Introduction .
A wide variety of baked goods of various shapes and sizes can be found on store shelves, in cafes, bakeries, restaurants, and canteens. Fast food and street food annually surprise street food lovers with new ways to prepare seemingly ordinary dishes like chebureki, pirozhki, flatbread, lavash, and the like. Italian, Georgian, Ukrainian, Armenian, and many other cuisines create culinary masterpieces in the preparation of pasta, lasagna, ravioli, khinkali, vareniki, pelmeni, and the like.
Dough processing is the foundation of preparing various baked goods. Pastry shops, bakeries, restaurants, cafes, and other food service establishments that feature dough products on their menus use specialized equipment for dough processing. One of the most important pieces of equipment is
a dough sheeter . Using
a dough sheeter significantly speeds up the process and saves resources.
A dough sheeter ( dough roller , dough rolling machine ) is specialized equipment that allows you to roll out dough to a specific thickness and width. Depending on the type
, dough sheeters can roll out different types of dough. Using this type of equipment ensures standard dough sizes and high-quality finished products.
A dough sheeter is equipped with cylindrical rollers. Most machines are also equipped with special guide platforms for feeding and receiving the dough. The dough passes between two rollers. The movement of the rolling cylinders forms the dough into a perfectly smooth sheet of the desired thickness, ready for further processing. The thickness of the dough is determined by the distance between the cylinders (rollers). In
dough sheeter specifications, this parameter is usually specified under "roller spacing." A thick dough cannot be immediately turned into a thin sheet in a single pass. The dough must be rolled in several stages, decreasing the distance between the rotating cylinders with each pass using a special dough thickness adjustment.
With so many
dough sheeters available on the food equipment market, it can be difficult at first glance to choose the perfect one for each specific task. Years of experience in the HoReCa sector have enabled the specialists at the online store
food-service.com.ua to develop key recommendations for their customers.
To make the right choice, you need to answer several important questions:
Despite its simplicity, this question is crucial. Operating equipment in a café, restaurant, cafeteria, or food production environment involves what's known as
a commercial load .
Household dough sheeters, on the other hand, are not designed for continuous, continuous operation. Manufacturers often use plastic components, joints, or gears in
household dough sheeters to significantly reduce the weight and minimize noise during operation. This cannot be said of
professional equipment , which is designed for daily use under commercial loads.
Type of rolled out dough .
Before purchasing
a dough sheeter, you need to determine the types of bakery and confectionery products that will form the basis of the enterprise's assortment and the type of dough that will be processed most often.
Among the main types of dough for which dough sheeters are used, there are:
- tough dough;
- puff pastry;
- pizza dough;
- shortcrust pastry.
They differ in recipes, preparation technology and, most importantly, in the specifics of working with it.
Stiff , or as it's also called, hard dough can be either yeast-based or unleavened. This type of dough is characterized by a high flour content and low liquid content. Typically, this dough has no more than 40% moisture. Therefore, to roll out sufficiently elastic and dense stiff dough,
a machine with reliable metal gears is required.
Dough rollers can be either manual or electric (with a motor power of at least 250 W). This type of dough is used to make semi-finished products such as pelmeni, ravioli, chebureki, vareniki, communion bread, flatbreads, and more.
Dough rollers for stiff dough typically feed the dough from top to bottom.
Puff pastry . The key feature of puff pastry is its rolling method. After kneading, the dough is rolled out very thinly (1-3 mm), then folded in half and rolled out again. This process is repeated several times. This is how puff pastry is created. For rolling out this type of dough,
dough sheeters with a reversible motor and horizontal conveyor belts (a "winged" dough sheeter) are considered the most convenient. This eliminates the need to unwind a long strip of dough and transfer it to the other side of the machine with each pass. This type of dough is used to make croissants, puff pastries, pies, buns, and more.
Pizza dough . This type of dough uses durum wheat flour. Pizza dough typically has a soft, flexible consistency that rolls easily without tearing. Pizza
dough rollers have two angled upper rollers and a pair of horizontal lower rollers. This type
of machine operates by moving the dough through an offset roller. The dough is then rounded, then changes position and passes through a second pair of rollers, achieving the desired shape. When selecting the machine, consider the diameter of the dough: 140-300 mm or 260-400 mm.
Rollers in this type of machine are typically made of polycarbonate. This is believed to prevent the dough from heating up during processing, preventing loss of consistency and maintaining all its properties.
