Two-Stage Drying of Cereal Dough for Uniform Thin Confectionery
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional methods for manufacturing thin confectionery products, such as Japanese rice crackers, face challenges in achieving uniform water content, leading to issues like cracking and curved profiles during baking, which require labor-intensive maturing steps that are time-consuming and inefficient.
Innovation Solution
A process involving a first drying step followed by a cooling maturing step and a second drying step, where the dough pieces are transported in a mixed state through rotary drums under a heated atmosphere, reducing water content and ensuring uniformity, thereby preventing cracking and surface hardening.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If conventional hot blast drying is used to dry rice confectionery dough pieces, then drying efficiency is improved, but water content uniformity deteriorates causing cracks and curved profiles
Solution Approach 1:
The drying process is segmented into two distinct stages: a first drying step using hot blast drying for rapid moisture removal, and a second drying step using a drying cabinet for gradual equilibration. This segmentation allows each stage to optimize for its specific function, resolving the contradiction between drying efficiency and water content uniformity.
Solution Approach 2:
The first drying step performs preliminary moisture removal to reduce overall water content quickly, preparing the dough pieces for the second drying step. This preliminary action enables the subsequent equilibration phase to focus solely on achieving uniform water distribution without the time penalty of drying from scratch.
2Manufacturing precision
If maturing step is implemented to equalize water content, then product quality is improved, but manufacturing time and labor increase
Solution Approach 1:
The second drying step in the drying cabinet continues the water content equalization process that began in the first drying step. By maintaining controlled humidity and temperature conditions, the system continuously promotes moisture migration from exterior to interior without interruption, achieving maturing效果 in a streamlined manner.
Solution Approach 2:
The drying cabinet acts as an intermediary environment between the aggressive hot blast drying and the final baking process. It provides a controlled atmosphere that facilitates gradual water content equilibration, mediating the transition from non-uniform to uniform moisture distribution without requiring extended standing time.
3Speed
If thin dough pieces are dried using conventional methods, then processing speed is improved, but cracking occurs due to excessive water loss
Solution Approach 1:
The drying conditions are differentiated by location and stage: the first drying step uses high-velocity hot blast for rapid surface drying, while the second drying step uses a controlled cabinet environment with lower air velocity and higher humidity to gently remove moisture from the interior. This local quality differentiation prevents excessive surface drying that causes cracking in thin pieces.
Solution Approach 2:
The drying parameters (temperature, humidity, air velocity) are changed between the two drying steps. The first step uses higher temperature and air velocity for speed, while the second step reduces these parameters to prevent cracking. This parameter adjustment allows the process to adapt to the different requirements of rapid moisture removal versus crack prevention.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach significantly reduces labor and time required for maturing, ensuring uniform water content and preventing defects like cracking and surface hardening, enabling the production of high-quality thin confectionery products efficiently.
Implementation Method 1
the raw material dough pieces are dried in a hot blast in the hot blast drying compartment on the upper level
Implementation Method 2
a plurality of rotary drums, the rotary drums each having transporting band bodies with spiral shapes and being rotated of each other in an axial direction
Data Source
AI summary
In order to to provide a process and an apparatus for manufacturing confectionery products made from cereals, in particular thin ones having uniform shapes, which solve disadvantages in transporting such products, it is characterized in that a first and a second drying steps are arranged prior to cut-out baking raw material dough pieces in manufacturing thin confectionery products made from cereals and having uniform shapes, in which in the first drying step, drying is conducted by a step of transporting the raw material dough pieces aligned on transporting conveyor belts under a hot blast atmosphere inside a first drying compartment, a maturing step in a cooling state is arranged following a completion of the first drying step, and in the second drying step, drying is conducted by a step of transporting the raw material dough pieces in their mixed state under a hot air atmosphere inside rotary drums in an axial direction in a second drying compartment.