Mühlenchemie and its Partners Invest Over Six Million Euros to Enlarge Their Bakery Facilities

26 Feb 2016 --- Mühlenchemie and its sister companies DeutscheBack and SternEnzym have enlarged their laboratory, dough rheology department and trial bakery facilities for applications research. The enlargement of applications research facilities, in Ahrensburg near Hamburg, has cost over six million euros.

The extended, lavishly equipped Technology Center in Ahrensburg now comprises laboratories covering an area of 3,000 m². In the enlarged flour test center and trial bakery, mills, bread factories and manufacturers of pastry goods or pasta can simulate processes and have the effects of enzymes and other active ingredients tested. As Managing Director Lennart Kutschinski explains, “We are now able to reflect all the stages of the production process from the grain to the baked product with the latest technical equipment.” This results in individual solutions that can be implemented on the industrial scale within a short time, thus meeting all the requirements of food production in a cost-effective manner. 

The new equipment includes an automatic grinder that enables grain samples to be ground into flour much as in industrial milling; these samples are then tested in the laboratory and the technical trials department. A particle sizer using laser technology permits exact determination of the particle size distribution and thus makes it possible to adjust the automatic grinder precisely. A rotation oven and two shock freezers are available as well as a modern, computer-controlled mixer for preparing the dough, and several multideck ovens. The capacity of the rheological laboratory for conducting analyzes has also been enlarged, and the latest Brabender and Chopin instruments and equipment have been acquired. In the vitamin and nutrients laboratory, stability tests and analyzes are carried out according to international standards in order to meet the requirements of the FFI, GAIN and WHO. The enzyme laboratory has been fitted with the latest fermentation equipment for developing and optimizing micro-organisms and processes for the production of enzymes.

One of the features of the flour test center is a pilot plant for pasta products. With a continuous hourly output of 70 kg of pasta and a minimum quantity of only 10 - 15 kg of the end product per trial, it enables Mühlenchemie to close the gap between the laboratory scale and commercial production.

The extension is rounded off by a new training room. While seminars are being held there, the room permits a direct view of what is going on in the bakery. At this center of excellence, the individual firms Mühlenchemie, DeutscheBack and SternEnzym concentrate the different global challenges facing the mills, the bread and pasta industry and manufacturers of baking improvers. All the aspects of bread production are covered, from dough preparation through volume to shelf-life.