Part 3.1.7: Bakery and other oven-cooked products

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Sales appeal combined with production efficiency

Consumers like the dependability and versatility of alufoil food containers. Unique in the processing and packaging of baked foods, they combine all the features needed to deliver to the consumer fresh, wholesome and quickly accessed products to satisfy the ever-increasing demand for quality and value.

Bright and reflective, alufoil containers stay that way throughout processing and marketing. They can be embossed, colour lacquered or printed with brand identifying designs and colours both inside and out.

Alufoil containers withstand the extremes of all types of cooking and re-heating: grilling, fan and convection cooking, barbecue griddle and microwave oven. They are easy to handle, easy to open, to use and to dispose of.

Adding versatility, a range of purpose designed lidding materials is also available – from straightforward foil/board laminates to more sophisticated coated or laminated alufoil lids that can be sealed to the container rim yet peel off easily when required.

Alufoil containers – their unique combination of properties

Food compatibility

Even uncoated aluminium foil will not react with the vast majority of foods. A range of approved food-contact coatings add full protection against any possible reaction which might be caused by unusually acid or alkaline ingredients.

Heat conductivity

Aluminium is very conductive to heat. This can help minimise processing, chilling and reheating times. It also evens-out the temperature gradient within its contents, helping product quality.

Heat resistance

Aluminium foil dishes can be used through a very wide temperature range from well below blast-freezing to the extremes of baking and grilling. There is no risk of cracking, melting, charring or burning.

Hygiene

Aluminium is non-absorptive. It will not support or harbour bacterial growth, absorb moisture or grease.

Durability and strength

When stamped into a dish, aluminium foil becomes much stronger where it is shaped. Thickness, alloy, shape and temper can be selected to create exactly the performance characteristics required.

Multi-mode heating or cooking

Food in alufoil dishes can be heated by convection, fan or microwave oven.

Decorative potential

Alufoil’s metallic finish plus compatibility with all printing methods provides designers with scope to create product and brand identity.

Lightness and space economy

Economies in both transport and storage result from lightness and nesting shapes.

Sustainability

Alufoil packaging reduces spoilage of sensitive products and, thanks to its barrier function, saves energy and material resources. Also, aluminium containers can be repeatedly recycled without loss of quality and at a fraction of their original energy cost.
They are suitable for both separate and multi-material collection systems according to national and local conditions.

Enourmous Choice

Foil’s characteristics offer great scope for the packaging specifier seeking solutions that satisfy the many demands of chilled or frozen bakery products. Thanks to the ready formability and robustness of aluminium foil, a large variety of standard shapes and sizes and smoothwall designs are available.

Oval, round, shallow or deep

Whether one needs to make a fruit flan or a deep apple pie, an individual steak and kidney pie or a large multi-portion catering dessert, there’s a shape or size to meet every need.

Rectangular shapes of all proportions

For larger containers, extra strength can be designed into the walls. By incorporating corrugated sides, the rigidity of the container can be greatly enhanced. Also, there are folded containers specially for baked products, such as cakes, that need to present an extra-smooth surface when removed from the dish.

Embossing

The intrinsic ‘deformation memory’ of alufoil provides an added opportunity for branding and information. An embossed recycling logo can be used to remind the customer of the value of the used aluminium container – an environmental pack advantage that can be promoted by brand owners.

Lidding choices

A large range of lidding options go from the simple but effective fold down rigid foil/board closure to snap-on covers in foil or plastic. Hermetic sealing with transparent films or heat resistant foil membranes is possible with smoothwall trays that have smooth horizontal rims.

Compartmented trays

Originated for ‘ready meals’, the compartmented alufoil tray opens up ideas for other uses. For example: a baked pastry or dessert using one compartment alongside a fruit sauce in the other section.

Presentation trays

Then there are sturdy alufoil serving trays that can be used as supports for separate pastries and tarts, good looking, re-useable and the ultimate in convenience. Here again, all the possibilities of embossing and surface decoration are open.

Smoothwall dishes

High quality presentation can be greatly enhanced by specifying an elegant smoothwalled design. Equally suitable for baked products as the standard type of container, the smoothwall lends itself to the premium end of the market particularly if the outer surface is coloured or printed.

Related uses

Alufoil containers are in widespread use for many other applications for which their combination of properties are of great advantage. For example heat processed dairy desserts, pâtés, prepared and oven-ready meat, poultry and fish, ready-to-cook frozen desserts and so on. Examples of these can be seen in other parts of the Alufoil File series:

Part 3.1.6: Ready meals

Part 3.1.9: Meat, poultry and fish