Dough temperature control is a key factor in obtaining constant and ideal quality in the production of bakery. One of the most commonly popular method is the lowering the dough temperature by adding ice.
Some cool the dough by mixing liquid nitrogen; others mix the flours using lamellar flows of cold air. Some others use the screw heat-exchangers method.
These methods represent empirical approach, expensive and impractical methods, poorly efficient solutions, increasing both plant running and operating costs due to the difficult cleaning and maintenance process.
The Agriflex solution (flour cooling system patent n.1401347) offers significant advantages: high energy efficiency thanks to the direct exchange and consequently reduced operating costs; effectiveness thanks to the considerable temperature reduction; complete system automation that, thanks to the reduced thermal inertia and the absence of accumulations, ensures the correct temperature of the dough, compensating the temperature variations of the other components and ambient temperature; ease of maintenance since all areas can be easily cleaned.