METHOD FOR PRODUCING FONDANT SWEETS AND CRYSTALLINE TOFFEE Russian patent published in 1998 - IPC

FIELD: food industry, in particular, production of confectionery. SUBSTANCE: stock materials are delivered and made ready for production process. Granulated sugar, or other friable materials, or mixture of friable components are delivered to movers. Next step resides in preparing syrup by feeding into it formula components, boiling and whisking syrup to obtain fondant mass. Then conducted are the following operations: preparing candy mass, shaping candy shells, prepacking and packing up, or at least partial glazing, prepacking and packing up. Chain bucket elevator (noria) with lower receiving bin for friable components is used for delivery at least vertically, sugar or other friable stock materials, or mixture of friable components to mixers, elevator strands being arranged in two (ascending and descending) channels passed through at least two storeys of production building. At least one of walls of descending channel is provided with at least two process openings which are spaced apart heightwise and separated by at least one floor of production building, minimum distance between openings being equal to at least 1/3 of height of the lowest storey. Process openings serve to accommodate screening trays or chutes capable to perform reciprocating movements to assume various positions in space in at least their launder-like receiving portion. These reciprocating movements are performed by effecting uniaxial or complex rotations and/or at least by achieving partial transformation of tray body shape and/or by achieving complex spatial transformation of process flow of friable components, the latter transformation is effected by varying nonlinear spatial configuration of structural elements constituting receiving and guiding portions of tray. Screening trays are introduced alternately, or together, or simultaneously into delivery zone of falling flow of sugar, or other friable stock material, or mixture of friable components in such manner as to permit to selectively take and deliver these components to one or more storeys of production building, to supply corresponding mixer(s) placed at different points of building. Shape-forming friable component, such as starch used for forming candy shells is liberated from shells by taking out of sockets, is directed to collecting tanks and periodically fed into lower receiving bin of chain bucket elevator, from which after screening, it is conveyed for re-use. The same elevator may be used for this conveying operation, predominantly during intervals between operations of feeding sugar, or other friable stock materials, or mixture of friable components. EFFECT: optimized stock materials consumption without its losses; lower energy consumption. 7 cl, 3 tbl