One thing’s for sure: the UK and Ireland loves a mince pie! The festive treat hits the shelves as early as September – considered far too early for some – although many believe they should be eaten all year round. It is estimated that almost 800 million mince pies are consumed each year in the UK alone! The average person in the UK eats 19 mince pies throughout the season, and, according to research by Konditor, people in the South West eat the most mince pies, averaging a total of 24 mince pies across the festive period.
How do bakers keep up with demand to deliver on such quantities, and what equipment is available to ensure that bakers of the UK and Ireland can maximise this opportunity?
Choosing the right filling
A quality mince pie filling plays a huge role in the overall taste experience of a mince pie, and makes a successful product. Bakery ingredients supplier Zeelandia describes the ideal mincemeat as including “the perfect blend of chopped dried fruit, distilled spirits and spices.” Many bakers are now offering ‘twists’ on the traditional recipe, with salted caramel, chocolate and vegan options now available.
Perfect pastry at speed
Large mixers ensure consistency and unlock a potential ‘bottleneck’ of baking at scale, allowing shortcrust pastry dough to be easily mixed and made ready for use in large batches of many kilograms. EPP works with VMI, leading manufacturer of mixers and automatic mixing systems, to ensure bakers have a solution they can trust.
Scaling up production
To really scale up production it is time to invest in a purpose-built pie line. EPP supplies pie lines from GEA Comas, which has installed hundreds of pie systems worldwide. Pie lines can be customised to produce just about any shape or size, and configured to suit specific requirements and recipes, including the perfect traditional mince pie. GEA Comas’ Tartomatic machine is renowned for providing a fully automatic pie machine solution. EPP is able to supply technology that guarantees flexible, efficient and reliable processing for advanced automation.
Getting the right bake
Biting into that melt-in-the-mouth shortcrust pastry is a huge part of the mince pie experience, and ensuring that your mince pies are consistently baked is critical. EPP is the exclusive distributor of MIWE ovens, which are efficient, carefully engineered, made to last and used by experts around the world to deliver exceptional baking results every time.
If this season has reminded you it’s time to upscale your mince pie production, come and talk to the team at EPP who can provide you with a range of options to suit your needs.
For further information on the products supplied, installed and maintained by EPP, please contact Steve Merritt, telephone 01372 745558 or e-mail sales@eppltd.co.uk.