Category Archives: Technology

Introduction To Frozen Dough Technology

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After working for years in the frozen dough industry, supplying frozen products to bakeries, cafes and restaurants, I had the chance and the pleasure to get quite a lot of experience in the production of good quality frozen dough. A good quality frozen dough product is a product which, after having been frozen for up to 6 months, still comes out of the oven as beautiful, appetising, attractive to the eyes and tasty as a fresh product. So it gives me a great pleasure to share with you some of the secrets about frozen dough production.

First don’t get mixed up with “Retarded Dough System” and “Frozen Dough Technology”. Those are two different ways of processing the dough, the first one is very simple and the second one is very much more elaborate.
– The Retarded Dough System is just normal dough that we place in a normal freezer, to be used up at a later time, may be 1, 2, or 3 days later. This dough loses some of its performance capability during the freezing process and cannot be kept frozen for more than a few days only. This is just a convenient process that we can use in some short term situations.
– The Frozen Dough Technology on the other hand is a very detailed and specific way of processing the dough, that enable the user to get the optimum performance out of the dough which has been frozen for a longer period of time. This period of time could be from just a few weeks to a few months; 6 months being regarded as a maximum for a live dough containing yeast. This is exactly what this article is all about.

First, how many kinds of frozen dough processes can we differentiate?
1) Ready to Prove Frozen Dough, good for most yeast dough and puff pastry as well.
2) Ready to Bake Frozen Dough, recommended especially for croissant and Danish pastry items.
3) Part Baked Frozen Dough, good for bread items, not recommended for croissant, Danish pastry items, and sweet bread and bun items.
4) Full Baked Frozen Dough, good for sweet bread/bun and soft roll, not recommended for bread, croissant, Danish pastry and puff pastry items.
5) Raw Frozen Dough Ready to Bake (Proving in the oven), not available yet, new technology still under intense research and development.

Critical points to succeed in frozen dough preparation
1) Make sure that the fermentation process does not start at any stage during the production.
To achieve that: one must control the temperature of the dough during all the different stages of the process, from the very beginning (mixing) to the very end (proving baking).
Ideally dough temperature must not exceed 16C (61F) during the mixing, dividing and filling of the products.
After the blast freezing procedure the ideal storage temperature is from -18C (64F) TO -22C (72F).

2) To keep the dough temperature under 16C (61F), at all time during processing, is the most difficult part and to achieve this goal we need to:
a) Keep the room temperature at between 16C (61F) and 20C (68F).
b) Use cold flour. Before use, the flour should be stored in a chiller (+4C) (39F).
c) Use cold water from a chiller or a water cooler.
d) Replace 25% of the liquid used (water/milk) with ice flakes. Or if ice flakes are not available the use of icy cold water (+2C) (35F) is recommended.
e) Work the dough straight away from the mixer without or with as little rest as possible between the different stages.
f) Freeze the dough, after shaping and filling, as fast as possible and this is when we need a blast freezer to freeze the product very fast up to the core. Why do we need to freeze the dough as fast as possible? The answer is: To bring the temperature deep inside the products to around -8C (17F) to -15C (5F) very fast, around 10 to 30 minutes, depending of the size of the products. This way the ice crystals formed during the freezing process are very small and do not damage the dough structure. If the freezing process is too long (from 3 to 6 hours with a conventional freezer) the crystals formed inside the dough are very big and will damage the yeast and the gluten structure. Then in this case the product will be very long to prove and will not rise to its maximum desired size, this is typically a low quality frozen dough.

Now looking at each kind of frozen dough processes one by one, we can say that for bread items the part baked system is the best and gives very good results. For croissant and Danish pastry items (as well as bread items) the ready to bake system gives outstanding results, but demands strict supervision, good equipment and premise.

Regarding the ingredients used in the production of frozen dough, they are almost the same as for the normal type of dough except two slight differences.
First, the yeast. Instant yeast and fresh yeast are both good to use but we always have better results with fresh yeast, products are faster to prove with more oven spring as well. Also when it comes to the quantity of yeast used, we have to increase it quite a lot (up to 2 to 3 times the normal quantity) to compensate of the yeast dying during the freezing process.
Second, the dough/bread improver used should be a special kind of improver for frozen dough only. There are many brands available on the market.

Hopefully this article has given you some useful things to think about before you start mixing the dough and I really hope you enjoyed this introduction to the process of frozen production.

