Steaming process for short cut pasta

A short cut pasta treatment apparatus utilizes a steamer (13) for steam treating short cut pasta products after extrusion and before handling. The steamer has a housing (14) in which pipes (23) with nozzles (24) are disposed, both above and below an endless belt conveyor (21) which passes through the housing. "Green" pasta is carried by the conveyor through the housing, exposing the pasta to live steam. The pasta is steam treated for a time sufficient to partially gelatinize and cook the pasta product, which reduces tackiness and strengthens the product to limit breakage. Air is then drawn by the pasta by a pair of fans (25) to stop the cooking process and cool the pasta, allowing the partially cooked pasta to be handled and stored without agglomeration. The pasta product is then transported by a conveyor (28) to metering means.

TECHNICAL FIELD 
This invention relates a method and apparatus for steam treating fresh 
short cut pasta for increasing handling strength, allowing automatic 
processing without drying. 
BACKGROUND 
Alimentary products are usually prepared from flour, such as semolina, 
durum or other hard wheat, and water, which are metered in proper 
proportions and mixed until the wheat absorbs the water, forming a viscous 
pasta dough. Other ingredients, such as whole eggs or egg whites, are 
often added to enhance cooking quality. The dough is then extruded or 
otherwise formed to produce a shaped pasta product, such as spaghetti, or 
cut into smaller short cut products such as elbow macaroni or alphabet 
pasta. These cut products are termed "short cut pasta products", to 
distinguish from long cut products such as spaghetti. The resulting short 
cut product usually has a predetermined size, shape and weight. 
After extrusion, the fresh pasta product, commonly referred to in the 
industry as "green" pasta, may be dried and placed in a can along with 
sauce and other ingredients and then cooked. However, dried pasta is not 
as flavorful as fresh pasta, and the pasta is more preferably prepared 
without ever passing through a drying operation. Generally, methods do 
exist for canning long pasta, such as spaghetti, in a "green" or undried 
state. However, it has never been practical to directly package short cut 
products such as elbow macaroni or alphabet pasta. The main problem is 
that these short cut products are soft, and quite plastic and sticky due 
to their high moisture content. When attempting to handle fresh short cut 
products by conveying or passing through volumetric or gravimetric scaling 
devices, or storing for any length of time, the product tends to loose its 
shape, stick together or stick to various parts of the equipment. 
Thus, the current state of the art for preparing short cut pasta products 
calls for drying the product to commercial moisture levels of about 
10-12%, prior to separation, weighing and packaging. However, this drying 
process requires substantial energy, while further reducing freshness and 
increasing the chance for product contamination, as the drying process 
generally takes between 3 and 8 hours. Such a drying process requires very 
large and expensive drying equipment, adding substantially to the cost 
required to prepare a short cut product. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus 
for packaging short cut pasta products without requiring a drying step. 
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method and 
apparatus which is adaptable to continuous operation, substantially 
shortening the time required to produce a packaged short cut pasta 
product. 
It is another object of present invention to eliminate the need for large 
and expensive drying equipment when canning short cut pasta products. 
These and other objects of the present invention are achieved by a short 
cut pasta product treatment process comprising: exposing the short cut 
product to live steam for a time sufficient to partially gelatinize the 
short cut product; and, cooling the product using ambient air. The process 
may further comprise separating any lumps of the product which may have 
formed during the steaming process and packaging the short cut pasta 
product. Utilizing live steam to treat the short cut product eliminates 
stickiness while adding strength to the product so that it can be handled 
by automatic conveying and weighing equipment without deformation and at 
the same partially pasteurizes the product to increase its wholesomeness. 
Thus the pre-handling treatment leaves the product rubbery and strong, 
although it still maintains a high moisture content, on the order of 
29-32%. This steaming has an additional advantage of increasing the 
thermal resistance of the product to reduce the potential for overcooking 
during the final cooking step after the pasta is incorporated in a 
package. 
