ES2291141A1 - Manufacturing method for industrial bread mold, involves developing stage of molding cooked breads, and cooking in oven, and molding cooked breads enters continuously in oven, and circulates around inside and out of furnace - Google Patents

Abstract

The method involves developing stage of molding cooked breads, and cooking in an oven. The molding cooked breads enter continuously in the oven, and circulates around inside and out of furnace, and molded in the form of cooked bread, and a demolding stage for a bread mold. The steam has a molar fraction of water vapor of higher or equal to seventy percent and a temperature greater than or equal to eighty degrees centigrade and less than or equal to 110 degrees centigrade. An independent claim is also included for a manufacturing device for industrial bread mold.

Description

Procedure for the industrial manufacture of Sliced bread with a crust of color intensity not exceeding of the crumb, and corresponding device.

Field of the Invention

The invention is in the field of industrial bakery, particularly in the field of manufacturing industrial bread crust without crust or with a crust that has an appearance similar to that of the crumb.

More specifically, the invention relates to a process for the industrial manufacture of bread with a crust of color intensity not exceeding that of the crumb, comprising at least one stage [a] of bread preparation cooked molds formed by a bread dough contained in a mold; a step [b] of cooking said molded breads in a oven, said molded breads to be baked continuously entering said oven, circulating inside said oven and leaving in continuous of said oven in the form of cooked molded breads; and one demolding step [c] of said cooked molded breads for Get a loaf of bread.

The invention also relates to a device that, thanks to its particular characteristics according to the invention is suitable for performing said method of manufacturing.

State of the art

The known procedures for manufacturing Industrial crusty bread without bread is classically based on get a crusty bread and then separate said bark using mechanical means. Typically, the bread of bark mold has a parallelepipedic shape and separation of the bark is done by applying a cut in each of the six Bread faces by means of a knife system. The cut of the Bark presents important technical problems. In particular, it is difficult to make a clean and tight cut, which eliminates completely crust, minimizing losses and without deteriorating structurally the bread. A known solution to facilitate this cortex cut, disclosed in documents ES2217991A1 and ES2221590A1 as well as in document US2004 / 0156966A1, consists of cooling the bread at low temperature before making said cut. While this solution improves the conditions under which performs the cut, involves the use of an installation and a material Sophisticated cutting

On the other hand, all procedures known based on a mechanical separation of bread crust they necessarily imply a high loss of raw material. Typically, this loss is greater than 45 percent by mass of the bread.

Another known manufacturing process is based on cooking the bread by microwave or radiofrequency, with which you directly obtain a bread with a thin white crust, similar in appearance to the crumb, becoming  unnecessary to make a cut to separate the bark. This Known procedure has several drawbacks. In first instead, the physical mechanism of cooking is very different from that It occurs in a thermal oven: heating occurs directly in the bread dough and not by heat transmission from the outer surface of the bread towards the inner dough. To get a bread that presents a crumb with the same characteristics organoleptic and the same texture as a traditional bread, that is a bread baked in a thermal oven, it is necessary make very fine adjustments to achieve a product satisfactory. In particular, the power of the oven and the time of Cooking must be adjusted and controlled very accurately. By On the other hand, the oven design is complicated, because you have to achieve a homogeneous distribution of microwave radiation inside it to avoid imbalances of state of Baking on bread. All this hinders the practical application of this industrial scale procedure when it is necessary to produce in series a large number of loaves of bread that must be presented all of them constant characteristics at the level of their appearance, its consistency and its organoleptic properties.

Summary of the invention

The invention aims to provide a process for the industrial manufacture of bread with a crust that has a color intensity not exceeding of the crumb, so that it is not necessary to make a separation mechanical crust, and overcoming the inconvenience of the state of  The technique cited above.

This purpose is achieved through a process for the industrial manufacture of bread, from type indicated at the beginning, characterized in that during the stage of cooking [b] an atmosphere of steam that has a molar fraction of higher water vapor or equal to 70 percent and a temperature greater than or equal to 80 degrees Celsius and less than or equal to 110 degrees Celsius.

In the sense of the present invention, by steam atmosphere means an atmosphere with a high water vapor content, specifically with a molar fraction of water vapor greater than or equal to 70 percent, the rest being typically air. However, preferably said atmosphere of Steam is composed entirely of water vapor.

The use of steam cooking and Low temperature is new in the field of processes industrial manufacture of bread using an oven continuous feeding Thanks to the steam atmosphere in which the bread is cooked at a relatively low temperature, below 110 degrees Celsius, reactions are inhibited chemicals known as Maillard reactions that are responsible of the color change on the surface of the bread. You get a bread like this of cooked mold that has an appearance and consistency similar to those of a bread with a crust removed mechanically. The experimental tests carried out by the applicant have shown that by maintaining the steam atmosphere in the oven under the specified conditions, it is possible to apply the industrial scale procedure and obtain a predictable result and uniform.

