Depositors maximize bakery production

For small and mid-size bakeries, the combination of Vemag’s precision portioning, Reiser’s application expertise, and DJM’s forming capabilities provides a scalable pathway from manual production to semi and fully automated cookie lines.

To be able to meet orders on time and avoid errors, many bakers are moving away from hand scooping and turning to depositors for their gourmet cookie dough, which can automate the activity and give operations more control over the weight and integrity of the product. These machines take the guesswork out of portioning and deposit mixed dough uniformly onto baking surfaces to create high-quality cookies that are oven-ready.

The biggest gains come from reducing labor through automation, improving consistency with double-screw portioning, and expanding product variety via modular attachments.

This allows bakeries to produce everything from soft, inclusion-rich cookies to crispy wire-cut styles and formed specialty cookies all on a single, adaptable platform, according to Jeff Zeak, national development manager, bakery at Reiser, has been a member of the baking industry for 45 years.

Reiser offers a wide range of versatile Vemag cookie dough depositors to support operations of all sizes as they grow. For bakers looking to scale up from hand scooping, the Vemag 500 is an efficient machine that boasts high throughput, precise portioning, and flexibility all while reducing labor costs. The machine’s unique dough delivery system, which includes an infeed system that assists in filling our patented double screw technology, assures gentle handling, even with large inclusions and heavy doughs.

The depositor drops cookies onto a conveyor while an operator works near the end picking up the product and placing them onto a cookie pan. For even greater output, the same Vemag 500 system can be upgraded with an indexing conveyor and a panning conveyor. This combination really speeds production up as the cookies are automatically deposited directly onto pans.

The Vemag has a variety of different inserts and shapes and cutting devices that can be used to create unique cookies. A wire cutting device can be used for sugar and shortbread-type cookies, while a guillotine cutting device can be used to enhance particulates in the finished cookie. With many businesses adding large inclusions to their products, it is crucial to retain the ingredients’ form. Bakers may opt for inclusions as large as half-inch by half-inch chunks into cookies. Others use whole caramel or nuts. In a typical rotary head depositor, you can’t put those types of large inclusions in the dough because the inclusions get stuck in the rotary head. The Vemag’s doublescrew technology properly feeds the dough without breaking down the inclusion.

Gourmet cookies have a high-quality taste, texture, and look as compared to their mid-range counterparts. Using a higher percentage of quality ingredients in your formulation is what makes a gourmet cookie stand out. Every ingredient is critical and plays an important role in developing a desirable mouthfeel and taste. Flour is going to impact the cookie’s mouthfeel and tenderness more than any other ingredient. Butter is almost always used to create a tender texture and rich taste.

Sweeteners and inclusions will make the biggest impact when it comes to taste, though. One of the highest percentage ingredients in the formula, sugar can be used in many forms such as granulated cane, light or dark brown, powdered, or inverts as well. All will impact the sweetness level along with tenderness and spread of your cookie. Inclusions, of course, can really help gourmet cookies shine.

Bakers who opt for the highest quality ingredients for their gourmet cookies may want to offset labor costs through automation, or scale their production without losing the artisanal quality that their customers have come to expect. All of Reiser’s custom solutions for bakers are designed with these considerations in mind, but how do you know which machines are right for your gourmet cookie processing and packaging needs?

Cookie production at the retail level involves mixing, finishing, portioning, baking, and packaging stages, typically carried out by a two to four person team. During these periods, bakers must stay on schedule while managing variables such as time and temperature that could impact the cookie’s quality. With so many details to focus on, it’s imperative to find ways to streamline employees’ tedious tasks.

The portioning stage is a time-consuming step that can hold back the production process. Most bakeries rely on hand scooping methods, especially if their recipe calls for inclusions. Consumers today want large chocolate chunks, caramel pieces, nuts, or dried fruits in their cookies. While scaling up production, bakers must strive to keep them intact while portioning so that consumers can see them in and on the surface of the cookie. While hand scooping may seem like the safest and most cost-effective option to keep these nuggets of flavor and texture whole, this technique is prone to slow, inconsistent portioning that can diminish production speed.

Versatile wire-cutting

Others feature a wide range of options and innovations.

Empire Bakery Equipment features the Suprema® MAXX Cookie Depositor, versatile wire-cutting and dropping machine. With an intuitive, easy-to-use touch screen control panel and a 200-recipe memory capacity the Suprema cookie depositor is capable of producing 180 trays of consistent, high-quality cookies per hour.

With a large variety of nozzles and molds available, this is one of the most flexible cookie depositors for sale on the market and is ideal for a wide range of pastries, cookies, and biscuits. The Suprema cookie depositor's combination of cutting-edge technology and superior design will save you significant time and money.

Unifiller Systems, a Coperion Food Health and Nutrition company and a global leader in portioning equipment, offer the CMD Series Depositors, digitally controlled pneumatic depositors.

The CMD Series Depositors are dial-less depositors offering advanced features such as pre-charge, splash reduction, deposit pressure and other “servo-like” features above and beyond a standard pneumatic depositor. The CMD Series depositors are precision controlled by Unifiller’s exclusive CMD+ program preloaded and provided on a tablet smart device with each CMD depositor.

Compared to the standard depositors, the CMD Series can handle more complex applications such as ones that require smaller accurate deposits or more precise spray mode or splash control.

Confectionery depositors

MONO is the longest established confectionery depositor manufacturer in the world, according to Erika Baking Equipment. The Omega Series of Confectionery Depositors are among the most capable machines on the market, producing everything from macarons, cookies, eclairs, whirls, cakes, cupcakes, muffins and more!

Available in both Touch and Plus varieties, these finely built machines are imported from Europe and recognized by both bakers and chefs across the globe. The Omega Plus 450 can also be ordered with an available wire-cut feature, perfect for making hard dough cookies, both with and without particulates.

Tabletop depositors are best used for smaller-scale production, limited-space bakeries, entry into depositing, according to Erika Baking Equipment.

Mid-range depositors are best used for broader product ranges, more flexibility, and optional cookie applications. Advanced 3D/multi-depositors are best used for complex, layered, multi-mix, or highly customized products.