Why is our product offering so small? We've been in the catering equipment business a long time, and in that time we've seen our fair share of cheaply made and imported equipment. Low quality, mass produced machines simply can't perform like they should in demanding commercial kitchen environments: they lack the technical specifications and practical design elements that busy professional foodservice operators demand.

The Pain of Owning a Dough Roller

If you've ever owned a dough roller, you'll be all too familiar with the frustrations associated with the constant need to fix and repair these finicky pieces of equipment. Let's take a look at some common problems with commercial dough rollers.

• Cleaning: the number one problem with most dough rollers is that they are difficult to clean. Access isn't always easy, and it requires a lot of effort to ensure wet, soft dough doesn't accumulate and harden, clogging the machinery.
• Belts: most models on the market use a thin rubber band to move the rollers. When rolling sticky or harder dough, these bands have a tendency to break, rendering the roller useless.
• Gears: the adjusting gears that control roller thickness are often made of a hard plastic that can break or otherwise get damaged when dealing with heavier loads. They can also easily clog with flour.
• Safety guards: it's not uncommon for perspex safety guards to break, and when that happens owners or staff will often decide to take the guard off completely rather than replace it immediately. They're called safety guards for a reason, so operating a dough roller without one is an accident waiting to happen.
• On/Off buttons: give it 12 months and you'll probably find at least one of your plastic or rubber on/off switches is either sunken in, ripped, or damaged. You won't get much change from $200 to replace these, and worse still you can't operate the machine until they're fixed.

The Sirman Difference

Our Sirman dough rollers have been specifically engineered to overcome each of these problems. Here's how:

• Cleaning: a unique patented design so that you can disassemble the roller in minutes for easy cleaning. Every single piece is detachable, so there's no possibility that you'll miss a spot.
• Belts: an industrial cog toothed belt that's incapable of breaking or slipping.
• Gears: hardened direct drive metal gears ensure no seizing, breaking or clogging.
• Safety guards: stainless steel, unbreakable guards so you never run the risk of operating the machine without them in place. Each guard is linked to the controller, so if you take it off the machine won't work. Safety is our number one priority.
• On/Off buttons: IP67 stainless steel, waterproof buttons.

The four main improvements they wanted to see in a new range of benchtop cutter processors provide an interesting summary of the shortcomings of some processors on the market. Here's what they told us:

• We are sick and tired of lids breaking and having to pay an enormous amount to replace them each time.
• Plastic components such as bowls and blade assemblies are also breaking all the time. They are costly, and staff aren't always careful with such brittle components.
• The machines are constantly failing, burning out motors, bearings and shafts. More often than not repair costs are higher than the cost of the unit so we end up replacing it.
• We need more control and more power. One speed just doesn't cut it for all our requirements.

We listened carefully to these complaints and proceeded to give them a demo of our Yazicilar benchtop cutter processors. Once they saw what these machines can do, it was happily ever after from there on out. Here are the stand out features that made a difference for this facility:

• Industrial grade lids: they're nearly indestructible.
• Solid cast stainless / alloy blades and hubs, stainless steel bowl, base, shaft and handles: more sturdy components mean less breakages, and less pressure on staff to treat them carefully.
• Direct Drive AC converter: more powerful than other competitors. We're so confident in the power of these machines that we offer an unmatched 4 year warranty.
• Total variable speed from 300 RPM to 3,000 RPM: total flexibility for a range of applications.

Here's the thing though: most liftable head spiral mixers have an inherent design flaw that can lead to frequent, costly break downs. That's where the Ikaro is different.

Gear Shafts and Wings

The number one cause of failure on liftable head spiral mixers is damage to the gear shaft. This is caused when the head is closed and the handles are screwed in an incorrect position. Fire your mixer up when the head is improperly closed and you'll soon find yourself lodging a call with your local service technician to fix the damage you just caused to the gear shaft.

With the Ikaro, Italian manufacturer GAM International has completely eliminated this potential point of failure. The mixer features a patented wing system that renders it immune to gear shaft damage caused by improper positioning: a locking system prevents it from functioning until it's properly closed.

An added benefit of these wings is that the mixer can be fixed with a single lever operation, opening and closing in a second. Compare this to the tedious winding of plastic handles on other spiral mixers, and you've got two pretty good reasons why the Ikaro is a smarter choice for long term, reliable dough mixing at scale.

