Cereals processing technology

Breakfast cereals 169
with quiet fabric belting. Cutting is now done with low noise producing rotary
wheels in place of metal, sprocket driven cutting belts. The roll adjusting
devices have been changed to pneumatic cylinder adjusters in place of hand
operated adjusting screws. A great many of these functions can now be
controlled via PLC with more uniformity and accuracy than done formerly by
human operators.
Similar technology upgrades have been incorporated into flaking roll
manufacture. Roll stand frames are now produced with fewer points where
common dust and filth can accumulate. Roll adjustment mechanisms are now
such that, even if one or both rolls are spring loaded, they can be brought into
close tolerance to produce flakes with no fear of ever having the two rolls touch
and run against each other when no product is running through them. Preheating
the rolls to running temperatures can be done before starting product flow, so
that little, or no adjustment is necessary to compensate for change in roll
temperature and this in turn minimizes product waste.
While rotary ovens are still in use for toasting, they have been augmented by the
acceptance of fluidized bed jet-tube ovens. Both styles feature better air flow in
and around each flake being toasted, and improved heat transfer rates. Controls
now lend themselves to PLC operation. As in shredder designs, improvements have
been made to reduce noise levels, particularly air handling noise levels.
Numerous new coating improvements have been, and are in use today. One of
the biggest advances is in the availability of self-cleaning, non-clogging spray
nozzles. This has improved greatly the overall running efficiency of sugar spray
coating. It has also allowed for usage of a wider variety of coating formulations
previously limited because of nozzle plugging problems.
Cooperative efforts between food producers, coating ingredient producers,
and coating equipment manufacturers has led to the development of ‘tack’
ingredient formulas used to attach such enhancers as nut pieces, baby oat flakes,
dry powder flavors, etc., to foods without the use of fats or sugar syrups as
binding materials.
Coating drums are now available that allow multiple spray applications in
small amounts, with drying steps in between, to be used to build up to the final
desired level of coating. This has proved beneficial in some cases over applying
one heavy coating application followed by a longer drying time.
8.3.7 Quality control improvements
Major advances have been made in quality control (QC) instrumentation which
have proved to be of tremendous value to the industry. The three primary QC
checks made of finished cereals are color, moisture, and bulk density. All of
these previously were accomplished by collecting on-line samples, taking them
to a QC lab in the factory, and analyzing for each. Out of specification results
were then communicated to the production floor for correction.
However, moisture for instance, is now routinely determined on-line using
either near infrared (NIR) technology or capacitance measuring. Capacitance