A device for forming a sheeted dough from a dough piece, which includes: (i) a lower tray arranged so as to support the dough piece during a forming operation, (ii) an upper tray, and (iii) a forming actuator arranged so as to move the upper plate in relation to the lower plate, in such a way as to be able to press the dough piece between the lower tray and the upper tray in order to form a sheeted dough, the lower tray containing a system of mobile ejectors that can assume a so-called retracted position in such a way as to form, overall, a continuous surface with the lower tray, and a so-called raised position in such a way as to form a raised surface in relation to the lower tray.

A system for handling culinary preparations, which includes: a mounting (I) including an upper surface arranged to receive a culinary preparation, and a plurality of feedthroughs extending between the upper surface and a lower surface; a transfer device including a plurality of projecting portions; a relative movement system being arranged to position the system in a low position, in which no projecting portion projects relative to the upper surface of the mounting, and a high position, in which one end of at least one projecting portion is made to project through the feedthroughs, relative to the upper surface of the mounting; and a handling tool including oblong elements arranged to be inserted between projecting portions.

A system for handling culinary preparations, which includes: a mounting (I) including an upper surface arranged to receive a culinary preparation, and a plurality of feedthroughs extending between the upper surface and a lower surface; a transfer device including a plurality of projecting portions; a relative movement system being arranged to position the system in a low position, in which no projecting portion projects relative to the upper surface of the mounting, and a high position, in which one end of at least one projecting portion is made to project through the feedthroughs, relative to the upper surface of the mounting; and a handling tool including oblong elements arranged to be inserted between projecting portions.

A continuous-belt baking system having a pair of upper rollers rotatably mounted in frame and spaced at a first distance, a pair of lower rollers rotatably mounted in frame and spaced at a second distance, a continuous thermally-conductive belt passing over the upper rollers, a continuous thermally conductive belt passing over the lower rollers, and two arrays of radiant heating elements. The radiant arrays include a first group of heating elements above a lower run of the upper belt between said upper rollers and a second opposing group of heating elements below an upper run of the bottom belt between the lower rollers. Each heating element may be separately controlled insofar as its ON/OFF state or in accordance with temperature, to provide more localized baking capabilities.

The present disclosure is directed to press systems and methods for forming pliable material, such as dough, into a specifically-designed shape for allowing hand-stretching of the pliable material after pressed by the press system. In some examples, the press system may be manually operated, automatically or hydraulically assisted, and/or mechanically assisted. The press assembly of the press systems disclosed herein may include a press mold having a contoured or multifaceted shape designed to form a finished dough, such as a pizza crust, having a thicker central portion, a relatively thinned intermediate portion, and a thicker edge portion at a perimeter of the pizza crust.

In some embodiments, a dough pressing system includes means for coupling a cover to a pressing platen, wherein the cover can reduce the wear caused to the pressing platen by the heat and pressure used to process one or more products. The cover optionally can be configured to be removably attached to the pressing platen with vacuum pressure.

In some implementations, one or more spacers are placed between the cover and the pressing platen. The thickness of the spacers can adjust the thickness and diameter of products processed by the pressing platen. For example, to increase uniformity among products pressed together in a press cycle, the spacers can have different thicknesses that correspond with the location of the spacer in the pattern of dough balls.

Apparatuses and methods for preparation of breads are described. The apparatuses include a press unit that can receive a dough ball and flatten the dough ball. The press unit includes a top plate and a bottom plate, each of which is in an inclined arrangement. The top plate swivels towards and away from the bottom plate. A dough ball is flattened between the top plate and the bottom plate. The bottom plate is heated, thereby heating a first face of the flattened dough in contact with the bottom plate. A flipper connected to at least one of the top plate and the bottom plate guides the flattened dough to a heated cooking surface. The guiding enables a second face of the flattened dough to come in contact with the cooking surface, thereby heating the flattened dough and forming the bread.

Provided is a rounding device that rounds a food dough using a pair of shaping plates (11, 13), the device being provided with the following: a conveying device (9) that conveys a food dough (7); and the pair of shaping plates (11, 13) disposed on the upper surface of the conveying device (9) so as to extend along the conveying direction (R) of the conveying device. The rounding device is characterized in that at least one of the pair of shaping plates (11, 13) has recessed holding-dough parts (17, 21).

Provided is a rounding device that rounds a food dough using a pair of shaping plates (11, 13), the device being provided with the following: a conveying device (9) that conveys a food dough (7); and the pair of shaping plates (11, 13) disposed on the upper surface of the conveying device (9) so as to extend along the conveying direction (R) of the conveying device. The rounding device is characterized in that at least one of the pair of shaping plates (11, 13) has recessed holding-dough parts (17, 21).

A production system for moisture and texture detection and control in tortilla and tortilla chip production includes a production line, including a cooker/grinder, a sheeter/cutter, an oven, an equalizer, a fryer, and a cooler/packaging machine; and a production control unit, including a processor, non-transitory memory, an input/output component, a moisture controller, a temperature controller, a belt speed controller, a masa moisture sensor, a chip moisture sensor, laser sensors for measuring surface texture of baked and fried chips, a laser controller, a texture classifier, a feedback controller. Also disclosed is a method for production control, including controlling moisture content, measuring masa moisture, controlling oven, measuring baked surfaces, measuring fried surfaces, classifying baked surfaces, classifying fried surfaces, optimizing oven temperature, optimizing oven belt speed, storing and characterizing historical records.