Improved Cereal Product, and Processes for the Preparation of the same.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 18th Apr., 1894-Accepted, 2nd June, 1894
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improved Cereal Product, and Processes for the Preparation of
the same.
I, EMORY VINTON DONELSON, of the City of Marion, in the State of Indiana,
United States of America, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
My improvements relate to a method of treating cereals having for its objects,
first, to develop to the highest, or to a high degree of solubility, and to intimately
combine with each other, the starch, dextrine and sugar of a cereal or of two
or more cereals, so that the product shall be ready for use by brewers or as an
alimentary substance; second, to perform the drying of the cereals during the
milling operation and in such manner that when the milling operation is concluded
the resulting product, a combination of starch, dextrine and sugar, will have the
moisture expelled to the necessary degree and will require no further drying,
but will be ready for use and consumption or for packing and storage.
I will first describe the first part of my invention, which may be used with or
without the particular mode of drying which constitutes the second part of the
invention. It is a well known fact that the cellular tissues of the starch-crystals
or granules of cereals differ, and the crystals or granules formed present such
shapes that by the aid of the microscope the several cereals can be distinguished
from each other. It is also known that it requires more heat to develop the
soluble starch or saccharine matter of some cereals than is required for others.
Thus corn requires a greater exposure to heat than rice to develop its soluble
starch or saccharine matter.
Heretofore various methods have been employed to develop the soluble starch,
dextrine, and sugar of cereals, and the soluble starch, dextrine, and sugar of
different cereals have been commingled or mixed after the developing process
has been completed, the resulting product in such cases being such that the
different crystals or Hakes could be readily distinguished as belonging to corn or
rice, as the case might be, and therefore I term such a process as nothing more
than a
"mechanical mixture" and not a chemical change, which I shall call a
true combination or assimilation," in which it is impossible to determine the
identity of the different cereals.
.
It is desirable for brewers' and other uses to employ the soluble products of two
or more cereals, and it is important that the constituents of each cereal shall be
thoroughly developed. The proper degree of heat and moisture applied for the
appropriate length of time will perfectly develop the starch of any cereal to the
point of its readiest solubility; but these conditions of heat and time must be
varied to suit each particular cereal, as some cereals yield to the treatment
mentioned much more readily than others. I propose a method that will accom-
plish the best results by the simultaneous treatment of two or more cereals mixed
or conmingled before treatment, whereby the starchy matter of the several
cereals used will be assimilated or blended as opposed to the simple mechanical
mixture heretofore used.
My invention consists of a process and a product, as hereinafter described, and
set forth in the claims.
The several grains to be treated should first have the hall or covering of
cellular tissue and the germinal portion removed by any known method, each
kind of grain being thus treated separately. The grain should be reduced or
broken, but not ground. This may be accomplished by any of the mills for doing

page_text: such work. The several different kinds of grain thus prepared are then mixed and
the mixture subjected to the action of moisture and heat, preferably steam, at
alternating temperatures. The particular degrees of temperature, as well as the
time during which each temperature shall be employed, must be governed to suit
each of the several kinds of cereals used. For instance, for rice and corn, a lower
temperature will be employed for the rice and a higher for the corn. These two
temperatures will be employed for the mixture alternately.
By the term "alternating temperatures" I mean that the cereals shall be first
subjected to a temperature of about 160° Fahrenheit. Then, as suddenly as can be
accomplished, run it up to 212° or 240°, and then run it back to 212°, or less.
This changing or alternating of the temperature accomplishes the results above
referred to, as the lower temperatures are sufficient for the rice and the higher
temperatures develop the starch crystals or flakes of the corn. It is impossible for
me to state exactly either the degree of moisture or time required for my process,
as that is governed by the grain, as when it is new it contains more moisture and
is softer than at any other time, and consequently it would require less moisture
and take less time in the process. Approximately, however, the least time that
would be required would be fifteen-minutes, and the greatest would be thirty
minutes. The cereals must not be reduced to a pulpy mass, but each particle of
grain should retain its individual form and yet be cooked soft. For brewers who
may wish to do their own processing the product at this stage is ready for the vat,
and for such purposes my method thus far described is complete.