The apparatus used in performing the process of the present invention 
comprises a steamer, having a housing and means for supplying live steam 
therein. One or more pipes may be used to supply the steam, each pipe 
having a plurality of nozzles for injecting steam into the housing. The 
nozzles are sized to admit sufficient steam to partially gelatinize the 
pasta, without cooking it. The steamer has duct means to carry away excess 
steam and to prevent pressurization. Conveying means, such as a continuous 
porous belt, may be used to carry the short cut pasta product through the 
steamer at a controlled speed. The apparatus further comprises cooling 
means for passing air by the short cut product after steaming for removing 
surface moisture and cooling the product. The conveying means may 
similarly carry the product by the cooling means. Pneumatic conveying 
means may be disposed at the end of the apparatus, to receive the product 
for delivery to its next processing point. Such conveying means also 
separates any product which may have stuck together during the steaming 
process. Metering means are generally provided at the end of the pneumatic 
conveying means for dosing the short cut pasta product into packages, such 
as cans. Conventional volumetric or gravimetric weighing machines may be 
used. The process may then be completed with conventional apparatus such 
as sauce filling means, can seaming means, cooking means and sterilization 
means.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a short cut pasta canning process. For 
exemplary purposes, the process is shown as producing short cut pasta for 
canning. However, it will be understood that the pasta can be placed in 
pouches, or other types of packages. 
Referring to FIG. 1, the process begins with a mixer 1 into which one or 
more types of flour, and water are metered, preferably by computer 
control, and mixed to form a viscous pasta dough. Other ingredients such 
as whole eggs or egg whites may also be added in the mixer, with these and 
other ingredients being generally known in the art. The mixer is of 
conventional design including paddles 2 on two shafts, 3 and 4, for 
keeping the ingredients and the resulting dough constantly mixing. An 
exemplary continuous feed alimentary pasta mixer is disclosed in U.S. Pat. 
No. 4,121,301 to Defrancisci, the disclosure of which is hereby 
incorporated by reference. 
The dough resides in the-mixer for about 10-12 minutes, until the dough 
achieves a viscous, almost granular consistency, indicating that it is 
ready for extrusion. 
After mixing, the dough falls by gravity into an extruder 5 which has a 
long barrel 6, with an auger 7 disposed therein. The auger 7 drives the 
dough forward, to produce the pressure needed for extrusion. At the end of 
the auger is a die plate 8 which includes a number of shaped holes (not 
shown). Various die hole configurations may be used depending on the type 
of product made. For example, the dough may be extruded through alphabet 
shaped holes to produce an alphabet type pasta product. As the pasta is 
extruded through the holes in the die, a knife blade 10, positioned next 
to the die surface, cuts the pasta to the desired length, forming a green 
short cut pasta product 11. The knife 10 may be controlled by a timer or 
respond to a particular length of pasta passing a length indicator. This 
assures that all the pasta is cut to approximately the same length. Some 
examples of short cut pasta include ziti, alphabet pasta, animal shaped 
pasta, elbow macaroni or the like. 
As the cut raw pasta 11 drops from the knife blade, it lands on a conveyor 
12 which transports the cut raw pasta to a steamer 13. Referring to FIG. 
2, the steamer has a housing 14 surrounding a steam chamber 15. The 
housing is rectangular and has a roof 16, a floor 17 and inlet and outlet 
openings, 18 and 19, respectively. Two vents 20 are provided in the roof 
16. The steamer is preferably about 10-60 feet long, and made of stainless 
steel. 
A endless conveyor 21 has a porous belt 22, which passes through the steam 
chamber, carrying the short cut pasta product. The belt 22 is preferably 
made of wire mesh which may be coasted with a non-stick material, such as 
a fluorocarbon elastomer. The belt is generally between about 20-48 inches 
wide. The belt passes through the chamber, and then returns to the inlet 
opening by passing beneath the steamer. 
Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, a plurality of steam pipes 23 are disposed in 
the housing above and below the porous belt. Each pipe has a plurality of 
nozzles 24 uniformly spaced for admitting live steam to the chamber. "Live 
steam" refers to the direct contact of the product with the steam. 
