Pasta
Good morning everyone. It is a great pleasure for me to welcome you. Today I would like to tell you about pasta, and the process of it’s manufacturing.
Pasta is a universally enjoyed food, I believe everyone in this room loves pasta and different courses made of pasta, isn’t it? The popularity of pasta can be attributed to several factors: it is easily manufactured, it takes up little storage space, it is easy to cook, and it is rich in complex carbohydrates.
In Greek mythology, it is believed that the god Hephaestus invented a device that made strings of dough. This was the earliest reference to a pasta maker.
Other documented mentions of pasta are dated by the 1st century BC, but it was not boiled then, as it is usually done today, but baked in oven.
According to historicans, the Arabs adapted noodles for long journeys in the 5th century, the first written record of dry pasta. Dried pasta became popular for its easy storage. This allowed people to store pasta on ships when exploring the New World. Ten centuries later, pasta was present around the globe during the voyages of discovery.
Basic pasta dough has been made mostly of wheat flour. Regionally other grains have been used, including those from buckwheat, rice, and maize, as well as other different flours.
In this level wheat flour and water are mixed by the ratio of 3 to 1. Water should be pure and suitable for drinking. Its temperature is about 35-45°C to help absorbing more quickly.
The exact amount of raw materials is very important. The measured (by volume or by weight) amounts of water and flour are mixed together in mixer to form a crumbly dough. The traditional type of mixer is a trough with a cylindrical section inside which rotates a mixing shaft with blades. More advanced systems use a high-speed centrifuge pre-mixer.
Eggs are added to the mixture if the product is an egg noodle. If pasta is to be a flavored variety, vegetable juices are added here. A tomato or beet mixture is added for red pasta, spinach for green pasta, carrots for orange pasta. Herbs and spices can also be folded in for additional flavoring.
The mixture moves then to a laminator where it is pressed into sheets by large cylinders. The temperature of the dough should remain between 40-45°C. If the temperature exceeds the 50°C the dough would be damaged which has a negative effect on the quality of pasta.
After that there is a process of Pasteurization, when the roll of dough moves through a steamer, which heats the dough to (104°C) in order to kill any existing bacteria.
Depending on the type of noodle to be produced, the dough is either cut or pushed through dies. The size and shape of the holes in the die determine the type of pasta.
Drying process is the most difficult and critical part of making the pasta. If the products dry too fast, they would crack during or after drying process and have a poor appearance and low mechanical strength. If the products dry too slowly, they would spoil and become moldy. So the pasta should lose right amount of moisture in right amount of time.
When the pasta leaves the dies it has the moisture content of 31%. The final desired moisture of the dried pasta is about 12% which helps the pasta to be hard and retain its shape and have a long storage life.
After that pasta is automatically packaged and distributed to consumers.