1
When it is desired to produce a product that may be kept for any length of
time, the following additional steps must be taken: At the stage of the process
last mentioned and while the grain particles are hot, they should be subjected to
a cold blast, or an application of cold water sufficient only to chill or toughen them
on the exterior. The grain particles should then be immediately subjected to
the treatment of rolls or mills for the purpose of forming granules, curls, or
flakes, as may be desired, and finally dried by any convenient means.
The drying may, however, be, and is preferably, performed during the milling
operation as hereinafter more particularly set forth.
By the above-described process the starch particles of the different cereals used
will be thoroughly assimilated and blended, and beside being developed to the
highest point of solubility, the entire mass will have the same or a uniform measure
of solubility, which a mixture composed of two different kinds of grain separately
processed and afterward.mixed will not have.
When dried, as above described, the product will keep any length of time, and
may be handled, stored, or transported conveniently.
I will now describe in detail the second part of my invention, consisting in the
particular manner of drying the product so that when the milling operation is
concluded no further treatment for the extraction of water or moisture from the
starch, dextrine and sugar will be necessary but the said constituents will be found
in a dried condition. To accomplish this desirable result, which is not only
economical in dispensing with a subsequent drying operation but also results in a
better product, I take a suitable grinding mill, the grinding surfaces or stones of
which are grooved or otherwise adapted to form and deliver the material in
granules, and, setting such mill in operation, feed to it a grain or grains which has
or have been hulled, moistened and heated to the required degree and for the
necessary time as herein before described. I run the said stones at an extraordinary
speed, producing sufficient friction and heat between them as to completely dry the
said constituents of the cereal or cereals, and I maintain the latter between the
stones until it or they are completely dried as aforesaid.
I am aware that it has been proposed to first heat such milling stones by steam or
hot water, and then create a certain degree of heat by their friction in running, but
in such case the product so milled was not dried by such frictional heat but was
delivered by the stones in a wet or moist condition and subsequently dried in
another apparatus or by other means, and I do not claim such mode of procedure.

page_text: I furthermore employ for the grinding, the drying by frictional contact, and the
forming into granules, of the moistened cereal, stones or grinding surfaces, the
contiguous and operative portions of which are annular and narrow so as not to act
upon the granules for a length of time sufficient to pulverize them, but are,
however, wide enough to operate upon the material until it is completely formed into
granules from which the moisture has been driven. I do not wish to be understood
as claiming such form and arrangement of stones or grinding surfaces broadly or
for any purpose, but only when employed for the formation of dry granules from a
moistened and cooked cereal or mixture of cereals.
I will now proceed to describe in detail an apparatus for carrying out my
invention, referring to the accompanying drawings, in which :-
Fig 1 is a sectional view of such apparatus taken on the line I-I, Figure 2.
Figure 2 is a sectional view of the same taken on line II-II, Figure 1.
Figure 3 is a detail view of a portion of one of the stones or grinding surfaces.
A and B indicate a pair of grinding stones or surfaces, mounted by preference
vertically on a horizontal axis, with their grinding or operative portions as close
together as possible. Both of these stones may be arranged to revolve, oppositely
to each other, but I prefer to make the stone A stationary and to drive only the
stone B which for this purpose is fixed on a shaft C.
The latter is supported in
bearings D and may be driven at a high speed by any suitable means, such as a
pulley E. The stones are concave on their meeting faces as seen in Fig. 2, so as to
form a space F into which the cooked cereal or mixture of cereals saturated with
moisture is fed through a duct G in the stone A, from a hopper H. The latter
may have a feeding device I of any usual character. The stones have grinding or
operative portions J which are comparatively narrow so that the cereal will occupy
such time in passing from the space F to the exterior of the stones that it will be
formed into dry granules and issue in that condition, without remaining between the
stones after it has attained such condition. I am thus enabled to avoid the
pulverization or fine reduction of the cereal and produce it in the granular form
with its ingredients developed and soluble as aforesaid, with great rapidity and
economy.
