Penne Processing Plant & Machinery Solutions

Bagged or bulk semolina is tipped, screened and passed over magnets before it reaches the dough system. Removing foreign matter and lumps at intake protects the extruder dies further down the line.

Semolina and water are dosed to a set recipe and worked into a stiff, crumbly dough. Penne needs a firm dough so the tube walls hold their shape after the die.

The dough is forced through a die that forms the hollow tube, and a rotating cutter slices the extrudate at an angle to make the characteristic pointed ends. The angled ends are produced by a knife cutting across the extrudate at the die face.

Freshly cut penne is dried in stages so moisture leaves the thick tube wall evenly, then cooled before it is handled. Uneven drying is what causes cracking and breakage in short-cut pasta.

Dried penne is weighed into retail packs, sealed, coded and checked for metal and pack weight before dispatch.