1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a tub-shaped food product formed from a ribbon of dough with a cutting die, such as biscuits, crackers or cookies.
2. Description of the Related Art
U.S. Pat. No. 4,562,084 discloses extruding a plurality of parallel ribbons of cookie dough extrudate onto a first conveyor belt, cutting the ribbons in a staggered pattern to form individual cookie preforms, and feeding the preforms onto a second conveyor belt moving at a speed at least twice that of the first conveyor belt in order to separate successive preforms by at least the length of a cookie preform. U.S. Pat. No. 859,999 discloses a machine for making cookies. U.S. Pat. No. 2,813,033 discloses a method for packaging or preparing a group of formed pieces of edible doughy material ready for cooking.
The invention provides a method of forming an edible item. The method includes the step of forming dough into a substantially planar ribbon having a first height. The dough is at least partially elastic. The method also includes the step of permanently displacing a portion of the at least partially elastic ribbon to a second height greater than the first height with a cutting die. The inventive method can produce a cracker formed from sheetable dough. The inventive cracker includes a first portion of planar configuration and a second portion integrally formed with and raised from said first portion.
Other applications of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art when the following description of the best mode contemplated for practicing the invention is read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
A plurality of different embodiments of the invention are shown in the Figures of the application. Similar features are shown in the various embodiments of the invention. Similar features have been numbered with a common reference numeral and have been differentiated by an alphabetic designation. Also, to enhance consistency, features in any particular drawing share the same alphabetic designation even if the feature is shown in less than all embodiments. Similar features are structured similarly, operate similarly, and/or have the same function unless otherwise indicated by the drawings or this specification. Furthermore, particular features of one embodiment can replace corresponding features in another embodiment unless otherwise indicated by the drawings or this specification.
The present invention can be practiced to produce a snack such as a cracker with raised edges. Dough is formulated to make the snack such that the dough can be formed into a ribbon. Thus, the dough is at least partially elastic, unlike cookie dough. The dough has an open cell structure and products formed from the dough will be lighter and less dense than products made from “non-ribbonable” dough such as cookie dough. However, the dough is also formulated to be permanently extendable without tearing to form of a discrete food piece with a raised portion. Exemplary types of dough are set forth and described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,267,998, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. In the exemplary embodiment of the invention set forth below, a cracker is formed with a portion of planar configuration and a portion raised from the planar configuration. A trough is defined by the raised portion and an upper surface of the planar portion. It can be desirable to dispose toppings such as dips and spreads in the trough.
The inventive method includes the step of forming dough into a ribbon.
The dough can be any of a number of flavors, whatever flavor is desired. For example, the dough may include garlic flavor, whole grain flavor, buttery flavor, etc. The dough is formed in a mixer, such as a Peerless® mixer, where ingredients are added in several stages. In the exemplary embodiment of the invention, the following ingredients may be added to the mixer in a first stage: any vegetable oil such as a soy/cottonseed oil blend; sweeteners such as high fructose corn syrup, 62 DE corn syrup, and/or fine granulated sugar, granulated salt, sodium sulfite, enzyme, and water. Optionally, flavors can also be added such as malt extract, honey, and honey flavor. Flavors may also be added to the ribbon 12 or to the discrete dough piece that emerges from the cutting die 22.
The ingredients that are added in the first stage may be mixed in the mixer for approximately one to five minutes at low speed. In a second stage, the following ingredients may be added to the mixer: flour and corn starch or other starches. Other ingredients may include: sodium bicarbonate, acid leavening blend, non-dairy butter garlic flavor, parsley flakes, garlic powder, oat bran, wheat germ, etc. The levels of enzyme and sodium sulfite can be relatively higher than that of other crackers while the levels of soda and leavening acid can be lower than that of other crackers.
The flour may include soft red or white winter wheat varieties. Hard wheat can also be used depending on the desired texture. The flour can be fortified with niacin, iron in reduced form, thiamine in mononitrate form, riboflavin and folic acid. The enzyme can be a microbial, proteolytic enzyme derived from Bacillus subtillis also having significant amylase and protylase activity. The active enzymes will be on a base of food-grade cornstarch and dextrose. Use of the enzyme enables the dough to weaken its gluten structure to be molded as disclosed below. The enzyme could also come from plant or fungal sources.
In the exemplary embodiment of the invention, the mixer is mixed for three to nine minutes at low speed after the second stage of ingredients are added. For some varieties of cracker, a third stage may be carried out wherein the following ingredients are added to the mixer: ammonium bicarbonate and water. The water may be added at a temperature that is preferable 100-120 degrees F. The temperature of the mixerjacket is approximately 110 degrees F. The resultant dough temperature, following mixing is approximately 90-100 degrees F. However, other temperatures may also be used to achieve the desired dough consistency. An example of formulas and mixing instructions for “original”, “garlic herb”, and “honey wheat” dough are included at Table 1 below, where the formula of a “classic” cracker is also provided. A variety of doughs would work for this invention, such as whole grain dough, yeast leavened sponge dough, and sweet dough.
