Multiple screw pasta manufacturing process

A method for preparing dense, homogeneous precooked pasta products which may be rapidly rehydrated in water comprising the steps of continuously combining pasta dough components comprising water and a dry cereal flour in a flighted, intermeshing, corotating twin screw compression zone to provide a pasta cereal dough mixture having a water content in the range of from about 25 to about 50 percent by weight of the total mixture;

• conveying and forcing the pasta dough components through a first enclosed intermeshing, coratating twin screw pumping zone of increasing pressure and temperature, forcing said pasta components which have passed through said first zone back toward said first zone under conditions of intense mixing and shear to provide a first backmixing zone having a local pressure maximum, continuously withdrawing a uniformly mixed pasta dough from said first backmixing zone, conveying and forcing the uniformly mixed pasta dough which has passed through the first backmixing zone at elevated gelatinization temperature through a second enclosed intermeshing, corotating twin screw pumping zone of increasing pressure, forcing pasta dough components which have passed through said second pumping zone under conditions of intense mixing and shear to provide a second backmixing zone having local pressure maximum, whereby said cereal dough mixture is rapidly heated above the atmospheric gelatinization temperatures of starches in the cereal composition maintaining the cereal dough at an elevated temperature of 235.degree. F. to about 350.degree. F. under pressure within said first and second enclosed pumping zones while for a sufficient period of time in the range of from about 15 to about 100 seconds to fully gelatinize the starch component of the pasta composition;
• conveying and forcing a fully gelatinized pasta dough from the second backmixing zone into a flighted, intermeshing corotating twin screw compression zone of increasing pressure and decreasing temperature wherein the fully gelatinized dough is cooled to a temperature in the range of from about 130? F. to below the boiling temperature of water to provide a pressurized, conditioned pasta extrusion dough, and
• extruding the cooled, conditioned, fully gelatinized pasta extrusion dough at a pressure in the range of from about 400 psig to about 1000 psig through a die to form a dense, homogeneous fully gelatinized pasta product having an extruded pasta shape and continuously drying the shaped fully gelatinized pasta product at a temperature of at least about 130.degree. F. to provide a dried, precooked pasta product which readily rehydrates in hot water.