Running a bakery has probably been a dream for you, though if you’re just starting out in this business, have you realized some of the potential dangers? Humidity is probably the last liability you’d think you’d deal with in a bakery, but it can become a major hazard in more ways than one.
Unfortunately, a lot of industries overlook the dangers of humidity and what it can do to inhibit safety of workers and equipment. Even though you’ll find many humidifiers on the market, not all have enough innovative features to make them practical.
Your bakery may have to stay within a strict budget to stay profitable, so buying a humidifier probably isn’t top of mind. By controlling bakery humidity by using a humidifier with innovative methods, you save money and own something dependable.
Here’s how humidity could affect your bakery, the foods you bake, and what it can do to employees.
The Problems of Mold, Bacteria, and Mildew
Excessive humidity in your bakery causes major problems in the way of mold, bacteria, and mildew on surfaces you need to keep continually clean. Relative humidity needs complete control to prevent these issues, yet problems can occur outside of just working in warmer climates.
While warmer parts of the world affect humidity levels, just working in hot and damp kitchen environments causes condensation on food-making surfaces.
Mold may develop when you expose your warm kitchen to cold air from a nearby freezer. You may discover mold near surfaces where you regularly prepare bakery goods, proving risk for food preparation and employee health.
The same goes with general bacteria and mildew developing on counter spaces or equipment due to inferior ventilation.
Controlling Bakery Humidity Affects Your Food
When humidity affects the quality level of the foods you prepare, you face a major challenge to your business reputation. Excessive moist air throughout your bakery results in faster food spoilage, making baking procedures a continual problem.
Look around online and you’ll see exactly how many problems overly high or low humidity can cause when baking certain products. It’s especially an issue when baking bread, though some ovens have internal humidity control for better results.
Nevertheless, you may experience other baking disasters with high humidity, especially when working with chocolate or buttercream.
The Health of Your Bakery Employees
Maybe the humidity is fine in the customer service area of your bakery. For those who work in the kitchen area, maybe not. Considering you may hire chefs with unique baking skills, you don’t want to lose them to illness. Sickness may occur due to you being unable to control relative humidity levels.
With mildew and bacteria being around the kitchen, your workers could become ill and be unable to work for weeks. Overly low humidity can cause colds and other airborne viruses to spread easier. Even dust could accumulate more and cause bronchial issues.
Since humidity might fluctuate dramatically daily, you need a humidifier with specialized technology to keep RH at a comfortable rate.
Finding a Humidifier With Innovative Technology
All of our humidifiers at Smart Fog bring technological innovations you can’t find anywhere else. From intelligent precision control, de-correlation processes, and smaller water droplets, you have everything you need to control bakery humidity.
With options like in-duct installation, controlling bakery humidity through your existing HVAC system is possible. Other options include wall installation, though all open-space humidifiers have no moving parts for employee safety.
Contact us at Smart Fog to learn more about our humidifying products, including how to help you create a more productive and healthy kitchen in your bakery.