As the cooked and moist material enters between the surfaces J it is first spread
in the form of a paste upon said surfaces, is then dried thereon by friction
and finally curls off from the surface and issues from between the stones in
granules as aforesaid. The stones are formed with tangential grooves K as
illustrated, the rearmost (relative to the direction of rotation) sides k of the
being abrupt as shown in Fig. 3. The grooves on the two stones are oppositely
arranged so as to cross each other, as best seen in Fig. 1, in which the dotted lines
represent the positions of the grooves on the stone A.
grooves
L is a casing enclosing the stones and having an exit M for the finished product,
which may be then removed by a conveyor N. O, O, are air entrance openings
into the casing L, through which the air is drawn by the motion of the stone or
stones, or through which it may be positively forced, said air issuing through the
exit M as indicated by the arrows, and taking up and carrying off the surplus
moisture or vapour.
Suitable dimensions for this apparatus are, for the stones sixteen inches in
diameter with their grinding surfaces J two inches wide. The grooves K may be
one-half to five-eighths of an inch wide, with the shoulders k three thirty-seconds
of an inch deep. The space F may be three inches wide. The speed of revolution
is from thirteen hundred to fourteen hundred times per minute.
The granular
product will be very dry and can be made to contain only about half the moisture
found in wheat flour.
Having thus described and ascertained the nature of my invention, what I claim
15:-
1. The herein-described process for the preparation of a cereal product from two

page_text: and germ, cracking or breaking the grains, and then subjecting the mixed grains to
the action of moisture and heat at alternating temperatures, so as to develop the
starch, dextrine, and sugar equally of the several cereals, and have them assimilated
and combined.
2. The herein-described process for the preparation of a cereal product from two
or more kinds of cereals, consisting of removing the hull or outside cellular tissue
and germ, cracking or breaking the grains, then subjecting the mixed grains to the
action of moisture and heat at alternating temperatures, so as to develop the starch,
dextrine, and sugar equally of the several cereals, and have them assimilated and
combined, and then finally passing the grain particles through rolls or mills and
.drying.
3. The herein-described process of milling and drying a moistened or wet cereal
which consists in passing the same between milling surfaces or stones, drying it
while between such stones, and delivering it in a dried condition, substantially as set
forth.
4. The process of treating a cereal consisting in first cooking the product in a
moistened condition, then passing the same in a moist condition through a grinding
mill, and reducing it to a paste upon the grinding surfaces, drying it between said
surfaces until the frictional heat causes the material to curl off from said surfaces,
and delivering it in a dried condition, substantially as set forth.
5. The herein-described process for the preparation of a cereal product from two
or more kinds of cereals, consisting of removing the hull or outside cellular tissue
and germ, cracking or breaking the grains, then subjecting the mixed grains to the
action of moisture and beat at alternating temperatures, so as to develop the starch,
dextrine, and sugar equally of the several cereals and have them assimilated and
combined, and then finally passing the material in a wet condition between the
stones or grinding surfaces of a mill, drying the material between said stones, and
delivering it therefrom in a dried condition, substantially as set forth.
6. The herein-described process for the preparation of a cereal or mixture of
cereals, consisting in removing the undesirable parts of the cereal such as the hull
and germ, subjecting the grains to the action of moisture and heat so as to develop
and combine the starch, dextrine and sugar, and then forming the wet and cooked
product into dry granules by the action of narrow annular milling surfaces, as set
forth.
7. The treatment of a cooked moist cereal by narrow annular milling surfaces, as
set forth.
8. The cereal product when cooked, milled and dried according to the process set
forth.
Dated this 17th day of April 1894.
E. V. DONELSON,
Per W. H. Beck,
Agent.