Serpentine conveyor-based dough proofing system and method for continuous baking processes

A serpentine dough proofer system comprising:

• a. a stack of at least three conveyors arranged in vertically spaced, alternating-direction layers, each lower conveyor receiving dough from a drop zone at an end of an upper conveyor and conveying in a horizontal direction opposite the upper conveyor;
• b. an enclosed housing surrounding the stack and partitioned into at least four vertically distinct environmental control zones;
• c, for each zone, a steam injector, an air mover, and both a temperature sensor and a humidity sensor positioned to sense conditions within that zone;
• d. a controller operatively coupled to the conveyors and to the steam injectors and air movers of the zones and programmed to maintain a monotonic set-point gradient in which two or more upper zones are controlled to higher temperature and higher humidity than two or more lower zones during proofing, while advancing the dough along the alternating conveyors in a continuous serpentine path, the controller being configured to control conveyor speed and environmental conditions based on a desired proofing profile, and
• e. a caustic bath unit positioned upstream of a refrigeration section, the refrigeration section being downstream of the enclosed housing and configured for cooling or stiffening the dough prior to baking or slicing.