Food depositing and flattening apparatus

Abstract

Apparatus for preparing extrudable food products prior to cooking includes depositing portions of food product onto a horizontal surface, coating the food portions with flour, vacuuming away excess flour, and incrementally flattening the food portions to a desired thickness. An apparatus for performing this process includes a first flour depositor, a food depositor, a second flour depositor, and a food flattener, all mounted above a conveyor belt. The conveyor belt is mounted atop a supporting chassis which, in addition to providing a mounting base for the components named above, houses the electrical and hydraulic control means for the apparatus. The food depositor comprises conventional extruding means suitable for use with raw dough or ground meat, and a duality of hydraulically activated, high-speed cutter blades. The uniquely designed cutter blades have flattened, essentially planar cutting edge portions which create an aerodynamic shock wave along the line of impact between the blades. The horizontally opposed cutter blades operate to shear off portions of extruded food product and propel the severed portions down onto the conveyor belt, with little or no excess food particles adhering to the high-speed blades. The shock wave serves to force the sheared food portions away from the cutter blades, further reducing the adherence of excess food particles on the blades.