A apparatus may be used to cut a dough product having a hole from a dough sheet. The stamping apparatus may have multiple cutting blades, depending from a platen, that are configured for cutting complementary open shapes, in phases, that together form a closed shape defining the dough product periphery. The stamping apparatus may also have a tubular cutting blade depending from the platen, configured to cut a closed shape defining the dough product hole, that is nested within one of the blades that is configured to cut an open shape. The tubular cutting blade may be retractable about a finger contained therewithin that remains in a fixed position in relation to the tubular cutting blade as the blade retracts. Air trapped within the tubular cutting blade, between the finger and a cutout dough piece that does not form part of the dough product, may become compressed during blade retraction. The compression may facilitate ejection of the cutout dough piece from the tubular cutting blade. The finger may be omitted in some embodiments.

A method of forming a twisted product from elongated food materials comprises steps of continuously and downwardly discharging elongated food materials and at the same time twisting the elongated food materials around a vertical axis; conveying the elongated food materials by a conveyor in a lateral direction after the elongated food materials have reached the conveyer; narrowing a separating portion of a lowering region of the elongated food material by a shutter-type squeezing device; allowing the separating portion to become a thin connecting portion which can be separated by a pulling operation, and separating the thin connecting portion to form a twisted product.

A plurality of dough pieces are produced using a rotary dough cutter including a shaft, a plurality of walls extending radially outward from the shaft and a plurality of interior blades extending radially outward from the shaft. The plurality of walls define a plurality of dough cutter molds. The plurality of dough cutter molds include a first dough cutter mold and a second dough cutter mold. A first wall of the plurality of walls defines part of both the first dough cutter mold and the second dough cutter mold. Each of the plurality of interior blades is located in one of the plurality of dough cutter molds. The plurality of dough pieces are cut from a dough sheet with the plurality of walls. The plurality of dough pieces are scored with the plurality of interior blades. After scoring, the plurality of dough pieces are proofed and then frozen.

A plurality of dough pieces are produced using a rotary dough cutter including a shaft, a plurality of walls extending radially outward from the shaft and a plurality of interior blades extending radially outward from the shaft. The plurality of walls define a plurality of dough cutter molds. The plurality of dough cutter molds include a first dough cutter mold and a second dough cutter mold. A first wall of the plurality of walls defines part of both the first dough cutter mold and the second dough cutter mold. Each of the plurality of interior blades is located in one of the plurality of dough cutter molds. The plurality of dough pieces are cut from a dough sheet with the plurality of walls. The plurality of dough pieces are scored with the plurality of interior blades. After scoring, the plurality of dough pieces are proofed and then frozen.

A food processing machine includes a driving mechanism, a connecting unit connected with the driving mechanism, a linkage connected with the connecting unit, and a cutter unit connected with the linkage. The connecting unit includes a driving lever and a driven handle. The linkage includes a disk, a primary rotation shaft, and a plurality of secondary rotation shafts. The cutter unit includes a plurality of connecting members and a plurality of cutters. Each of the cutters is provided with a first hooked portion and a second hooked portion. The first hooked portion of each of the cutters is to hooked onto the second hooked portion of an adjacent cutter, such that the cutters are drawn mutually by each other, to provide a larger cutting force to cut the elongated food strip when the cutters are retracted inward.

Visually distinct, flaked Ready-to-Eat cereal products with varied texture and thickness are produced by forming a cereal dough and forcing the same through an extrusion die assembly including various spaced openings which establish a plurality of dough streams which are merged prior to reaching a die outlet. Directly at the die outlet, a resulting dough extrudate is sliced by a cutter unit to form dough discs which are then dried and cooled, during which the discs curl and form cereal flakes having varying textures defined, at least in part, by distinct sets of surface bumps. The number and configuration of the bumps can be altered by changing the number, shape and/or position of the various spaced openings of the die assembly, while the thickness of the resulting cereal flakes can be varied by just altering an operational speed of the cutter unit.

A plurality of dough pieces are produced using a rotary dough cutter including a shaft, a plurality of walls extending radially outward from the shaft and a plurality of interior blades extending radially outward from the shaft. The plurality of walls define a plurality of dough cutter molds. The plurality of dough cutter molds include a first dough cutter mold and a second dough cutter mold. A first wall of the plurality of walls defines part of both the first dough cutter mold and the second dough cutter mold. Each of the plurality of interior blades is located in one of the plurality of dough cutter molds. The plurality of dough pieces are cut from a dough sheet with the plurality of walls. The plurality of dough pieces are scored with the plurality of interior blades. After scoring, the plurality of dough pieces are proofed and then frozen.

The invention relates to a forming device for forming and partitioning a pasty food strand as well as to a filling machine with a respective forming device and to a method. The forming device comprises more than two flat displacement elements superposed in the direction of transport of the food strand, each having at least one opening through which the food strand can be moved in the direction of transport. The forming device further comprises a movement mechanism for moving the flat displacement elements on respective curved paths, such that the respective openings can move relative to each other, so that the cross-sectional area of the resulting overall opening of the superposed openings changes.

A plurality of dough pieces are produced using a rotary dough cutter including a shaft, a plurality of walls extending radially outward from the shaft and a plurality of interior blades extending radially outward from the shaft. The plurality of walls define a plurality of dough cutter molds. The plurality of dough cutter molds include a first dough cutter mold and a second dough cutter mold. A first wall of the plurality of walls defines part of both the first dough cutter mold and the second dough cutter mold. Each of the plurality of interior blades is located in one of the plurality of dough cutter molds. The plurality of dough pieces are cut from a dough sheet with the plurality of walls. The plurality of dough pieces are scored with the plurality of interior blades. After scoring, the plurality of dough pieces are proofed and then frozen.

To provide a shutter piece in a food shaping device that is capable of opening and closing an enclosure surrounded by a plurality of shutter pieces, the shutter piece including a flexure allowance part between a rotation center position of a shutter piece and a distal end part of the shutter piece to allow flexure of a distal-end side portion of the shutter piece in the opposite direction from a closing opening direction during a closing operation of the shutter piece, in which the flexure allowance part is constituted by a slit, a cutaway part, or a hole, and the flexure allowance part includes a flexure-amount adjustment mechanism to adjust the amount of flexure of the distal-end side portion of the shutter piece.