VACuum technology
Screw type technology
Vacuum conquers the bakery
Klaus Buhlmann
Baking is one of the oldest activities
in the field of artisan food prepara-
tion. Flat bread was produced from
ground grain and water as early as
8,000 years ago. By comparison,
vacuum technology is relatively
new. Technically speaking, a vacu-
um was first generated in the 17th
century, and is today an inherent
and essential part of industrial
practice. Our highly technical world
needs vacuum. New technical
developments and innovations such
as smartphones would not be pos-
sible without vacuum technology.
42 PROCESS TECHNOLOGY & COMPONENTS 2015
Crispy crust, loose crumb
Vacuum technology is now also bring-
ing innovation to the industrially-
oriented baking trade. The cooling
of baked goods is being revolution-
ised. In comparison to conventionally
cooled baked goods, the advantage of
a vacuum-cooled bread is clear from
the very first touch. The crust is crispy,
the crumb loose. Through the exten-
sion of the so-called crusting process,
the volume consistency of the baked
goods also increased a fact that results
in a crust that is stable for longer and
brittle, yet soft. This is of advantage as
many baked goods tend to loose their
form in environments with higher air
humidity. A stable volume is not only a
win in terms of quality for the custom-
er; it also offers an advantage over the
competition in terms of appearance
when the baked goods on display not
only smell delicious but also look at-
tractive and entice shoppers to make
a purchase.
Fewer bacteria in the vacuum
Alongside the advantages to the pur-
chaser that are evident upon first
glance, there are a few other impor-
tant aspects to be considered: By ac-
Fig. 1: Vacuum-conditioned bakery products convince through a uniform crumb as well as a
larger and dimensionally stable volume
celerating the process, the time win-
dow for the development of bacteria is
shortened. In vacuum cooling, the criti
cal temperature range for the growth
of mould spores, from 60C to 30C,
is cut to two to three minutes, rather
than two hours as was previously the
case. Cooling in an enclosed chamber
also simultaneously serves as a sluice
between production and packaging
and significantly reduces the risk of
airborne bacterial attack and the re-
sulting spore formation. This means
that there is no need for a costly steri-
lisation process following packaging in
order to resist the formation of spores.
Only pure air and protective gas could
further extend the shelf life.
Compact dimensions,
more effective area
There are other applications of vac-
uum cooling in baking. Compared to
conventional air cooling, the com-
pact dimensions of a vacuum cooling
system results in a significant space-
saving up to one tenth of the floor
space previously used. A simple condi-
tioning chamber has a chamber size of
around just 120 x 100 centimetres and
is approximately 2 metres tall. Vacuum
pumps or switch cabinets are function-
Photo: CETRAVAC

Fig. 2: Batch unit for vacuum conditioning: oven racks enable quick loading.
ally integrated into the system, di-
rectly alongside the chamber. The
recovered effective space can then
be used for additional productions
capacities within the company.
Breads of various types and sizes
can be cooled to 30C within just
five to ten minutes.
The bakery thus not only
benefits from an improvement in
quality, but also from increased
productivity. The new cooling
technology drastically reduces the
original cooling phase. Meanwhile,
the baked goods are optimally
conditioned for the following edi
ting steps slicing and packaging.
The systems commonly used to-
day are designed for a rack trolley
with a sheet size of 60 x 100 cen-
timetres. Depending on the pro
duct, up to twelve batches or 400
500 kilograms of baked dough can
be conditioned each hour. By com-
parison, cooling in ambient air can
last several hours. Vacuum-cooled
baked goods are more quickly and
better prepared for the further
processing chain.
Vacuum conditioning improves
the quality of baked goods
The main technical challenges
in the vacuum conditioning of
VACUUM TECHNOLOGY
Screw type technology
Future conveying
Hygienic pumps
optimized for efficiency
Photo: CETRAVAC
baked goods are two-fold: On the
one hand the system manufactu
rers are required to take the many
different bread types in Europe
into consideration in particu-
lar those in the German-spea
king world. Baked goods are not
just baked goods. They all differ.
This does not refer merely to the
different names used in various
regions and dialects. Brtchen,
Rggelchen, Semmel, Strippe or,
in Swabia, the Seele all have dif-
ferent recipes and are made with
the most varied range of ingredi-
ents. If one broadens one's view
from the host of typical German GEA Tuchenhagen offers a complete portfolio
breakfast breads to include all of of normal and self-priming centrifugal pumps
the types of bread found in Euro exactly tailored to your needs.
pean baking culture, the differen
ces between various baked goods Lowest energy and detergent consumption
becomes even more evident: crois Gentle product handling
sant, baguette, roggenbrot or Flow rates from 1 m/h to 210 m/h
hefezopf with raisins the unique EHEDG certified
quality of all of the recipes and
properties are reflected in the
equipment control system used.
The equipment manufacturer GEA Tuchenhagen GmbH
must program the corresponding Am Industriepark 2 10, 21514 Bchen, Germany
cooling sequences for the respec- Phone +49 4155 49-0, sales.geatuchenhagen@gea.com
www.gea.com
tive baked goods into the equip-
ment control system. This requires
engineering for a better world
specific baking expertise and years
of experience. Here vacuum tech-
nology has almost as much influ-
PROCESS TECHNOLOGY & COMPONENTS 2015
GEA_AZ_Pumpe_92x250mm_dt_engl_4c_RZ.indd 2
43
09.02.15 19:20
VACuum technology
Screw type technology
Photo: CETRAVAC
Half-baked conditioned Kaiser rolls
Photo: CETRAVAC
with simple packaging can be transported
to the bakery branch
Photo: CETRAVAC
where baking will be completed.
ence over the quality of the goods as
the baking recipe itself.