A Stitch in Time

Setting up a food business can be expensive, so it's natural to want to save as much money as possible when sourcing equipment. Honestly, sometimes it makes sense to buy a cheap machine if you're simply looking to fill out your kitchen. You don't need a top of the line griddle, for example, if the majority of your menu consists of fresh cooked pizza.

If you're in need of a spiral mixer, on the other hand, you're not going to be using this piece of equipment every once in a while. You're going to need to mix fresh dough on a regular basis, so it's worth your time to invest in a machine that can deliver day in, day out with minimal breakdown.

That's why we think the Ikaro is the last spiral mixer you'll ever need.

An overview of the of the Zanolli Synthesis conveyor oven range including:

• Design and Construction
• Zanolli's advanced impingement system
• Modular design
• Features of its intuitive control panel
• And links to the entire range (Australia's largest!)

Zanolli Syntheis Compact Range

An overview of the Zanolli's range of compact conveyor ovens. Perfect for smaller venues.

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

The scientists used a 3D simulation of dough mixed in an industrial spiral mixer to demonstrate that the radial mixing techniques employed by a spiral mixer work better than vertical mixing to produce a well-aerated final product with good elasticity.

As you're probably well aware, pizza dough must be kneaded for just the right amount of time, and in a particular way, to produce the right texture. Overknead your dough and you'll wind up with a dense and tight product that won't rise, leaving you with a dull, lifeless crust. Underkneading is just as bad, as it reduces the ability of the dough to retain air bubbles, producing an equally as unexciting result.

It's All In The Mix

The 3D simulations get pretty technical, so if you're looking for a thorough analysis click here to read the article over at Physics World, but briefly here's a few things the team noticed about the processes occurring inside the dough and on its surface when it was processed in a spiral mixer.

One takeaway is the way a spiral mixing arm forces air into the dough as it mixes in much the same way it would be incorporated if kneading the dough by hand. Another interesting observation was the way in which the elasticity of the dough enables it to 'migrate' through the bowl towards the rotating rod before climbing up it.

The result of these and other behaviours is a perfectly mixed and kneaded dough that's ready to be flattened out, topped and baked into the ideal pizza.

Radial Mixing Wins Out

According to lead researcher Natalie Germann the simulations "showed that vertical mixing isn’t as good as the radial mixing in the spiral kneader we considered in our work." So if you knead to mix a lot of dough, your best option is a spiral dough mixer.

Verdun came up with the idea for a streamlined, easy to use food processor after observing just how much time it took his clients to slice and dice vegetables, mix ingredients and blend sauces and dips.

This design, a giant bowl with an electronic revolving blade to chop and mix food at the base, has remained fundamentally unchanged in the years since, though innovations in technology (such as induction motors) have dramatically improved performance and output.

These improvements take the form of a variety of features that might be difficult to decipher if you don't know what you're looking for. To determine which cutter processor is the best fit for your business, there are eight main things you should take into consideration. They are:

1. Power

Basic cutting or chopping doesn't require too much power, but if you're processing more robust ingredients you'll need a processor with the power required to handle these tougher jobs. Broadly speaking, the more wattage a cutter processor has, the quicker it will be able to cut, mix and blend too, so if you've got high production needs you'll want to source a machine that can handle more demanding workloads.

2. Controls

Many commercial cutter processors are limited to a simple 'on/off' operation. This might work fine if you only need to process one type of food, or your requirements are quite limited, but for more flexible operation look for a cutter that features variable speed control. Another option that is excluded from most food processors is a reverse mode. This is particularly useful if you want to mix ingredients without cutting, giving you even more control over the finished product.

3. Blades

Look at almost any commercial cutter processor on the market and you'll notice they use a two pronged blade in the bottom of the unit to chop and mix. This is pretty much the industry standard configuration, but if you're looking for even more efficient cutting, consider a Yazicilar cutter with its patented four blade design. These additional blades ensure product is evenly processed without overheating or spoiling. Various blade styles are available to suit the product you're cutting and mixing.

