Baking & Snack - July 2009 - 67

WAFERS AND WAFFLES

New improvements to wafer lines allow processors to create more complex
products for consumers and to do it more efficiently.
BY SHANE WHITAKER

much wider variety of wafer and waffle products are available in Europe than in the US.
European manufacturers produce more intricate designs and shapes of wafers and waffles,
and many more hollow wafer products are manufactured
overseas, according to Bryan Bainbridge of Bainbridge
Associates, LLC, Byron Center, MI, which represents Hebenstreit GmbH, Moerfelden-Walldorf, Germany.
This means a lot of opportunity exists in the US for
companies that may want to venture into producing wafer products, especially hallow wafers, according to Mr.
Bainbridge.
Manufacturers of wafer equipment appear to be influenced in their designs by trends for more complex wafer
products that feature multiple elements. Processors want
wafer and waffle systems with greater capacity and higher speeds that offer increased automation and flexibility.
They also want more efficient lines with less waste that
may occur when brittle wafer sheets break.
For a baker that wants to begin making wafers, Franz
Haas Waffel- und Keksanlagen-Industrie GmbH, Leobendorf, Austria, introduced the GEKKO wafer line at

ᮡThis automatic wafer baking machine
can feature between 40 to 150 baking
tongs that ensure consistent wafer thickness, and it is capable of producing as
many as 60 wafer sheets per minute.
HEBENSTREIT

BAKING & SNACK / July 2009

Interpack 2008. The company is represented in the US
by Franz Haas Machinery of America, Richmond, VA.
In addition to focusing on this new line, this article will
look at a recent waffle line installation by Haas, and it
will explore some of the latest trends and products from
Hebenstreit.
ENTRY LEVEL. "The Gekkko wafer oven is finding increasing interest as a cost-efficient and convenient
'entrance ticket' to the wafer business," said Harald
Bechmann, Haas' content manager and senior technical
writer. The reason for this interest, he added, is that the
oven is part of a whole package of machinery that meets
the needs of small producers who want to extent their
business as well as those who may be new to industrial
production of wafers.
The fully automatic Gekkko lines feature the baking
oven, a batter mixer, a wafer sheet cooler, a creme spreader that also builds the wafer books and a wafer bok cooler
and cutter. The lines are available in two capacities, producing either 55 lb (120 kg) or 84 lb (185 kg) of cremefilled wafer fingers per hour.
The oven is equipped with either 21 or 32 selfsupported baking plates made of gray cast iron. A variable-frequency-controlled motor drives the baking chain
and features an automatic tensioning system to accommodate for different expansions of the chain.
Wafer sheets cool at ambient temperatures, and the
cooler is synchronized to the oven speed and actuated by
a photocell-controlled motor. "Guiding rods at the dies
of the cooler guarantee exact positioning of the wafer
sheets in the stainless steel carrier frames," Mr. Bechmann
explained.
The creme spreader uses the contract spread method
and produces books with up to 5 creme and 6 wafer layers or wafer books without a top sheet. The books are
cooled in a foam-insulated cooling tower until the creme
solidifies, and then, the books cut with wires or blades.
Cutting frames are easily exchangeable for quick and un-

Baking & Snack - July 2009

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