The necessary cooking time, although it is longer that in a traditional oven in an air atmosphere, it stays in useful values for industrial manufacturing, thanks to the water vapor has a much higher thermal conductivity than the of the air, whereby the coefficient of heat transmission in the Bread surface is larger. This partly compensates for the decrease. of the heat transmission due to the lower temperature of the atmosphere surrounding the bread.

Preferably, the vapor atmosphere in the oven interior is maintained at a pressure greater than or equal to the atmospheric pressure. When operating with an overpressure in the oven is easier to maintain proper steam atmosphere conditions. This is especially true when working with an oven continuous feeding, since it prevents the entry of air from the Exterior.

Preferably, the process according to the invention further comprises a stage of conditioning the molded breads cooked at the exit of the oven to facilitate its unmolding This conditioning stage is that, prior to the demolding stage [c] a drying is performed active one-sided bread view of said cooked molded breads, and during said demoulding stage [c], a clamping means they act on said face seen of previously dried bread to extract a bread from each of said molded breads cooked. In other words, we proceed to dry a surface  side view of bread to be able to apply some clamping means that perform the extraction of bread with respect to the mold. This method of demolding is especially advantageous in the process according to the invention, in which the breads that are they get out of the oven are difficult to unmold because They have a crust with little mechanical resistance. Drying surface of a face of bread, according to the invention, leaves no trace in the final product. Indeed, a steamed bread presents a humidity higher than that of a bread baked in a traditional oven air and, thanks to this, after the demolding a phenomenon of diffusion of free water from inside the bread to the surface of the dried face, with which the latter recovers in shortly the lost moisture and ends up looking the same than the other faces of bread.

Advantageously, said active drying is performed exposing said face view of bread to a forced stream of air hot that preferably has a higher temperature or equal to 60 degrees Celsius and less than or equal to 80 degrees Celsius and a relative humidity less than or equal to 10 percent. The tests carried out have shown that a current drying forced hot air is especially suitable because it allows quickly get an exterior surface dry enough as to be able to apply means of grip. It has also could verify that the preferential conditions mentioned are optimal to obtain a superficial drying of the surface that is enough but at the same time allow the subsequent recovery of the humidity of said surface without leaving a trace on the product final.

Preferably, the clamping means act applying an aspiration on the previously seen face of bread dried cooked molded bread. This clamping mode is ideal to act on a steamed and superficially dried bread: It allows to easily extract the bread from the mold without leaving a trace. By On the other hand, it allows to transport the bread obtained from the demoulding to transport it to the final stages of conditioning and packing.

Preferably, means of transport make circulate the molded bread to be baked inside the oven following globally vertical circulation paths. This allows a sufficiently long course of the loaves molded inside the oven without increasing excessively the dimensions of said oven. Keep in mind that in the method according to the invention the cooking time is longer than in a traditional air oven, with which the time of stay of the bread molded in the oven is greater. Moreover, this solution allows to use an oven that extends vertically, with the entrance and exit arranged in the lower level of the oven, whereby steam losses are much lower than if Use a horizontal oven with a straight line travel.

Advantageously, the molded breads to be baked that are introduced into the oven have a length corresponding to the length of packaged loaves that are going to be marketed and resulting from a final stage of conditioning and packaging of the baked loaves that come out from the oven. Thus, it is not necessary to make a cut of the loaves. Preferably, the length of the molded breads to be baked is less than or equal to 40 centimeters. The procedure according to invention is especially suitable for using molded breads to Bake of small dimensions. Indeed, unlike the conventional cooking procedures in air ovens, in which seeks to minimize the outer surface of the loaves molded to cook to minimize losses of cut crust, in the process according to the invention it is preferable that the breads Baked moldings have the largest possible outer surface for facilitate cooking at low temperature. This circumstance is take the opportunity to put some baked bread in the oven that already have the dimensions of the final product to be marketed, which avoids having to subsequently cut the loaves to the length of the loaves to be sold. On the other hand, at working with molded breads of small dimensions facilitates use of an oven with a vertical circulation of the loaves molded

Optionally, during the cooking stage [b] a forced circulation of the vapor atmosphere is maintained in the interior of the oven, which facilitates the maintenance of homogeneous conditions in the oven.

The invention also comprises equipment that It has specific characteristics for putting in practice of this procedure, as described below in the detailed description of some embodiments of the invention.

