Method for manufacturing quick cooking pasta products

Claim 1

A method for preparing quick cooking pasta products comprising the steps of combining water, direct injection steam, and a dry cereal flour in a first extrusion cooking zone, mixing said combination under conditions of mechanical shear to provide a substantially fully gelatinized dough mixture having a water content in the range of about 25 to about 50 percent by weight of the total mixture, whereby said cereal dough mixture is rapidly heated above the atmospheric gelatinization temperatures of starches contained in the cereal composition to provide a homogeneous pasta dough; maintaining the pasta dough at a temperature of 235° F. to 350° F. under pressure for a sufficient period of time in the range of about 15 to about 100 seconds to substantially completely gelatinize the starch component of the pasta composition; introducing said dough into a cooling-forming extruder wherein the dough is cooled to a temperature in the range of about 130° F. to below the boiling temperature of water, and extruding the dough from the cooling-forming extruder through a die to shape the same and continuously drying the pasta shapes at temperatures from 130° F. to 250° F. to rapidly reduce the moisture of the pasta products to from 6 to 13% by weight of the total weight of the product.

Claim 2

A method for preparing quick cooking pasta products comprising the steps of combining water, direct injection steam, and a dry cereal flour in a first extrusion cooking zone, mixing said combination under conditions of mechanical shear to provide a substantially fully gelatinized dough mixture having a water content in the range of about 25 to about 50 percent by weight of the total mixture, whereby said cereal dough mixture is rapidly heated above the atmospheric gelatinization temperatures of starches contained in the cereal composition to provide a homogeneous pasta dough; maintaining the pasta dough at a temperature of 235° F. to 350° F. under pressure for a sufficient period of time in the range of about 15 to about 100 seconds to substantially completely gelatinize the starch component of the pasta composition; introducing said dough into a cooling-forming extruder wherein the dough is cooled to a temperature in the range of about 130° F. to below the boiling temperature of water, and extruding the dough from the cooling-forming extruder through a die to shape the same and continuously drying the pasta shapes at temperatures from 130° F. to 250° F. to rapidly reduce the moisture of the pasta products to from 6 to 13% by weight of the total weight of the product.

Claim 10

A method for preparing quick cooking pasta products comprising: combining water, direct injection steam, and a dry cereal flour in a first extrusion cooking zone under conditions of mechanical shear to provide a dough component; heating said dough component above the atmospheric gelatinization temperatures of starches in the cereal flour by said direct injection steam in an amount of about 0.06 to about 0.20 pounds of said steam having a temperature of at least about 275° F. per pound of gelatinized pasta dough blend conducted from said first zone; maintaining the dough component in said first zone at a temperature of 235° F. to 350° F. under pressure for a sufficient period of time in the range of about 15 to about 100 seconds to substantially completely gelatinize the starch component of the cereal dough mixture to provide a gelatinized pasta dough blend having a water content in the range of about 25 to about 50 percent by weight of water based upon the total weight of the gelatinized pasta dough blend; introducing the gelatinized pasta dough blend into a cooling-forming extruder zone wherein the gelatinized pasta dough blend is cooled to a temperature in the range of about 130° F. to below the boiling temperature of water to provide a conditioned pasta extrusion dough; and forming the conditioned pasta extrusion dough into pasta shapes from the cooling-forming extruder zone by means of a die and continuously drying the pasta shapes at temperatures from 130° F. to 250° F. to form pasta products and to rapidly reduce the moisture of the pasta products to about 6 to about 13% by weight of the total weight of the products.

Claim 11

A method for preparing quick cooking pasta products comprising: combining water, direct injection steam, and a dry cereal flour in a first extrusion cooking zone under conditions of mechanical shear to provide a dough component; heating said dough component above the atmospheric gelatinization temperatures of starches in the cereal flour by said direct injection steam in an amount of about 0.06 to about 0.20 pounds of said steam having a temperature of at least about 275° F. per pound of gelatinized pasta dough blend conducted from said first zone; maintaining the dough component in said first zone at a temperature of 235° F. to 350° F. under pressure for a sufficient period of time in the range of about 15 to about 100 seconds to substantially completely gelatinize the starch component of the cereal dough mixture to provide a gelatinized pasta dough blend having a water content in the range of about 25 to about 50 percent by weight of water based upon the total weight of the gelatinized pasta dough blend; introducing the gelatinized pasta dough blend into a cooling-forming extruder zone wherein the gelatinized pasta dough blend is cooled to a temperature in the range of about 130° F. to below the boiling temperature of water to provide a conditioned pasta extrusion dough; and forming the conditioned pasta extrusion dough into pasta shapes from the cooling-forming extruder zone by means of a die and continuously drying the pasta shapes at temperatures from 130° F. to 250° F. to form pasta products and to rapidly reduce the moisture of the pasta products to about 6 to about 13% by weight of the total weight of the products.