Shortcrust pastry is a dough with a high fat (butter or margarine) and sugar content. Typically, the moisture content is no more than 20%. Before rolling, the dough should be at an average temperature of 15°C. Colder dough is difficult to roll, while warmer dough will crumble due to the melted butter. Shortcrust pastry is rolled into sheets no more than 4-8 mm thick. For this type of dough, use
dough sheeters with the same characteristics as for stiff dough: manual or electric machines with sturdy metal gears. Shortcrust pastry is used to bake cookies, pies, cakes, and other pastries.
Workpiece size .
A dough sheeter ensures uniform rolling of the dough piece and allows for quick, efficient results with a highly optimized process.
Dough sheeters make it easy to produce dough pieces of various shapes: round, oval, square, and triangular. The same dough piece can also be produced in different sizes and weights to suit a particular production process. Therefore, the defining characteristics
of a dough sheeter are also the dough piece sizes it can produce.
Among the main parameters
of dough sheeters that affect the size of the workpiece are:
- length of rollers;
- roller spreading.
The length of the rollers determines the maximum width of the dough sheet/piece.
Dough sheeters are classified according to this type as small, medium, and large.
Medium-sized dough rollers have a working roller length of 20-50 cm. They are the most popular in
the commercial segment among
pizzerias , restaurants, bakeries, canteens, etc. The widest selection of such
dough rollers includes:
FsDesign , Ukrain , GoodFood , Apache , Fimar , Frosty , i tPizza , and others .
Large dough sheeters have a working length of rollers exceeding 50 cm and their use is advisable in large enterprises, factories, and food industry plants.
The distance between the rollers determines the thickness of the dough sheet/piece. When choosing
a dough sheeter, it's important to consider both the minimum and maximum values for this parameter. For example, when making pelmeni, ravioli, chebureki, and vareniki, the dough is rolled out to a thickness of 0.5–2 mm. When making various puff pastries and croissants, the dough thickness is 1–8 mm. However, when rolling out dough
for communion bread, a maximum thickness of 30 mm is required. This is adjusted using a special thickness regulator. Of course, everything depends on the recipe and preparation technique and is individual.
Dough sheeters are divided into mechanical (manual), electromechanical (electric) and automatic.
Manual dough sheeters . The movement of the rolling cylinders and the feeding of the dough are done manually.
Electric dough sheeters . The dough is fed manually, and the rolling rollers are driven by an electric motor.
Automatic dough sheeters . These machines are highly automated and require virtually no human intervention. They are used only in large factories.
Installation method .
According to the installation method
, dough sheeters are divided into tabletop and floor-standing.
Tabletop models are used in bakeries, cafes, restaurants, pizzerias, fast food, and street food establishments. These
dough sheeters can be either manual or electric. They are more compact in size.
Floor-standing models are used in dumpling shops, bakeries, and pastry shops. These
dough sheeters are typically designed for processing large volumes of dough. They are larger and more energy-intensive.
A distinguishing feature is the power of an electric
dough sheeter . This directly impacts its performance, especially when rolling out tough dough. While manual
dough sheeters' performance depends primarily on human strength and power, electric ones rely on motor power. For rolling out tough, high-density dough with low liquid content, we recommend using
a sheeter with a power of 250W or more.
Network voltage .
When using an electric
dough sheeter for commercial purposes, an additional parameter to consider is the line voltage—220V or 380V. Keep in mind that at 380V, the dough sheeter's motor has a greater power reserve than at 220V. Of course, not all premises have access to a 380V power supply, so it's important to check with an electrician beforehand.
When choosing
a dough sheeter, we also recommend paying attention to the material from which the body and components are made, the dimensions and weight of the machine, the control method, and the availability of additional options and attachments.
Conclusion .
A dough sheeter is one of the most sought-after and indispensable tools, both in
home kitchens and in various businesses producing baked goods. Pastry shops, bakeries, cafeterias, convenience food producers, restaurants, cafeterias, fast food and street food outlets, dumpling shops, varenyka shops, and pie shops successfully automate their production with
dough sheeters .
Using
a dough sheeter saves time during preparation and increases productivity. Furthermore, the machine ensures uniform rolling of the dough, which is impossible to achieve manually.
The online store
food-service.com.ua offers
dough sheeters from various brands for both
home and
commercial use . Each machine has its own specifications that determine its intended use, the type of dough and size of dough it can handle, installation method, power and performance, dimensions, and design features.
The specialists at
food-service.com.ua are always happy to help you choose and purchase the optimal option based on each customer's needs and the specifics of their production process.
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