Apparatus for cooking dough products

An apparatus for cooking dough products, comprising:

• a vessel adapted for holding water as a cooking medium, having an inlet end and an outlet end;
• heating means for heating the water in the vessel;
• shower means for showering heated water on the dough products being carried through the vessel, the shower means being spaced above said vessel;
• connecting means for connecting said shower means to a source of heated water;
• conveyor means having an exposed upper surface for carrying the dough products through the vessel, said conveyor means having opposed end portions of preselected height extending beyond the inlet end and outlet end of the vessel and said conveyor means further having a depressed medial portion at least partly disposed within said vessel;
• level control means for maintaining the level of heated water in said vessel above the exposed upper surface of said conveyor means so that the upper portions of the dough products are exposed to water from the shower means and at least the lower portions of said dough products being submerged in the heated water in said vessel so as to be cooked thereby;
• said shower means including a perforated pan having a depressed medial portion which is located generally at the height of the inlet and outlet ends of the vessel, said shower means located immediately above said conveyor means and conforming to the conveyor means with the depressed medial portion of said shower means being generally coextensive with the depressed medial portion of said conveyor means, so as to shower dough portions carried on the depressed medial portion of said conveyor means with heated water to thereby cook upper portions of the dough products;
• and
• means for creating currents in the water contained in the depressed medial portion of the pan for maintaining the heated water at a substantially uniform temperature.