More baking cycles and higher temperature

Sasa Demarle Groupe introduces a new silicone coating for bakeware. baking+biscuit international talked with Mr. Pierre Escarbelt , Sales & Marketing Director of the Industrial Business Unit of The SASA Demarle Group about the advantages.

+bbi: Dear Mr. Escarbelt, SASA is promoting at the iba a new silicone coating, called iNFiNiUM 6001. Can you please indicate to us, what the difference is between this new coating and existing silicones?

+ Escarbelt: SASA, well known for its state-of-the-art silicone coating iNFiNiUM ® 601 specially designed and manufactured for industrial bakers, has developed a new generation of silicone – the iNFiNiUM ® 6001 – with greatly improved characteristics, whether on abrasion or on temperatures, for reducing the CAPEX and OPEX of the industrial bakers as described above.

The iNFiNiUM ® 6001 can withstand more than 5,000 baking cycles whereas the previous iNFiNiUM ® 601 could reach 3,500 baking cycles in the same operating conditions. The iNFiNiUM ® 6001 can also withstand operating temperature up to 260°C, easily competing with other type of non-stick coating chemical formula (e.g. PTFE or PFA), whereas the iNFiNiUM ® 601 was limited to 240°C.

+ bbi: What kind of bakeware can this coating can be used for?

+ Escarbelt: Non-stick coatings have a limited lifetime, depending on many ageing parameters, such as temperature and mechanical wear (abrasion). In heavy duty environments, typically the use of non-stick coatings on automatic baking lines for bakery and pastry, the progressive loss of non-stick characteristics of the baking trays will first engender production losses, which can be massive until the replacement of the trays by new or renovated ones.

The iNFiNiUM ® 6001 is intended to be used in heavy duty environments such as automatic baking lines for bakery and pastry where the lifetime is of utmost importance.

SASA Demarle uses the iNFiNiUM ® 6001 on all stamped trays, fluted trays, soft trays and tin straps for intensive industrial use.

+ bbi: Does it work for sweet dough with raisins and sugar?

+ Escarbelt: The iNFiNiUM ® 6001 is a very versatile non-stick coating, which can be used with many recipes, e.g. French baguette, brioche, milk bread, croissants, madeleines, sugary products, glazed products, etc. It adds the non-slip capability to the non-stick property, which is keeping the baked products perfectly in place. The iNFiNiUM ® 6001 can be used to produce industrially cakes with raisins & sugar.

+ bbi: Have there been any scientific tests carried out and you can publish these results?

+ Escarbelt: SASA Demarle has its own chemical labs and chemical engineering team. We have conducted scientific tests internally. Since there is NO standard test sets existing on the market, we have written our own internal procedures. We are not willing to publish these results since they cannot be compared to what another lab can do (no standard tests).

+ bbi: Up to which oven temperature can the bakeware with the new coating withstand?

+ Escarbelt: The iNFiNiUM® 6001 can withstand more than 5,000 baking cycles whereas the previous iNFiNiUM ® 601 could reach 3,500 baking cycles in the same operating conditions. The iNFiNiUM ® 6001 can also withstand operating temperature up to 260°C, easily competing with other type of non-stick coating chemical formula (e.g. PTFE or PFA), whereas the iNFiNiUM ® 601 was limited to 240°C. In order to even further optimize the efficiency of the new silicone, SASA has changed the colour from light grey to charcoal grey, giving the iNFiNiUM ® 6001 an improved thermal performance.

+ bbi: Are there any restriction about how often the trays and tins can be recoated with iNFiNiUM ® 6001?

+ Escarbelt: Trays and tins coated with iNFiNiUM ® 6001 can be recoated 3 to 4 times (from experience). The recoating is only limited by the wear of the metal sheet, which can become too thin for re-use. Compared to other coatings (PTFE, PFA), the cleaning before recoating is softer for the metal.

+ bbi: What about the price of the new silicone compared to usual solution from SASA and the price of recoating?

+ Escarbelt: The price of trays coated with the iNFiNiUM ® 6001 is slightly higher than the previous iNFiNiUM ® 601 but it has a better Return-on-Investment (ROI) thanks to its much longer lifetime. It is always a more competitive offer than the PTFE or PFA that are more expensive.

+ bbi: Where is the silicone produced, where is the recoating center located and how long does it take to recoat the tins and pans?

+ Escarbelt: The silicone has been fully designed in our own chemical labs and is produced on our brand-new silicone reactor, in Le Cateau-Cambrésis, France. SASA Demarle has made an investment of more than 1 million Euros in a new workshop. SASA Demarle is the only supplier of non-stick baking trays across the industry worldwide to produce its own silicone specially made for bakeware. The recoating center is in Le Cateau-Cambrésis, France only. There are very stringent environmental rules that we strictly follow for the removal of the used silicone coating and for the waste treatment.

+ bbi: What will be the most important benefit for the baking industry - quality improvement, cost saving, hygiene or improvement of line efficiency?

+ Escarbelt: The replacement of non-stick baking trays on automatic line is a costly maintenance procedure on many aspects: availability rate of the line, handling of heavy pieces, costs of coating renovation and logistic costs. Hence, the first benefit is the extended lifetime of the coating, which improves the line efficiency. The quality of the end product and the hygiene remain unchanged compared to the previous iNFiNiUM ® 601, meaning that it is as good as what it was before.

+ bbi: Thank you for the interview. +++