Zanolli first patented the technology behind the Synthesis range in 1982 and since the first Synthesis conveyor oven rolled off the manufacturing line in 1987 the range has been a market leader across Europe.
This reputation for high quality and reliable performance made it the obvious choice for two recent Guiness World Record attempts; the world's longest focaccia bread and the world's longest sfilatino (a style of thin Italian baguette).
The 169 Metre Long Focaccia
Synthesis ventilated tunnel ovens are designed to be easy to use, so generally the operator can simply place uncooked food products on one end of the wire mesh conveyor and the oven does the rest, carrying the product into the cooking chamber where it is cooked under hot air diffusers before passing back out of the chamber at the other end. This is all done at a consistent pace to ensure fast and uniform cooking every time.
When it comes to moving hundreds of metres of dough for a Guiness World Record focaccia cook, however, things get a little more difficult. To achieve this mammoth feat, staff needed to monitor the focaccia constantly and move it by hand out of the oven proper and onto a series of tables.
A team of fifteen worked from the early hours of the morning at the Pizzagrande shopping centre in Italy in May this year. Many kilos of dough were double stretched before being prepared and baked over seven hours.
Despite strong winds and a sky ready to pour with rain, the team pulled through with a final length of 169.27 metres, a new Guiness Record.
100 Metres of Sfilatino
Always open to a new challenge, Zanolli collaborated on another Guiness World Record attempt in September. FICO Eatery World, the biggest food park in the world, hosted the record-breaking event with the aim of creating the world's longest sfilatino.
The event celebrated Italian biodiversity, showcasing high quality locally produced bread and ham in the construction of the massive Italian baguette. The sheer magnitude of the challenge was made even more complicated by that fact that this time the team was setting out to cook a high quality baguette, something they didn't have much experience doing in a Synthesis conveyor oven.
10 hours of tireless work went into the final product, with the team quickly realising after some test bakes that the continuous, even cooking of the Synthesis 08/50 conveyor oven was perfect for the task. Each metre of bread took around 12 minutes to cook at 210°C. with a baker loading the dough at one end of the oven and 25 tables lined up at the other end for the filling stage. To get the bread to roll along the tables it was hand-pulled by another baker.
Measuring in at a total of just over 100 metres long, the resulting sfilatino was confirmed as a second Guiness Record. None of the baguette went to waste either, with anything left uneaten being delivered to a social cooperative in Bologna.
The Sky's the Limit with Synthesis Conveyor Ovens
As these two record-breaking events show, there's a lot more to Synthesis conveyor ovens than just pizza. The main benefit of a moving conveyor is it allows for high throughput while maintaining constant heat. Take a look at the video below to see some of the products we've cooked in a Synthesis, then click the link to explore the range.
Lead Image: Ristorazione Italiana Magazine
