The main process is
Feeding → mixing → proofing → calendering → shredding → cooking → cutting → frying → air cooling → packaging → packing → storage
1. Feeding
Generally, an automatic wheat flour supply system is used, like this:
The automatic flour supply system can greatly reduce the labor intensity and increase the measurement accuracy at the same time. First look at the flour storages, which are large containers that you may see with the naked eye around many instant noodle factories:
There is a flour feeding device at the bottom of the flour bins. It is usually required to manually load the flour into a place similar to a transfer station, and then the equipment pumps the flour into the bins. Then feeds, including the different proportions of flour, starch and gluten are measured and weighed separately, and then transported to the mixer by a crew conveyors.
After passing through the inspection screen, it enters the storage bins of the production line.
2. Dough Making
After the mixed flour and starch are evenly mixed in the dough mixer, a certain amount of water containing about 2% of salt is added, and through the mechanical stirring of the dough mixer, the gluten protein particles in the wheat flour gradually absorb water and swell, and stick to each other to form a certain elasticity, extensibility, Viscous and plastic gluten network, at the same time, the starch dispersed in water at room temperature in wheat also absorbs water and swells, and is embedded in the gluten network, thus forming a wet dough with plasticity, extensibility and cohesion. Due to the requirements of the subsequent processing, it is essential that the amount of water added should be appropriate. At this time, the mixed dough is in the shape of loosely disintegrated , which forms lumps by light kneading, that can be loosened by mild twisting.
3. Sitting Up Of The Dough
The sitting up is to keep the dough, after kneading into a low-speed mixer for 10 minutes or longer, to improve the operability of the dough at room temperature. Through sitting up ripening, the moisture in the dough is more uniform, and penetrates into the interior of the wheat flour, so that protein and starch in the dough fully absorb water, making the gluten network more stable.
Major equipment:
a. Resting tank: the place where the mixed dough is stored and matured.
b. Stirring rod: an outer rod-shaped structure running at a low speed, which feeds the dough into the compound feeding mechanism to ensure continuous production and prevent the dough from standing still and agglomerating.
4. Compound Rolling And Continuous Calendering
Compound rolling: the loose dough passes through a feeding mechanism and is fed into the sheet rollers to form a dough sheet. The two dough sheets are combined into one dough sheet, which is called compounding. At this time, the thickness of the dough is about 5-7mm .
Continuous calendering: The compounded dough sheet cannot be directly used for cutting noodles because they are too thick, and must be thinned. Through a serial of 5-7 pairs of calendering rollers, the thickness of the dough sheet is gradually reduced to 0.5~1 mm.
5. Shredding
The dough sheet, after continuous calendering is cut into rectangular or circular fine noodles by a pair of shredding knives. There is a fine mesh belt conveyor made of stainless steel wire with adjustable conveying speed, to create corrugated waving noodle shaping. This is achieved due to the linear speed of the mesh belt is smaller than the linear speed of the noodles; and the speed difference forces the noodles passing through subject to certain resistance and swing back and forth, distorted, and piled up into a wavy shape in which the crests stand up and the front and back crests lean against each other.
It is required that the finished noodles are with smooth surfaces, neatly wavy curves and no drawing; and the moving lanes of noodle belts shall be equal in the amount of the noodles and the noodle belts are properly separated.
6. Cooking
During the cooking process starch granules in flour absorb water and expand and break under a certain temperature and humidity; starch gelatinization takes place and the starch granules lose crystallinity. This process causes the starch to become more readily digestible.
7. Cold Water Bathing, Cutting And Folding
Cold water bathing: Cold water is sprayed on the noodles to stop cooking so that the noodles are ready for further processing
I. Cutting and folding for bagged noodles: Cut the steamed noodles into the required measurement to achieve fixed-length with designated amount of noodles. Folding: Fold the cut noodles (bag noodles) into two layers, initially having the shape of a noodle block
The order is:
Cut off → fold → spraying liquid seasoning → put into the fried bowl box
The corrugated curves of the noodles is regular, and the noodle blocks are square-shaped.
II. For cupped/bowled noodles: spraying liquid seasoning → Stretch → Cut
After the noodles are cut, there is no need to fold them, and they are put directly into the frying trays. The noodles are irregularly corrugated and the noodle blocks are round-shaped.
8. Frying Or Drying
Frying is to put the quantitatively cut noodle pieces into the noodle trays of the automatic fryer to make them pass through the high-temperature oil tank continuously. Rapid vaporization, the water that originally existed in the noodles escapes quickly, makes the noodles form a porous structure, and at the same time further increasing the degree of gelatinization of the starch in the noodles. When the noodles are soaked, hot water can easily enter these micropores, Therefore, it has a very good rehydration property. On the other hand, due to the rapid drying, the gelatinization state of starch after steaming is fixed, which greatly reduces the "retrogradation" speed of instant noodle products in storage and transportation, and maintains the quality of instant noodles. Rehydration, the purpose of dehydration is to reduce water for storage.
Non-fried instant noodles are dehydrated in a heated-air-dryer instead of a fryer.
9. Air-cooling
During this process water content in noodles will further reduced when the noodles are cooled down from about 120°C to about 5°C higher than room temperature (35°C~40°C) , for subsequent packaging.
Alternative methosds
a. Blowing down from the top: After frying, the noodle blocks are cooled by air blowing down from the fan above the cooling box.
b. Air blowing upward from the bottom: After frying, the noodle blocks are cooled by air blowing upward from the blower below the cooling box. At present, this method is mostly used.
10. Packaging
The noodle blocks and seasoning sachets are sealed and packaged to prevent moisture absorption and deterioration of the products, extend the shelf life, and facilitate transportation and sales. A forks is provided in the cupped noodle package, which can be directly brewed and eaten in the cup, which is very convenient.
11. Cartoning
Nowadays many enterprises have adopted automatic cartoning machines to reduce labor intensity and increase productivity. The principle is to use the mechanical arm or the suction cup to quantitatively grab the corresponding numbers of cups or bags of noodles and put it into the carton; the carton is automatically sealed by the carton packing machine.
12. Storage
Generally, electric forklifts are used to transfer the whole board of instant noodles to the warehouse. The use of electric forklifts can reduce product pollution and environmental pollution. The stacking height of instant noodles in stock is generally set in combination with its own product packaging characteristics and storage capacity.
Generally, it is required to be dry, ventilated, avoid direct sunlight, and the temperature should be around 25 degrees Celsius.