Mooncake, as a classic seasonal food in the Chinese pastry industry, has become the core category of the festival market with its soft and dense texture, classic style, and rich taste. From broad moon cakes with exquisite patterns to Soviet-style and Beijing-style moon cakes with regular shapes, various customized moon cake stamp molds are the core accessories for shaping cake patterns. Consumers’ requirements on the quality, specification, and efficiency of scale production of mooncakes have already exceeded the limit of traditional manual production.
The appearance of the mooncake machine reconstructed the core logic of mooncake industrial production. It can quickly replace all kinds of molds through PLC control of such processes as precise packing, quantitative molding, and die printing. It can not only produce moon cakes with clear patterns, thin skins, uniform fillings, and highly uniform specifications with precise and controllable weight and size errors but also realize efficient mass production of thousands of pieces per hour, perfectly solving the industry pain points of traditional manual efficiency, different specifications, uneven fillings, and fuzzy manual printing. Next, I will start with the principle, operation, advantages, and maintenance of the equipment and take you to fully understand the technical details of the mooncake machine suitable for the multi-style mooncake stamp mold.
一．Working principle of mooncake machine
The moon cake-making machine belongs to one kind of dessert-making machine, which is an automatic equipment integrating noodle blending, skin dividing, stuffing packing, molding, and tray arrangement. Its core principle is precise metering → automatic stuffing/packing → die forming → intelligent conveying, and the whole process simulates manual processes and standardized mass production.
二．Operating Instructions for Moon Cake Maker
Standardized operation is the basis to ensure that the equipment can avoid failures and produce efficiently:
1. Preparation before production
Before production, check whether the equipment is clean and tidy, especially the mixing mechanism, hopper, baking plate, mold, and other parts, and confirm that there are no leather and stuffing residues used last time; check whether the power voltage and air source pressure are normal. Firstly, test the idling operation of equipment and observe whether the equipment operates stably without clamping, stagnation, or abnormal sound.
2. Production process
As the equipment mold can be replaced, pay attention to the specific mooncake formula to be used with the corresponding mold during startup. The screen of the equipment can be preset with a variety of skin-filling ratios and production parameters. It is recommended to test the machine in small batches. According to the forming state of the green mooncakes, the parameters such as the amount of skin filling extrusion, the rolling speed, and the pressing pressure can be adjusted until the appearance pattern of the mooncakes is clear, the specifications are uniform, and there is no exposed filling or bubbles.
Attention shall be paid to the status of the cake blank at all times during the production process. In case of weight deviation, fuzzy pattern, or open stuffing, the parameters shall be adjusted on the screen for correction; meanwhile, pay attention to the operation state of the equipment. If the conveyor belt makes abnormal noise or deviates, shut down the machine to check the bearing state or adjust the tensioning wheel to restore the conveyor belt to normal operation.
3. Shutdown after production
Before normal shutdown, first stop feeding the moon cake hopper and keep the equipment running until the crust and fillings in the hopper are completely extruded; then turn off the conveyor belt, extrusion mechanism, etc., and finally turn off the power supply. Timely clean the equipment after production: the mold can be removed and thoroughly cleaned. Clean the hopper, baking tray, conveyor belt, and other sticky parts with food-grade cleaner to avoid the impact of residual materials on the next use. Finally, dry the water to prevent the equipment from rusting or breeding bacteria.
三．Mooncake Machine Advantages
We have just introduced the principle and production process of the mooncake machine. Now, we will show you the advantages of this mooncake machine. You can see whether this equipment is suitable for you according to these advantages. If you want some extra effect, Orange Mech can customize your dedicated mooncake manufacturing equipment solution.
1. The moon cake machine is made of stainless steel, which is solid, durable, and easy to maintain, completely complying with food production standards.
2. The mooncake machine is controlled by PLC, which is easy to operate and can retain a variety of production formulas. The control panel can be switched between Chinese and English, and different language operation interfaces can be added if necessary.
