The future is
continuous...

Sobatech is the worldwide ambassador of continuous dosing, continuous mixing and bulk fermenting of all kinds of food products. With its innovative character and focus on three parts of the production process, Sobatech became the specialist in continuous food processing technology. The Sobatech team is passionate about enabling Industrial food producers to meet the increased food and quality demand of tomorrows consumers.

Artisan Automation

Industrial dough mixing and kneading is one of the first stages of the entire (food) Production chain. This means that the moment you tackle this step well, you enjoy it throughout the entire production process. For example, due to improved dough homogeneity, weighing can be done more accurately. This results in less waste during dough make-up and packaging.

Continuous dough mixer/kneader equipment — Continuous dough mixer/kneader (low design)

Continuous mixing equipment — Continuous mixing equipment (hanging hygienic design)

Sobatech fields of Expertise

All masses consisting of both solid and liquid ingredients. Such as:

Freshly baked goods
Dough products
Confectionary
Snacks
Pet food
(fibrous) meat substitutes
Long-life bakery products
Muesli bars
Non-foodstuffs
Chocolate (conching)

KVK Innovatie TOP 100 - Sobatech Maastricht is met haar HOT&COOL technologie genomineerd voor de KVK Innovatie Top 100. Sobatech is gespecialiseerd in procestechnologie en koelt en verwarmt deeg al decennialang. Met deze nieuwe innovatie tilt Sobatech het koelen en verwarmen van deeg naar een geheel nieuw niveau. Met de kneedgereedschappen, die uit één massief deel zijn gefreesd, kan inline worden gekookt. Doordat ze hol zijn, is het mogelijk er water of een ander (koel)medium in te laten stromen. Met deze geautomatiseerde technologie kan de klant eenvoudig, met een druk op de knop, de gewenste product temperatuur controleren en regelen. Extreme temperaturen binnen enkele minuten Temperatuur is van kritische invloed op de ontwikkeling van deeg. Soms is snel koelen of verhitten noodzakelijk, bijvoorbeeld bij het concheren van chocolade of bij de productie van bepaalde koude degen. Tot nu gebeurde dat met een extra stap, zoals een meelkoeler of CO2; maar dat is niet meer nodig. Met de HOT&COOL-technologie van Sobatech, kan de deegtemperatuur ‘inline’ worden geregeld. Voedingsproducenten kunnen daarmee binnen enkele minuten degen met extreme temperaturen realiseren. Geen CO2 noch extra proces stap nodig Het feit dat Sobatech zo ook de deegtemperatuur kan regelen en controleren, betekent dat klanten binnen enkele minuten producten met extreme temperaturen kunnen realiseren. Dit gebeurt in één en dezelfde proces stap; er is geen extra koeling of verwarming van de separate ingrediënten nodig alvorens het deeg samen te stellen. Doordat voor het koelen van het deeg geen CO2 meer nodig is, is de uitstoot ook substantieel minder. Daardoor verbeteren de arbeidsomstandigheden in lokale productiefaciliteiten. Stemmen! Stem het Limburgse familiebedrijf naar de top 10 door te stemmen op www.stemvoorinnovatie.nl [caption id="attachment_2130" align="alignnone" width="1024"] deeg koelen Sobatech[/caption]

New collaboration for large-scale production of new meat substitutes - The demand for plant-based meat substitutes is growing every day. That explains the importance of increasing the global production of meat substitutes. To support those entrepreneurs active in the production of tasty and cost-efficient meat substitutes TOP and Sobatech are entering into a partnership. As partners they will be developing the technology and the machines to produce, in a continuous process and on a large scale, fibrous meat substitutes (muscle meat). Unique Meat-Like Structures The new innovative technology for the production of a new generation of meat-like structures offers an alternative to structuring methods such as the well-known High-Moisture Extrusion and the shear-cell technology. The technology will be easier to scale up at low operating costs (!). Sobatech's knowledge and experience in the field of structuring protein and fiber-rich ingredients perfectly complements TOP's knowledge of developing meat-like structures. If you would like to know more about the new possibilities for large-scale production of meat-substitutes, please contact us at info@sobatech.com [caption id="attachment_2101" align="alignnone" width="1024"] TOP BV[/caption] [caption id="attachment_2103" align="alignnone" width="1024"] SOBATECH[/caption]

Continuous online training sessions - We are pleased and exicted to inform you that Sobatech organized a variety of continuous online training sessions related to the principles of continuous mixing. This way we can e-meet you all and discuss interesting topics related to continuous dough mixing, such as: Kneading intensity in relation to dough temperature rise How to calculate the kneading intensity? Cooling capacity of a continuous mixer compared to a batch mixer How to check dough homogeneity in a practical way Maximum dough development in relation to time The effect of vacuum during mixing Parameters for cost of ownership How to mix a liquid dough to time to peak in an extreme short amount of time The negative effects of the head- and tail on a batch system The importance of accurate dosing of the separate ingredients The positive effect of the use of a homogenizer Less waste of energy on a continuous mixing process High yield production by controlling and connecting production equipment Low gluten development (short dough types) require lots of energy input The result of more or less water on the viscosity of the dough The result of more or less water on the energy input of the dough The use of redundant dosing in combination with pasteurization of filled pouches All in all, do you simply want to learn more about continuous mixing or do you have specific questions in relation to you production process? Please sign up for one of the complimentary (private) online training sessions by sending an e-mail to genevieve.lekner@sobatech.com. Please include the 'continuous' topics of your interest and one of our teammembers will contact you soon. Continuous regards, Team Sobatech [caption id="attachment_1640" align="alignnone" width="1024"] continuous dough mixing[/caption]