Brief description of the drawings

Other advantages and features of the invention they can be seen from the following description in which, without no limitation, preferential forms of embodiment of the invention mentioning the drawings that are accompany. The figures show:

Fig. 1, a schematic representation of a first embodiment illustrating the entry, transit and the exit of the bread in the oven with steam atmosphere according to the invention;

Fig. 2, a view analogous to Fig. 2 which illustrates a second embodiment;

Figs. 3a-3h, a representation schematic of the different phases of the preparation stage of molded breads, where the breads are represented according to a front view;

Figs. 4a-4e, a representation schematic of the different stages of the demolding process of cooked molded breads out of the oven, where the breads They are represented according to a front view.

Detailed description of some embodiments of the invention

The first embodiment illustrated in the Fig. 1 is performed in an oven 4 in which the breads molded to cooking 1 enters through an input conveyor belt 12 and remains placed in buckets 11 that constitute a means of transport inside the oven 4. Buckets 11 form Multiple columns In each of these columns the buckets 11 are move vertically, in alternating directions between two columns consecutive. For ease of illustration, in Fig. 1 only have schematically represented four of said columns of buckets 11. Of course, an oven 4 can be provided according to the invention with a different number of said bucket columns eleven.

Molded breads 1 enter through a inlet opening 14 of the oven 4, conveyed by the belt input conveyor 12, move vertically housed in buckets 11 inside oven 4, alternately in direction  ascending and descending in successive bucket columns 11, and they exit through an outlet opening 15 in the form of molded breads cooked 5, transported by an exit conveyor belt 13.

Inside the oven 4 a steam atmosphere which, in the preferred embodiment here described, is formed entirely by water vapor at a pressure slightly higher than atmospheric and slightly overheated, but with a temperature below 110 ° C. This steam atmosphere it is maintained in a controlled way thanks to some means (no represented) controlled injection of a steam flow of water in the oven 4, combined with means (not shown) for measuring the thermodynamic conditions of the atmosphere of steam in said oven 4. Optionally, inside the oven 4 it  they have convectors (not shown) that maintain a forced circulation of the steam atmosphere in the oven. The circulation created by these convectors is smooth and has as purpose to homogenize the conditions of the steam atmosphere inside the oven 4.

As can be seen in Fig. 1, the openings of inlet 14 and outlet 15 of the oven 4 are arranged in the dimension lower thereof, which minimizes steam losses through said openings and the entry of air from the Exterior.

Under the conditions indicated, the route in the oven 4 of the molded breads 1 must be at least 30 minutes To guarantee a production of 1000 units per hour, the distance traveled by the loaves 1 inside the oven 4 It is greater than 100 meters. The dimensions of the oven 4 are approximately the following: 5 meters high, 2 meters wide and 3 meters high. As stated, this oven 4 has the advantage that takes up much less space than a horizontal oven conventional.

In Fig. 2 is schematically depicted a second embodiment of the oven 4, which differs from the first in that, as means of transporting the bread inside the oven, buckets 11 have been replaced by a belt conveyor 10 that follows a helical vertical axis travel. As buckets 11 of the first embodiment described previously, the conveyor belt 10 is distributed in several successive columns, alternating upward circulation and another falling. In Fig. 2 the conveyor belt 10 has been schematically depicted dashed arrows indicate the helical linear path, while the arrows Stroke verticals indicate the overall vertical path according to the axis of the propeller. The other characteristics of the oven 4 they are essentially the same as in the first embodiment described above.

In Figs. 3a-3h have schematically represented the successive phases of the stage of preparation of molded breads to cook 1. Although this stage is not essentially difference from that applied in the procedures known from the prior art, has been represented and described below for a better understanding of procedure considered globally. A dispenser 16 that Contains a dough of kneaded bread (Fig. 3a) provides an amount regular dough 2 (Fig. 3b) corresponding to a unit of bread of mold. This dough 2 is left at rest (Fig. 3c) and then undergoes a laminate to obtain a laminar form (Fig. 3d) that then it rolls over itself (Fig. 3e). Then you place the rolled dough 2 in a mold 3 (Fig. 3f) and leave ferment until it reaches the desired height (Fig. 3g), and Finally, mold 3 is closed with a lid 18 (Fig. 3h), obtaining as result the bread molded to cook 1 that will be introduced in the oven 4 for cooking as explained above in reference to Figs. 1 and 2.

The mold 3 has dimensions corresponding to those of the final bread to market.

Figs. 4a-4e represent schematic the different stages of the demolding process of cooked molded breads 5 coming out of the oven 4.

