Belt Speed
Up to 120 metres per minute
Hard Dough Lines
Complete Lines for Crackers, Soda Biscuits and Hard Sweet Biscuits
Sunbeam Hard Dough Lines are designed for the production of crackers, soda biscuits, hard sweet biscuits, marine biscuits and other low-fat, elastic dough products.
Hard dough requires a different process from soft dough. It must be sheeted, laminated, reduced to the right thickness and cut accurately before baking.
Sunbeam brings these stages together into one controlled production line.
Product range
Products You Can Produce
From hard-sweet tea biscuits to layered savoury crackers, the line is configured around the product you plan to make.
Marie biscuitsRound, lightly embossed hard-sweet biscuits with fine docking and a crisp edge. 
Petit-beurre style biscuitsRectangular hard-sweet biscuits with scalloped edges and a precise docked pattern. 
Rich tea fingersLong, thin hard-sweet biscuits with a restrained border and even bake. 
Cream crackersSquare, layered crackers with visible lift, docking and toasted blisters. 
Savoury snack crackersRound, salt-finished crackers with a scalloped rim and lightly blistered surface.
How the line works
From dough to finished cracker, on one connected line.
The dough is sheeted and laminated to create the required structure, then reduced through gauge rollers before rotary cutting. Unused dough is returned to the process. Select a station to see the machine behind it.
01/07Dough Preparation
Horizontal Dough Mixer
The dough mixer prepares dough with controlled mixing and temperature management.
This is important for doughs with higher fat content, where excess heat can affect consistency and product quality.
Temperature controlBatch consistency
On the line
See the Line Running
Unedited footage from the plant floor.
PLC Automation and Controls
The line is coordinated through PLC-based controls with digital speed control. Operators set line speed and process settings from one place, so sheeting, laminating, gauging, cutting and scrap return stay synchronised through the run.
Features
Why Choose a SunbeamHard Dough Line?
A complete line for consistent, high-quality crackers and hard-dough biscuits.
Built for Crackers
For crackers and hard-dough biscuits
Sheet Thickness Control
Accurate dough sheet thickness
Controlled Laminating
For a flaky cracker structure
Clean Rotary Cutting
Clean and consistent cutting
Automated Scrap Return
To reduce dough waste
PLC Line Control
Of line speed and process settings
Flexible Plant Layouts
Straight-line or L-shaped
Questions buyers ask before specifying a hard dough line
Sheet gauging, lamination and cutter design are matched to your biscuit. Drawings and specification sheets are issued with a quotation.
Read: Why cracker dough shrinks after rotary cuttingPlanning a whole plant? See turnkey solutionsWhat biscuits can a Sunbeam hard dough line make?
Crackers, soda biscuits, Marie and other hard sweet biscuits, made from low-fat, elastic doughs that are sheeted, optionally laminated, gauged and rotary cut.
What sheet thickness and lamination can the line handle?
Sheet thickness from 0.4 mm to 15 mm, laminating up to 8 overlapping layers, and belt speeds up to 120 metres per minute.
Can the line be laid out as a straight line or an L shape?
Yes. Layouts can be straight-line or L-shaped, configured around your floor plan, with an automated pneumatic or conveyor-based scrap return.
Why do crackers change size after cutting?
Dimensions can change after the cutter, in transfer and again in the oven. Measure the dough sheet, the cut piece, oven entry and the cooled biscuit at the same positions across the width to find which stage moves first.
What should I send to get a proposal?
A product drawing or sample, formulation outline, finished dimensions and pack-fit tolerance, target output in kg/hr and your plant layout. An engineer returns a proposed line with its capacity and footprint.
Build a Line Around Your Product
Tell us the cracker or hard-biscuit product you want to produce, your target capacity and your available plant layout.
Our engineering team will help configure the appropriate Hard Dough Line.
Discuss Your Hard Dough Line Requirement