AU683868B2 - Bakery equipment - Google Patents

Description

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AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 p Name of Applicant Actual Inventor(s) Address for Service -reh;lPs fae+(n A++ -Cvel W11 101 Collins Mclbournc. Vc- 300 D996BAKER- .nr FT LT.

(AeN 000 040 017) 111 +Ae-e-ee-aw)- '11 PAUL EATON WILLETT Cffi2NT ADAMSZ C~FNZ Patent Trade Mar torneys re Level 9, National M al Centre, r 4 0 144 Edw Street, BRI E. QLD. 4000 REG 0 22.10 2 "BAKERY EQUIPMENT" Invention Title Details of Associated Provisional Applications Numbers PL7972 The following statement is a full description of the invention including the best method of performing it known to me.

THIS INVENTION relates to bakery equipm.nt.

In particular, the invention relates to bakery equipment particularly suitable for, but not limited to, the final baking of par-baked products.

In recent years, there has been a move towards par-baked bakery products where the products are approximately three-quarters baked, stored in a refrigerator or freezer and then finally baked at the retail outlets. The advantage of this is that the small retail outlets can sell freshly baked bakery products without the need for expensive bakery equipment or skilled bakers.

One disadvantage of this system is that it is not possible to produce products with glazed and/or crispy crusts. Because the final baking is carried out at temperatures in the range of, eg. 265-285°C, for approximately 4 minutes, any steam introduced to the oven will be very dry and so little glazing will be produced. It is not possible to simply wet the products before they are introduced to the oven as the water tends to soften and damage the :product.

15 Accordingly, there is a need for bakery equipment which produces a glazed and/or crispy crust during the final baking of par-baked products, preferably where the application of water to the product is to be controlled. It is also desirable if the equipment which does not require any specis-' .perational skills or training.

V *ooooo FIPMfECDi9632013.3 3 In one aspect, the present invention resides in bakery equipment, suitable for the final baking of par-baked products, including: an oven compartment having a floor and heating means under the floor; at least two water spray nozzles, each arranged to spray water through a respective selected zone of the compartment; water supply means to the spray nozzles; and 10 control means to selectively control the spray of water from the spray nozzles.

b'k":d Preferably, rack means, to support the parbaked products, are provided above the floor, the floor being preferably tilted downwardly towards the front of the compartment.

Preferably, the heating means are electric heating elements, eg. of U-shape view in plan.

Preferably, the heating means are controlled by thermostats and timers, these, in turn, being 20 preferably connected to computerised controls.

Preferably, a respective spray nozzle is provided at each side of the compartment, spaced above the floor (and the bakery products) and each is arranged to spray a selected zone covering approximately half the floor area of the compartment on the side of the compartment, spaced from the respective nozzle.

Preferably, the two zones overlap at the centre of the compartment.

Preferably, the control means includes respective solenoid operated valves for each spray nozzle, the solenoid valves being connected to timer means, preferably connected to computerised control means, to control the spraying time of the nozzles.

Preferably, the control means operates in a 4 sequence first nozzle on-second nozzle off/first nozzle off-second nozzle on/both nozzles off. This sequence may be repeated a number of times, eg. 3-4 times. Each nozzle may be on for, eg. 9 seconds, during each sequence, so the surface of the bakery product is dampened by the water, but the volume of water is not so great that it will run off the top of the bakery product.

In a second aspect, the present invention 10 resides in a method of making a glazed and/or crispy #fee crust on par-baked bakery products, including the step of: selectively spraying water onto the bakery product by the apparatus hereinbefore described.

To enable the invention to be fully understood, a preferred embodiment will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG 1 is a perspective view of the interior of an oven compartment in accordance with the present 20 invention; ~FIG 2 is a schematic circuit diagram of the water supply and spray system; and FIG 3 is a plan view showing a preferred spray pattern for the spray nozzles.

The oven compartment 10 has side walls, a top wall and a rear wall and at least one oven door (not shown).

A plurality of U-shaped electrical elements 11 are releasably mounted on the bottom wall 12 of the oven compartment by element supports 13. The element supports 13 are arranged in rows on the bottom wall 12 and have grooves to accommodate the parallel arm portions of the heating elements 11, each of which is formed with a U-bend, as indicated at lla, the heating elements having terminals (not shown) external to the compartment. The heating elements 11 are retained in the elements 13 by transverse rods received in aligned holes at posts 15 on the element supports. (The portions lb of the heating elements adjacent the terminals may be curved to ensure the side of the compartment floor 16 thereabove is heated to the temperature of the remainder of the floor, the curved portions lB compensating for the cold portions at or 10 closely adjacent the terminals.) The floor 16, i preferably of black steel, is tilted downwardly towards the front of the compartment, is corrugated to form a series of equally-spaced more or less rectangular ribs 17 alternating with channels 18. The floor is supported above the heating elements 12 by a number of pins 19 welded to the bottom wall 12, passing through holes in the floor 16 and fitted with washers and engaged by cotter pins.

A rack assembly 20 has a plurality of parallel 20 rods 21 supported on transverse bars 22, 23 which are of increasing depth, so the parallel rods form a horizontal support for the trays or containers for the par-baked products placed in the compartment.

At each side of the compartment, a vertical plate 24 welded or fixed to the floor 16 supports a respective spray nozzle 25 which has a horizontal spray pattern arranged to cover at least one half of the bakery products, supported on the rack 20, on the opposite side of the compartment to the nozzle, ie. see FIGS 2 and 3. (NB: As the nozzles tend to spray a greater volume of water as the distance from the nozzle increases, the volume of water sprayed in the central area of the oven compartment, where the two spray patterns overlap, is substantially equal to the volume of water sprayed to the sides of the compartment.) Each nozzle is connected by a suitable pipe 26 to a source of water 27 via respective solenoid controlled valves 28. Each solenoid controlled valve 28 is connected to a programmable computer unit 29.

