Do you know what’s happening in your oven? You should, your bakery could be doing a lot better. That’s the lesson one baker shares with Dr. Lin Carson and David Deblauwe on today’s show. For years, their large-scale bakery had been experiencing 10-15% waste in bread products. Now, they have it down to 2%. How?

Thermal profiling. If you’re someone who writes this off as something that’s too expensive for your operation, you should listen to what Arif Sunderji has to say, and how running a thermal profile pinpointed issues they had been trying to solve for years. During this show, he also shares his experience on how using a thermal profiler shaved four minutes from his baking time.

Since the oven was the bottleneck, this meant that he could increase the speed of the dough divider. Who knew that the thermal profiler can extend the shelf life of your bread (by baking less), and increase line efficiency as well? The three also talk about how flour and dough conditioners can influence the consistency of bread.

Joining us today as well is Ray Pearce, from ECD BakeWATCH. He shares another reason to run a thermal profile: preparing for FSMA. With deadlines looming, having the proper data to record your kill step isn’t something you can put off. Ray goes over the food safety angle and why although you should take FSMA seriously, there’s no reason to be anxious.

Follow Dr. Carson’s bread eating journey at EatBread90.com!

Arif Sunderji

Ray Pearce

Co-host: David Deblauwe
Guests: Arif Sunderji, Ray Pearce, ECD BakeWATCH
Bread Eaten: Alvarado St. Bakery Sprouted 100% Whole Wheat, Sprouted Multigrain and Onion Poppyseed Bagel, Oroweat® Whole Grains, Sara Lee® Artesano, Dave’s Killer Bread 21 Grains, 20 Shekels Ezekiel Bread, Muesli Bread and Chocolate Blackberry Bread, Holista’s Paleo Bread. Puratos® White Chocolate Pecan Bread