10 minute read
Ebbing Bakery: A quantum leap
A quantum leap
When Ebbing Bakery installed the Smartline Model I dough band line, which had just been launched into operation in 2001, it was a first in the industry. 16 years later, the company opted for the Rondo line for the second time, now in its new generation.
By Helga Baumfalk
+The new Smartline Type 10 has been in operation since 2017. “We added a new hall for the production of pastries in 2012 because we wanted to decentralize the processes in our production and set up a separate, air-conditioned room in which we could also process butter,” explains Daniel Ebbing, head of the bakery. The dimensions and design of the latest Smartline generation were taken into account following the construction of the new pastry hall, in preparation for the future. The modernization of the dough band line, which involved replacing its 2001 predecessor model, came five years after the new hall became operational. Five machine generations lie between the two versions. The new dough band line is now arranged in an L-shape, measures 10 m x 10 m in angle and feeds the downstream Polyline make-up line in a single-shift operation.
At a constant room temperature of 19°C, soft yeast doughs and laminated doughs are rolled out on the dough belt line today. A total of around 40 products run through the machine, including the spelt corner (Dinkel-Ecke), a type of bread roll, chocolate croissants (or rather chocolate rolls), sausage rolls* and seasonal products such as the stollenstrudel. When the new investment was considered, an additional capability was important to Daniel Ebbing: “It needed to roll out the shortcrust pastry for the cakes and tarts.” The previous model was not capable of doing this, he says. “Until 2017, we still fed the shortcrust doughs by hand over a sheeter. With the quantities we need, it’s clear that we’ve already made a quantum leap with the new model.” Today, the bakers reduce the shortcrust pastry dough via the Smartline to a final thickness of less than 3 mm, in two steps. Shortcrust doughs are quite demanding for a dough belt system – as they are so short, they can tear easily.
In addition to the dough belt system, the 200 sqm pastry hall also contains a 12 sqm cooling cell and a croissant system from Rondo. It was even possible to take over some tools from the old Smartline from 2001, which lowered the overall investment. “We’ve done an all-around move,” says the company boss, “and automated the dough feed at the
The pastry hall is kept at a constant temperature of 19 °C; the Smartline can be seen in the background
Products that the bakery produces on the dough band line:
1) Yeast doughs: spelt corner, stollenstrudel, poppy seed plaits, bee sting cake, sheet cake, paninos and various seasonal products. 2) Laminated doughs: chocolate croissants, sausage rolls, cheese/crispy sticks, puff pastry plaits, pudding pretzels, fruit Danish pastries and various seasonal products. 3) In addition: Gingerbread cookies, filling dots
same time.” Lifting tippers now make the bakers’ work with the doughs easier.
Keeping the dough cool throughout the process
The yeast doughs that Ebbing rolls out into a uniform dough band for the stollenstrudel or the spelt corner, among other things, have a dough hydration level of about 158. They tend to be soft-run doughs, which is standard nowadays. The dough rests in the kneading kettle on its way to the dough band. Plant manager Dirk Löhrmann: “It takes 12 minutes for the dough to run through the dough band former, to become the finished product. Given the length of our line, the doughs must be cool enough. If we were to process warmer doughs, which start up quickly, the product at the beginning of production would be different to the one at the end.” This is where the air-conditioned room can also be an advantage.
Matthias Petry, consulting and sales at Rondo, draws attention to something else: “With the new generation of machines, there are no large drop heights that would cause the dough band to be stretched or compressed.” Slight inclinations cannot be completely prevented from a constructional point of view, but in principle, the belt remains on one level.
Daniel Ebbing, Managing Director of Ebbing Bakery It’s not only the plant that has to be set up
The dough belt system at Ebbing is in operation five days a week, eight hours a day. The bakery found the balance in working with time-consuming changeovers in limiting them to three at the most, per day. Dirk Löhrmann: “Theoretically, you could do a product changeover in 20 minutes; but, we take half an hour. This is because not only does the line have to be set up, everything else has to be ready as well - the dough, the filling or the chocolate sticks, peelboards or trays must be available in a sufficient number, the oven trolleys must be ready, as well as the three to four employees who operate and load the machine. I prefer to be well prepared so that we can then work through without interruption. Once the machine is up and running, everything has to be right.”
Dough belt systems are multi-talented in the bakery, but complex at the same time. The plant manager says: “It is not enough to set the machine to one product and let it run. Doughs do not always behave the same way. Machine, processes, doughs - they all have to be coordinated. And most importantly, there must be an employee who knows the line inside out. It has to be his baby, so to speak.”