4. Warranty

Standard warranties on commercial catering equipment rarely extend beyond two years. While this might sound reasonable, it does leave you liable for any servicing or repairs that might be needed outside of this time frame. Further, by providing a one or two year warranty, the manufacturer is basically telling you that's how long they expect the unit to last. The Good Lady offers an unmatched four year warranty on all of our products, giving you peace of mind that your equipment won't break down one year and one day after you purchase it.

5. Construction

Processing heavy loads can cause strong vibrations so stability is an important factor when it comes to choosing a food processor. Look for a cutter processor that has a solidly built body and wide base to prevent the unit from moving while in operation. A wider base will spread the force of of the motor's rotation across a wider area, enhancing stability and ensuring user safety.

A cutter manufactured entirely from stainless steel is ideal for heavy duty commercial and industrial use. With no plastic parts, it's easy to clean too.

6. Scraper Attachment

One problem often associated with cutting and mixing thicker ingredients is that they tend to stick to the sides of the processor, requiring the operator to stop the machine, open the lid, scrape down the sides and then seal everything up before continuing to mix. A cutter processor with a scraper attachment eliminates this issue, cleaning the bowl while you work and ensuring ingredients are homogeneously mixed throughout the blending cycle.

7. Bowl Capacity & Tilt

Selecting the right size cutter processor depends on the amount of product you need to mix. Generally speaking, freestanding cutters are available in sizes ranging from 20 up to 65 litres. If you know you're going to need an even higher capacity unit for regular processing, Yazicilar manufactures a 120 litre cutter processor, though in many cases you might find two 65 litre models will work just as well. This configuration also provides you with the flexibility to operate only one when processing requirements are reduced.

A tilting bowl is another useful feature on a food cutter, as it allows you to easily tilt the machine horizontally to dispense your end product once it's done. Always ensure you select a model with a removable bowl too, as this allows you to easily remove parts for thorough, hygienic cleaning.

8. Adding Additional Ingredients

A scraper attachment assists in cleaning the bowl while you mix, but what if you need to add more ingredients during processing? Choose a food cutter with a feeding hole recessed in the lid so that you add ingredients like oil or other liquids at any time.

If you're spending a substantial amount of time manually chopping, cutting or mixing raw ingredients, it makes sense to invest in a commercial food cutter processor. Yazicilar cutter processors have been engineered with all the features listed above, so if you're considering which brand to buy take a look at the range by clicking the link below.

There are plenty of these machines on the market, and plenty of ways cheaper models can go wrong. If your dough roller breaks during a busy service period you could be stuck with a long line of angry customers and a growing backlog of uncooked pizzas. Let's look at the five most common reasons commercial pizza dough rollers fail.

What kills dough rollers

Cleaning

The biggest problem with most dough rollers on the market is that they're hard to clean: many aren't designed to be completely disassembled, so removing excess dough can be difficult or impossible. If you don't make sure any wet, soft dough is completely removed from your dough roller at the end of the day it can accumulate and harden, clogging the machinery and causing the roller to fail.

Rubber Belts

Most commercial dough rollers on the market use a thin rubber band to rotate the rollers. This rubber band is likely to break eventually even from normal use, let alone if you're rolling sticky or harder dough. One break here, and your dough roller is useless until you get the band replaced.

Plastic Gears

The adjusting gears on the side of a dough roller are used to control the thickness of your resultant dough. In cheaper models these are made from a hard plastic, and can easily break when you're dealing with heavier loads. They're also another pain point for cleaning: they can easily clog with flour, making adjustments difficult.

Cheap On/Off Switches

This is an often overlooked service cost. Dough roller on/off switches are commonly made from plastic or rubber. With regular use these become sunken in, ripped or damaged and the cost to replace can be prohibitive. You might find yourself forking over as much as $200 to replace them, with a non-working dough roller sitting idle until you do.

Plastic Safety Guards

A situation where staff find it easier to work without a safety guard in place is an accident waiting to happen. Almost every pizza dough roller on the market features perspex safety guards. If and when these break or get damaged it's not uncommon for users to simply remove the guard and continue to roll the rest of their dough instead of replacing the faulty guard right away.