The operation of the equipment will now be described.

The computer unit 29 is connected to the thermostat (not shown) controlling the operation of the 10 heating elements 11 and normally, the heating elements are switched on and off so that the temperature in the oven compartment is cycled between 265cC and 285cC.

Each supplier of par-baked products has a recommended temperature and time for the final baking of the products and this information is stored in the computer unit 29, each manufacturer's product being allocated a specific code, eg. bread rolls from Love Industriescode 31; bread rolls from Defiance Mills code When the operator is ready to carry out the 20 final baking of a product, he/she will enter the appropriate code into the computer unit and the computer unit will control the heating elements 11 to raise/lower oooe the compartment temperature to the required temperature, eg. 280°C, and will then provide a signal, eg. a synthesized voice, telling the operator that the oven compartment is ready for loading. (The operator will then have, eg. 30 seconds to load the bakery products into the compartment and close the compartment door.) The computer unit operates one of the solenoid valves 28 to switch on its nozzle 25 for, eg. 8-10 seconds and water is sprayed onto the bakery products in the other side of the compartment. That nozzle 25 is switched off and then the other nozzle 25 is switched on for the same period to wet the remaining bakery products. Both nozzles are switched off, eg. for 8-10 seconds and the cycle is repeated, eg. 3 or 4 times.

As will be appreciated, a. small amount of water is sprayed onto each individual bakery product to dampen the surface of the bakery product, but not damage the surface, and so the glaze and/or crispy crust is progressively formed on each product during the periods when both nozzles are off.

In a test unit, good results were obtained 10 using a sequence, as follows first nozzle on 9 Sseconds-second nozzle on 9 seconds/second nozzle offfirst nozzle off/second nozzle on 9 seconds-both nozzles off 9 seconds/first nozzle on 9 second-second nozzle off-first nozzle off/second nozzle on 9 seconds-both nozzles off 9 seconds, and repeated (ie. 4 spraying/heat cycles). The different products were final baked for approximately 4 minutes in the temperature ranges of 265°C to 285°C, as recommended by the suppliers of the par-baked bakery products and high acceptable glazes 20 were produced.

It will be readily apparent to the skilled addressee that the equipment, and its method of operation, provide a simple and efficient means of providing a glaze and/or crispy crust to par-baked products; where the provision of the computer controlled means enables the products to be baked by unskilled operators, who only have to enter the product code into the computer and load and unload the products when instructed by the computer.

While a single compartment has been shown, the bakery equipment may be provided with two or more such compartments, and each may have its own computer control unit, so that the compartments may complete the final baking of a number of different par-baked products, the operator inserting the appropriate code for the products based in each compartment.

Various changes and modifications may be made to the embodiments described and illustrated without departing from the present invention.

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Claims (11)

1. Bakery equipment, suitable for the final baking of par-baked products, including: an oven compari-nent having a floor; heating means under the floor to heat the oven compartment; at least two water spray nozzles, each arranged to spray water through a respective selected zone of the compartment; water supply means to spray nozzles; control means to selectively control the spray of water from the spray nozzles; and rack means adapted to support the par-baked products, the rack means being located above the floor and such that the par-baked products are supported in at least part of one or more of the selected zones.

2. Bakery equipment according to claim 1 wherein: a respective spray nozzle is provided at each side of the compartment above the floor and each nozzle is arranged to spray a selected zone covering approximately half the compartment on the opposite side of the compartment from the respective nozzle.

3. Bakery equipment according to claim 1 or 2 wherein: rack means extends substantially across the floor and is spaced from the floor.

4. Bakery equipment, according to any one of claims 1 to 3 wherein: the two selected zones overlap at the centre of the compartment.

Bakery equipment according to any one of claims 1 to 4 wherein: the floor is tilted downy ardly towards the front of the compartment.

6. Bakery equipment according to any one of claims 1 to 5 wherein: the heating means are electric heating elements, of U-shape in plan. D\97219009.0

7. Bakery equipment according to claim 6 wherein: the heating means are controlled by thermostats and timers, these, in turn, being connected to computerised controls.

8. Bakery equipment according to any one of claims 1 to 7 wherein: the control means includes respective solenoid operated valves being connected to timer means, connected to computerised control means, to control the spraying time of the nozzles.

9. Bakery equipment according to claim 7 or 8 wherein: the control means operate the spray nozzles in a repeated sequence of first nozzle on-second nozzle off; then first nozzle off-second nozzle on; then both nozzLs cff, each nozzle being on for'several seconds during each sequence such that the surface of the bakery product is dampened by the water and the volume of water is not so great that it will, in use, run off the top of the par-baked product. o i

10. A method of making a glazed and/or crispy crust on par-baked bakery products, 15 including the step of: selectively spraying water onto the bakery product by the apparatus claimed in any one of claims 1 to 9.

11. Bakery equipment substantially as herein described and with reference to, or with ,.o S° reference to and as illustrated by, the accompanying drawings. Moffat Pty Limited By its Registered Patent Attorneys F* Freehills Patent Attorneys 9 April 1997 o IP CD 7020.1 0 I'PMELCDW7O702.l ABSTRACT Bakery apparatus for the final baking of par- baked products has a pair of spray nozzles which are controlled to spray water onto the products in a controlled sequence so as to dampen the surface of the product but not wet it. Each nozzle sprays towards the opposite sid- of the baking compartment, which is heated by electric heating elements. e o M