Easter is always a busy time for bakers across the UK and Ireland, with the ever-popular hot cross bun taking centre stage. According to Aldi, Brits consumed about 336 million in 2024, with 1 in 7 people eating more than 10 of the tasty treats during Easter. The classic bun – featuring the all-important dried fruit and adorned with a symbolic cross – remains the favoured traditional staple. Dried fruit is also a key ingredient in other Easter products, including simnel cakes and fruited loaves.

For products containing dried fruit, EPP’s fruit hydration machine enables optimal control of moisture in the product. Where traditional methods of fruit soaking leaves much to chance, the technology features a vacuum tumbler, which allows bakers to balance moisture content to deliver the optimal product with succulent fruit and moist dough.

By moistening dried fruit prior to adding to dough, bakers enjoy a greater control of moisture content, ensuring a better finished product that doesn’t stale and extends shelf life. The technology also allows bakers to maximise the amount of moisture into the fruit, helping bakers to get the most out of their ingredients by weight.

An added bonus is that with the additional moisture content, the product stays fresher for longer without requiring any artificial chemicals – just water! You can read more about the complete hot cross bun bakery process here.

How does the fruit hydration machine work?

In EPP’s fruit hydrating and batch weighing system, unpacked fruit (such as raisins and sultanas) is loaded in a euro bin, which tips into a vacuum tumbler. The tumbler then springs into action by delicately breaking up clumps of fruit into free-flowing individual pieces. The fruit added is weighed by the system, and the required liquid percentage is dosed automatically. The dried fruit is then tumbled under vacuum to hydrate and soften.

The complete system includes a euro bin elevator, vacuum tumbler, feed conveyors, loading hopper, tub loading roller bed with integrated weight scale (providing batch sizes ready for adding to the mix and saving on labour), as well as control functionality and perimeter guarding.

For more information about EPP’s fruit hydration solution, contact the team at: sales@eppltd.co.uk