As you can see, there's a lot that can go wrong with cheaper commercial pizza dough rollers. Breakages and downtime will inevitably eat in to your bottom line, so it makes sense to invest in a heavy duty dough roller that can keep up with the high volume of dough you need to roll without breaking down. That's where Sirman's P-Roll dough rollers come in. These robust pieces of machinery have been specifically designed to overcome the five main points of failure on other pizza dough rollers listed above. Let's see how.

Why P-Roll Dough Rollers Don't Fail

Complete Disassembly

P-Roll pizza dough rollers can be completely disassembled in minutes for thorough cleaning. With no more sticky dough accumulating in the nooks and crannies of the machine there's no chance for the machinery to clog.

Industrial Cog Toothed Belt

Replacing the thin rubber bands on other commercial dough rollers is an industrial strength cog toothed belt that won't break or slip even when you're dealing with the heaviest or stickiest dough.

Hardened Direct Drive Metal Gears

Instead of the hard plastic adjusting gears used in cheaper rollers, the P-Roll series uses hardened direct drive metal gears that won't seize, break or clog. Disassemble the unit and you've got easy access for cleaning too.

IP67 Stainless Steel, Waterproof Buttons

A damaged on/off switch is the most tedious reason for a non-working dough roller so the P-Roll series replaces cheaper plastic or rubber switches with IP67 rated stainless steel buttons. Because they're waterproof, they're also easy to clean.

Unbreakable Stainless Steel Safety Guards

Sirman's stainless steel safety guards are not only unbreakable: each one is individually linked to the machine's controller so the roller won't operate unless every one is in place, thus eliminating the risk of user injury.

Enhanced design features like these come from years of experience designing and developing high quality catering equipment for professional kitchens. If you're ready to invest in a commercial dough roller that will stand the test of time and perform day in day out without breaking down, click the link below to find out more about the P-Roll series. It's the dough roller you can't afford not to buy.

That 'Authentic' Wood-Fired Pizza Taste

This romanticised view carried over into pizza making, and arguably remains to this day. Proponents praise the smokey flavour a wood-fired oven imparts, but as Alan explains this is a common misconception:

A lot of people think that you get more flavor because of the smoke in the pizza, but you really don't. It's burning so hot that you don't get any of the volatile smoke in the crust... You do get a shorter fire time... therefore you get different flavors in the crust that is not as evenly black or brown.

It might seem like a minor niggle: after all, a wood-fired oven still does something that produces characteristic flavours in the crust of a pizza, right? Perhaps, but this can be replicated almost flawlessly in a much more economical gas oven. In a gas oven the crust is more equally cooked, Alan notes, but "the way we rotate our pizzas in our gas ovens, a lot of people think that we use a wood oven."

The Future of Wood

Another reason Alan decided to switch to gas ovens was a concern over the sustainability of a traditional wood-fired oven. "How much land is being cleared because of our demand for wood?", he wondered.

Trees by definition are a sustainable resource, but not necessarily at the scale they're used for foodservice applications. Alan predicts that the hospitality industry might reach a critical mass with wood, and once that happens it's not easy to go back.

Consider this also: burning wood releases more CO2 than gas, oil and even coal for the same amount of heat, so wood-fired ovens are not only less efficient, but have a much more pronounced effect on local air quality. Both natural and liquid petroleum gas are significantly 'cleaner' options.

There's another elephant in the room: wood-fired pizza ovens are big. Not only do they take up a large amount of space, but they require an independent duct and fan system separate from any other cooking equipment. Few pizzerias and pizza shops can afford such a massive footprint.

The Case for Gas

The amount of wood required to cook in a wood-fired oven can quickly become prohibitively expensive, and there are many questions as to the sustainability of this fuel source as well as its impact on air quality and the environment as a whole.

There's no such thing as a 'compact' wood-fired oven either, so they're not well suited to anything but the largest venues that can accommodate the required exhaust systems.

Natural or liquid petroleum gas pizza ovens are a far more cost effective alternative if you're considering options for a commercial pizza oven. "After all," Alan says, "if you do everything right with gas and put it side by side to a wood-burning oven, you'll hardly be able to tell."

If you're looking for a gas deck oven like the ones Alan uses at Rally Pizza, check out our range of Zanolli gas deck ovens. Featuring four layers of ceramic stone to keep the heat in while maintaining efficiency, these ovens are perfect for replicating that unique wood-fired oven taste.

Lead Image: Rally Pizza