Making the stollenstrudel
Training is therefore significant for new acquisitions. When Ebbing put the new generation into operation, a master baker from Rondo came to the company for seven working days to set up the system and familiarize the employees with all the functions and programs. In the meantime, around 27 programs were stored. The dough band system operates autonomously and is controlled by a PLC. If new products are being tested, the bakery first uses existing programs as a guide and selects the closest match.
From one idea comes the next
The ‘Fülltupfen’ (vanilla pudding rosettes) is one of the products that the bakery has been producing on the Rondo line for some time now. “Once a week, we make filling dots, freeze them and use them as required for our Danish pastries,” reports Daniel Ebbing. “If we can deposit these fillings, we think, we will be able to proceed similarly with other masses.” For this reason, special filling spouts were purchased, with which the bakery now produces 35 g cookielike gingerbread cookies using the system.
The bakery has said goodbye to one idea: “In addition to the short pastry base, we initially also wanted to run the sponge base for the sheet cakes over the system,” says the company boss. “The plant itself can handle that. Our problem was more that, with the quantities that would have to run through, we wouldn’t be able to keep up with the beating of the sponge mixture.”
Room for improvement
The bakery does not use machine hourly rates or similar calculations for the dough belt system. There is no question that it is profitable. “Theoretically, we could shorten the weekly production to four days by using the line, which means we could save one day,” explains the plant manager. In fact, he says, that has already been done. “But then, it impacts elsewhere. We lack the space and the freezer capacity. In that respect, it doesn’t serve our purpose.” Daniel Ebbing adds: “The plant could do more, we know that. But, in my opinion, it’s much more important to have a smooth workflow than to get everything we can out of it. Only if we can work without stress can we achieve the product quality we want and the low reject rates we want and reach. If the plant then still offers room for improvement, and it does, we are already pretty well-positioned for the future.”
*The sausage roll is a hearty puff pastry filled with seasoned minced meat.
Seven steps to a stress-free dough band
In seven steps, the Smartline processes doughs into regular, stress-free dough bands and feeds subsequent pastry lines. Regardless of the type of dough, the process remains the same. Each type of dough has different requirements. Soft doughs with high water content, e.g. for the production of ciabatta and long-fermented bread, may only be processed for a short time so that the pore structure and aroma created during the proofing process are retained. Conversely, firm doughs such as non-pre-proofed yeast doughs or toured flaky cake and croissant doughs must be gently and slowly rolled off to preserve the structure and layers. According to Rondo, the system can cope with both, thanks in no small part to its centerpiece, the tilting satellite head. If the position of the satellite is changed, the rolling distance and thus the intensity and duration of the dough contact are altered. + With soft doughs, it is optimal to position the satellite behind the bottom roller. This results in a steep and thus short rolling section. + Optimal conditions for firm doughs are created when the satellite head is placed vertically above the bottom roller.
This creates a flat, long and gentle rolling section and, according to the company, a good intake at the same time. Almost all baked goods, except for round pastries such as sliced rolls in the bread roll area, can be produced on the Smartline. According to Rondo, the dough belt system is now also used in some companies for large breads weighing 1,000 grams. It is suitable for 24/7 production and achieves belt speeds of up to 8 m/min. The latest generation has been further improved in terms of hygiene, has almost no drop heights and works with the latest motor technology and PLC. It is even more flexible in terms of products, says Rondo.
THE BAKERY
That's typical Ebbing
+Coesfeld in the Münsterland region is home to the headquarters of the Ebbing bakery, which employs around 400 people and operates 38 branches within a 40 km radius. It is an agricultural region north of the Ruhr area with people who are generally said to be straightforward and down-to-earth. For the bakery, which has many regular customers, this means not chasing after every trend, but instead relying on routine, well-thought-out craftsmanship. Plant manager Dirk Löhrmann: “The Münsterländer doesn’t need something new every time. He wants consistency and wants his product of the quality he is familiar with. If someone buys a product for years, then he can also define the quality. Therefore, we must not deviate from our standards.” For some products, the bakery has a unique selling point. The stollenstrudel, the chocolate roll and the sausage roll are prime examples. He goes on to say: “They are also typical Ebbing in terms of taste.” The company’s top 10 products include sliced rolls, which make up 8% of sales, as well as grain rolls, the multigrain bread called Ebbing, chocolate croissants (more precisely chocolate rolls), apple pie and even the pretzel breadstick, which is rather unusual for a company that is located so far north in Germany. The company boss puts snack sales at around 25%. Daniel Ebbing: “Bakery snacks are important, even if business slowed down last year due to COVID. By the way, we are swimming against the trend in production. We do have a central stocking department, but it only covers the basic products. We fill in the rest fresh in the specialty stores. We do things differently.” Pizza is also part of the concept, as well as homemade pasta. +++
Part of the concept: guests are able to toast bread by themselves
