IE80551B1 - Food processing - Google Patents

Description

Food Processing Introduction The invention relates to a process for producing a plaited « pastry and in particular a plaited pastry comprising an outer pastry wrapper enclosing an edible filling material.

A process for producing a plaited pastry is known. This process comprises forming a series of thin fingers along each side of a sheet of pastry and raising the sides of the pastry so that the fingers overlap each other enveloping the filling in a plait-like arrangement.

However the plaiting of the fingers is difficult to control and thus the process is very slow.

It is an object of the invention to provide an improved process for producing a plaited pastry which will overcome these problems .

Statements of Invention According to the invention there is provided a process for producing a plaited pastry comprising an outer dough enclosing an edible filling material, the process comprising :preparing a sheet of dough; forming a series of fingers along opposing sides of the sheet of dough, the fingers on opposite sides being staggered with respect to each other; F cutting at least one slot in each finger; depositing a filling material onto a central baseforming portion of the dough sheet; and - 2 raising the fingers to fall onto the filling material, the fingers on opposite sides falling * alternately onto one another to form a plait-like arrangement. * In a preferred arrangement, the process includes the steps of : delivering a continuous sheet of the pastry dough along a conveyor; and after forming a length of plaited pastry, cutting the length of plaited pastry to form individual portions .

Preferably, the filling is continuously deposited onto a central base-forming portion of the continuous dough sheet.

In a preferred embodiment each finger is formed by cutting slits in the pastry and the slot in each finger extends generally parallel to the slits.

In a particularly preferred embodiment the slits and slots are angled from the side of the pastry towards a centre of the pastry in the direction of movement of the pastry.

Preferably the slits and slots extend at an angle of approximately 45° with respect to a side edge of the pastry sheet.

Preferably the slot is spaced-apart from the side edge of the pastry sheet to form a web.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention the web is less than 20% of the length of the finger.

? In a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention * the web is approximately 10% of the length of the finger.

Preferably a single slot is formed in each finger, the slot being approximately centrally disposed between the edges of the finger.

Preferably the dough is a puff pastry dough.

The invention also provides a plaited pastry whenever 10 produced by the process of the invention.

The invention will be more clearly understood from the following description of an embodiment thereof given by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:15 Fig. 1 is a perspective view from above of a portion of a sheet of dough used in producing a plaited pastry by a process according to the invention; Fig. 2 is a perspective, partially cross sectional view of a portion of a continuous plaited pastry; and Fig. 3 is a plan view of the plaited pastry of Fig. 7.

A puff pastry dough is prepared in a conventional manner and is formed into a continuous sheet 1. A series of “ similar fingers 2a, 2b are formed along opposing sides 3, of each sheet 1. The finger 2a on one side 3 of the sheet 1 is offset longitudinally with respect to a corresponding finger 2b on the other side 4. The fingers 2a, 2b are formed by making a series of slits 7a, 7b along opposing sides 3, 4 of the sheet 1. The slits 7a, 7b are approximately 7 5 nun in length and are angled from the side of the dough sheet towards a central base-forming portion 5 of the sheet 1 at an angle of approximately 45°. Slots 8a, 8b are also cut in each finger 2a, 2b in a direction parallel to the slits 7. It will be noted that the slits 7a, 7b extend to the outer edges of the sheet 1 while the slots 8a, 8b terminate inwardly of the side edges leaving a web 9a, 9b between the respective slot 8a, 8b and the adjacent side edge.

Filling material 10 is continuously deposited onto the central base-forming portion 5 of each pastry sheet 1.

The fingers 2a, 2b of the dough sheet 1 are then raised until the fingers 2a, 2b fall onto the filling material 10 under their own weight. The falling of the fingers 2a, 2b on opposing sides 3, 4 is staggered to facilitate overlapping of the fallen fingers in a plait-like arrangement 11 thus enveloping the cooked filling material 10 as illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3 and producing a continuous plaited pastry 12.

The continuous plaited pastry 12 is then cut at predetermined distances to provide a plurality of individual plaited pastries.

The invention provides a process for manufacturing plaited pastry products at a high production rate with minimum wastage.

It will be appreciated that the pastry plait may be filled with any suitable filling including a meat based filling, a vegetable filling, a savory filling in general or a confectionary type filling such as a strudel or fruit pie type filling.

The invention is not limited to the hereinbefore described but may be varied construction and detail.

Claims (12)

1. A process for producing a plaited pastry comprising an outer dough enclosing an edible filling material, the process comprising :preparing a sheet of dough; forming a series of fingers along opposing sides 5 of the sheet of dough, the fingers on opposite sides being staggered with respect to each other; cutting at least one slot in each finger; depositing a filling material onto a central 10 base-forming portion of the dough sheet; and raising the fingers to fall onto the filling material, the fingers on opposite sides falling alternately onto one another to form a plaitlike arrangement. 15

2. A process as claimed in Claim 1 including the steps of : delivering a continuous sheet of the pastry dough along a conveyor; and after forming a length of plaited pastry, 20 cutting the length of plaited pastry to form individual portions .

3. A process as claimed in claim 2 wherein the filling is continuously deposited onto a central base-forming portion of the continuous dough sheet. Ί

4. A process as claimed in any preceding claim wherein each finger is formed by cutting slits in the pastry and the slot in each finger extends generally parallel to the slits.

5. 5. A process as claimed in claim 4 wherein the slits and slots are angled from the side of the pastry towards a centre of the pastry in the direction of movement of the pastry.

6. A process as claimed in claim 5 wherein the slits and 10 slots extend at an angle of approximately 45° with respect to a side edge of the pastry sheet.

7. A process as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the slot is spaced-apart from the side edge of the pastry sheet to form a web. 15

8. A process as claimed in claim 7 wherein the web is less than 20% of the length of the finger.

9. A process as claimed in approximately 10% of the claim 8 wherein the web length of the finger. is

10. A process as claimed in any preceding claim wherein 20 a single slot is formed in each finger, the slot being approximately centrally disposed between the edges of the finger.

11. A process as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the dough is a puff pastry dough. 25

12. A process for producing a plaited pastry substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings. A plaited pastry whenever formed by a process as claimed in any preceding claim.