Time, as the old saying goes, is money, so when it comes to your food business, purchasing automated dough forming equipment should be high on your list of priorities. Much of what can be done by hand can also be done by machine—and in a faster, more productive manner. So as you set up your food business (or strive to make an existing business more profitable), take time to consider the pricing and costs of dough forming equipment.

There are three main pieces of dough forming equipment many food businesses require. Carefully consider which machines your current menu requires, consulting your head baker for his or her opinion on what is needed now and what may be required in the near future. In particular, consider these questions:

1. What is the cost of the sort of industrial dough mixer your business needs?

2. What will a dough divider and rounder run you?

3. What do pizza dough machines, like rollers, cost?

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Research dough machine mixers

Commercial mixers come in tabletop, bench and floor models. A tabletop mixer with a 5-quart capacity runs about $300 to $500 new. A small bench mixer (with a 10-quart capacity, for example) runs about $600 to $900 new, and a 25-quart bench mixer is around $2,700 to $3,000. A floor model mixer with a 30-quart capacity costs around $1,500 to $3,000, while one with an 80-quart capacity is about $11,000 to $12,000.

I recommend: Tundra Specialties has a good selection of commercial dough machine mixers in tabletop, bench and floor varieties. For used mixers at a quarter to nearly half of the cost of new, see Federal Equipment.

Find a dough divider and rounder

There are a wide variety of specialty machines for dividing up and rounding dough for breads and rolls. A small machine designed to round 2- to 42-ounce rounds runs about $7,600 to $10,000. A large rounder and divider that can process about 1,000 pounds per hour costs $20,500 to $35,000.

I recommend: ACityDiscount has great prices on several types of dough rounders and dividers. For used machines sold for $1,000 to $3,000, see Charney Commercial.

Look into a pizza dough machine

Dough rollers are one of the main pieces of equipment you'll require for your pizzeria. Rollers begin at about $1,400 to $1,900 for a machine that produces 10 dough peels per minute. A medium-sized roller is $3,000 to $4,000 and a large one about $8,000 to $10,000 new.

I recommend: Pizza Equipment World has a good selection of small to large roller machines and other pizza making equipment. Emiliomiti also has several dough rollers and miscellaneous dough forming equipment.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Whenever possible, save space, time and money by purchasing multi-use equipment. For example, instead of buying a simple dough mixer, choose one with attachments that can complete a number of jobs.

Commercial dough forming equipment is essential for high-volume production of breads, rolls, bagels, piecrusts and cookies. When your batch size can be up to two tons, you want an industrial dough mixer with a bowl and beaters that can handle the task. When you're turning out yards-long sheets of dough, you want a commercial dough machine that will treat the fragile gluten structures as gently as a pair of kneading hands.

Whether you run an industrial baking company or a popular local bakery, an institutional kitchen or a restaurant known for its breads, there's dough forming equipment for you. Look for:

1. Dough mixers

2. Dough forming equipment for sheeting

3. Dough rounders and dividers

4. Pizza dough machines

5. Used and reconditioned dough equipment

Action Steps
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Choose a dough mixer with a light touch

Whether you're working with a hand mixer in a small restaurant kitchen or mixing tons of dough in an industrial bakery, you know that the right dough mixer-one that combines ingredients without toughening the glutens-is one of the most important pieces of dough equipment you can use.

I recommend: Shaffer Equipment's bakery mixers can handle anywhere from 500 to 4000 pounds of dough at a time and still produce light-as-a-feather results. The President spiral mixer from Gemini Bakery Equipment Company has a revolving bowl that's easy to lift and remove. Hobart's Legacy industrial dough mixer is available in several floor-standing models. If you want to process small batches with your KitchenAid hand mixer, dough hooks are available from Cooking.com.

Find a commercial dough forming equipment

At high production levels, sheeting and forming are some of the tasks you want to turn over to a dough machine.

I recommend: Rondo Doge, a specialist in baking dough equipment, offers two leading models of dough machine: the Smartline produces a dough band with excellent gluten structure for any kind of dough from yeast to short to laminated, and the OSCAR is designed for bringing no-shear industrial strength to delicate doughs with high water content. Empire Bakery Equipment carries a full line of dough forming equipment to help you master makeup of everything from bread and rolls to bagels to cookies to dog treats.

Find dough rounders and dividers to form loaves and rolls

Today's dough rounders form loaves with as much care as by hand, and the right dough divider saves time on the industrial bakery production line.

I recommend: Benier dough rounders and dividers from the Kaak Group North America offer two key functions of dough forming equipment. Bloemhof Inc. produces automatic dough rounders for shaping the perfect artisan loaf. The Dutchess dough divider comes from Dutchess Bakers' Machinery, one of the industry's most respected brands. Use the Quadro dough divider from Erika Record LLC to form popular square breads and rolls like ciabatta.

Don't forget commercial pizza making equipment

Find pizza dough makers that recreate the taste and texture of hand-thrown crusts.

I recommend: The pizzXpress Professional Series from doughXpress offers automatic and manual pizza dough makers in a range of sizes. Search for the pizza dough machine of your dreams at Pizza Equipment World, part of the Restaurant Equipment World online wholesale network.

