With a growing trend for health-conscious eating, product innovation relies on flexible equipment to perfect bakery products. Now snack manufacturers have that flexibility in a new automated solution to make
pita chips, developed by Reading Bakery Systems (RBS).
Consumer preferences for nutritional and dietary snacking options are always changing and expanding. Over the past two years, these dynamics have only gained in amplitude, with people seeking health benefits, nutritional balance, immunity support in addition to unique taste experiences. Product development follows suit, with plenty of options to explore, combining various types of healthy ingredients. “This means system flexibility is an absolute must for snack manufacturers,” said Joe Pocevicius, European sales manager for Reading Bakery Systems. Pocevicius also observes there is a growing need to transform manual or semi-automated production processes into large-scale industrial processes as businesses are scaling up. “This is exactly what we’ve accomplished with our pita system,” he explains, “we have transformed a manually-made product into a reliable, high-quality industrial process.” The system is aimed at providing a turnkey industrial production system for pita chips, a staple among healthy snacks, while also being able to run different types of crisps.
The drawing board
The newly-launched system to produce pita chips is based on the multi-crisp technology that was designed and customized for this product by RBS. It is a modular system with a capacity of up to 1,000kg/h, depending on the number of oven zones.
The pita and crisp doughs are more sensitive than traditional wheat-based cracker doughs and need more flexible sheeting and baking parameters, which this system provides. “This combination of sheeting, baking and drying technology is what makes this system unique and exclusive to RBS,” Pocevicius explains. The system comprises Thomas L. Green sheeting and gauging equipment, a rotary cutter, followed by a SPECTRUM multi-pass proofer. This is a special addition to the standard equipment line-up of the multi-crisp technology, designed to develop the pita chip dough. A SPECTRUM convection oven is next, for which the heat application process was optimized for this product. Post-bake slicing has been added, performed with a pita dicer, to expose the inside of the pita. RBS explains: “During baking, the pita product expands into ‘pillows’, after which our pita dicer is used to cut these ‘pillows’ into pita chips. The dicing machine can create various rectangular shapes and sizes.”
“Oven manufacturers will increasingly use electrically driven solutions.“
Joe Pocevicius, European sales manager, RBS
The system is designed to be able to also accommodate other types of crisp snacks, by simply bypassing the proofer and dicer used for pita chips and directing the products from the rotary cutter straight into the oven. A variety of crispy snacks can be produced, made from wheat, potato, rice, corn masa, and other ingredients. The system can work with both batch or continuous mixing, depending on the level of automation needed by the snack manufacturer. RBS always recommends continuous mixing whenever possible, for a more consistent product, and more efficient process.
The SPECTRUM Multi-Pass Dryer performs the final production step. Its role is to reduce the moisture in the product’s core, which improves its overall quality and storage characteristics as it prevents the occurrence of hairline cracks that can subsequently cause crisps to break (the ‘checking’ issue). The post-bake dryer also makes it much easier to control the product’s color.
Compared with previous technology, the new line is the first flexible system that can automate the production of pita chips, as well as multi-crisp products. Pocevicius summarizes: “The beauty of the line is its ability to produce a variety of crisps from different dough types, including potato, wheat, multi-grain, rice, corn masa, or other flour-based doughs. Product-wise, this means baked potato crisps, other gluten-free crisps, wheat and cheese crisps, in addition to pita chips. Interesting flavors can, of course, be added to any product. It’s a game-changer for manufacturers that want to innovate their snack portfolio and maximize production capabilities.”
A new, multi-pass proofer
The new, environmentally-controlled multi-pass proofer specifically addres-
ses the needs of the pita chip dough and is instrumental in its correct development. It controls the temperature and humidity, which affects the flavor, color, and texture of the final product. The key benefit of this new equipment is achieving product consistency. It also counts towards improving process efficiency, with high throughput in a significantly smaller footprint: “We achieve 42 meters of proofing in a 9-meter long enclosure with an automatic PLC-controlled environment,” RBS explains. It is designed to optimize the process, as it features a full enclosure around the machine, for better chamber efficiency. Moreover, maintenance is made easy thanks to multiple enclosure doors to clean and inspect the equipment.
Flexibility, sustainability and more
Additional products can be easily added into production: the new recipe is selected and the rotary cutter die is changed – if a different shape is required. RBSConnect helps streamline changeovers, incorporating recipe-driven systems that make controlling the line easy. For sheeted crispy snacks, the product possibilities on this line are endless. However, the specialist notes, more traditional, laminated and sheeted crackers cannot be produced on this line. These types of snacks would need Direct Gas-Fired oven zones and additional layering equipment. RBS can assist snack manu-
facturers to develop new products for this system and to improve their production processes, at its Science and Innovation Center.
Process optimization also plays an important role in increasing sustainability, for pita chips and any type of snacks. It is an important aspect for RBS, too: “Not only are we designing equipment and processes that help our customers reach their sustainability goals, such as energy-efficient and low-emission ovens, but we’re also incorporating sustainability into our own manufacturing and business processes. “ These sustainability efforts can be seen in the new pita chip system, as well. For example, the oven and dryer have been designed for a reduced operational footprint, for lower operational energy costs, and for cleaner exhaust emissions. “We can even offer this line with zero emissions by offering the oven and dryer with fully electric heating,” RBS notes. Together with its ovens, the company delivers the SCORPION® 2 Oven Profiling System, which allows manufacturers to maximize their operating efficiency by measuring the oven and dryer’s temperature, air velocity, heat flux, and humidity. Automation is also an important part of sustainability; automated systems are simpler to operate and easier to maintain. To achieve this, the RBSConnect control systems provide data analysis and diagnostics to ensure the line is running within optimum parameters.
The new production process made possible with this pita line aims to meet the need for equipment flexibility, designed to specific needs, to deliver consistent product quality with a reduced footprint. Interesting product development opportunities are ahead.
