently used for bun pans, bread pans, and specialty system pans (dedicated to a certain type of manufacturing line). Its quality was also a challenge in molding it into shape, because it is strong and pans for bread have certain depth requirements. American Pan has developed new manufacturing processes to solve this issue and bring the deep-drawn pans to the needed specifications.
Pan customizations are made according to several factors, including:
+ The size of the conveyors;
+ How the pans move through the system;
+ The pan stacking solution used;
+ Depanning systems on the line;
+ Oven system used.
Features that are commonly requested will target pan strengthening to match various ways of strapping them together or larger sizes; another growing trend is for bigger pans to support higher production volumes without other changes to existing equipment. “When looking into larger pans to increase capacity, you might need to consider certain aspects in your bakery, such as any curves in the conveyor system, for limits to the sizes you want to have,” the specialist recommends. Larger pans may not be able to move smoothly across the conveyors and can cause damage to pans, loss of product and jamming of the system.
Moreover, smart pan tracking is increasingly becoming a necessity when raising the bar in automation in the bakery. American Pan’s SMART Pan Tracking uses a Laser tag that is counted every time it passes the sensor, usually placed after depanning (i.e., on a cooling conveyor system). The information is sent to a website where it can be accessed and analyzed to estimate the coating status and anticipate the need for recoating or replacement.
The fewer parts, the better
For baguette ranges, American Pan has upgraded its TabLock trays (EU patent pending), to eliminate the need for any rivets, drills and eliminate the hazard of metal shavings. Having rivets would mean drilling them out and this would be necessary in order to replace the screen; this would pose the risk of having metal shavings in the frame, and potentially metal contamination of the products. By using the rivet-free TabLock system, these extra steps and risk factors are removed from the to-do and to-manage lists. “It just takes a simple tool to remove the screen, and then a simple tool to reinstall the screen,” explains the specialist. The added benefit is that the replacement can easily be done in the bakery, so that production cycles will not be missed while they are shipped to a service facility, and back. Aside from saving time, this means they can be replaced one at a time, as needed, and save costs significantly.
The process also factors in the coating selection; if the pans are handled roughly, the coatings may be scratched prematurely. Depanning is the most likely process to scratch the coating, which greatly reduces the lifespan of a non-stick coating like the DuraShield. Some of the more gentle depanning methods, for the product as well as the coating include using suction cups wherever suitable (i.e., for breads, buns, rolls, cupcakes, muffins and many other bakery products), the specialists at American Pan observe, to avoid metal touching the pans altogether. Another handling step to be carried out with care to protect coatings is pan stacking.
Protect the product, protect the pan: coatings
An entire line of coatings is the next step to the closest match to specific needs in terms of custom solutions, including:
+ Fluoropolymer coatings are the go-to for challenging doughs or various product and/or process restrictions. OptiShield, for example, will require minimum to no release agents for a wide range of products and will consequently be easier to clean, which makes them a cost-effective alternative. The DuraShield is designed to deliver longevity, meaning less maintenance is needed, less downtime, and fewer costs: the coating’s ROI is less than a year, according to the manufacturer’s research. “The DuraShield and OptiShield are among the more popular products in the European market,” the specialist underlines. These products come in several variations depending on the product and will specifically address handling sticky dough, and even product ranges: for buns, they minimize the rings on the bottom; pretzel doughs, muffins are improved by using less oil, which saves expenses and will not affect the nutrition or flavor profile.
+ Rubberized silicone coatings are great for baguette pans, baking screens and perforated trays and can deliver up to 1,500 baking cycles before recoating is needed. In this category, the FlexiCoat is also a sustainable choice as it helps minimize scrap and oil consumption for an environment-friendly, longer-life use.
+ The Americoat silicone glaze is used on all American Pan glazed pans as any type of product can benefit from it. It contributes to lowering manufacturing costs, thanks to its release properties that decrease requirements for oils and other release agents. Its added benefits come from hygiene, process efficiency, and improved product quality.
Coatings can be also ground zero for allergen management: “Our allergen-management coating is a DuraShield, a fluoropolymer-type coating, which we’ve colored to make it stand out. If you see a purple pan in any bakery, you know not to use that with any product that contains flour or any other allergen. The visual aid is more helpful than placing the free-from only pans in a certain cabinet, for example,” they point out. DuraShield excels at hosting stickier dough through processing, another reason to favor its use for gluten-free products, for example.
In addition, the group recently launched the Bundy/FME Continuous Pan Cleaner at IBIE, which uses tools such as brushes, vacuum and air to ensure the thorough removal of by-products including protein washes, seeds or loose toppings, using an inversion conveyor to move pans through a multi-
stage cleaning process. As aluminized steel corrodes, water is not among the viable cleaning options, even if coatings help with this. Using four different sets of interchangeable, easy-to-change, cleaning heads, it is programmed to clean pans every time they go through the system.
Specific solutions are designed to suit the needs of the bakery’s profile for any bakeware requirements throughout its life cycle.