The Future Of Blue Ray Disc Technology Is Bright And Rosy

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The future of Blue Ray disc technology looks bright and rosy as witnessed by the fact that even in its present nascent stage it has already taken the DVD world by storm and is leading people to choose Blue Ray discs instead of DVDs. Unfortunately, most people still do not as yet know what Blue Ray disc technology and for many even the term Blue Ray does not have any meaning.

Even then, the future of blue ray disc technology is assuredly still going to remain bright and rosy. It is therefore a good idea to take the trouble of finding out more about this new improved DVD technology because without a shadow of doubt, the future of Blue Ray disc technology holds many promises.

Research and Development

In fact, Blue Ray disc technology has now emerged out of the shadows of being a research and development subject and major electronic companies including Sony and Hewlett Packard and even Toshiba are selling Blue Ray players and devices that are being lapped up by the more technologically aware buyers.

There should be no looking back for those companies that are making the Blue Ray disc because the response to this new technology has been positive and this bodes well for the future of Blue Ray disc technology. The Blue Ray disc does in fact mean getting vastly superior quality as well as higher storage that together can make you want to forget all about wanting to stick to using DVDs.

In fact, the Blue Ray disc is vastly different to the DVD as it uses lasers that are blue-violet in color and not red as is the case with DVDs. Another way of looking at Blue Ray discs is to consider them as being storage discs that cater to high definition audio and video. In addition, you can store far more data on a Blue Ray disc as compared to what the best DVDs can offer.

Typically, a single layer Blue Ray disc offers about twenty-five gigabytes of storage while a double layer Blue Ray disc offers twice this storage. And, this storage capacity will go up further with each future advance being made in Blue Ray technology – all of which will ensure that the future of Blue Ray disc technology will always remain bright.

Understanding modern Blue Ray player technology is essential if you want to choose the best Blue Ray player. Actually, the Blue Ray technology has already won the formats war and this new technology has started to hit the market and in the process is changing the ways that we watch movies and hear music. Nonetheless, it is still necessary to understand the nuts and bolts about this technology so that it becomes possible to pick the right Blue Ray disc for your home.

Centrak Combine New Technology To Add Battery Life

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CenTrak combine new technology to add battery life
CenTrak’s RTLS basement now combines this latest patented technology with a new dry array corpuscle to added than bifold array life. All Sony VGP-BPS13 battery activity abstracts accept the arrangement is operating ceaseless at a area amend acceleration of 3 seconds.
“Aside from accouterment best in chic area accuracy, CenTrak fabricated its name as the baton in array powered area accessories that are simple to install, crave no wiring, and action acute array activity with Dell latitude d520 battery batteries that are simple to alter in the field. CenTrak array swaps are easier again alteration a ablaze ball and they appear abundant beneath frequently.” said Ari Naim, Ph.D., President and CEO of CenTrak. “With this technology advance we are demography that affluence of accession and aliment and the accord of apperception it brings to new heights. Facilities can now install CenTrak’s RTLS and not anguish about array backup for a decade or longer”.
CenTrak’s amount RTLS differs from bequest technologies in its use of a patented aggregate of second-generation bittersweet (Gen2IR) and alive RFID technology alleged DualTrak(Dell latitude d600 battery ). Array powered Monitors address a different allowance amount application Gen2IR which is accustomed by any tag in that room. The tag communicates the allowance amount and its own different ID via RF to the CenTrak Area Server application a hospital’s absolute active or Wi-Fi network, area it can be accessed in real-time by hospital cadre and chip with third affair band-aid providers.

Like light, Gen2IR will not canyon through walls and does not ache from acceptable bittersweet line-of-sight limitations. Therefore, if a tag reads a allowance number, there are no errors. This is certainty-based RTLS. Unlike estimation-based information(latitude d610 battery ), certainty-based area abstracts can be acclimated by hospitals to accomplish important improvements to action breeze and automate accommodation making. A lot of healthcare workflow improvements can alone be accomplished if the area abstracts is certainty-based.
CenTrak provides the a lot of authentic enterprise-wide absolute time area arrangement (RTLS) basement for the healthcare VGP-BPS9 market. Its patented Active-RFID/Gen2IR amalgam technology is acclimated for tracking humans and assets in real-time with 100% room/bed-level accuracy.
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Modern Technology In Sports

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What is it about sport that makes it so attractive to people? Is it the adrenaline rush of competitive and/or dangerous sport? Is it the feel good factor of recreational sport; is it the opportunity of socialising with others, or perhaps all of the above? Whatever the reasons may be, sport is certainly getting more and more popular, especially in the developed world.

