As a commercial bakery, your customers expect consistent, high-quality products. Until 1994, commercial bakeries relied on the batch mixing method to achieve the often elusive goal of generating consistent quality. When Exact Mixing introduced the continuous mixing method, the benefits of consistency and dependable repeatability delivered by full automation took several years to catch on.
Despite the many advantages of the continuous mixing process, many commercial bakeries remained advocates of the batch mixing process simply because batch mixers did not require as much of an investment as continuous mixing equipment
More than thirty years later, a rapidly growing number of commercial bakeries have converted their dough production facilities to adopt the continuous mixing method to improve the quality and consistency of their dough products.
Why Do Continuous Mixers Deliver the Best Mixing Results?
Four primary operations are the foundation for the commercial bakery dough-mixing process. First, the ingredients arrive at the mixing area in bulk. Then, the system measures the ingredients as specified by each recipe. Third, the ingredients blend into a dough, which leads to the fourth step of handling the dough as it leaves the mixer.
With the batch mixing process, one operation must complete before the next operation begins. This means one batch of dough must finish the mixing process before a second batch goes through the system. Each batch produces different results, which does not establish quality and consistency for dough products.
On the other hand, continuous mixing combines the four primary operations into one seamless process that discharges dough in a consistent stream of one batch between every 10 and 15 minutes. The automated dough blending system does a much better job of adding minor ingredients to produce a uniform size, weight, and texture dough.
Exact Mixing Continuous Mixer Models
Exact Mixing offers our customers five continuous mixer models that address five different categories of raw dough products.
As a high-shear mixer, the FX Continuous Mixer blends dough that requires a specific amount of moisture to create texture. With production rates varying between 100 kg and 1,250 kg an hour, this mixer produces dough for thin snacks like chips and crisps.
For creating a dough that requires high moisture absorption, the HDX Continuous Mixer delivers high-quality dough for baked goods such as bread, rolls, and tortilla shells. Production levels run between 1,500 kg and 10,000 kg per hour.
This single-screw mixer is the perfect commercial mixer for blending the ingredients that produce dough for baked goods like crackers and wheat-based snacks. Operating with a single screw means the EX Continuous mixer gently kneads ingredients to create fully-developed dough.
Exact Mixing designed the LDX Continuous Mixer to blend every ingredient before adding flour as the final step in the dough-mixing process. The system adds flour just before the development stage to ensure product consistency. You can set the production level for this dough-mixing system as high as 9,000 kg an hour.
As the most versatile commercial mixer, the EX Continuous Mixer benefits from full automation to blend the ingredients required to create dough for cookies, pretzels, and pizza crusts. The double-screw mixing system prevents the generation of too much heat and is ideal for products where inclusions are a large part of the recipe. Inclusions can be added near the exit of the mixer to obtain a uniform mix with no damage.
As you evaluate the consistency, repeatability, and full automation offered by continuous mixing, learn more about the five Exact Mixing models by submitting the Contact form or calling our headquarters at 610-693-5816.