3. Different molds can be replaced according to the shape requirements of the product to make moon cakes of different styles, such as wide style, Soviet style, and ice crust. Moon cake equipment with special processes such as flowing center, double color, and stuffing can also be customized.
4. The extrusion volume of the hopper is controlled and driven by the servo motor, and the proportion and weight of the skin and fillings are accurately controlled so that the weight error of each mooncake is very small and the specification and height are the same.
5. The mooncake machine has a high degree of automation, and it can be automatically produced by a one-button start after putting the mixed skin and fillings into the hopper. Only 1-2 people are required to load and push the baking plate, reducing the manual work and avoiding the risks caused by food contact.
6. The mooncake machine has strong fatigue resistance and can run at high speed for a long time, greatly improving the production efficiency.
7. The key components of the mooncake machine are of modular design, which is easy to disassemble without hygienic dead angles, easy to clean quickly and thoroughly, effectively prevents the residual stuffing from breeding bacteria, and meets the high-standard hygiene requirements of food production.
8. Optimized mechanical structure and servo drive system are adopted for the equipment, with stable operation, low noise and effective reduction of raw material loss in the production process; At the same time, the energy consumption control is better, and the long-term operation can significantly reduce the production power consumption cost and improve the overall production efficiency.
四．Precautions and Maintenance
When you often use this mooncake machine, you also need to know the use and maintenance of the equipment. Good maintenance can extend the service life of the equipment.
1. Before each production, check whether there are foreign matters in the skin, filling materials, and hopper to avoid damaging the mold, pressing roller, and packing mechanism.
2. Clean the equipment timely with hot water after daily use to avoid residual leather and fillings; the hopper, baking plate, mold, stuffing mouth, etc. can be scrubbed with a hot water towel or soft hairbrush. It is prohibited to clean with hard objects to avoid scratching and damaging the mold pattern.
3. Regular deep cleaning shall be carried out for the dead corner of the equipment and the place that is not easy to be cleaned at ordinary times. The long-time residue is easy to breed bacteria and deteriorate by oxidation, affecting the quality of mooncakes and food safety.
4. Regular inspection shall be carried out for bearing, conveyor belts, round wheel and other wearing parts, and problems shall not be inspected until abnormal sound is sent out; Food-grade lubricating oil must be added to the bearing to prevent pollution. Check whether the conveyor belt is worn and tensioned. If the belt is too loose or too tight, it shall be adjusted in time.
5. Regularly check the air pipe and joint for aging or air leakage, and replace in time if any; There is also an air source filter, which needs to clean the impurities generated after long-time use to ensure the stable operation of the stamping forming mechanism.
6. Regularly check the connecting bolts of the equipment, especially the key parts such as the mold base and conveyor belt support, so as to avoid looseness caused by long-time use and affect the accuracy and safety of the equipment.
7. Maintenance of electrical and control systems: Regularly check whether the electric cabinet, power line, and sensor line are affected by dampness, damage, or looseness to avoid short circuits or misoperation caused by oil stains and moisture infiltration. When cleaning the electrical components, cut off the power and wipe them with a dry, soft cloth. It is strictly prohibited to directly flush the electrical control area with water to prevent electric leakage.
8. Long-term shutdown maintenance: if the equipment is shut down for more than 3 days, it is required to dry the metal parts such as moulds, pressing rollers and packing nozzles and apply food-grade anti-rust oil, and completely cover the whole machine with dust cover. Before reuse, thoroughly clean the anti-rust oil with hot water and re-commission the equipment parameters to ensure compliance with food safety and production accuracy requirements.
五. Summary
This article takes the dessert-making machine equipment—the moon cake machine—as the core, from the principle and process to advantages and maintenance, for you to make a complete introduction; believe you will have a clear understanding of it.
Orange Mech, as the source plant, is manufactured in accordance with food machinery safety standards. It supports customization and provides an after-sales guarantee. We look forward to win-win cooperation and market expansion with you.
