CONVENIENCE AND HEALTH FOODS 3 (1+2)

Lesson 6 : Pasta Products

Manufacture

Pasta can be made on a small scale machine or by hand or on large, continuous, highly automated production lines.

1. The finest quality modern pasta is made by mixing semolina from durum wheat with water.
2. The optimum size for semolina particles is 150 microns.
3. The finished dough should contain 28-30 percent w/w of moisture.
4. Other ingredients that may be added include egg, spinach powder, tomato powder.
5. Mixing should not develop gluten but it should just wet semolina.
6. The dough in the pasta mixer must look dry and crumbly.
7. Pasta dough is either rolled into sheets or extruded through single screw extruder.
8. Extruded pasta is cut by rotating knives.
9. The pasta is dried down from 30 per cent w/w moisture to between 10 and 12 per cent w/w
10. The long pasta is dried in hot air in stages.
11. High temperature pasta driers dry between 66-940C.
12. Microwave dryers are also available.
13. For cooking pasta large amount is filled in cans along with sauce and cooked.
14. The color of the pasta is pale yellow.