Plastic article or earthenware shaping or treating: apparatus – With apparatus assembly or dismantling means or with idle part – For extrusion or injection type shaping means
Reexamination Certificate
2000-11-10
2003-09-30
Mackey, James P. (Department: 1722)
Plastic article or earthenware shaping or treating: apparatus
With apparatus assembly or dismantling means or with idle part
For extrusion or injection type shaping means
C425S191000, C425S19200R, C425S319000, C425S381000, C425S38200R, C425S464000, C426S500000, C426S516000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06626660
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to an apparatus and method for continuously producing a twisted baked good such as twisted breadsticks.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In the production of twisted food products such as licorice, a licorice mass is heated to high temperatures to reduce viscosity of the licorice and to permit continuous extrusion of a twisted licorice rope through rotating nozzles. The production of twisted gum ropes is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,626,892 and 5,955,116 to Kehoe et al. Prior to twisting, heaters may be employed to control gum softness for extrusion, and for curing and sealing of the gum in a liquid additive injection zone of the gum extruder.
A braiding extruder for making braided products from extrusible material such as a dough or batter is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,834,040 to Israel et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,695,805 to Borek et al discloses the production of ready-to-eat cereals and cereal-based snacks from multiple extrudate strands of cooked cereal dough that have been twisted or braided into ropes immediately after extrusion and severed into pieces.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,670,185 to Heck et al discloses an extrusion die assembly for preparing articles which are twisted and/or filled in their center with a filling, having one or more strands which are of a pasta-type or expanded cocktail snack-type. The extrusion die assembly comprises a thick body member which rotatably houses a barrel member which provides a tubular passage. The body member has an outlet channel for passage of a plasticized, especially edible, substance to the barrel member tubular passage which extends from a junction with the body member to at least one outlet channel. A rotary seal is provided at a junction between the body member and barrel member.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,288,463 to Groff et al discloses a method of making pretzels of a selected spiral pitch. Dough is extruded and the extrusion is rotated about an eccentric axis into a spiral configuration for baking. The extruded dough is gravitational passed to a conveyor belt. The vertical distance that the dough downwardly passes through is varied to change the wound spiral to a selected pitch.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,445,838 to Groff discloses an extrusion apparatus for practicing the method of U.S. Pat. No. 4,288,463 to Groff et al. The extrusion apparatus includes a pressure chamber having an outlet, a hollow extrusion die journaled in the outlet, and a hollow seal which is forced fit in the outlet. The hollow seal has a neck extending slidably into the hollow die. The neck and die combine to form a rotary seal for the comestible.
Traditional breadstick manufacture involves sheeting a dough, cutting the sheet into dough preforms, placing the dough preforms into pans, fermenting or proofing of the dough, and baking the fermented or proofed dough. During fermentation or proofing, gases are produced and flavor is developed. The gas production provides cell structure and porosity in the final baked product. Increasing gas production and leavening of the dough tends to result in a highly porous, large cell structure and oven rise which is characteristic of bread.
To produce a twisted breadstick or other fermented baked goods continuously, the use of heat to reduce dough viscosity for extrudability and twistability may destroy or kill the yeast prematurely. Loss of leavening or gas production and loss of flavor development may result from the premature destruction of the yeast. In addition, pressure buildup during extrusion and twisting may cause excessive frictional heating of the dough which may also destroy the yeast. Premature leavening may also result from excessive heating of chemically leavened, non-fermented doughs.
Degasification of the dough also results from excessive die pressures. Pressure variation and extruder surging may result in loss of shape definition in the extrudate. Reducing flow rates to reduce die pressures lowers production rates and increases dough lay time. Long lay times prior to extrusion and twisting, increase gas production and bubble size in the dough which can lead to substantial degasification of the dough during extrusion and twisting. Excessive degasification of the dough during extrusion and twisting results in an undesirable glassy, dense, hard texture rather than a crispy texture in the baked product.
The present invention provides a process and apparatus for making twisted breadsticks having a tender, crisp texture with excellent shape definition on a continuous production basis. The relatively viscous dough is supplied to the twisting nozzles at a substantially constant, low pressure. The process and apparatus avoids substantial dough surging and substantial dough degasification prior to and during extrusion and twisting which would result in undesirable variations in dough rope diameter and a hard, dense, glassy baked texture in the final product.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A twisted baked good is continuously produced by forming a dough, feeding the dough to a plurality of nozzles, and extruding the dough through the nozzles and twisting the dough into a plurality of continuous twisted dough ropes without substantially increasing the density of the dough. The twisted dough ropes may be cut into pieces and then baked. The dough may be a breadstick dough or other fermented dough, the density of which decreases with increasing lay time, or which increases with an increase in pressure. The dough may be fed to the nozzles by an extruder which supplies the dough at a substantially constant pressure without substantial surging of the dough. In preferred embodiments, the dough is fed to the plurality of nozzles by a pump which supplies the dough to the nozzles at a substantially constant pressure without substantial surging of the dough. The use of low, constant pressures, avoids substantial degasification of the dough which may be caused by a build-up of pressure at the extrusion and twisting nozzles. Also, the use of low pressures avoids heat build-up at the dies which would destroy yeast present in the fermenting dough. However, the pressure is sufficiently high so as to enable consistent, smooth lamellar, plug flow, non-turbulent extrusion and twisting of the dough through multiple nozzles and orifices into smooth surface dough ropes. In embodiments of the invention, the dough is fed to the nozzles at a pressure of less than about 200 psig, for example from about 85 psig to about 140 psig and at temperatures of less than about 110° F. Each nozzle may produce a single dough rope which is twisted about an axis. In preferred embodiments, each nozzle produces a plurality of dough ropes which are twisted together to form a continuous twisted dough rope.
The dough twisting apparatus or twist head device of the present invention includes a compression head or stuffbox for receiving a dough continuously from a pump or extruder. The compression head or housing flares outwardly and is mounted to a manifold plate by means of a flange mount. The manifold plate, upon which the compression head is mounted, contains a plurality of passages for receiving the dough from the compression head. The dough passageways are covered by the compression head or housing. The dough passageways are the widest at their upstream end at the upstream or receiving surface of the manifold plate so as to minimize dead areas on the manifold plate surface. The passageway may contain two internal chamfers, bevels or flares leading to a narrow, cylindrical passageway at the downstream or output end of the manifold plate. Each of the narrow, cylindrical passageways may contain a flow restrictor or adjustable bolt or valve for controlling or adjusting the flow through each passageway and each nozzle.
Into each outlet end or downstream end of the cylindrical passageway there is inserted an extruder pipe or stationary, hollow cylindrical shaft. The upstream end of the shaft is press fit and gas tungsten arc welded into the cylindrical passageway of the manifold plate so as to prevent leakage of the dough from the manifold plate and to
Addesso Kevin
Armstrong Brian
Heimbruch Richard
Krachtt Wayne
Olson Gary
Baptista's Bakery, Inc.
Hollander Law Firm, P.L.C.
Leyson Joseph
Mackey James P.
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