Scaling your gourmet cookie production with Reiser

A gourmet cookie is defined by the high-quality ingredients used to make it. But what about the equipment? For small retail bakeries looking to reduce time and labor costs with automation, or medium operations looking to scale without compromising on quality, how can you maintain a handmade, artisanal feel to your cookies?

That’s where Reiser comes in. With customizable bakery solutions from Reiser, you can add automation to your gourmet cookie processing and packaging at your own pace. The bakers in our dedicated food technology group understand that no two gourmet cookie recipes are the same. They can help you navigate your unique needs based on cookie ingredients, inclusions, toppings, and even the size and layout of your kitchen.

What makes gourmet cookies great?

Gourmet cookies have a high-quality taste, texture, and look as compared to their mid-range counterparts. Using a higher percentage of quality ingredients in your formulation is what makes a gourmet cookie stand out. Every ingredient is critical and plays an important role in developing a desirable mouthfeel and taste. Flour is going to impact the cookie’s mouthfeel and tenderness more than any other ingredient. Butter is almost always used to create a tender texture and rich taste.

Sweeteners and inclusions will make the biggest impact when it comes to taste, though. One of the highest percentage ingredients in the formula, sugar can be used in many forms such as granulated cane, light or dark brown, powdered, or inverts as well. All will impact the sweetness level along with tenderness and spread of your cookie. Inclusions, of course, can really help gourmet cookies shine.

Perfecting the gourmet cookie-making process

Bakers who opt for the highest quality ingredients for their gourmet cookies may want to offset labor costs through automation, or scale their production without losing the artisanal quality that their customers have come to expect. All of Reiser’s custom solutions for bakers are designed with these considerations in mind, but how do you know which machines are right for your gourmet cookie processing and packaging needs?

Cookie production at the retail level involves mixing, finishing, portioning, baking, and packaging stages, typically carried out by a two- to- four-person team. During these periods, bakers must stay on schedule while managing variables — such as time and temperature — that could impact the cookie’s quality. With so many details to focus on, it’s imperative to find ways to streamline employees’ tedious tasks.

Keeping inclusions intact during gourmet cookie production

The portioning stage is a time-consuming step that can hold back the production process. Most bakeries rely on hand scooping methods, especially if their recipe calls for inclusions. Consumers today want large chocolate chunks, caramel pieces, nuts, or dried fruits in their cookies. While scaling up production, bakers must strive to keep them intact while portioning so that consumers can see them in and on the surface of the cookie. While hand scooping may seem like the safest and most cost-effective option to keep these nuggets of flavor and texture whole, this technique is prone to slow, inconsistent portioning that can diminish production speed.

To be able to meet orders on time and avoid errors, many bakers are moving away from hand scooping and turning to depositors for their gourmet cookie dough, which can automate the activity and give operations more control over the weight and integrity of the product. These machines take the guesswork out of portioning and deposit mixed dough uniformly onto baking surfaces to create high-quality cookies that are oven-ready.

Crafting uniform gourmet cookies that maintain their artisanal quality

Reiser offers a wide range of versatile Vemag cookie dough depositors to support operations of all sizes as they grow. For bakers looking to scale up from hand scooping, the Vemag 500 is an efficient machine that boasts high throughput, precise portioning, and flexibility all while reducing labor costs. The machine’s unique dough delivery system, which includes an infeed system that assists in filling our patented doublescrew technology, assures gentle handling, even with large inclusions and heavy doughs.

The depositor drops cookies onto a conveyor while an operator works near the end picking up the product and placing them onto a cookie pan. For even greater output, the same Vemag 500 system can be upgraded with an indexing conveyor and a panning conveyor. This combination really speeds production up as the cookies are automatically deposited directly onto pans.

The Vemag has a variety of different inserts and shapes and cutting devices that can be used to create unique cookies. A wire cutting device can be used for sugar and shortbread-type cookies, while a guillotine cutting device can be used to enhance particulates in the finished cookie. With many businesses adding large inclusions to their products, it is crucial to retain the ingredients’ form. Bakers may opt for inclusions as large as half-inch by half-inch chunks into cookies. Others use whole caramel or nuts. In a typical rotary head depositor, you can’t put those types of large inclusions in the dough because the inclusions get stuck in the rotary head. The Vemag’s doublescrew technology properly feeds the dough without breaking down the inclusion.

Regulating time and temperature during gourmet cookie production

Time and temperature are two of the most important variables in baking. By accounting for both of these variables, bakers can ensure that they will produce the same premium cookie they are known for while operating in a more streamlined manner.

When hand scooping, the dough has to be warmer and softer, but will ultimately result in excessive spread. A depositor can help offset this challenge by operating at a consistent temperature, which allows the cookie to maintain its integrity. Depositors function best with a dough at a specific temperature, typically on the colder end. Bakers may need to change mixing stages and how ingredients are being added to get a desired temperature.

Time is another important variable to consider when scaling up. To meet order deadlines, businesses rely on their employees to keep production moving quickly and efficiently. Staff typically dictate output, and staying on pace can become difficult when hand scooping cookies. The Vemag reduces portioning times because it determines production speed. Bakeries can go from 30 cookies per minute to 80 per minute with a single-lane depositor. Throughput will increase, and operations can add attachments that boost production.

Reiser offers unparalleled service and support in creating gourmet cookies

Leasing or purchasing gourmet cookie production and packaging equipment from Reiser is just the beginning of our professional relationship, not the end of it. Between our dedicated service and support teams and our expansive network of technicians, we partner with our customers to help them grow and ensure their evolving needs are being met at every step of the way.

Once we have found the solution that works best for you in creating the perfect cookie, we install it for free and make sure that your team knows how to use it. We know that a problem with your gourmet cookie production and packaging equipment can result in a serious disruption to your business. Reiser has a team of technicians stationed throughout the country to ensure fast and efficient service. Our extensive inventory allows us to ship parts overnight to keep your business running.

Reiser is your partner in scaling your gourmet cookie production

At Reiser, we pride ourselves on being more than just a supplier of machines. We partner with our customers to find solutions that meet their current needs and account for their future growth. Whether you have a small retail bakery that can benefit from automation, or a medium operation looking to scale without compromising on quality, we have the solutions and expertise to meet your goals and the unparalleled service to help you succeed.

Contact Reiser today to learn more about how we can help you craft the perfect gourmet cookie.

Post Provided by

Jim Fontaine

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