Flexibility on a continuous mixer - Often, the fundamentals for success in business life lie in the ability to adapt to a constantly changing marketplace. As a result, Industrial food producers often produce a large variety of SKU’s (stock keeping units). Not long ago, continuous mixers were perceived to not be suited for such production environments. To open the discussion on flexibility of a continuous mixer, flexibility has to be divided in (1) flexibility in relation to the viscosity and gluten network of the different product types and (2) flexibility in relation to the amount of recipe changes. Viscosity and gluten network Sobatech customizes its mixing tools to the desired energy input needed to develop the product properly. However, this does not mean that we cannot produce multiple product types on one and the same continuous mixer. The flexibility a batch mixer has with time, has a continuous mixer with speed. Sobatech can control the RPM of the contra rotating mixing tools to steer the desired product development. Besides speed, the continuous mixer can play, in a certain band width, with throughput. These two factors allow customers to run different recipes on one and the same continuous mixer. Amount of recipe changes The maximum amount of changeovers that are recommended per day strongly depend on how much the recipes differ from eachother. Sobatech has customers who automatically change their premix every 15 minutes. Solely changing the composition of the premix is what we call minor changeovers. Such recipe changes allow for the second dough type to simply push out the first dough type. This process can happen in automatic mode and is well suitable for a continuous production. Yet, there are also recipe changes in which color or allergens play a significant role. For such changeovers, Sobatech recommends to have runs of at least 4 hours per recipe. Flexible dosing Another part of the continuous flexibility is the location of the dosing inlets. In the Sobatech continuous mixers, it is possible to dose flexibly. If you need to dose certain inclusions (such as raisons, hazelnuts, chocolate chips) in a stress-free way into the dough, Sobatech can introduce them at a later stage in the mixing process. Why at a later stage? Well, it is the rheology of the dough, shape of the mixing tools and the forces that the inclusions can handle to keep them in their initial shape and size. Generally, Sobatech includes a stress-free part in the mixer tooling at the location where the inclusions enter the mixing chamber. Put differently, inclusions are blend into the mass by low shear force. Cleaning Sobatech’s continuous mixers offer a fully automated cleaning in place system. This automated process eases the cleaning procedure in between changeovers. Please check out the process here. If you have any questions or uncertainties in regards to the flexibility of a continuous production process. Please contact us at info@sobatech.com. Continuous regards, Geneviève Lekner [caption id="attachment_223" align="alignnone" width="200"] Sprinkles - continuous mixing[/caption] [caption id="attachment_221" align="alignnone" width="200"] Pizza dough - continuous mixing[/caption] [caption id="attachment_219" align="alignnone" width="200"] Croissants - continuous mixing[/caption] [caption id="attachment_217" align="alignnone" width="200"] Cakes - continuous mixing[/caption]

Design of Sobatech's continuous mixers - Today we would like to talk to you about the design of Sobatech's continuous mixers. When Gilian Lekner founded Sobatech in 2005, his first drive and focus was on improved (hygienic) mixer design and finish. Now, almost 15 years later, design is grounded more than ever in the philosophy of our business. Sobatech's continuous mixers are recognized from afar ; this is something we strive to never change. 2005 - 2010 THE X-design The first design was called the X-design - even though it had a recognizable character, it could improve in regards to hygiene. As a result, a new mixer design was introduced in 2010. [caption id="attachment_1799" align="alignnone" width="2560"] Sobatech X-design mixer[/caption] 2010 - 2015 THE LOW & SHORT-design There are two hygienic designs launched back in 2010. 1. The short mixer design. In this design, the motor is located underneath the gearbox and cardan shaft - meaning that the mixer is relatively short but as a result higher. The advantage of this design is, that it saves space which can be beneficial for customers having limited floorplan. [caption id="attachment_1801" align="alignnone" width="2560"] Sobatech SHORT design mixer[/caption] 2. The low mixer design. In this design the motor, gearbox and cardan shaft are located behind eachother - this means that the mixer is relatively low (+/- 140cm) but as a result longer. The advantage of this design is that it allows you to look into the mixer (from standing height) which eases the cleaning procedure of the upper surfaces. [caption id="attachment_1335" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Sobatech LOW design mixer[/caption] 2015 - 2020 THE HANGING-design Lastly, in 2015, Sobatech launched its hanging hygienic design. In this design, the continuous dough mixer can be hung on the platform or roof construction of the production factory. The advantage of this design is that it has no connection with the floor whatsoever ; allowing to easily clean the room underneath the mixer. Nowadays, customers can either choose for the low, short or hanging design - whatever fits their needs best. [caption id="attachment_873" align="alignnone" width="5760"] Sobatech HANGING mixer design[/caption]

Why continuous mixing?

CONSTANT CONSISTENCY

Sobatech helps food producers to eliminate all variations in temperature, development and homogeneity. Sobatech constantly ensures a consistent dough quality. No compromises.

PROCESS CONTROL

The lower the variations in the process - the less need to adjust - the lower the variations in the end-result. The case of continuous dough mixing is therefore the case of process control.

COST SAVINGS

Minimal adjustments result in reductions of scrap, waste and cost of ownership. Sobatech helps food producers to reduce their energy consumption.

"Let us show what we got"

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Come & See

Welcome to Sobatech's continuous PILOT PLANT

Read more about our pilot plant

Our ambassadors

Bagley Soabtech

Koekbakkerij Nanning