Cutting biscuits

Figure 3 A single anvil biscuit cutting machine...

Biscuits can be shaped by cutting, either rotating or vertical, wire cutting or rotary moulding. These processes are covered in Chapter 8 (Section 8.4 on biscuits). 

If biscuits are made by hand the shaping process would be to roll out the dough and use a cutter to cut the biscuits to shape. The scrap dough is then re-rolled and more pieces are cut with the excess being re-rolled and the process repeated until there is insufficient dough to make any more biscuits. 

It is also possible to shape biscuits by a mechanised system that does the same process. This is called sheeting gauging and cutting. Some biscuits are shaped by extrusion and depositing, while others are wire cut. Alternatively, the biscuit dough can be fed to a rotary moulder, which shapes the biscuits in one step (Figure 2). 

In the system where two pairs of rollers are used the first pair dockers the dough, pins the dough to the cutting web and prints any surface pattern or writing. The second pair of rollers cuts out the biscuits leaving the usual pattern of scrap dough. Thus there is a choice between a cheaper solution that sometimes works and a more expensive solution that will work under a wider range of conditions. 

Fill a small iron crucible about one-half to two-thirds full of magnesium powder. Bore a pinhole in the iron lid and then place the lid on the crucible. Lute the lid to the crucible with wet asbestos pulp and close the hole with the same material. (If a lid is not available, twist the crucible on a piece of asbestos board like a biscuit cutter until a deep groove has been cut in it and then lute it to the crucible as before.) Dry the crucible and its contents in an air oven or on the hot plate and when they are dry pierce a small hole in the asbestos plug with a pin. Place the crucible in a circular hole... 

Lecithin will function as a release agent, providing cleaner and faster pet food or biscuit parting from a stamp or mold. A reduction in the amount of pressure required to create an impression with a stamp is seen when lecithin is used in the mix. The ease of formation of intricate, stamped, surface appearance details, especially with low-fat products, is also improved with lecithins. When dough is being cut, lecithin improves release from the die, especially with rotary cutters. With superior release, foods and biscuits are formed with a better impression, and lower numbers of cripples (i.e., improperly formed product). Some pet biscuits are formed from a batter injected into a mold prior to cooking. Lecithin can improve flowability of the batter so that it fills all the mold corners and cavities. After cooking, lecithin improves release from the mold. 

Preform v. (1) To make plastic molding powders into pellets, tablets, or biscuits of known mass that facilitate accuracy in compression molding. (2) To prepare by hand cutting of reinforcing cloth or mat, or by blowing chopped fibers onto a contoured screen, the reinforcement for a fiber-reinforced molded object. The reinforcement, which has a shape close to that of the final molded object, is placed into or onto the mold along with the required amount of resin, then wet out and cured. 

Sulphur dioxide (SO2) is another multifunctional additive that is antimicrobial and effective against most bacteria. It has found use in wine, beer, biscuit dough, dried and cut vegetables and fruit. Consumer concern about SO2 in foods has resulted in alternatives being sought and used but, like nitrite, sulphur dioxide is not easy to replace in foods so usually a combination of additives must be used in its place (see section 6.4). 

Rain Spot. A dark circular mark, often surrounded by a halo, on vitreous enamelware the fault arises if a dirty drop of water falls on the biscuit ware. Rake, gullet cut (q.v.). 

Ordinary butter (the toast type) is another example of a liquid/semisolid, depending on temperature. Butter is really a slurry of water in fat, differing from many materials of similar stiff room temperature textures in that its production is essentially a room temperature operation. Materials of this type can be sampled with a core-type sampler in the semisolid state or by methods previously described, in the liquid state. They can also be sampled by an extmsion system, whereby the sample is chopped off from an extruded stream. It is important that temperature be controlled so that the cut surface remains level and does not start to flow. Cheese is even more solid and can be sampled by simply taking a slice. Processed cheese is usually manufactured in the liquid state, and can be sampled and analyzed as-is, or fed into a sampling cell and allowed to solidify before analysis. Crumbly materials, such as biscuit (cookie) or cake doughs, dough mixes for pasta or noodle production or compressed (fresh) yeast, can be sampled manually or by an extrusion system. This includes thick slurries, which will eventually either solidify or be compressed into solid sheets or blocks. 

Energy-rich foods, which should be avoided. These are generally foods rich in fat and sugar but providing little in the way of vitamins and minerals. Such foods include oils and fats, fried foods, fatty cuts of meat, cakes, biscuits, etc. and alcoholic beverages. They should be eaten extremely sparingly, if at all. 

PP and OPP are used for bottles, jars, crisp packets, biscuit wrappers, and boil-inbag films and for many types of commodities like biscuits, crisps (chips), snack foods, chocolate, sugar confectionery, ice cream, frozen food, tea and coffee (Manikantan et al., 2012). OPP is used for packaging of salad cut vegetables. In many MAP applications, biaxially oriented film (BOPP) is preferred which is stronger than OPP. 

This is an unleavened bread made with flour, shortening, water and milk. The stiff dough is beaten with a rolling pin and folded over many times, then rolled out and cut with a biscuit cutter. When baked, it should be light, even textured, and crack at the edges like crackers. 

A thin delicate material resembling paper made by cutting the pith of the rice-paper tree into one roll or sheet and flattening under pressure. It is edible so, macaroons and similar biscuits are baked on it and the paper can be eaten with the biscuit... 

Regular biscuits are produced from soft-wheat flour, baking powder, sugar, fats, and other ingredients (Table 10.9). The dough is usually sheeted and then cut with a circular die, placed on baking pans, egg washed, and baked. 

Compressed flake biscuits are formed by compression of flakes or cooked grain mixtures with other ingredients. These products are especially important in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth countries. The most used flakes are from wheat that has been precooked with sugar and other flavorings and formed into the biscuit shape. The biscuits can be individually formed, or flakes and other ingredients can be sheeted into a mat and then cut into rectangular forms. The biscuit pieces are then toasted to the desired color, flavor, and moisture (Fast and Caldwell 2000). 

Filled shredded wheat biscnits are usually filled with fruit jams that are placed in between the biscnits. The jam is placed by a manifold of small tubes on four or five layers of shreds which then receives an additional four or five layers of shredded wheat. The filled biscuits are slit and cross-cut into the desired size and baked in the same type of continnons belt ovens. 

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