APV Baker’s (Peterborough) technique of pressure-vacuum mixing is now available as a retrofit packaging for the Tweedy range of mixing systems.

This new capability covers all the mixers in the current Tweedy range and also older machines installed before the introduction of the pressure-vacuum process.

The benefits of pressure-vacuum mixing include: increased yield, as dough with a higher water content is processed more easily; improved crumb colour, softness, and shelf-life; and a reduction in the use of expensive ascorbic acid, normally used to aid oxidation, claims APV.

A retrofit package was piloted on a Tweedy mixer installed in a leading plant bakery.

Extensive trials produced the same process benefits as those achieved on new machines, and the bakery quickly added the pressure-vacuum option to the rest of its Tweedy mixers.