Locate used or refurbished dough forming equipment

Save money by taking your baking dough equipment shopping list to a vendor of used and refurbished dough equipment.

I recommend: CommercialBakery.com carries a full line of used dough machines. Check regularly, as listings change often. Visit Bakery Production Equipment, Inc., for new, used and reconditioned baking dough equipment. They specialize in getting new bakery businesses off the ground.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  If you have a particular commercial dough machine in mind, visit the manufacturer's website to see if they'll be exhibiting at an upcoming restaurant or bakery industry convention. You can try out new models of dough forming equipment, get product specs and even discuss financing.

It may seem like an insignificant detail, but bakery training and training for dough forming equipment in particular is a real need for America's workplaces: new stories about untrained workers getting caught in the industrial "mixing bowls" used in larger shops underscore the critical need for this kind of training.

Managers and business owners can cover injury liability and protect the safety of their workers by making sure someone on-site passes on valuable information about how baking dough equipment works, as well as other safety instruction. For courses educating staff, the Internet provides several options including:

1. Overall safety training programs for the entire bakery to make sure training for safety on dough or pizza making equipment is covered.

2. Bakery school programs that incorporate safety training into a big picture look at equipment like a commercial dough machine.

3. Online tutorials and info pages.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Look for overall safety training for baking dough equipment and everything else in the shop

Skilled trainers can evaluate the gear used in your bakery, including a pastry or pizza dough machine, and tell staff exactly what to cover in entry-level worker trainings, as well as day-to-day production protocols, for keeping compliant with federal regulations and common-sense guidelines for an injury-free workplace.

I recommend: Ask Certified Health and Safety Services how their OSHA and other related training certifications help provide training on dough machines and other bakery gear. Get more OSHA certified safety training for business at affordable prices at Safety Head.

Locate bakery training courses that cover baking dough equipment use

Other specific bakery training schools will also instruct students on the ins and outs of using commercial equipment like dough machines, with an eye toward both safety and a good, reliable product.

I recommend: Find courses that blend bakery workplace issues with the craft of baking various types of food at the American Institute of Baking. For more baking school and programs, try the Education Portal online guide to bakery schools: send a staffer to school, or hire one with a ready degree for in-house training to be sure every worker is savvy about how to use machines.

Use online training resources for learning more about baking dough equipment

Another resource the web has to offer is a set of guides or pages related to the use and aspects of baking dough equipment. These can be helpful, in addition to formal training, to help keep everyone aware of how your commercial baking equipment works, how it will be used to produce good product, and how injuries and mishaps can be avoided.

I recommend: Food Service Warehouse offers readers tips on how to safely operate a dough mixer or other machine. Find more online at Bread Machine Digest.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  For any kind of dough forming equipment education and training, see that every potentially hazardous machine is touched on during the course of the instruction. Safety must be comprehensive to work well.

Understanding key terms associated with dough forming equipment can help you research and pick the right equipment, tools and other accessories needed to form large quantities of dough for baking. To operate a bakery efficiently and effectively, ensure that you have installed the appropriate machinery for dough forming processes such as mixing, rolling, molding and chilling. Dough forming equipment must also be compatible for producing small or mass quantities of the baked goods that you plan to make, whether they are breads, rolls, pizza crusts, or desserts such as cakes and doughnuts. Dough forming equipment key terms help distinguish which machines or devices can be used to make anything from bagels to baguettes.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Dough rounder

A dough rounder automatically kneads and precuts dough to use in processes such as pizza making.

I recommend: Find photos and literature about dough rounders at AM Manufacturing Company.

Dough divider

Dough dividers come in handy when you need to separate large batches of dough into individual rolls or bread loaves. Dough dividers come as stand-alone machines, or they can be combined with dough rounders as an all-in-one machine.

I recommend: Piemaster displays pictures and lists specifications of dough divider models. Dutchess Baker’s Machinery features dough divider general information, product manuals and videos on how to operate the machines.

Bread molder

A bread molder is a painted or stainless steel machine that allows you to feed dough through special rollers to form small or large dough balls. Some bread molders are ideal for baking French bread.

I recommend: Erika Record gives an overview of bread molder designs, features and specifications.

Starter processor

Commercial starter processors can be used to make sourdough or other artisan-style breads. Bakers mix flour and warm water in a starter processor tank. The tank is then placed in an open air setting for a specified period of time so that yeast forms for use with artisan breads.

I recommend: Wisegeek gives further information about the operation of a bread starter processor. TMB Baking manufactures several bread starter processor models.

Intermediate proofer

An intermediate proofer is a cabinet or a chamber that is designed to allow dough to rest after it has been divided. This process also allows the dough to rise before baking.

I recommend: Gemini Bakery posts brochures, specifications and other detailed descriptions of intermediate proofers used for forming dough.

Dough cutter

The dough cutter features stainless steel blades used to cut cookie or pastry dough into various shapes.

I recommend: Citisco Food Service Equipment distributes several dough cutter options and features.