Industrial mfr. of couscous with enhanced output - since prod. does not need screening before drying

摘要

Industrial process and a plant installation for the mfr. of couscous, in which dry ingredients, e.g., semolina, corn flour etc., are mixed with water and the resultant paste is agglomerated, gelatinised and dried. The mixing operation is adapted to produce paste pellets of dimensions which are multiples of the size of prod. required for gelatinisation. These pellets are then reduced to a size suitable for gelatinisation, i.e. of dimensions not less than those of the finished prod. The water content of paste delivered by the mixer should be between 33wt. % and 40wt. %, pref. 35-36%. The mixer is pref. of the pug mill type with twin horizontal beater shafts. The beater blades are set differently in three successive zones, i.e. to push back the ingredients during first zone moistening, to hold the ingredients for a mixing stage in the central zone and to pull off and discharge pellets in the third zone. Reduction of pellet size prior to gelatinisation is pref. effected in a centrifugal granulating mill. Method can be used for industrial mfr. of couscous. The moistening drum process previously employed produced as much as 50-60% of undersize fines which had to be screened out and recycled; frequent blockages resulted in low output.