Cooked molded breads 5 (Fig. 4a) come out of the oven 4 by the conveyor belt 13 (Fig. 1 or 2) and an electro-magnetic clamping device (no shown) remove the cover 18 from the mold 3 (Fig. 4b), leaving the view of a face 7 of the dough 2. Next, drying means active 9 propel (Fig. 4c) on said face 7 of the mass 2 a forced stream of hot air 17 at a temperature greater than or equal to 60 degrees Celsius and less than or equal to 80 degrees Celsius and with a relative humidity less than or equal to 10 percent. Next, the bread is demoulded (Fig. 4d) using a clamping means 8 that are applied on the face view 7 of the previously dried bread and stretch to make the bread extraction 6. These clamping means 8 are formed by vacuum suction cups that are applied against the face seen 7. Finally, this bread 6 that has been unmolding undergoes, in a classical way, a final stage of conditioning (not shown) comprising a cooling and a packed to get the final product, this is a bread packaging that has dimensions corresponding to those of mold 3.

Claims (19)

1. Process for the industrial manufacture of bread with a crust of an intensity of color not exceeding that of the crumb, comprising at least one stage [a] of preparing molded breads (1) formed by a dough of bread (2) contained in a mold (3); a step [b] of cooking said molded breads (1) in an oven (4), said molded breads (1) continuously entering said oven (4), circulating inside said oven (4) and continuously leaving said oven (4) in the form of cooked molded breads (5); and a step [c] of unmolding said cooked molded breads (5) to obtain a mold bread (6); characterized in that during said cooking stage [b] a steam atmosphere is maintained inside said oven (4) having a molar fraction of water vapor greater than or equal to 70 percent and a temperature greater than or equal to 80 degrees Celsius and less than or equal to 110 degrees Celsius. 2. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that said steam atmosphere that is maintained inside the oven (4) is composed entirely of water vapor. Method according to claims 1 or 2, characterized in that said steam atmosphere that is maintained inside the oven (4) is at a pressure greater than or equal to atmospheric pressure. Method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that prior to said demoulding step [c] an active drying of a side view (7) of bread of said cooked molded breads (5) is carried out, and during said stage [c] demoulding means of pressure (8) act on said exposed face (7) of previously dried bread to extract a loaf of bread (6) from each of said cooked molded breads (5). Method according to claim 4, characterized in that said active drying is carried out by exposing said exposed face (7) of bread to a forced stream of hot air. Method according to claim 5, characterized in that said forced stream of hot air has a temperature greater than or equal to 60 degrees Celsius and less than or equal to 80 degrees Celsius and a relative humidity less than or equal to 10 percent. Method according to any one of claims 4 to 6, characterized in that said clamping means (8) act by applying an aspiration on said exposed face (7) of previously dried bread. Method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that transport means (10, 11) circulate said molded breads (1) through the interior of said oven (4) following globally vertical circulation paths. 9. Method according to any of claims 1 to 8, comprising a final stage [d] of conditioning and packaging said mold loaves (6) obtained after demolding at the exit of the oven (4), obtaining as a result of said step final [d] packaged loaves of bread suitable for marketing, characterized in that said breads molded to be baked (1) have a length corresponding to the length of said packaged loaves of bread. Method according to claim 9, characterized in that said breads molded to be baked (1) have a length less than or equal to 40 centimeters. Method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that during said cooking step [b] a forced circulation of the steam atmosphere is maintained inside said oven (4). 12. Device suitable for performing the industrial manufacturing process of crustless bread according to claim 1, said device comprising an oven (4) of continuous feeding and means of transport (10, 11) of breads molded to bake (1 ) through said furnace (4), and being characterized in that it comprises controlled injection means of a water vapor flow rate in said furnace (4) and means for measuring the thermodynamic conditions of the steam atmosphere in said furnace (4). 13. Device according to claim 12, characterized in that it comprises means for forced circulation of the steam atmosphere inside said oven (4). 14. Device according to claims 12 or 13, characterized in that it comprises active drying means (9) and clamping means (8) suitable for acting on a exposed face (7) of bread of a cooked molded bread (5). 15. Device according to claim 14, characterized in that said active drying means (9) comprise means for driving a forced stream of hot air and means for regulating the temperature and absolute humidity of said forced stream of air. 16. Device according to claims 14 or 15, characterized in that said clamping means (8) comprise suction means. 17. Device according to any of claims 12 to 16, characterized in that said means of transport (10, 11) have a globally vertical flow path inside said oven (4). 18. Device according to claim 17, characterized in that said transport means comprise a conveyor belt (10) that follows a helical path of vertical axis. 19. Device according to claim 17, characterized in that said transport means comprise a plurality of buckets (11) of vertical displacement.