MUNICH, GERMANY — At its baking and technology center in Culemborg (NL), Rademaker’s experts are constantly working on research and development for frozen and par-baked products.
For viennoiserie, many bakers prefer fully frozen-dough products, as opposed to bread products, which fare much better when par-baked.
“There is big difference between viennoiserie and bread,” said Wiep Bergsma, manager of the Rademaker technology center. “Viennoiserie is suitable for pre-proofed frozen, and that’s because we are stabilizing it with lamination and butter in combination with the temperature. The butter is making structure for the product to create shelf life in the freezer. With fermented products like bread, there is no stabilization system.”
In areas like Southeast Asia, softer breads are becoming more popular with consumers, which is paving the way for more technology, especially from an ingredient standpoint.
“I know a lot of ingredient suppliers are working on that,” said Bergsma “One reason, of course, is because with par bake bread, you have to bake it again. And when that happens, you create a crust.”
The challenge is developing that crust while maintaining the soft structure that these consumers are looking for.
“There are a lot of possibilities and trends going in this direction,” Bergsma said. “You can play with formulation, such as more fat and more sugar. That has an effect on softness and shelf life.”
Frozen and par-baked products both provide benefits when it comes to shelf life, and at the other end of the spectrum, packaging can also make a difference.
“The baking process will have drying-out effects, and that will always influence your product,” Bergsma said. “You can delay it through packaging and create other barriers around the product.”
Product finishings, when developed properly, can also create a natural barrier to protect the softness inside a frozen croissant or par-baked bread. Automated or even semi-automated equipment can create the flexibility needed to change specific toppings that work better for certain products.
“We have different modules that we can put on the line or add into the line,” Bergsma said. “We have a bottom seeder or top seeder; you can put the top seeder on the line, but you can also put it in as a module.”
Whether it’s frozen or par-baked, every bakery’s customer will want to know what the stability will be in the freezer. The answer almost always depends on the ingredients and formulation of each product, but, according to Bergsma it’s an average of about six months.
For more information on the benefits of producing frozen and par-baked products, as well as processing tips, visit the Rademaker booth page at iba.CONNECTING EXPERTS Oct. 25-27.