The vacuum conditioning of baked
goods is also ideally suited for the
bakery or point of sale concept com-
monly found today. Baking generally
takes place at a decentralised location
outside of the town or city. The baked
goods are then delivered to points of
sale in the city or in shopping malls.
The customer's expectation of being
able to buy fresh and warm bread rolls
at any time of day can be optimally
fulfilled with the help of vacuum con-
ditioning.
Lower logistics and
storage costs
The key here is so-called pre-baking.
Pre-baked goods are conditioned
using a vacuum and can then be deli
vered to the points of sale without in-
44 PROCESS TECHNOLOGY & COMPONENTS 2015
tensive cooling, where they can then
be stored for up to four days. Thus,
deliveries are often made to several
branches of a business, spanning large
distances. As a result of vacuum condi-
tioning, the products survive delivery
to the branches undamaged, without
packaging, even in the most varied of
weather conditions. In the bakery, the
baking of the vacuum-conditioned
baked goods is then simply finished
off, with baking times reduced on ac-
count of the goods being pre-baked.
Through the use of the so-called in-
terrupted baking method, and that
the deep-cooling logistics and storage
previously required within the baking
factory and the retail branches, energy
consumption can be significantly re-
duced. The overall energy and logistics
costs are thus reduced. The shortened
baking process is also much more con-
venient for staff, as exhaust air and
heat generation are significantly re-
duced. The customer can therefore en-
joy fresh, warm bread with the perfect
shape around the clock , instant in-
dulgence, in keeping with the modern
lifestyle.
Cooling times reduced, condensa-
tion prevented
The second major technical challenge
lies in the technical design of the vacu
um cooling and conditioning system.
Fig. 3: Two-chamber conditioning unit with optimally integrated oil-free vacuum pumps
during assembly.
Here the principle of vacuum cooling
is used. At atmospheric pressure, wa-
ter boils at 100C. If the atmosphe
ric pressure is reduced, the boiling
point also falls. If the pressure lies
at 42 mbar, water evaporates at just
30C. The energy required for the wa-
ter to boil is drawn from the baked
product, which is still almost oven-
warm. Depending on the product,
standard cooling times are between 2
and 6 minutes. During this time, the
baked good cools evenly across the
entire product. The uniform extrac-
tion of the water content also pre-
vents possible condensation in the
baked good itself, a process often also
referred to as gelatinisation. This in
turn results in an increase in quality
for the bread-lover.
The hot (warm) steam produced
as a result of the process poses a chal-
lenge in the technical design of the
vacuum cooling and conditioning
system. What is more, the steam is
not pure but is rather contaminated
with baking ingredients such as flour,
yeast, sugar and salt. This is vitally im-
portant when selecting the vacuum
pump technology. No vacuum pump
would withstand contamination with
steam and a mushy, sticky-sweet
mass in the long-term, and the use of
a liquid ring pump should be avoided.
In principle these technologies would
be ideal, but here the dependency of
Photo: CETRAVAC

the final pressure on the water tem-
perature is not conducive to the pro
cess. Ultimately, this raises the ques-
tion as to whether to use a pump with
classic, oil-sealed rotary slide techno
logy or modern, oil-free screw tech-
nology. At this point it is difficult to
name a preference. In principle, both
pumps are suitable, however the de-
sign of the vacuum cooling system is
decisive in making the choice.
The trend points towards dry,
screwtype technology
Smooth operation comes down to
the skill of the equipment manufac-
turer in implementing the correct
measures when it comes to operation
and servicing, in order to protect the
pump of choice from the mixture of
steam and baking ingredients. If you
consider the vacuum cooling systems
available on the market, there is, how-
ever, a notable trend towards the use
of oil-free screw technology. This is
without doubt on account of the fact
that modern screw pumps with fre-
quency converters can be optimal-
ly combined and integrated with the
equipment control system in a com-
pact manner. With regard to noise
emissions, these screw pumps also
offer the comfort of low-noise opera-
tion. Hygiene regulations in food pro-
duction also take this factor into ac-
qdospumps.com/de
+49 2183 42040 / info@watson-marlow.de
VACUUM TECHNOLOGY
Screw type technology
Photo: Oerlikon Leybold Vacuum
Fig. 4: Modern oil-free, screw-type vacuum pumps with integrated frequency converter are
most appropriate for vacuum conditioning of bakery products
count. Many baking companies shun material and energy consumption is
frequent oil changes, which also come huge. The technical and financial pre-
with associated costs. requisites to market penetration are
thus undoubtedly fulfilled.
Profitable vacuum
But this is set to change: Upon closer
consideration of the new baking tech-
nology, it becomes clear that when it
comes to the use of a vacuum, equip-
ment manufacturers, producers,
bakeries and consumers all reap equal Author:
benefit. They all benefit from an in- Klaus Buhlmann
crease in quality and productivity, and Market Segment Industry
the potential for improvement with Oerlikon Leybold Vacuum GmbH,
regard to production times, infrastruc- Kln
ture personnel, logistics costs and raw
Accurate, versatile
chemical pumps
C
 ut chemical costs through
higher accuracy metering
S
 imple drop-in installation
eliminates ancillary equipment
R
 ange expanded to include the
Qdos 60: flow rates from 0.1 to
1,000 ml/min at 7 bar
Fully sealed for
l i f e , o n e minute
tool-free maintenance
REVOLUTIONARY PERISTALTIC PUMPHEAD
PROCESS TECHNOLOGY & COMPONENTS 2015 45