Commercial Dough Processing Equipment

Buy for whichever step is the bottleneck. In most bakeries that is scaling: hand-weighing hundreds of pieces is slow, tiring and never quite even, so a divider usually pays back soonest.

In a pizza shop it is more often shaping, because stretching bases by hand is the step that holds up service, and a dough roller fixes it. Watch where people queue in your own kitchen before you decide.

It can. Dividing and rounding handle developed dough, and rough handling degasses it, which shows up in the crumb. Equipment designed for the job works the dough as little as possible and with as little added flour as possible.

That matters more the longer your ferment is. A high-hydration, slow-proved dough is more fragile than a straight commercial dough, so if that is what you make, look for gentler machines and take the time to set them up properly.

Not always. Dividers and rounders are reasonably dough-agnostic, so a bakery running bread and rolls can share them. Sheeting is where the split happens: laminated pastry needs the controlled, repeated reduction of a pastry sheeter, while a pizza base is pressed out in one or two passes.

Pasta is a different machine again, since the dough is stiff and extruded or cut rather than shaped by hand. See the pasta machines range for that.

More than the machine's own footprint. Each of these pieces needs space for dough going in on one side and product coming out on the other, plus room for a person to stand and work without reaching across a moving part.

Plan the line in order — mix, divide, round, rest, shape — and keep it walkable. Trays of shaped product then need somewhere to go, which is what racking trolleys and oven racks are for.

Dough sticks, dries hard and traps flour, so anything that touches product has to come apart far enough to be cleaned properly. Look for contact parts you can remove without tools and surfaces with as few ledges and seams as possible.

Food contact surfaces in Australian commercial kitchens are normally 304 stainless steel, which resists corrosion and takes repeated cleaning. Where a part is plastic or coated, check that it is rated for food contact and replace it once it is scored, because scratches hold residue.

Up to a point. Dividers and rounders are designed so one baker can keep a line moving, and semi-automatic machines are built around a single operator feeding and clearing.

Where you need a second pair of hands is when two steps run at once, or when trays have to be moved to the prover while the next batch is being shaped. A bakery trolley and a sensible layout often save more labour than the next machine does.

It can be, for a startup watching cashflow. These machines are mechanically straightforward and a well-maintained one has plenty of life in it. Our refurbished bakery equipment range is where to look.

Check the contact surfaces and the safety interlocks before you commit, and ask what documentation comes with it. The specifications page explains what we hold on file for each model.

Consumables and handling equipment, which are easy to forget in a fit-out. Trays and pans to catch and carry product, dough scrapers for the bench and the bowl, baking mats where you want a non-stick surface, and baking trays in the size your oven takes.

Then delivery and install. Heavier machines are not a one-person lift, so check the delivery information for what is included and plan access through doorways before the truck arrives.

Between the mixer and the prover, in that order, with the shortest possible travel between them. Bulk dough is heavy and awkward, so every metre between the mixer and the divider is carried by someone.

Keep the chilled side close as well. Retarding dough overnight is standard practice, and that needs bakery fridges and freezers within reach of the shaping bench rather than across the room.