If you have a bakery cafe, foodservice, wholesale or catering operation, you know how critical consistency is – especially when it comes to bread products, like rolls. Learn important troubleshooting tips from Erika Record.

While there is much to be said about hand-crafted artisan products, if you’re supplying rolls to wholesale clients like restaurants, automating your process plays an invaluable role, not only for consistency of product, but also for labor efficiency.

The Erika Record RH-Series semi-automatic divider/rounder was designed to accomplish both of those goals. It enables you to divide and round dough pieces ranging in weight from 1-24 oz, for both soft and hard rolls. This machine can produce about 2,000 rolls per hour, simply by placing the dough on the plate and letting the machine cut and round it.

And Erika Record also offers the benefit of having bakers on staff who are often available for troubleshooting. Craig Kominiak, sales consultant for Erika Record, offers a few troubleshooting tips to help you produce your best possible product. If your rolls aren’t turning out quite the way you’d like –  uniformly round with a smooth finish –  keep these following possible scenarios in mind.

Check for flour. In the machine, there should not be any flour on the plate before you place the dough. Be sure that the flour is on the dough, and not on the plate.

Climate control. Depending on the temperature in your bakery and the climate in your region, you may need to adjust your proofing time. When it’s hotter, the yeast is going to move more. So take note of the climate conditions and adjust your proofing accordingly. Don’t proof too long; too much time will tear the bread.

Check your water. Every baker’s formula is different, and that includes the water content. If you have a harder dough, you’ll want to have it in the machine a little longer; but a higher water content will require less time in the machine.

Adjust the pocket head. The RH-Series is designed to replace the motion of the human hand in rounding the dough. Think about the size of your rolls, and how you would form the dough if you were doing it by hand, and adjust the pocket head accordingly. For example, 36 parts of 1-oz. rolls will require a lower pocket head than would 4-oz. rolls.

For more information and troubleshooting, visit www.erikarecord.com.