AboutJ. Peter Clark Expertise How various processed foods are made; ways to improve manufacturing; how to make a new food product.
Experience Employment history: Research Engineer, U.S.Agricultural Research Service, Associate Professor Chemical Engineering, Virginia Tech, Director of Research, Continental Baking Company, President, Epstein Process Engineering, Inc., Vice Presdent Technology, Fluor Daniel, Inc., Consultant to the Process Industries
Organizations: American Institute of Chemical Engineers (Fellow) Institute of Food Technologists, American Association of Cereal Chemists, American Association of Candy Technologists, American Society of Agricultural Engineers,
Publications: Several Encyclopedias (Kirk and Othmer, Chemical Technology; Food Science, Food Technology and Nutrition; Wiley Encyclopedia of Food Science and Technology; Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems); five books, two book chapters; numerous journals.
Education: BSChE Notre Dame PhD University of California, Berkeley
Awards: AIChE Food, Pharmaceutical and Bioengineering Division Award 1998
Clients: Major food processing and pharamaceutical companies.
Question Hi, I am writing from Chile and my question involves production of small batches of houmous (10-50Kg). I want to know which equipments are most suitable to start production and the production sequence as well. We want to start with basic formulaes and then build on from there, thanks
Answer Hummus, as it often is spelled, is a paste of chickpeas (garbanzo beans), sesame seed paste (tahini), garlic, some added oil (sesame or olive), and flavorings - red peppers,lemon juice, salt, black pepper with, perhaps, some water. You need a kettle in which water can be boiled to cook the chickpeas. these are common and have a jacket for heating or cooling. You need a source of steam - a small boiler or a pressurized hot water heater. After the chickpeas are soft, you drain off the water through a screen to retain the chickpeas. (You could save and reuse the water if you want.)You could make the paste in the same kettle if you had a strong agitator. One such machine is the Likwifier, made by Breddo in Kansas City, MO, USA. This has an agitator entering from the bottom. You would run it at low speed, or use a low shear agitator during the cooking. to make the paste, you add the other ingredients and run the high shear agitator. You could drain off the paste by hand or use a pump such as a Waukesha double lobe. You can probably buy tahini or you might make it from sesame seeds again using the high shear agitator. (That might need to be tested.)I think sesame seeds are roasted before grinding. another piece of equipment that could do most of the jobs is made by Stephan - it is a vessel with heating, cooling, vacuum, and high shear agitation. Still another option is a vertical cutter mixer (VCM) made by several companies, including Hobart. Theirs holds 40 quarts - about 40 kg. with a VCM, you need to cook in another unit.
You will develop your own recipe on a small scale to suit your market taste. Here is a recipe from "Recipes for a Small Planet" by Ellen Buchman Ewald. (Ballantine Books 1973)
2/3 cup dry garbanzo beans, cooked very tender
1 large onion minced and sauteed in sesame oil with 1 - 2 cloves garlic, crushed or minced
juice of two lemons
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup tahini
1/2 cup whole sesame seeds roasted and ground
Puree the garbanzo beans with a small amount of their cooking water. Puree 1/2 cup with the onions and garlic. Add other ingredients and combine. Chill.
You need to experiment with this starting point, weighing every ingredient and converting to weight per cent, so you can translate to larger quantities. It is common for cooking recipes to use volumetric measures, but you need weights for manufacturing.
For roasting, if you need to do that, you can use an oven.
You also need to think about packaging. The product should be refrigerated, I think, but you can test to see how long it lasts at room temperature before spoiling. It should not make people sick, but it might grow mold.