A major factor in the popularity of sport is the role of modern technology. Improvements in modern technology have resulted in better playing conditions and equipment for players as well as greater viewing pleasure for spectators.

Perhaps the greatest changes have taken place in the designing of sporting facilities – such as modern sports surfaces and improved artificial lighting that offer increased opportunity to play. Modern sports surfaces are low maintenance, therefore low cost, and allow year round use. Professional technical expertise is needed to design and install a modern sports surface. Properties such as its rebound resistance, slip resistance, and shock absorption are measured to ensure that the surface is going to provide optimum playing conditions for that sport, whilst giving players ease of movement and adequate protection from injury. Regular maintenance of sports surfaces, both outdoor and indoor is recommended to ensure safety of players.

Along with an increased number of players there are also an increased number of viewers all over the globe. With the spread of satellite TV, events in one part of the world can be watched real time, in another. Modern flood lighting has not only allowed greater use of sports facilities at the recreational level, but also made possible higher-level competition fixtures such as day-night cricket matches, night-time football matches etc. Electronic score boards, photo-finish timing devices, slow motion replays and large viewing screens have also added to the viewing pleasure of spectators.

Modern materials are used in the manufacture of synthetic sports surfaces as well as sports equipment. Third generation synthetic grass is made from polymers and provides a maintenance free all-weather surface for sports. The use of composite materials makes sports equipment such as rackets and protective gear, lighter and more durable, enabling athletes to further improve their performance. Advances in modern technology have also led to improvements in the design of sports equipment such as trainers and sports shoes, starting blocks for use in athletics, pole vaults etc.

Whilst it is difficult for the average user of sporting equipment to keep up with the latest developments, as a guide in the UK sports equipment and sports facilities and surfaces should comply with British standards. Some governing bodies of individual sports also offer certification to demonstrate compliance with international standards.

Advances In Microscope Technology Means Clearer Results

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Microscopes have come an unbelievably long way since they were first developed in the late 16th century. While Antonie van Leeuwenhoek is often credited with being the creator of the first microscope, it was actually one of two optics pioneers who is the real father of the instrument: Zacharias Jansen or Hans Lippershey. Of the three, it is Lippershey who is most widely considered to be its inventor, an idea which is especially credible given that he was also the designer of the first modern-style telescope. Leeuwenhoek would not be born for nearly half a century after the earliest models were first built.

The microscopes of van Leeuwenhoek’s invention provided at best 275 x magnification. For its time it was truly impressive and broke new ground, enabling a host of scientific discoveries and advancing scientific knowledge and medicine in almost every way imaginable. Today of course, even many inexpensive of microscopes are capable of much higher levels of magnification and a variety of new microscopy technologies are available to allow scientists, physicians and researchers to get a close up look at the invisible world around us.

Optics have increased in sophistication by orders of magnitude in the last four centuries, with the lenses being used in microscopes being immeasurably improved and more powerful with every passing year. It’s not only in the design of the lenses used that microscopy has advanced – there are an array of new technologies behind the magnification power of the modern laboratory microscope.

Over the long history of these instruments, we have seen them advance to having a single objective to multiple objectives, the addition of adjustable viewing stages, improved focus mechanisms and the development of the stereomicroscope (actually two microscopes which focus on a single point rather than being one microscope with two lenses).

Microscope illumination has advanced by leaps and bounds along the way. From the earliest days of microscopy when illumination would have meant sunlight or perhaps candles, we have progressed to an age where we have not just high power microscope lenses with magnification power of up to 1000x, but illumination to light the slide from below (known as bright field microscopy) and illumination technologies which exclude scattered light to allow the observer a view of the specimen on the slide and nothing else (a method called dark field microscopy which is also used in non-optical microscopy).

Not only have optical microscopes made progress which would be unimaginable to Hans Lippershey, but there are now microscopy technologies which do not rely on optics and provide us with an incredibly powerful tool for looking deep within the natural world. Electron microscopy has been able to show us the microscopic world in greater detail and at magnifications which go beyond anything van Leeuwenhoek would have dreamed; as high as 1,000,000,000x by using a carefully directed electron particle beam to produce high resolution images.

From the lenses used in modern high power microscopes to stereomicroscopy, advances in microscope illumination and electron microscopy and other non-optical instruments, the history of the microscope has been one stunning advance after another. With each improvement comes new insight and revelations about the world around us. In an uncertain world, one thing that can be counted on is that these instruments will continue to progress and amaze us with the discoveries they facilitate.