Garibaldi Biscuit
Hello everyone
Thank you for providing a platform for those who are interested in the bakery and biscuit industry to gather and use the information of the professors.
We are preparing ourselves to produce Garibaldi biscuits. As you know, in this product raisins or sultanas enter the dough and then the baking process is done. My question is, both technically (cutter mold) and qualitatively, do raisins need to be preheated? Is it necessary for the temperature of raisins to always be within a certain range, or does it matter whether the raisins are hot or cold? Do we have to do anything in advance to prepare the raisins?
Thanks for your attention
Hi Faran.
It's very true that the better the quality of raisins the easier they will be to work with and the better the biscuit quality. Having supplied Garibaldi production lines, I've never seen a client pre-heat their raisins. The raisins that were to be used in the near future were stored in the production room and the remainder was in the raw materials warehouse. In fact, you don't want the raisins to be too squishy and soft before they go into the raisin depositor, otherwise they will break apart in the depositor and make a horrible mess. The gauging stations and the rotary cutter won't be affected by the raisins as much as the depositor, so you really need to get that step to work correctly first.
In my opinion, it's more important that the raisins are nice and loose, not clumped together as they often get in the bulk boxes. The raisin depositor won't work well unless the raisins are loose. If your raisins are indeed very clumpy and sticky, you will have to break them apart. One way is to put them in a small mixer (bowl mixers work well) and run it on slow speed. Again, you don't want to smash the raisins before you put them in the depositor, but they should be nice and loose.
Dear Faran,
Being worked in exclusive cookie line, the simple answer is quality of the raisins or currents you are using is more important. It should be dried properly and stored and sold to you. you can add directly into the mixing. But please see that no infestation or infestation at your production area. You can keep in controlled humid room and directly use it in the production. No preheat or preparation required except physical inspection for infestation.
Dear Faran,
All the colleagues have valuable points regarding raisins and currants. Some tips and tricks an answers to your questions:
- no the raisins/ currants do not require to be preheated (preferably not)
- small raisins or currants can be loosened with e.g. some starch if they are compressed and have a tendency to stick too much, thus preventin a good distribution on the dough.
- it is helpful for process control to make sure that you are consistent: probably a room temperature works best, but the best is to make sure that you make it every day the same: not too hot, not too cold.
If you're idea on heating is for preservation of fruit and biscuit: there are other ways, if not taken care of by your supplier.
Dear Faran,
Normally below 19% humidity is OK. If you look at the current available products on Garibaldi type biscuits, you will see that some tearing of dough is inevitable. You will also see that they are using another step: depositing a marmelade/ fruitpaste before applying the raisins, this to ensure the holes will not become that big that it will not handle on the line and still have the right % of raisins.
Depending the cutting: a lot will depend on the type of equipment and materials used. If your equipment supplier has understood his job he will have recognised this potential issue..
Dear Faran,
You will find an article describing Garibaldi, the biscuit, process, recipes, ingredients at the Biscuit People web site. The article was published March 31, 2020.
Regards, Iain Davidson
The quality of the currants is critical and they should be small and dry.
Large fruit will be crushed by the gauge rolls and will cause sticky juice
to be smeared onto the dough surface.
Currants are small black seedless tasty and nutritious grapes grown in Greece.
They can be obtained as good quality fruit with strong flavour, which makes
them useful in biscuit making.
After the fruit is dried in the sun, it is separated from the stems and stalks and
then stored. Before exporting, the fruit is again screened to remove any remaining
stalks and foreign matter.
Currants are graded in size. Small and medium size currants are used in biscuit
making. Smalls have 920 currants per 100g and mediums 500 currants per
100g. Moisture content should be 16% (but is often up to 20%). Currants are
packed in cartons, which may be polyethylene lined. The currants are fumigated
after packing and before shipment with methyl bromide gas to avoid insect
infestation.
A typical specification for currants suitable for biscuit making is:
l Number of stones not to exceed 3 per tonne
l Number of stalks not to exceed 25 per tonne
l Number of stems not to exceed 25 per tonne
l Cartons to be staple free
l Moisture content 16%
l Only black fruit
l Flavour to be free of off flavours from packaging or poor storage
l Currants to be fumigated before shipment
The fruit will require washing before use and is normally inspected on white
tables before use to ensure that it is as clean as possible.
It is recommended that small black currants are used. These are dry and easier
to sprinkle evenly. Fruit which is too large and juicy will cause problems
when it is crushed by the gauge rolls. Juice may be smeared on the surface
of the dough and will cause sticking on the rolls and cutter. The amount of fruit
will be adjusted to suit the equipment available.
Seedless raisins and sultanas
Seedless raisins may be obtained from United States, Turkey, Chile, South
Africa, Iran and India. Smyrna sultanas, which are similar, may be obtained
from Greece, Turkey, Australia and Iran. Both seedless raisins and sultanas
are larger and more juicy than currants and are therefore more difficult to
use in biscuit making.
Grading of US fruit is ‘small’, about 550 berries per 100g and ‘select’, about
380 berries per 100 g. The quality is graded from A (best) to C. Maximum moisture
content is 18%. Other countries have similar grading systems
Thank you for your answer, dear Mrs Ozneli
But to be honest the answer to my question is not between your orders yet. I definitely want to know if these currants need to be processed before they enter the production process? A process like warming to make them soft and flexible?
for example someone may say you have to keep their moisture and temperature in a certain and tight range always.
Please give a reasoned answer if anyone knows
Dear Friends Joe, Srinivasan and Jos Vast
In your comments, my friends, there are useful points that are very helpful for me, but let me share my concern with you.
Our dough will be in two layers in forming section, and Sultanas will be sprinkled on the first layer of dough and then the second layer of dough will be stretched on it, Finally, a set of two layers of dough with raisins between them enters the cutter section. Our line has not been lunched yet, and I and whole team are worried that if the raisins are hard or cold, they will not be squeeze well, or that the dough sheet will tear, causing problems such as increased waste and reduced efficiency on the line. The raisins we see in the market, despite they have a humidity of about 16 to 18, but their outer layer is hard and rough.
Thank you for your explanations of my concern.
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