Rademaker recently brought significant improvements to its laminating system, a development project that took about three years.
Rademaker has long been focusing on producing the stress-free dough sheet at an industrial scale. While the necessity may sound simple enough, when manufacturing products that require laminated dough, controlling the stress levels in the dough remains a hard technical challenge. Technically, ‘stress-free’ sheeting and laminating comprise little to no gluten stress, ideally no dough shrinkage, maintaining the integrity of the butter or fat layers and – importantly – the ability to recreate the appreciated artisan-like structure at industrial scale. This is the technology ‘blueprint’ for croissants, Danish pastries, laminated brioches and any other creations in this family.
Loading: lamination advances
Rademaker designed their laminators specifically to reach these goals. The company’s latest developments continue to improve system performance: “We have refined our existing laminators, intending to take them to a new level. This development is the result of a three-year study that began in 2022 with the goal of further improving the quality of the laminated dough sheet,” Sales Technologist Jan Willem Jansen shares details about the extensive R&D project.
Throughout this time, they conducted extensive trials at their Technology Center in Culemborg. The team used colored dough for the tests, for the strong visual contrast with the fat layers. In this way, “We gained valuable insights into the lamination quality. These trials enabled us to pinpoint exactly where optimization was needed,” Jansen reveals. Following this investigation process, they identified the following key areas for technological improvements:
+ Improving dough sheeting and layering
+ Reducing rework
+ Minimizing dough tension
In addition to advancing the technology itself, Rademaker also targeted an increase in the operator’s comfort and reducing the machine’s overall footprint.
Through this study, the development project gathered the necessary information to commence: “Our technologists challenged the development team with an extensive set of requirements. This eventually led to new modules being developed and re-tested, to gain a clear understanding of the improvements. We have paid extensive attention to the laminating module, which, by the end of the project, received the most improvements.” The key improvements made help produce fat layers with enhanced stability, better dough homogeneity and a smoothly streamlined machine operation.
“Our technologists challenged the development team with an extensive set of requirements. This eventually led to new modules being developed. We have paid extensive attention to the laminating module, which, by the end of the project, received the most improvements.”
Jan Willem Jansen, Sales Technologist, Rademaker
What’s new?
With the development project recently completed, the newest generation of laminating machines is already in operation at a few bakeries. Rademaker has already received highly positive feedback from them: “The stability of the fat layers and the homogeneity of the dough sheet have been significantly improved, bringing it in line with the latest product trends. In addition, major steps have been taken in the operation of the laminating module, simplifying operation and greatly increasing product reproducibility. Ease of operation, reduced contamination, and quick startup after product changes are mentioned as major improvements as well,” Jansen reports.
Achieving a stable end product in terms of weight and shape largely depends on the quality of the dough sheet created. Significantly improving the stability of the dough sheet forming process, coupled with increasing the homogeneity of the fat layer thickness, led to a more stable, high-quality end product.
The user interface has also been reimagined. Rademaker focused on offering the operator as much comfort as possible with the new developments, starting from customer feedback. This helped the specialists improve the HMI: “The number of parameters has been reduced, and the screen’s look and user experience simplified, making it more intuitive to operate. The new interface prevents incorrect settings from being applied, which, in turn, reduces deviations in product weight and dimensions, while also minimizing unnecessary contamination,” highlights Jansen.
Another novelty of the system is its new fat pump. While its performance and operating principle remain unchanged from the previous iteration, as there was no need for efficiency improvements, the new version focused on enhancing its hygienic design and ease of cleaning, including convenient access. Hygiene was a priority for the entire system. For example, the risk of flour pollution is now significantly lower, thanks to the laminator’s reduced falling height. Moreover, the new design of the cutting unit lowers fat contamination on the cutting knife. “Besides it being more hygienic, it also leads to less downtime as it requires less cleaning,” the Sales Technologist observes. The unit is built according to the Sigma 3 design philosophy, to ensure the highest hygienic standards. This means the pump is fully wet-cleanable and contains no closed compartments: “There are no enclosed motor housings, hollow spaces, or concealed niches. All cables are routed through hygienic cable channels, preventing contamination and ensuring easy accessibility for deeper cleaning,” Rademaker’s Jansen explains. Additionally, all manual adjustments can now be performed with a single tool, making cleaning and maintenance faster and more user-friendly.
Rademaker’s industrial laminators can produce up to 512 dough layers, precisely controlled and repeatable with consistency. The result: premium, flaky pastries, with a great lift, a well-defined honeycomb crumb structure, and an excellent visual appeal.
