System for peeling fruits or vegetables wherein the peel is loosened by a double treatment with lye, each treatment being followed by a holding period. After the second holding period, the peel is removed directly, that is, without any application of radiant or other heat.

Following the usual caustic dipping of whole, unpeeled, raw potatoes, for loosening the skins, and subsequent treatment thereof by exposure to hot air and by abrasive scrubbing for removal of the loosened skins, the so-peeled potatoes, still containing most of the eyes and any defects that might exist, are subjected to further treatment for a period of time by exposure to steam which activates residual caustic in such eyes and defects and loosens the same. The potatoes are thereafter washed to r...

A method and system of processing citrus fruit is shown. A peeling chamber has opposing ends and a fruit inlet and fruit outlet formed at respective opposing ends. Abrasive rollers are rotatably mounted in an arcuate configuration within the peeling chamber at an area forming a lower portion of the peeling chamber. Citrus fruit is fed into the peeling chamber through the fruit inlet to the fruit outlet. The citrus fruit engages the rotating abrasive rollers with a residence time within the peeli...

A method of and an apparatus for manufacturing no-bran cereal such as no-bran rice which require no washing before cooking. With the method and the apparatus, bran stuck on a surface of a grain of the polished cereal is easily removed without imparting any damage on the surface, and further moisture in the grain is maintained to increase taste of the cereal. Moisture is added to the polished cereal and granular material is mixed and stirred with the moistened polished cereal to polish a surface ...

Milling quality soft and hard wheat is milled by first removing outer bran layers and germ, amounting to approximately 6% of the weight of the wheat in a vertical pearler. The pearled wheat is then milled in a conventional roller mill to produce flour and farina. Unexpectedly high yields have been observed, and the process yields a milled product which is unusually low in pericarp cell wall fragments for a given ash content and high in aleurone content. An unusually high proportion of the total ...

Milling quality wheat is milled by first removing germ and outer bran layers amounting to approximately 8-10 % of the weight of the wheat in a pearling process. The pearled wheat is then milled in a conventional roller mill to produce flour or semolina. Unexpectedly high yields have been observed, and the process yields a milled product which is unusually high in aleurone cell wall fragments for a given ash content.

An improved method and apparatus for the cracking of walnuts (30) is provided, and particularly Eastern black walnuts, wherein the surfaces of the shells (32) of the walnuts (30) are first altered to present compression zone(s) (132, 134), and the walnuts (30) are then cracked by subjecting the shells (32) thereof to opposed compressive forces serving to crack the shells (32) while leaving nut meat kernels intact. Preferably, the walnut shells (32) are sanded adjacent the opposed upper and lower...

A continuous process for separating components of flaxseed is described. Flaxseed is dried to a moisture content of from about 0.5% to about 3.0%, after which is introduced into a separation chamber having an abrasive rotator therein. As the flaxseed passes over the abrasive rotator, contact with rotator separates the flaxseed components into hulls and kernels. Hulls and kernels are separated and may be used in this form or processed further. Hulls may be further processed by extraction with wat...

An improved brassiere is provided having two breast receiving cups, the lower adjacent corners of which overlap in securing the bottom edges of the cups to a bottom edge casing of the bra. The adjacent side edges of the cups cross one over the other forming a surplice neckline. Attached to the side edge of one cup at approximately the point where the cup side edges cross and to the bottom edge casing of the bra is a strip of material, which overlaps the side edge and bottom corner of the other c...

Provided are a method and an apparatus for humidifying rice grains. Rice grains immediately after polishing and, hence, still maintained at an elevated temperature are supplied with water. The rice grains are further humidified under application of a pressure. This two-staged humidification remarkably shortens the time required for the humidification of rice grains after polishing.