Apparatus to wash and hydrate rice for production of flour and starch

A method for washing and hydrating a food product, the method comprising:

• adding food product to a wash chamber of a vessel;
• introducing a flow of fluidized water to the wash chamber of the vessel in a countercurrent flow as the food product moves towards a hydration chamber of the vessel;
• introducing a treated water to the food product in the hydration chamber as the food product moves in a mass flow manner through the hydration chamber;
• and
• metering a flow of the food product out an outlet of the vessel;
• wherein the method further comprises recycling the fluidized water from the wash chamber by passing the fluidized water through an outlet in the wash chamber, said outlet including a screen.

A vessel, comprising:

• a generally vertical chamber having a cylindrical wash section at least partially above a hydration section;
• wherein the wash section comprises an inlet for receiving a food product and an inlet for introducing a fluidized liquid into the wash section to create a turbulent flow therein;
• wherein the hydration section is adjacent to the wash section and comprises a generally frustoconical shape having a larger diameter at an upper portion adjacent the wash section for receiving the washed food product, a smaller diameter opposite the wash section at an outlet of the hydration section, and a treated liquid inlet for introducing a treated liquid into the hydration section;
• and
• wherein the walls of the generally frustoconical hydration section of the vessel are angled so that the grain food product moves through the hydration section in a continuous, mass-flow manner.