like many other food production facilities, commissaries rely on one big factor when it comes to depositors: versatility. In fact, centralized kitchens may take the need for flexibility to another level with the varied food items they’re usually tasked with producing.

Hinds-Bock Corporation and Bakon USA each stress the importance of that versatility with their depositing lines.

“When focusing on commissaries or central kitchens, we’ve successfully provided many different depositors for a wide range of products over the past 49-plus years,” says Lance Aasness, executive vice-president of Hinds-Bock. “It’s a very big part of working with that segment of customers.”

With commissaries potentially making foods as wide-ranging as muffins, yogurt parfaits, macarons, cookies, gravies, soups and much more, depositors can be relied on to take many shapes.

Hinds-Bock’s solution for filling cups and trays is the Cup Filling System and the Servo Filler, respectively. The Cup Filling System can be used for a wide variety of food products such as soups, sauces, parfaits, deli salads, salsa and virtually any other pumpable product. Various cup sizes can be accommodated with depositors available for rates from 20 to 200 per minute.

The Servo Filler dispenses food products — think macaroni and cheese, potato salad, deli salads or lasagna — into trays and can also dispense toppings like gravy onto entrees. Rates can be handled from 20 to 320 per minute.

Depositors must also be able to tackle emerging trends, like the macaron. “We are seeing a lot of interest in the production of French macarons and also eclairs for the time being,” says Luc Imberechts, owner of Bakon. “Our Drop TT machine is used for these.”

The Drop TT is a table-top gearwheel depositor that produces eclairs, choux and more, in addition to macarons. The company pushes the Drop TT’s consistency, speed and economic advantages. The machines are customizable according to a facilities production needs. Macarons, for example, would use a hopper with pump for liquid and semi-liquid batters, a six-hold template fix and round nozzles. To also produce butter cookies, swap out a six-hole template and a hopper with stainless roller extruder for hard doughs.

Depositors can also play integral roles in filling pouches. Hinds-Bock’s SP-160 filling system draws product — such as soup, stews, entrée items or sauces — directly from the cooking kettle outlet and fills pouches. In addition, an integral heat seal unity or ring applicator help make it a clean operation.

The company’s Auto Answer line of depositors is geared toward a wide variety of muffin and batters commonly used in commissaries and central kitchens. The Auto Answer, Aasness says, features easy-to-use automatic cycling controls that quickly and efficiently deposit up to more than 200 muffins per minute. It can also run cake batter into sheet pans, round pans and loaf pans.