Walk-in Coolers Built as Part of Retarder-Proofer Systems

Imperial Brown walk-in coolers that are designed and built as part of retarder-proofer systems are used in bakeries throughout the U.S. and abroad. This is a special application for speeding or slowing the fermentation of trendy artisan bread.

Working with Imperial Brown, TMB Baking of South San Francisco designs and configures the retarder-proofer system, with plans sent to Imperial Brown for construction.

The retarder-proofer systems, with the customization work that is an Imperial Brown trademark, can accommodate anything from a single rack of bread dough to hundreds of double racks, while the unit is retarding (slowing down) or proofing (speeding up) fermentation.

Alpine Valley Bread of Mesa, Ariz., uses retarder-proofer that we constructed. Large, by artisan bakery standards, this walk-in retarder/proofer is 11' 9 1/8" deep by 19' 2" wide and a standard 7' tall. It is designed with three doors on each end, instead of the usual single door.

"Bakers load one end (of the unit) with racks of bread, and when it is ready, the bread is taken out the door at the other end," says Vivek Mullaji, District Sales Manager for Imperial Brown in Northern California/Northern Nevada.