[Chrisopotamus]

We make a specialty item that's basicaly like a stuffed dinner roll. We have to portion the dough out into ~80 gram balls and roll them, then flatten them and fill them like a dumpling. (The dough ball is about the size of a medium fist. It isn't important that it's 80 grams, it's just important they're about that size and all the same.)

The biggest part of labor is portioning and rolling them. I've seen a million varieties of different machines online for doing this and they're all about the $10k price range.

Does any one have experience with any of them or advice?

Thanks!

 

[chefross]

Dough cutters come in many shapes, sizes, and prices.
How much labor, and how much that labor costs to divide and roll the dough....as compared to the price of such a machine over time.

 

[chefwriter]

Ebay has an entire section for used dough cutters. As Chefross said, prices are all over the place depending on what you want.
24.99 to 7,000.

 

[Chrisopotamus]

I appreciate the replies. I should have been more clear - my question isn't about cost of the machine vs cost of labor. (That was just a side comment.)

I'm really looking for advice from people who've actually used the machines. For example, "I used this style of machine and found that it was a pain because it didn't portion them consistently" or "It was really really unreasonably difficult to clean" etc.

 

[chefwriter]

In that case, I'd suggest visiting a supply store somewhere so you can see the machine you want in person. I realize that won't be easy as there are fewer and fewer places to visit thanks to the internet. But in person you can see what concerns you like actual size of machine, moving parts, style, etc. What works for you may not be what worked for someone else.
I'd take opinions about particular machines with a grain of salt.

 

[panini]

I'd look for old used Dutchess presses. The older and cheaper ones are manual and I feel more precise. When you call around and look for one, ask if it has the(I believe they call it the optical option). I'm not sure how big your fist is, but this will give you the option of 12 cut, 24 cut and 36 cut. This way you can adjust your dough size to what ever is the easiest to work with.
The automatic ones will divide and roll on plates you insert to the machine. These are good when all you do is yeast products. I've witnessed some pretty close races by old time bakers going right to the manual dutchess and bakers that use the automatic. If I may be so bold, in my time, my manual dutchess and hand rolling did not have any dingle berries on the bottom of the roll. Good luck. Oh, what quantity are you talking about?

 

[peachcreek]

I worked for a small bakery that had an ancient Dutchess press. It still worked great! Just had to be careful around it since it didn't have any safety features to speak of. I got a couple of Dutchess bites over the time i used it.

 

[Chrisopotamus]

I'd look for old used Dutchess presses. The older and cheaper ones are manual and I feel more precise. When you call around and look for one, ask if it has the(I believe they call it the optical option). I'm not sure how big your fist is, but this will give you the option of 12 cut, 24 cut and 36 cut. This way you can adjust your dough size to what ever is the easiest to work with.
The automatic ones will divide and roll on plates you insert to the machine. These are good when all you do is yeast products. I've witnessed some pretty close races by old time bakers going right to the manual dutchess and bakers that use the automatic. If I may be so bold, in my time, my manual dutchess and hand rolling did not have any dingle berries on the bottom of the roll. Good luck. Oh, what quantity are you talking about?

We're estimating about 2,000 - 3,000 rolls a day.

 

[Chrisopotamus]

I'd look for old used Dutchess presses. The older and cheaper ones are manual and I feel more precise. When you call around and look for one, ask if it has the(I believe they call it the optical option). I'm not sure how big your fist is, but this will give you the option of 12 cut, 24 cut and 36 cut. This way you can adjust your dough size to what ever is the easiest to work with.
The automatic ones will divide and roll on plates you insert to the machine. These are good when all you do is yeast products. I've witnessed some pretty close races by old time bakers going right to the manual dutchess and bakers that use the automatic. If I may be so bold, in my time, my manual dutchess and hand rolling did not have any dingle berries on the bottom of the roll. Good luck. Oh, what quantity are you talking about?

Thank you for responding! I'm reading one of your comments as "the plates are good when all you do is yeast products"... this leads me to believe if we purchased a different machine there would be more options of items we could make with it? Or am I misreading?