Cetravac: Fast, flexible and sustainable

Fast, flexible and sustainable

+The Swiss company Cetravac AG is regarded as the technology leader when it comes to the vacuum conditioning of baked goods. It is now revolutionizing in-store baking with the UDO vacuum oven. ‘Out of stock’ has implications in terms of sales revenue, and too many discarded goods harm the reputation of a business that is operating sustainably. That’s why chain stores and retail baking stations alike are faced with the dilemma of how supply and demand can be matched as closely as possible. Two problems require solutions: the baking process has to start before the actual demand is known, and both chain stores and the retail have a drastic shortage of competent staff. The magic words to solve these problems are digitization, automation and an oven like the UDO. Cetravac’s UDO vacuum oven brings several decisive advantages at the same time for in-store baking and is ideally suited to be included in an automation solution.

UDO supplies the plus for end-product quality.

UDO delivers fully baked goods, regardless of whether they reach the oven frozen, chilled or at room temperature. It then cools the products down in seconds until their shape is stable. It’s well known that fresh products from standard ovens initially drop into a chute and are subsequently

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squashed by the following items. The UDO prevents this. At the same time, UDO ensures that products retain their shape for several hours, and bread rolls don’t acquire a rubber-like consistency. UDO can also handle part loads. Baking is often required several times a day for restocking to ensure customers are not faced with empty shelves, and sometimes fully loading the oven doesn’t make sense. The more accurate the data about actual and expected sales, the more precisely the UDO can be controlled. The UDO also bakes single and even partly loaded trays in perfect quality either automatically or manually fed. There is no crossover of heat from unoccupied areas to the existing products. This is also true for mixed loads. UDO is faster. That is due to the process principle. UDO uses vacuum to remove air from the pores of the backed product and fills them with hot steam. This penetrates the dough’s structure, making it soft and succulent. Infrared and radiant heat simultaneously provide heating and browning. Both vary depending on the product, but always in no time at all. That’s how UDO delivers more finished products than any other oven with comparable goods. UDO loses no product weight. In every conventional baking process, the end product loses moisture, so consequently, its final weight is lower than the dough piece that was fed in. Not so with UDO. This is because, in contrast to other ovens, UDO not only contributes moisture brought in from outside to the product’s exterior but also forces it into each individual pore of the baked goods, thus imparting long-lasting succulence to the baked product.

UDO regenerates products stored at ambient

temperature, which have already undergone an aging process during storage, and it restores lost freshness by introducing steam directly into every pore of the crumb and crust. Starch retrogradation is largely reversed, and the original crispness of the crust texture and softness of the crumb are restored.

UDO delivers freshly baked bread with slicing

firmness. As a rule, baking-off partly baked bread in an in-store oven takes up so much time that capacity for all other products is limited, and consequently, another oven is needed. Not so with UDO, because its principle operates just as well and as quickly for bread and any other baked product. Air is taken out of the pores, steam is put in, with heat for the crust – and voilà, a finished loaf. Since the remoistening process eliminates starch retrogradation, consumers cannot distinguish the products from bread baked for the very first time. UDO cools the bread slightly, so it can be picked up and sliced. It stabilizes the structure internally and externally at the same time, so the slices neither smear nor stick together when cut. UDO can also bake off prepacked goods. The UDO’s ability to bake off prepacked goods is likely to be especially important for food retail. This allows a significant increase in freshness on the bread shelf while reducing dependence on daily fresh delivery service from bread factories. Baked goods can go to the outlets via a central warehouse without sacrificing any freshness. UDO, a heavyweight in the foodservice. Bakeries and baking stations can no longer survive without a snack offering. UDO heralds a new era here as well. Even with a heavy topping, its vacuum technology leavens the dough structure again and makes it crisp, which neither a circulating air oven nor a microwave can achieve. In addition to that, it is incomparably fast, and delivers baked goods cooled down to an ‘enjoyable eating temperature’. Cetravac offers the UDO vacuum oven in different variants and sizes to suit the profile requirements. With a view to digitizing and automating the entire bakery process from warehouse to presentation for sale, Cetravac has ensured the oven integration directly into the control of the overall process. This increases efficiency and saves users any possible problems with interfaces. +++

standard vacuum

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