Changing from wood to plastic proofing baskets enabled Corner Bakery to improve maintenance and increase production.

Corner Bakery understands the “art” of artisan baking. They take pride in their personal approach to producing high-quality, hand-crafted breads for their many retail food service locations. “What makes us stand apart is the fact that we use only the finest ingredients, and we never take short cuts,” states Dwight Liebau, General Manager of Corner Bakery’s Dallas Commissary.

For years, Corner Bakery had been using ‘willow’ wicker proofing baskets with cloth liners to mould their two sizes of boule bread and oblong specialty loaves. In response to local health guidelines, sanitary issues became a concern.

“After washing, the baskets would need to go into an oven for 72 hours to dry, metal staples in the baskets would be prone to rust, and we had to throw them away when they began to fray,” says Mr. Liebau.

With over 2,000 baskets in use at one time for the boule bread line alone, Corner Bakery began looking for a better solution. Last year, they purchased plastic proofing baskets from Empire Bakery Equipment located in Hempstead, New York. Mr. Leibau believes that Empire’s baskets solved the concerns of health officials.

According to Liebau, production is never impaired using the new baskets.

“Cleaning and sanitizing is done the same day as opposed to the two or three days it took to clean the wicker. Plastic holds up to moisture better and cloth liners are eliminated since product doesn’t stick to the bottom. We can use a light coating of mineral spray if needed, but we mostly just use a dusting of flour and the product does not stick,” says Mr. Liebau. “The plastic proofing basket is a good economical alternative to wicker baskets.”

Empire Bakery Equipment offers a complete line of plastic proofing baskets in a variety of shapes and sizes. Click here for a complete list of what's available.

For more information, call 1-800-878-4070, e-mail info@empirebake.com, or visit us at http://www.empirebake.com/.