White Bread & Bun Processing Plant & Machinery Solutions

Refined wheat flour arrives in bags or in bulk and is emptied, conveyed and held in storage until it is called to the mixer. Sifting and magnetic separation take out lumps and any stray ferrous metal before the flour enters the dough.

Flour, water, yeast, salt, sugar and fat are weighed and mixed until the gluten is developed and the dough is smooth. Mixing water is chilled, so that the heat generated by mixing does not push the dough temperature past what the recipe allows.

Bulk dough is cut into equal pieces, rounded, rested and moulded, then dropped into tins for loaves or set out in rows for buns. Consistent piece weight here is what keeps the finished loaves and buns uniform through the rest of the line.

Shaped dough is held in a warm, humid chamber so the yeast can raise it, then baked until the crust colours and the crumb sets. Steam and air handling hold the humidity in the prover, while the oven and its burner supply the baking heat.

Baked loaves are turned out of their tins and carried through cooling conveyors until the crumb is firm enough to cut cleanly. Cooled loaves are sliced; buns are normally packed whole, or cut only where a burger or sandwich bun is called for.

Sliced loaves and buns are wrapped, date coded, weight checked and screened for stray metal before they leave the line. Finished packs are then collated into cartons for distribution.