How Are Cakes Produced Commercially?

When it comes to mass producing cakes for the commercial market, industrial bakeries generally follow certain standard processes for achieving the desired results. To know how these cakes are produced commercially, read this article.

Commercial baking firms generally turn out about billions of food items every day. Since it is necessary for all of the products to be uniform in shape, size and appearance to pass quality regulation tests, most bakeries make use of various automatic equipment like fillers, mixers and ovens for processing high volumes of consistent products. Manufacturers also use additives and preservatives for achieving uniform appearance and long shelf life.

When it comes to mass producing cakes for the commercial market, industrial bakeries generally follow certain standard processes for achieving the desired results. Let’s have a look at some of the most important steps:

Ingredients Involved

Commercial cakes are usually made using a batter prepared from fat, wheat flour, eggs, sugar, water, milk powder, flavourings, raising agents (sodium carbonate) and preservatives (sulphur dioxide). The ingredients are mixed thoroughly using either the flour or sugar batter methods. Nowadays, a method known as ‘all-in-one’ is also being used popularly, which combines all ingredients simultaneously except fruit.

Mixing Batter

A commercial mixer is generally used for mixing the batter, which keeps beating the mixture for about 10 minutes even after all the ingredients have combined thoroughly. As a result, air gets trapped inside the batter, which hikes up the effectivity of the raising agent. At the end, the batter is poured into mould for baking. A small amount of oil gets automatically sprayed inside the mould before the batter is filled into it via an automated dosing system.

Baking

Once full, all the moulds are taken through the automatic oven via a conveyor belt. The humidity and temperature inside the oven is controlled very carefully so that the end product cools thoroughly and evenly and gives the best results. During the foremost rising process, the crust of each cake is sprayed with some amount of water so that its surface does not crack and remains flexible. When the cakes have risen entirely, their crust is left to dry and form a baked colouring.

Cooling and Packaging

When the cakes begin to cool, they release some moisture in the air. This moisture is removed with the help of powerful suction pumps to prevent formation of condensation. Once the cakes have cooled completely, they are released from their moulds and packed using bakery packaging equipment so that they would be ready for shipment. In general, commercial cakes are packed in plastic wraps, sometimes also with an additional cardboard tray and box.