Sufficient steam is admitted to partially gelatinize and cook the short cut 
pasta product as it passes through the steamer, providing a product which 
is less sticky than the uncooked pasta product, yet retains a high 
moisture content. Generally, the steam is provided at a pressure of about 
1-15 psi, preferably 1-7 psi, which is suitable for treating the short cut 
pasta product. Generally, low pressure steam is preferred as higher 
pressure steam could damage the delicate raw pasta product during 
treating. Similarly, the speed of the belt is controlled to limit the 
exposure of the pasta to the steam to prevent over-cooking. Generally, the 
pasta is steam treated for about 1-4 minutes. Of course, the bulkier short 
cut products will require longer exposure times while small, delicate 
products will require less, and the process is not limited by this range. 
Steaming is done to obtain a moisture content of about 25-35%, by weight, 
preferably 29-32%. 
After steaming, the pasta product is cooled using ambient air. Referring 
again to FIG. 2, the conveyor 21 carries the pasta 11 past a pair of fans 
25, which draw air through the porous belt 22. Of course, the air may 
either be blown beneath the belt or drawn through the belt. The air cools 
the pasta to stop further cooking, and removes surface moisture. The air 
flow also agitates the product to prevent agglomeration or sticking to the 
conveyor belt. Cooling is provided by drawing air by the product for from 
10-30 seconds. 
A hopper 26 is placed at the end of the belt 22, beneath a doctor blade 27. 
The blade 27 assures that all the pasta enters the hopper. The hopper 26 
feeds directly into a conveyor 28, which is preferably a pneumatic 
conveyor, which uses an air stream to move a product. A blower 29 supplies 
the air which carries the product through the conveyor. Since the pasta 
has been steam treated according to the inventive process, it can be 
handled by such equipment without damage or agglomeration. Such a conveyor 
offers an additional advantage, by separating any lumps formed during the 
steaming process. 
A cyclone separator 30 is located at the end of the conveyor 28. The 
separator separates the pasta from the air stream for deposit onto a 
shaker conveyor 31 which is used to temporarily accumulate the product. 
Such a conveyor keeps the product fluid to prevent agglomeration. The 
shaker conveyor feed the pasta product to a gravimetric weigher 32. 
The metering means are used to dose the short cut pasta product into 
packages, such as cans. Conventional volumetric or gravimetric scaling 
devises may be used, and operates with the shaker conveyor to allowed flow 
from the shaker conveyor to the weigher until a particular set weight 
limit is reached. The conveyor forward motion is then stopped, but the 
shaking continues. Were the product not steam treated, it could not be 
handled in this way. The gravimetric weigher 32 empties by discharging the 
cut pasta product 11 into a can 33. 
Empty cans 34 are staged on a conveyor 35 and are provided in a single line 
to a loading position 36 beneath the weigher. The cans are controlled 
conventionally to stop beneath the gravimetric weigher, until filled, and 
then another empty can is staged in the loading position. After filling, 
the cans stop at a checker 37 to assure that they are of the proper 
weight. The cans are then sent for other processing steps, such as the 
addition of sauces or flavoring agents or for sealing, which all use 
conventional equipment. 
The partial steaming of the cut pasta product prior to handling provides a 
product which is less susceptible to breakage and is easily handled 
without sticking. An automated short cut pasta system is achieved which is 
far superior to the manual systems presently used, as a costly and time 
consuming drying step is avoided, while providing a fresher, more 
wholesome product. The cycle time is reduced from 3-8 hours to 1-5 
minutes. In addition, by precooking the short cut pasta with steam, the 
resulting pasta product is less susceptible to overcooking in the final 
cooking step after canning, increasing cooking consistency from package to 
package. Thus, a higher quality product is achieved, with a substantial 
savings in equipment and operating costs. 
While the invention has been shown and described in relation to a 
particular steamer/cooler apparatus, it will understood by those skilled 
in the art that various other steamer configurations could be used to 
produce the treated pasta product of the present invention and other 
equipment variations could be done used varying from the scope of the 
present invention.