Cooking Breakfast Cereals: Flaked Products From Maize Corn Flake Process Flow Chart
Cooking Breakfast Cereals: Flaked Products From Maize Corn Flake Process Flow Chart
Cooking Breakfast Cereals: Flaked Products From Maize Corn Flake Process Flow Chart
All cereals contain a large proportion of starch. In its natural form, the
starch is insoluble, tasteless, and unsuited for human consumption. To
make it digestible and acceptable it must be cooked.
Breakfast cereals are products that are consumed after cooking, and they
fall into two categories: those made by a process that does not include
cooking and which therefore have to be cooked domestically (hot
cereals) and those which are cooked during processing and which
require no domestic cooking.
The first class of products is exemplified by various types of porridge,
the second by products which are described as 'ready to-eat' cereals.
Besides the distinction regarding the need for domestic cooking as
against readiness for consumption, breakfast cereals can also be
classified according to the form of the product, and according to the
particular cereal used as the raw material.
Flaked products from maize
Corn flake process flow chart
Maize
Cleaning
Cooking
Drying
The cooking is complete when the color of the grits has
changed from chalky-white to light golden brown; the grits
have become soft and translucent, and no raw starch remains.
The cooked grits are dried by falling against a counter-
current of air at about 65°C under controlled humidity
conditions, to ensure uniform drying, Moisture content of
about 20%, a process taking 2.5-3 h., and are then cooled
rested to allow equilibration of moisture.
Resting/ cooling
The resting period was formerly about 24 h, but is
considerably less under controlled humidity drying
conditions.
Flaking
The dried grits are then flaked on counter-rotating rollers,
which have a surface temperature of 43°-46°C, at a pressure
of 40 t at the point of contact.
Cooling
Processing
The traditional method of chiura preparation does not have much
variation. The preparation utilizes simple tools like okhli1 and dhiki2.
However, the use of power- operated mills is gaining popularity,
especially for large scale production. As a result, people prefer buying
chiura from the stores rather than preparing themselves using traditional
okhli and dhiki. But chiura from traditional method tastes better than
that from mill. The traditional procedure for chiura preparation in Nepal
is presented in Fig. 1.1.
Recently in the Terai, chiura is prepared using power mill in large-scale.
Cleaned paddy is packed in jute bags and soaked in water-filled
cemented tanks for 1 to 2 days. The paddy is taken out and roasted in
karahi3 (Fig. 3.7) using large spoons for uniform stirring. It is then
passed via magnetic sieves to remove metal particles that may damage
machinery. While still hot the roasted paddy is passed between iron rolls
for flattening. The pulverized dust in chiura is removed mechanically by
an aspirator (fans). Chiura is packed in polythene-lined bags and sent to
market or store. Generally, chiura is consumed within 1 to 2 months of
production (depending on temperature, humidity, and packaging
factors).
Process Notes
Paddy ° Select a suitable variety and clean
Drain
W o o d e n m o rta r
4
A circular winnowing tray made from bamboo strips
G r a in
B ro o m
Processing
Bhuja preparation requires different tools/equipment, such as metal pot,
drying mat, winnowing device, plastic bags, sand, wooden stirrer, plastic
bags, stove or fire wood, strainer, etc. A detailed method of bhuja
production by traditional method is given in Fig. 1.6.
The commercial method of bhuja production is different from the
traditional method. An outline of the commercial method is given.
Preparation of bhuja/murai by traditional method
Process
Paddy
Cleaning
Soaking ° 24 hrs in clay pot
Boiling ° In metallic pot over firewood or stove
Straining ° Draining of excess water
Cooling ° 12 hrs
Steaming ° Until a few grains begin to split
Drying ° Uniform drying on mat or floor
Hulling ° In a huller to remove hulls
Winnowi ° Separation of hulls in a winnowing device
ng
Seasoning ° Mix water and salt (~1%). Cook under uniform and
mild heating with continuous stirring
Puffing ° Baking in hot sand placed in sieve
Bhuja/Mu
rai
Packing ° In plastic bags and sealed with a sealer
Process
Preparation of
bhuja/murai by
modern method
Paddy
Cleaning ° Separation of foreign materials (impurities,
stones, etc.)
Grading ° Generally not done in traditional method
Soaking ° Done in soaking vats. Low temperature
soaking takes longer time. Longer soaking
produces better quality of murai. This
transfers the color of husk to bran and murai
becomes more attractive (reddish). Soaking
period depends on temperature. The
moisture content reaches 35-40%.
Drying ° Sun drying takes a long time and is labor-
intensive. Mechanical drying is faster
Tempering ° To equilibrate moisture to 12-13%
Dehusking ° A pair of rubber roller is used
Stone separation ° Not necessary if de stoning of paddy has
been done
Soaking in salt ° 1% salt (in the form of saturated brine)
solution ° For every 100kg rice, 4 lit of saturated brine
and 8 lit of plain water is used and mixed
thoroughly. The moisture reaches ~ 24%.
The rice is heaped to temper for 12-16 hrs.
During tempering, lumps are formed, which
are broken and mixed at least once. The
brown rice is heaped again
Drying ° Generally sun drying. Agitation done to
break the cakes. The moisture is reduced to
~ 10%
Puffing ° Roasting in hot sand (200-300°C). A
cylindrical roaster is used
Screening ° Perforated cylinder is used to separate murai
from sand
Grading ° Done by size screening process in a rotary
reel grader
Packaging ° Hygroscopic in nature because of large
surface area
° Packed in container with low water vapor
permeability