Unlimited Possibilities in Biscuit Molders

Equipment is vital in the production of soft dough biscuits, in which the molder itself is a very important tool. For an idea of a new biscuit to be put into practice, it must be analyzed, developed, and then converted into a technical drawing that corresponds to the plans and is actually feasible.

These are the steps Italian specialist Padovani carries out. “The challenge is in balancing the depth of the engravings with the size and the weight of the biscuit and that of the molder,” Roberto Padovani said in an interview on behalf of the company.

There is a very wide range of materials that can be used in the production of rotary molders, from bronze to various plastics, and they play a very important role. Padovani has been using a new type of plastic over the past years (light blue), developed together with its suppliers, which improved the life span of the roller by roughly 30% compared to the previous green plastic, with very good performance throughout.

By comparison, this food-grade plastic is harder while also enabling a good release of the dough. The main benefit of a rotary molder, from a baker’s perspective, is the fact that you can start production with relatively low costs, which is especially relevant for new businesses. It is not a very expensive or complicated machine to work with.

To achieve different patterns, it is only required to replace the roller that imprints the molds on the biscuits. Furthermore, “Rotary molders provide the only way to make products with 3-D effects, they cannot be replicated with other machines,” highlighted Tobias Holm, applications technologist at Bühler Group in an interview from their test bakery in Copenhagen.

You can read the rest of this article in your complimentary May/June e-copy of European Baker&Biscuit magazine, which you can access by clicking here.