Many parts in perfect cereal
15 Jan 2000
Nothing could be simpler than a bowl of cornflakes. Except, that is, if you're in charge of making them.
The humble cornflake, along with its barely-less distinguished cousin, the rice crispy, is not an easy product to handle. Toasted and puffed cereals are made on a conveyor that passes through a toaster, and the products have to be handled very carefully to ensure that they are kept separate. Otherwise, they will burn easily, and can blister unevenly. APV Baker has now developed a new toaster that avoids these problems and ensures that every flake is as perfect as possible.
The toasting process begins with the cereal product in a wet `flaking roll'. The flakes fall off the end of this roll and onto a vibrating-pan distribution conveyor, which shakes the flakes separate, stops them from agglomerating into a damp mass, and delivers them onto the feed end of the oscillating toaster conveyor. Hot air is blown at high velocity onto the conveyor, creating a fluidising effect which rotates and tumbles the flakes as the conveyor carries them forward.
The toaster itself is 6m long and divided into two zones. The first is maintained between 275-300 degrees C, and blisters the flakes. The second, cooler zone, at 160-200 degrees C, dries the flakes to a moisture content of 3-4 per cent. The heat is provided by direct gas firing.
