We looked into how these product and process requirements are transferred to the equipment and what optimizations could be possible with MECATHERM, the French specialist who designs equipment and production lines for breads, pastry and patisserie products. For premium breads and baguettes product ranges, the company has designed several type of equipment, entirely automated, from the divider down to freezing on trays.

Marie Laisne, Marketing manager and Oven product Manager, François Retailleau, Production line Manager, and Mélanie Salvi, Equipment manager, provide a walkthrough of the premium bread line, process by process.

Automated process, artisan quality

The quality of the end product relies on several key steps, dividing and molding dough being among them. It is a delicate process: “Indeed, dividing the dough without stressing nor stretching is key in premium bread and baguette production,” they underline. The new-generation M-NS divider from MECATHERM is particularly adapted to the highly hydrated dough of premium breads and baguettes. Its slow movement and smooth mechanical action allow the internal structure of the dough to be preserved. Next up, the molding process has to be gentle, without strong mechanical actions, the specialists recommend, to create the open honeycomb structure of the crumb.

The settings of the baking process itself also play a leading role in developing the quality of the final products. For example, “Baking is responsible for the coloration, shine, the aspect of the scoring made on the product’s surface, the crust thickness, crumb structure and water content,” MECATHERM’s team illustrates. Moreover, the baking support will determine the crumb development: a product baked on the hearth will have a different crumb structure than a product baked on trays. A typical premium bread or baguette production line comprises units for:
+ Mixing, typically with resting times (autolysis, bowl resting);
+ Make-up, with no-stretch and no-stress technology;
+ Molding, with solutions that mimic the baker’s hand gestures;
+ Proofing, which can sometimes be complemented by a retarding step in a colder ambiance;
+ Scoring with an automated tool adapted to highly
hydrated doughs such as ultrasonic blades or water jets.
+ Baking, with several technologies available;
+ Cooling and freezing steps, according to the process;
+ Packaging

The line can be customized with additional functions; out of the possible options, units for seeding and flouring are the most frequently included, the specialists show, as they contribute to creating the ‘story-telling’ component of the products.

Baking is either done in trays or on a hearth (on either a mesh belt or stones), depending on the desired characteristics of the product and its market positioning. The line can be adapted to the required production volumes, one of the biggest configurations MECATHERM builds can make up to 12,000 pieces, or 4 tons per hour for one line.

In addition, MECATHERM can build the premium bread lines with a choice of three oven technologies, for their unique characteristics. The specialists explain their differentiating points:
+ The vertical ovens ensure product quality and remain very easy to use. Their compact layout contributes to optimizing the line footprint. They also have a strong industrial advantage for tray production lines.
+ The stone oven, the FTP Oven, is the choice for a very ‘premium’ and ‘artisan’ look to the products as well as a ‘baked on stone’ label, strengthening the story of the products. Stone baking creates a thick crust and a very open crumb.
+ The FTM oven is a compact and multi-deck solution that is particularly interesting for obtaining a well-opened crumb and a fine control of the crust thickness. This is also a compact solution that helps with the production line’s footprint.

Automation features

The breads and baguettes are monitored throughout the production steps to ensure consistent quality. For instance, the M-NS divider is equipped with a weight regulation system to measure the products’ density, as fermented dough may have varying densities. The molding technology is also designed oblong shape to help improve product uniformity.

Automated scoring is also a plus, and it fills in for the skilled baker’s touch. “A robotic scoring machine developed by our sister company ABI Ltd can automatically adapt to the shape, position and alignment of each products thanks to a 3D vision system combined with ultrasonic blades,” they highlight. The system ensures a consistent scoring depth and precision.

Digital services, including the M-Care predictive maintenance application, are additional tools that MECATHERM is offering to optimize the industrial performance of such lines. Going forward, MECATHERM plans to equip all its ovens and mechanizations with it. M-Care enables operators to detect any problems, anticipate breakdown, help them to understand how machines work and help them with diagnostics and problem-solving.

Areas where operators are needed to operate this line include the make-up and mixing areas, in particular. “A continuous presence is requested to launch and follow the production batches, as well as to make regular sampling for quality control.” Operators are also needed when recipe changeovers are performed, to install the tools required for each product, to clean components, and to change the raw materials if the new recipe requires it. Manual operations are also required when recipe changeovers are performed, to install the tools required for each product, to clean components, and to change the raw materials in the topping devices if the new recipe requires it.

The premium bread line can flexibly handle a wide range of doughs, covering different types of flours, levels of hydration or fermentation times. They can produce different types of molded bread, ranging from long baguettes to 1/6 formats, as well as tin breads. The product diversity is even higher with personalization options such as flouring or topping with various seeds (e.g., millet, pumpkin seeds, sesame, etc.), or unique patterns with scoring. Moreover, premium breads and baguettes can be made either fresh or deep-frozen, parbaked or fully baked, on hearth or on pan. This will imply different settings mostly for the oven and freezer. For parbaked or fully-baked products, the main difference is the baking time. The production line also offers the option of bypassing the freezer, when making fresh products.

Installing the line

Each installation of a MECATHERM production line is sequenced in several main stages, starting with the mechanical assembling and equipment set-up. Electrical cabling follows, after which program testing of the production line can begin. ‘Dry tests’ are made with the line running empty at first followed by the introduction of products, for a new round of tests. “During this stage, all the process steps are adjusted with the support of a MECATHERM master baker to obtain the perfect product according to the customer’s expectations. If all the steps have an impact on the finished product, mixing, make-up and baking are usually the steps that have the most impact and which have to be taken into consideration,” the specialists advise. Production can then start and it can be ramped up as planned. From this stage on, MECATHERM services teams continue to follow the customer all along the production line lifecycle.

Upgrades can be retrofitted onto this bread and baguette line. The oven is a prime example: “As our ovens are modular, they can be easily upgraded, for example, switching from a parbaked standard baguette to a fully baked premium baguette oven. The M-Care connected services can also be easily integrated to existing equipment for predictive maintenance, by adding sensors and connecting to the service.

New types of trays can also be added to the production lines to widen the product range, to meet current and future market demands.