PRODUCTION
Ideas from Mahot The principle of the forked kneader came from the Mahot machine factory and provided mechanization of dough preparation. It has since proved itself in practice – and is still used today. The reason behind this is the technological proximity to French traditional, © VMI
manual dough production.
+
The 19th century is quite rightly regarded as the time when mechanization gained momentum in many industries, as it promised to do away with tedious and laborious manual work. Some also hoped that it would protect people from unhygienic and unhealthy working conditions. In contrast to Northern and Eastern Europe, both France and Italy almost exclusively use wheat for bread baking. Compared to today, however, the flours available in earlier times were weak in gluten and therefore demanding to process. The manual kneading process was lengthy and had to be divided into different phases. These included the integration of the sourdough starter (levain-chef, madre) and the uneven feeding of the other raw materials. The doughs previously had to be mixed, kneaded, stretched, beaten and aerated, and rested repeatedly in between. Dough making, therefore, required not only time and muscle power but also intellect and sound education.
Enthusiasm from master bakers and dough makers for the first inventions of mechanical dough makers was nevertheless slow in coming, and not only because some feared
www.bakingbiscuit.com 05/2021
© VMI
38
Fork mixers are available with different vat sizes and different speeds, as well as stainless steel kneading forks
for their jobs. The practicality of the mechanization experiments and their savings potential were also seen as limited. But the loss of manpower due to the countless wars in which European countries on all continents were involved, and not least World War I, in which millions of young men lost their lives, prompted bakery entrepreneurs to look for support from machines.
