Three Encrusted Product Shapes: Balls, Bars, and Continuous Cylinders

One Machine, Three Basic Shapes

In its introduction to the CORNUCOPIA KN551, RHEON's U.S. website divides an encrusting machine's forming capabilities into three categories: spherical encrusting, bar shape encrusting, and continuous cylinder extrusion. RHEON's Japanese website describes the KASEIJIN (火星人) CN700 as capable of "ball forming, tawara forming, and bar forming." All these shapes use the same co-extrusion and shutter; the difference lies in how they are cut.

Balls: The Most Common Encrusted Products

Steamed buns, daifuku, mooncake blanks, croquettes, tangyuan, and meatballs are all ball-shaped. The shutter closes after a short length of rope has been extruded, and the conveyor below supports the bottom, so what comes out is a round ball; for the principle, see Shutter Cutting and Sealing. Ball-shaped products are often flattened or stamped afterward into flat cakes; see Secondary Forming.

Tawara and Bar Shapes: Lengthening the Shutter Interval

"Tawara" is the Japanese word for the shape of a rice bale: a short cylinder with rounded ends and a slightly elongated middle, like a short rolled rice ball. Bar shapes are longer, like filled bars or filled stick cookies.

The method is to lengthen the interval between each shutter closing. At the same extrusion speed, the longer the interval, the longer each section. RHEON's specifications describe this as "length change: encrusting cut interval time," which is 1–99 seconds on the CN700 and 0.5–99.9 seconds on the CN601. The conveyor speed must also be matched, or the rope will pile up on the belt or be pulled apart.

Continuous Cylinders: No Cutting, Leave It to Downstream Equipment

Some products first need a long filled cylinder extruded, which is then cut downstream. Common examples:

• Filled cookies and fig bars: continuously extruded, then cut into sections with a wire or knife.
• Icebox cookies: RHEON's ultrasonic cutter is advertised as slicing extruded dough logs directly without freezing them first.
• Rolled products: extruded, then flattened, rolled up, or twisted.

What Parts Need to Be Changed Between Balls and Bars?

Each manufacturer's design differs, but there are roughly three levels:

1. Settings only: Changing a ball to a tawara or bar shape of similar size usually only requires adjusting the shutter interval, extrusion volume, and conveyor speed. Machines with recipe memory can recall them directly.
2. Change the nozzle: If the product diameter differs greatly, or you want a special cross-section (square, flower, two-color), the matching nozzle is required.
3. Add peripherals: To slice a continuous cylinder, you need a wire cutter, ultrasonic cutter, or guillotine; to press half-moon shapes, you need a stamping die.

Before any changeover, always stop the machine, cut the power, and wait until all moving parts have completely stopped before removing or installing anything, and clean the contact surfaces.

Can It Make Two-Color or Three-Color Products?

Yes, and there is more than one way:

• Two-color dough: The list of foods the RHEON CN700 can make includes "two-color yam manju (薯蕷饅頭)," made with a nozzle that extrudes two doughs side by side.
• Patterned cross-sections: The multi-row Multi Confectioner can be fitted with a "mosaic nozzle" plus a wire cutter to make cookies with patterns in the cross-section, and there is also a "twist nozzle" that winds two strands of dough around each other.
• Three layers (dough + two fillings): Add a triple-encrusting unit to feed a third material from outside, for example dough wrapping red bean paste with cream inside the filling; see Triple Encrusting.

Products that Dong-Yih Machinery's DY-201 Automatic Steamed Bun and Mantou Machine can make include two-color mantou, scallion rolls, silver thread rolls (銀絲捲), and silver thread flower rolls, while the DY-528M Dividing Machine can divide cookie dough bars in a variety of shapes. If you want to make a particular shape, call us at 06-257-4644.

FAQ

Q: Can an encrusting machine make long bar shapes?
A: Yes. Lengthening the interval between shutter closings produces tawara and bar shapes; skipping the cut entirely produces a continuous cylinder, which is then cut into sections downstream.

Q: Do I need to change parts to switch from balls to bars?
A: For similar sizes, usually only the settings change. If the diameter or cross-section differs greatly, the nozzle must be changed, and slicing or stamping requires additional peripheral equipment.

Q: Can it make two-color or three-color products?
A: Two-color products can use a special nozzle that extrudes the dough side by side; three-layer products add a triple-encrusting unit that feeds in a third material from outside.

Q: What should I do if bar products come out in uneven lengths?
A: First confirm the extrusion is stable, then check whether the shutter interval and conveyor speed are matched. Changes in ingredient firmness can also throw the length off.