Bread and beer. Bakeries and breweries. Can you imagine a better combination?
The industrial gas burner manufacturer industry produces a variety of heating options to many different industries, but it hard to deny the allure of helping some of the best bakeries and breweries create some of the best beer and bread in the nation.
The U.S. brewing industry reached a milestone at the end of June 2014. At that time they had more than 3,000 breweries operating for all or part of the month. That’s a lot of places providing some of the best beer available. The essence of the brewing industry is the quality, control and consistency of the heat that is needed during the brewing process. The process itself includes five basic steps:
- First, malted barley must be soaked in hot water to release the important malt sugars.
- The malt sugar solution is then boiled with your choice of hops for your individually desired seasoning.
- The solution is then cooled and yeast is added to begin the ever important fermentation process.
- The yeast’s job is to ferment the sugars, resulting in a release of CO2 and ethyl alcohol.
- When the main fermentation process is complete, the beer is bottled in your individually designed bottles, with most brewers adding a small amount of sugar to provide carbonation.
While all of these five steps are intriguing, the industrial gas burner manufacturer industry specifically deals with the second step of boiling. For many brewers, the use of propane pipe burners or industrial gas burners to achieve and maintain the perfect temperature is the key to a successful and hearty brew.
In the bread making industry, bakers are equally concerned with the overall consistency in temperatures throughout large industrial ovens. There are nearly 2,800 commercial bakeries in the U.S., and another 6,000 retail bakeries. Every one of these businesses relies on consistent heat to create their product. All of the steps in the following process are important, but without heat, you never achieve a final product:
- The first step is to decide on the recipe and to measure and mix the ingredients.
- The next step includes mixing and kneading. The best bakers often add a pre-ferment process to the ingredients, but the mixing and kneading are steps that take time and patience.
- Punching down and turning dough is the next important step. After the dough has risen to double its size, it must be pressed down or turned to prevent it from overproofing. If bread rises more than double its size, the gluten will stretch to the point of collapse.
- Dividing and shaping the dough. Depending on your recipe, some bread needs to be divided to form more than one loaf or roll. Use a sharp knife or kitchen shears to divide the dough because tearing will compromise the gluten.
- After the final rise of the dough and the optional steps of glazing, stenciling and slashing, the final step is baking.
Again, the industrial gas burner manufacturer industry is concerned with providing bakeries and breweries the best, and most consistent, heat sources for the heating process for both the bread and beer makers in the country. Now that we think about it, what a great trade show theme: Bread and Beer, Too Hot to Handle!
