Pie and biscuit formers
Pie casings are formed by depositing a piece of dough into aluminium foil containers or re-usable pie moulds and pressing it with a die. A filling is then Page 48 of 151 deposited into the casing and a continuous sheet of dough is laid over the top. Finally the lids are cut by reciprocating blades (Figure 10.3). Biscuits are formed by one of four methods:
1. the dough is pressed into shaped cavities in a metal moulding roller (die forming) (Figure 10.4(a))
2. shapes are cut from a sheet of dough using a cutting roller. Raised characters on a printing roller simultaneously imprint a design on the upper surface of the biscuit (Fig10.4 (b))
3. soft dough is extruded through a series of dies in a wire-cut machine (Fig. 10.4(c))
4. a continuous ribbon of dough is extruded from a rout press (similar to a wire cut machine but without the cutting wires), and the ribbon is then cut to the required length using a reciprocating blade.