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About Arthur Mallett
Expertise
Specific questions about equipment in the bakery industry and the service/maintenance of it

Experience
Employment history: Spent the last 30 years in the bakery industry in various rolls relating to equipment supply, purchase, service and project management

Organizations: British Society of Baking (member for 20 years) and contact for the company membership of the PPMA

Awards: My current responsibilities cover both after sales service and commercial office sales. In 1999 the after sales dept was awarded the PPMA award for excellence in customer service

Clients: Safeway, Tesco, Sainsbury, M&S, Greggs, Major Petrol Groups and retail organisations. Now retired September 2007

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Food Engineering/Manufacturing - wholesale bakery production

Expert: Arthur Mallett - 1/20/2004

Question
Dear Mr. Mallet,

My wife and I currently operate a catering company out of a 650sf commercial kitchen. We have been approached by the Chef of the Convention Center's comissary kitchen to produce pastries and desserts for their four restaurants. We are interested in the business, but we would need a machine which presses short-crust dough into tart shells automatically. We have a 140gt Hobart mixer and a full size rondo sheeter but recently spent four man-hour days lining 300 tart shells. The convention center often places orders for 500 to 1000 units. Do you know of such a machine and if so what kind of capital comittment is there?

Thanking you in advance;
Howard

Answer
No problem, there are several machines which vary in size cost and throughput. Your best option is to contact a company called John Hunt in Bolton UK, you should find them via the web site or directory enquiries. Or look under second hand machines for this make. there are usually several available in the market place. Trade magazines usually have them in the for sale section at the back of the magazine (British Baker or Bakers Review are the two most common in the UK.
I think the best one for your requirements would be the 5 station model, which revolves around five moulding stations on a table top machine. I am not sure of the price but a new one would cost several thousands of pounds but a second hand one should be available for a few hundred.
Good hunting, dont gorget to stipulate the size and type of pastry case you need as there are quite a few different sizes and shapes and the heated version is best so that the pastry does not stick when it is being pressed

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