1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a novel system for reducing perforations in flexible packaging which contains dried pasta noodles by employing selected space-saving shapes of instant pasta noodles as well as methods for preparing both the noodles and the packaged noodles.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally dry or dehydrated foods are contained in bags or flexible packaging for convenience and ease of opening such as in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,410,857 and 2,357,585. Dry soups frequently employ noodles or pasta as a major portion of the soup and if the noodles or pasta is cut into small straight pieces prior to drying, the ends of the dried material are relatively sharp and when introduced into the package, can easily perforate the packaging material. One solution to prevent this is to make the packaging from relatively strong flexible material, however, this is needlessly expensive and the use of any such material must be balanced against the overall cost of the product. Cheaper packaging material being clearly more desirable than expensive material. A method of including dried pasta in a flexible package while limiting the perforations of the packaging is thus seen to be desirable.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a system employing a spiral pasta shape for use with a flexible package system which substantially reduces the perforations of the flexible packaging containing the pasta.
Over the years there have been many methods for making farinaceous products and for making such products in various shapes. Some of the pasta is made into nests and skeins and this is mentioned in chapter 10 entitled "Manufacture of Pasta Products", by Dante Baroni, pp. 191-203 in a book by Dr. Charles Hummel entitled Macaroni Products, Manufacture, Processing and Packaging, 1966, London, Food Trade Press Inc. In essence, these noodles are prepared to be cooked in a cooking pot containing boiling water and the like and served.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,323,585 relates to a process for producing pasta products in serving portions in packages. This patent refers to nests and other pasta products packed on the basis of eating portions.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,798,343 relates to a process for preparing frozen rolled lasagna. Generally the process used is one where cheese and meat are applied to one face of the single noodle which is then rolled in a spiral and frozen.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,988,528 relates to preparing instant noodles adapted to be cooked in boiling water or the like and then served. This patent particularly relates to fried noodles.
Although many ways of preparing pasta are known, and although many shapes are available, in the art of preparing noodles for instant dishes which noodles are then contained in flexible packaging, for instance, it is difficult to obtain long noodles which can fit within the package since the package is relatively short. Thus, there is a need for a noodle shape which will allow placement into a package of relatively short dimensions. In addition, perforation of the packages can result from the sharp corners of cut noodles.
Spiral shapes are well known, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,882,175 employs a rolled tape of a confectionery such as bubble gum. In addition, in the baking industry several patents deal with preparing dough in a rolled spiral form such as, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,352,617. Instant noodles, however, present completely different problems from preparing dough into a cinnamon bun shape or into rolls of bubble gum. This is so principally because the pasta first must be prepared and precooked to a certain degree, then spiral rolled, then packed into relatively flexible packaging and when cooked, it must be capable of unrolling to its original length without sticking together. Thus, simply rolling pasta into a spiral formation would not permit unrolling upon cooking. The noodles would stick together in a disc and not unroll.
Conventional instant noodles are manufactured by preparing a dough which is then formed into a strip by multistage rolls. The strip is steamed to partially cook it, gelatinize it and improve its elasticity. It is then cut in the longitudinal direction and subsequently chopped to the appropriate length, dried, and introduced into an appropriate package either alone or with other materials to constitute instant noodles or for example, instant soup. This method, however, leaves many sharp ends of noodles which can perforate the package.