Cheese dough can also be used with the invention. The table below provides an example for a cheese dough product:
Following mixing of the dough in the mixer, the dough is allowed to rest for approximately 30-45 minutes. The time the dough is allowed to rest is called the “lay time.” Usually, the dough is removed from the mixer and placed into a trough to rest during the lay time. At the end of the lay time, the dough is dumped into a hopper. A dough-hopper is positioned above a primary roller pair. The dough hopper feeds the dough between the primary roller pair to form a relatively thick sheet onto a first conveyor arrangement. The relatively thick dough sheet is reduced to a relatively thin dough sheet as it fed through a pair of spiral rollers along the first conveyor arrangement. The relatively thin sheet is then laminated about four times to form a layered dough ribbon across a second conveyor arrangement. Although not shown, the first and second conveyor arrangements can be part of the production line 14.
The ribbon 12 of layered dough can be moved in a first direction 24. A series of reduction roller pairs are arranged along a second conveyor arrangement of the production line 14. The rollers 16, 18, and 20 schematically represent the roller pairs. The ribbon 12 of layered dough is fed to between the reduction roller pairs 16, 18, 20 and reduced to a first thickness or height 86 (shown in
The third thickness of dough is the thickness prior to forming a discrete piece of dough with the cutting die 22. The ribbon 12 of dough at the third thickness moves along production line 14 to the cutting die 22. The ribbon 12 is moving along the production line 14 at 10-100 ft/min in the first direction 24 in the exemplary embodiment of the invention.
The method also includes the step of passing the ribbon 12 by the cutting die 22. In the exemplary embodiment of the invention, the ribbon 12 passes under the cutting die 22.
In the exemplary cutting die 22a, the surface 26a is integrally formed with respect to a substantially cylindrical body portion 28a. The body portion 28a is rotated about its centered, longitudinal axis as the ribbon 12 is passed between the cutting die 22a and a surface 30a of a conveyor of the production line 14.
The cutting die 22b moves in the first direction 24 with the ribbon 12. As set forth in the exemplary embodiment of the invention, the cutting die 22b is a rotating cutting die. When the cutting die 22b is engaging the ribbon 12, the cutting die 22b includes a first component of motion that is in the first direction and a second component of motion that is perpendicular to the first direction. Motion patterns of the cutting die other than rotation can be practiced with the invention.
Referring again to
The trench portion 36b includes a leading trench portion 42b, a trailing trench portion 44b, and two side trench portions 46b, 48b connect the leading and trailing trench portions 42b, 44b. The leading trench portion 42b defines a width 50b and an opening slope 52b. The trailing trench portion 44b defines a width 54b and an opening slope 56b. The width 50b is greater than the width 54b. In the exemplary embodiment of the invention, the width 50b is approximately eighteen percent greater than the width 54b. The opening slope 52b is greater than the opening slope 56b. In the exemplary embodiment of the invention, the opening slope 52b is thirty-three percent greater than the opening slope 56b. Thus, a larger volume is defined with a leading half of the cavity 26b than a trailing half of the cavity 26b. The differences in the widths 50b, 54b and opening slopes 52b, 56b between the leading and trailing trench portions 42b, 44b, respectively, are joined by a gentle blend defined in the side trench portions 46b, 48b.
In
In
In
The method also includes the step of displacing dough in the first direction to fill the cavity in the cutting die during the passing step.
As used herein, the amount of dough displaced refers to the amount of dough moved from a planar configuration to an raised configuration. The ribbon 12b defines a planar configuration before passing the cutting die 22b. The discrete piece of dough 58b includes a portion that is of planar configuration and a portion that is of raised configuration extending from the portion of planar configuration; a raised portion 70b in the exemplary embodiment of the invention fills the trench portion 36b of the surface/cavity 26b. The planar portion 72b of the discrete piece 58b extends between the surface 30b and a plane including, but not limited to, the plateau surface 26b. In alternative embodiments of the invention, 50%-70% may be displaced. It is believed that the invention can be practiced wherein 10%-80% of the dough is displaced.
The process illustrated in
After the discrete piece 58b of dough has been formed by the cooperation between the cutting die 22b and the moving ribbon 12b, the discrete piece 58b of dough can be further processed to form a food product. The discrete piece 58b can be baked to form an exemplary food product 74b, as shown in
Each sample of Table 2 includes ten individual pieces of the food product 74b. Thus, each value in the total weight column is the weight of ten crackers. Each value in the total height column is the height of ten crackers stacked on top of one another. With reference to
The foregoing invention has been described in accordance with the relevant legal standards, thus the description is exemplary rather than limiting in nature. Variations and modifications to the disclosed embodiment may become apparent to those skilled in the art and do come within the scope of the invention. For example, food products shaped differently than tub-shaped food products can be produced according to the invention. Food products produced according to the invention can include raised portions that are shaped like letters, text, symbols, grid patterns, or any other desired shape. Accordingly, the scope of legal protection afforded this invention can only be determined by studying the following claims.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/690,757 for a TUB OR CUP SHAPED CRACKER, filed on Jun. 15, 2005, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
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