Dusting Flour and Anti-Stick Measures: How to Use the Least Dusting Flour on an Encrusting Machine

Why Is Dusting Needed?

Dough, mochi, and bean paste are all sticky. On an encrusting machine, there are three places where sticking is most troublesome:

• Shutter blades: If the dough sticks to the blades, it gets torn when the shutter seals; see Shutter Cutting and Sealing.
• Conveyor: If products stick to the belt, their bottoms get torn or deformed when they are transferred downstream.
• Downstream forming and panning: Rollers, stamping dies, and panning machines all touch the product surface.

The powder dusted onto the product surface or machine parts is called "dusting flour" or "anti-stick powder" in the industry. Common choices are potato starch, cake flour, bread flour, and corn starch, and Japanese confectioners also use kinako (roasted soybean flour). RHEON's official description of its flour duster lists exactly these.

What's Wrong with Using Too Much?

More dusting flour is not better:

• Texture: A layer of raw flour on the surface can turn dry and powdery after steaming or baking.
• Appearance: Dark products look whitish on the surface, which makes them look less fresh.
• Weight and cost: Flour is also an ingredient; dusting more raises costs.
• Environment: Flour dust drifts around, building up on the floor, machine frames, and electrical control boxes, increasing the cleaning burden.

What Types of Flour Dusters Are There?

Judging from RHEON's published peripherals, dusting-related equipment falls roughly into three categories:

1. Dusters that sprinkle flour onto the conveyor or dough sheet
Common on bread lines, these sprinkle flour evenly over the dough sheet or conveyor. RHEON has standard flour dusters as well as a "screw flour duster" that feeds flour with a screw, used for the bottom dusting on sheeters.

2. Coaters that apply flour to the product surface
As encrusted products pass through, a layer of flour is applied evenly from the top to the sides and bottom. RHEON's "hygienic brushless flour coater" works without brushes; according to the manufacturer, this reduces the risk of foreign matter contamination and improves coating efficiency, and dust collectors at the conveyor inlet and outlet prevent dust from spreading. There is also a "cyclone type" that uses a cyclone separator to automatically recover flour for reuse, and the body is water-washable. The flour coater dedicated to the two-row KASEIJIN (火星人) uses a turntable to adjust the amount of flour and is suited to products of 10–150 g.

3. Flour removers that brush off excess dusting flour
Excess flour on the surface after forming is brushed off with rotating and oscillating brushes. RHEON's flour remover uses three rotating brushes on the top and bottom surfaces plus oscillating brushes on the sides, collecting flour in a drawer-type flour box below, and is suited to products of about 30–120 g.

Can Products Be Made Without Dusting Flour?

Yes. The key is a cutting mechanism that does not stick. According to RHEON's company history, the N208 universal encrusting machine, released in 1986, could be fitted with a newly developed "non-stick encrusting cutting mechanism" (called 非粘着インクラスター in Japanese). This allowed products that machines had previously struggled with and that had to be made without dusting flour, such as ohagi (おはぎ) and hamburger patties, to be produced by machine. The first-generation KASEIJIN CN100, released the following year, went further and limited its encrusting function to this non-stick mechanism.

There are also flour-free alternatives for panning: RHEON's automatic panning machine offers a "water spray unit" that mists water onto the conveyor, and an "oiling unit" that applies release oil to the conveyor. Both are panning options that do not use dusting flour.

How to Keep Dusting Flour to a Minimum

1. Adjust the ingredients first: If the dough is too wet or sticky, no amount of flour will save it. Fix the water content and resting time first.
2. Control temperature: Dough and mochi get sticky as they warm up; stable material temperatures mean much less flour.
3. Dust only where needed: The shutter and the point where products land on the conveyor need anti-stick measures most; other places do not necessarily need dusting.
4. Choose the right powder: Starches absorb less water and work well against sticking; flour gets absorbed and is less noticeable.
5. Dust, then brush off: Use a flour remover to brush off the excess, balancing anti-stick performance and appearance.
6. Recover and reuse: Equipment with a recovery function reduces waste, but pay attention to hygiene management of recovered flour.

Safety and Hygiene

Flour dusters and brushes have rotating parts. Before clearing flour, stop the machine, cut the power, and apply lockout/tagout. Regularly remove any flour dust that builds up near electrical boxes.

FAQ

Q: Why does encrusting need dusting flour?
A: To keep the dough from sticking to the shutter, conveyor, and downstream parts, preventing seals from being torn open and bottoms from being ripped.

Q: What types of flour dusters are there?
A: Broadly, there are dusters that sprinkle flour onto the conveyor or dough sheet, coaters that apply flour to the product surface, and removers that brush off excess dusting flour.

Q: Can products be made without dusting flour?
A: Yes. The key is a non-stick cutting mechanism. RHEON introduced a non-stick mechanism back in 1986, allowing flour-free products such as ohagi and hamburger patties to be made by machine; for panning, water spray or oiling can also be used instead.

Q: Which dusting flour is best?
A: Potato starch, corn starch, cake flour, or bread flour are common, and Japanese confectioners also use kinako. Choose based on the product's texture and appearance, and use only a small amount.