Premix small raw materials

Premix small raw materials

Allowing small raw materials to be premixed is fine and can be helpfull in the simplicity during production. In other words, they create a mixture of raw materials according to the recipe provided by the bakery. However, large bakeries can also perform premixing themselves. The desirability of premixing often varies based on the context. Benefits can include:

•             Simplification in pre-weighing

•             Better distribution of very small additions such as colorants, enzymes, flavorings, especially in short mixing processes

•             Improvement in weight control of small raw materials during continuous mixing and kneading.

One drawback is that when premixes need to be stored for an extended period, the influence of the carrier substance that is often necessary can be significant. Particularly with powdered premixes, it is often found in practice that this influence is greater than desired. For example, the use of preservatives in premixes and semi-finished products is often necessary for the shelf life of the raw material but not for the end product in which it is used. The same applies to colorants, certain emulsifiers, anti-caking, stabilizers, and more. Take a look at the ingredient declaration of a purchased premix to see for yourself. For whipped cream, you might find a stabilizer to prevent separation; for powdered sugar, an anti-caking agent; for margarine and pastry fillings, a preservative, and so on. It is worth doing this yourself when the company is large enough, both in terms of ingredient quantity and cost. A commonly used method is to pre-weigh the small raw materials in separate small containers or scoops. It is possible to use one container per raw material or per group of small raw materials. When the small raw materials are naturally liquid, a carrier substance is often needed to powderize them, making it possible to dose them as powder, as is done with powder lecithin. Alternatively, a liquid premix can be created to better incorporate small raw materials.

Colorants are good examples of this, but it also applies to emulsifiers that are transformed from powder form to a liquid or emulsion phase through heating.

As a manufacturer of bakery products, you may not be able to have all the equipment in-house, but in practice, as your company grows, it becomes worthwhile to have various basic premixing processes in-house.

 

Another part of the preprocessing of raw materials is bringing basic raw materials into a workable form. There are relatively simple operations involved, but also some more complex ones.

Operation involved:

•             Grinding granulated sugar to the desired crystal size.

•             Roasting nuts for use in products.

•             Crystallizing liquid fats.

•             Preprocessing crumbs.

The basic sugar used in bakery products is granulated sugar. In smaller businesses, it is supplied in paper bags in the desired forms such as icing sugar, caster sugar, powdered sugar. In large industrial companies, they often have their sugar mills to produce the required sugar form for each product. Very fine powdered sugar is needed for creams, while a coarser form is used for some pastry and biscuit doughs.

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