König: Flatbreads – an industrial approach to artisan values

An industrial approach to artisan values

With flatbreads growing more and more popular, dedicated production lines focus on delivering premium quality results. When developing its flatbread line, König focused on replicating artisan-like characteristics.

+König has developed two new turnkey solutions that are specifically tailored to manufacturing flatbreads: the cross-sheeted pizza line and the new Pinsa Romana line are aimed at condensing its bakery equipment knowledge in tailored industrial lines for special products.

König Technology Projektmanagement GmbH was set up within the König group a few years ago to delve into the design and building of special projects. Nicola Perbellini Head of König Technology Projektmanagement Italy says, “In some cases, like these two lines, the focus has been on the peculiarity of the product and the need to compose a specific line that is able to offer an industrial approach to a specific artisan recipe”.

Cross-sheeted pizza line

The pizza market has continuously grown over the last 30 years. Besides traditional recipes, numerous variations and hybrid concepts have appeared on the market. The Cross Sheeted Pizza Line proposed by König respects the initial preparation of a traditional Italian pizza. It was designed to accurately support artisan recipes, with no dough scrapes in the process and with a hygienic design.

The line comprises the following types of equipment for the main process steps: dough mixer, divider and rounder, proofer, cross-sheeting section, sauce depositor, oven, topping station and freezing spiral. The well-known REX Dividing & Rounding machine can be found in this line’s setup, which “has been recognized over the last 30 years as the reference machine for this job and creates the right starting point for a top product, both in terms of quality and weight precision,” says König. After the dough proofing module, a cross-sheeting section handles the make-up part of the line, where the target thickness with the desired dough structure is reached. “Here, a slight irregularity factor in the circular shape will even add an artisan touch to the product,” König highlights.

The SDD EOS oven is König’s solution for the baking needs of these kinds of products, to help the products measure up to the artisan quality of an Italian pizza. It can be set to run at very high temperatures of up to 900°C on the radiant surface, which are key to baking pizza and flatbreads, along with the corresponding energy flux. The tomato sauce depositor and topping equipment are provided in cooperation with a partner supplier and a freezing spiral completes the line. This turnkey solution can come in different layouts and sizes.

Cross-sheeted pizza line composition

1. Dough mixing 2. REX Dividing & Rounding 3. Proofing 4. Cross-sheeting section 5. Tomato depositor 6. SDD EOS high-temperature oven 7. Topping 8. Freezing spiral

Pinsa Romana Line

Pinsa Romana is an example of an artisan bakery product using a dough made with a combination of soy, rice and wheat flour, a healthy alternative to traditional pizza. It is expanding its market from its origins in Rome thanks to its lightness and organoleptic characteristics. Transferring this traditional recipe and the experience of a master baker’s hand in curing the dough, while avoiding additives to industrial volumes is a challenge for industrial baking technology. König says that Roman bakers approved the solution developed by the Austrian company.

The line features solutions for dough mixing, dough resting, dividing and rounding, board handling, proofing, manual make-up and oil spraying, baking, spiral freezing and conveying. CERES is the machine used for dividing, as it is suitable for all doughs, including those typically artisan products with extremely high-water content and long resting times. The CERES protects the dough structure and has a high level of accuracy in dividing pieces of the required weight. “The way the dough is handled from hopper to weighing and cutting unit is unique. For a product like Pinsa Romana, this is the key to getting the correct production process,” König explains. Pinsa Romana is another hightemperature baking product, which is why the SDD EOS oven is also included in this line. A freezing spiral and a buffering conveyor complete the Pinsa Romana line.

It was designed to provide similar product and processrelated advantages to the cross-sheeted pizza line, focusing on custom-made solutions that help automate the production of artisan recipes, with a hygienic design and no wasted dough. +++

Pinsa Romana Line setup

Composition of the line: 1. Dough mixing 2. Dough dividing 3. Dough resting 4. CERES dividing and rounding 5. Board handling system 6. Step proofer 7. Manual make-up and oil spraying 8. SDD EOS high-temperature oven 9. Freezing spiral 10. Buffering conveyor

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