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INTRODUCTION
Buying a 2 USD can of stackable potato chips the snack consumer makes a clear choice for:
This means that the consumer is making a rational and not so impulsive choice.
The increasing space for snacks - that are chosen as they show specific advantages - is the result of
latest trends: the occasions for snacks are overlapping the ones for meals.
Snacks manufacturers are pushing in this direction, increasing and diversifing their offer of pack size and
styles, targeting the flavourings, but still using the potato as the first ingredient for salty snacks proposal.
Pavan R&D team has been working on stackable potato chips technology since 1995, in order to satisfy the
customers’ request. Important results have been reached and shared with customers.
The availability of a small size industrial line for stackable potato chips into Pavan R&D center have
significantly accelerated the development work since mid 2000.
Every single step of the technology has been re-investigated; to improve texture and product surface
appearance, most work has been focused on:
EXPERIMENTAL WORK
Since all the items are strictly interdependent here are described only the most important steps that
allowed clarifying the effect of each single variation on the items listed above.
The main tool used in the development work has been the industrial line composed (at the beginning) by:
dry raw material mixer / gravimetric doser for dry mix / additional volumetric doser for dry mix / double liquid
dosage system with temperature controlled tanks / double stage dough mixing system / spreading conveyor /
sheeting rolls / rotary cutter / scrap return system / a heat and control continuous fryer / seasoning conveyor /
flipping device.
Raw materials characteristics were assessed with standard American Association of Cereal
Chemists methods and with Brabender visco-amylograph for the viscosity profiles.
Important relationships have been determined between granulometry, viscosity profile and water
absorption capability versus product machinability and product quality.
Potato flakes in big particles (known as ‘whole flakes’) show a slow speed - compared to the same milled
flakes - in absorbing water, resulting in parts with very high water content and others still completely dry. To
improve water distribution, longer mixing times are requested but the outcome of this is a major work input to
the dough which causes other problems described in the sheeting section.
Press Releases
This type of performance of the whole flakes, together with the poor consistency during dosage (due to
stratification and the difficulty of transport) make clear that the ideal particle size of the flakes must be
lower than 600 microns.
The viscosity profile of the flakes, at the same particle size is also giving different product qualities in relation
to the viscoelastic properties that the relevant dough are showing at the sheeting stage.
3 Viscosity Profiles
The dry mix viscosity profile is strongly influenced by the flakes characteristics: to maintain it within the ideal
range good results have been experienced in mixing some quantity of granules in substitution of flakes.
Dosing step
As described below a very fast continuous mixing process have been adopted. For this reason, the precise
control of the dry and liquid inlet is a key point. Pavan adopted the gravimetric dosage of the dry
materials and a sophisticated volumetric liquid multiple dosing system. The typical range of dry
ingredients inlet is between 90 and 160 kg/h.
Mixing step
The continuous mixing of the dry ingredients with water has been preferred from the very beginning as
the possible alternative to batch mixing. The main reason for this preference was the evidence of instability
in the process when the mixed dough was held for different times before being sheeted.
Pavan has a long and wide experience in continuous mixing systems and that’s why different potential
combinations were tested.
The most performing and flexible one is composed of two stages: the first one performs in an high speed
pre-mixing device to guarantee a first homogeneous distribution of the liquid within the solid particles; the
second one also performs at high rotational speed of the mixer to distribute the rework and, for some
particular products, other solids through a second dosing system.
The total mixing time can be adjusted following the water absorption characteristics of the dry mix, but in
the most common situation, it does not exceed 20 seconds.
The outcome of the development of the mixing process is that the dough can be sheeted immediately after
reaching a uniform surface water distribution the dough. Any additional mixing time will generate dough with
less surface water and so much more sensitive to the shear generated at the sheeting stage.
Sheeting step
The sheeting step have been revised at the initial stage of the development and, from the results of the
pilot plant experiments, Pavan had the confirmation that a multiple reduction system was narrowing the
possibilities of getting a controlled surface and texture of the product.
The reason for this behavior is not yet conclusive but it appears that after being gauged once, the rheology
of the dough changes completely from the initial one becoming much more sensitive to the shear stress and
the water much more bound to the solid particles.
As a result the potato chips tends to be more compact and the surface will not let the water exit easily. This
situation generates big bubbles that can be eliminated only adding additives or additional re-wetting of the
surface before frying.
Seasoning device:
The variety of seasonings necessary to cover the market request led to the need of different seasoning
units designed around the seasoning characteristics.
A particular volumetric system gives each row the same volume of seasoning. Due to the different
characteristics of the powders the design of the delivery system must be able to carry different solutions.
Generally it is necessary to have at least one system for high bulk density and free flowing seasonings and
another one for the ones with more packing tendency.
After dosage of the seasoning the spreading onto the chips is done with a series of small vibrating sieves.