Mills, Cracker

The term is also applied to a cracker mill. British Standards Institution... 

Soft-wheat flours are sold for general family use, as biscuit or cake flours, and for the commercial production of crackers, pretzels, cakes, cookies, and pastry. The protein in soft wheat flour mns from 7 to 10%. There are differences in appearance, texture, and absorption capacity between hard- and soft-wheat flour subjected to the same milling procedures. Hard-wheat flour falls into separate particles if shaken in the hand whereas, soft-wheat flour tends to clump and hold its shape if pressed together. Hard-wheat flour feels slightly coarse and granular when mbbed between the fingers soft-wheat flour feels soft and smooth. Hard-wheat flour absorbs more Hquid than does soft-wheat flour. Consequently, many recipes recommend a variable measure of either flour or Hquid to achieve a desired consistency. 

Oswal Agro Mills Ltd. is an agricultural company with several fertilizer plants with a small (naphtha) cracker producing 22,000 t/y ethylene near Mumbai (Bombay). Chemplast Sanmar Ltd. (CSL) is a small company focusing on the production of chloro-chemicals. Based in Tamil Nadu, the company has a small ethylene plant which uses ethanol as a feedstock. 

Texture of the ripened grain— Wheat is classed as hard or soft. Hard wheats tend to be higher in protein content than soft wheats, and are primarily used in bread flour. Durham wheats are also hard wheats, used for macaroni production. Softer wheats are lower in protein and are chiefly milled into flour for cakes, cookies, pastries, and crackers. 

Small quantities of wheat are usually milled for test baking. Various flours are checked by different baking procedures according to end use. For hard wheal, test loaves are baked to determine the mixing time and tolerance of doughs, the degree to which the flour will absorb liquid, potential loaf volume, texture, crumb, color, and flavor. For soft wheat, similar determinations are made with test cakes, cookies, or crackers. 

Special soft wheat flours are milled for cookie, cracker, and pretzel bakers and other special flours are prepared for can-ners who make soups, gravies, desserts requiring thickening, and flour-beised sauces. 

FIG. 10—Cross-sectional elevation (A) of the kiln battery and mill structure of the Lawrence Cement Company at Binnewater (Fig. I). Note the relative positions of the kiln battery, cracker, grinding mill, and packing areas. The tramways atop the kiln structure leading to the adjacent mines are not shown. The various buildings of the Lawrence Cement Company were located immediately east of Binnewater Lake (now known as Fifth or Williams Lake), along the WallkiU Valley Railroad (inset B). Figure (tfter Lewis [30]. 

According to end use, wheat is classified as soft, hard, and durum. The first two classes are almost always dry-milled into refined flour for the manufacturing of fermented and chemical-leavened bakery products such as breads, cakes, crackers, cookies, and flour tortillas (Figure 1.8). Durums are dry-milled into coarse refined meals called semolina, ideally suited for manufacturing of long and short pasta products. Rye flour is usually mixed with wheat flour for the production of fermented breads including sour breads, especially in Germany, Poland, Ukraine, and other European countries. 

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