bake - February 2017 - 16

equipment innovations

ADOBESTOCK

Accuracy in Dividers
Dough can take a beating when it goes under the knife, and

divides gassy doughs accurately without exerting any me-

product quality becomes a concern for bakers, particularly

chanical force on the dough. At the 2016 International Baking

those who make open-cell bread and rolls. "In artisan-style

Industry Expo, Rheon featured its Flex Width Divider, which

products, the dough is alive," says John Giacoio, national sales

allows bakers to change the width of the dough being put on

director for Rheon USA. "From the beginning of a batch to its

the conveyor, thus cutting the amount of trim.

end, that dough is beginning to gas out, and the speciﬁc gravity of the dough does not remain constant."

Without an accurate divider, bakers can easily fall into the trap
of over- or under-selling their product.

Dividers can prove to be the cash register in the bakery. It's
where the baker's margin can be gained or lost. "Accurate scal-

"Accuracy is very important to meet regulatory requirements

ing is critical to the proﬁtability of any baking operation," says

with respect to sell weight of the product," said Ken Johnson,

John McIsaac, vice president of strategic business development

president of Gemini Bakery Equipment Co. "A high weight

for Reiser. "The closer our customers can maintain their scaling

variance from a divider would require a higher target weight

to label weight, the more money they can make." By portioning

during manufacture to keep from falling below the minimum

precisely and gently, bakers can deliver to customers exactly

weight declared on the package. This results in more giveaway

what they are promised on the package: quality bread at a very

and higher product costs."

precise weight.
Reiser's Vemag divider's accuracy comes from its double-screw
From a mechanical standpoint, it's important that the divider

transport system, technology that ensures accurate scaling

treat the dough in a gentle fashion to maintain the structure

while maintaining product quality. To further improve dough

created in the mixer and during fermentation.

quality, Reiser's latest advancement features larger pockets in
the double-screw as the dough travels through it. Their greater

Tolerances between ram, knife and pistons must be very tight,

size means the dough moves at slower speeds while delivering

according to Rob Francis, chief bread engineer for Baker Per-

the same output. "This results in less work on the dough and

kins. This is necessary to maintain the dough's volume while

less wear and tear on the machinery," McIsaac says.

pushing it through the divider and to minimize any losses of air
or dough via clearances in the ram-and-knife assembly.

Dividers from WP Kemper, WP, WP Haton and Winkler feature
precise weight accuracy, and speciﬁcally the WP Kemper Softs-

Consistent dough handling helps maintain dough rheology,

tar features a specially designed mouthpiece and ability to stop

which in turn helps maintain accuracy through the batch. If

the measuring drum during the dividing process to maintain

the rheology remains the same, so will the weights. "The most

precision. These divider brands also use servo-driven technol-

consistent dough handling occurs when it is moved gently with

ogy to adjust machine operation to dough characteristics.

reduced stress and minimal temperature rise within a batch and
from dough batch to batch," says Cesar Zelaya for Handtmann.

Instead of over-correcting to avoid a regulatory issue, a more

Hantmann's VF 600 B divider maintains the dough's character-

accurate divider can provide bakers with a properly weighed

istics with its gentle handling. The company's vane-cell technol-

product every time.

ogy reduces product stress and brings dough along a shorter
travel path, minimizing the opportunities for stress.

"When a line is dialed in to a speciﬁc weight, the settings of
prooﬁng, baking, cooling, slicing and bagging are all depen-

Rheon's V4 stress-free dividers are gentle enough to be used

dent on having a uniform size and shape of product," said

on high-absorption artisan breads and laminated doughs.

Bruce Campbell, vice president for AMF Bakery Systems.

The company's gravimetric method for weighing and cutting

CHA R LOTTE ATCHLEY

16 < FEB 2017 | bakemag.com

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bake - February 2017

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