GB1076922A - Improvements in dough-making processes - Google Patents

Abstract

A process for making bakers' dough from cereal grains, of the type wherein the grains are submitted to a dry milling process in roller mills or other grinding machines and the product is cassified by sieving into two fractions and one of the separated fractions is mixed with liquid to produce a slurry that is subsequently divided to yield a product which in combination with usual dough making additives is mixed with flour yielded by the other separated fraction, is modified in that the sieving stage following the dry milling of the cereal grains is arranged to yield three fractions these being, an endosperm fraction comprising non-fibrous constituents of the grain amounting to not less than 60% of the weight of the whole grain and containing substantially all the flour produced by the dry milling operation, a bran fraction containing substantially all the bran flakes which are free from adherent endosperm particles, and a remainders fraction (offal) having a bran content of not more than 3% of the grain weight and comprising substantially all the endosperm constituents of the grain having fibrous attachments, which remainders fraction is submitted to a process of agitation or impact milling in the presence of water or an aqueous solution to produce a slurry which is subsequently classified by screens and/or centrifuges to yield three fractions these being, a liquid fraction which is re-circulated to the slurry mixing apparatus, a disposable fraction comprising substantially all the wet fibrous constituents of the slurry, and a semi-solid fraction comprising the endosperm constituents of the slurry and such proportion of the liquid as will maintain the fraction in a semi-solid state, which semi-solid fraction together with known proportions of usual dough-making additives is mixed with such proportions of the flour yielded by reduction of the endosperm fraction released by the said sieving stage as will ensure that the percentage of water in the dough produced by kneading the said mixture will not be less than 44% and not more than 49%. Preferably the classifying means is arranged so that the semi-solid fraction is separated out from the slurry in a first classification stage and the liquid fraction is separated out in a subsequent second classification stage. A flow diagram of an apparatus employed in the wet cycle of the process is given and includes the automatic control of the addition of make-up water and of the recirculation of the liquid fraction to the slurry mixing apparatus. A ring main for supplying the final endosperm slurry to a bakery from and returning to a collecting reservoir is also specified.