Apparatus of machining doughy material

A method and apparatus for machining dough that takes into account the different flow regimes exhibited by the dough during processing. As in conventional systems, the apparatus includes a hopper for extruding dough in a sheet and pairs of powered rollers for sizing the sheet. A computer controls the system. Mass flow rate is made constant throughout the system by establishing a master flow rate based upon predetermined criteria related to the product being produced, and the computer monitors the weight of the extruded sheet to maintain a constant input to the powered rollers. The flow rate is varied to remain constant by comparing the input to output, as measured by the sheet thickness at the cutter station. The gage rollers are controlled by setting a nominal roller speed, trimmed according to the tension present in the sheet upstream of the gage roll, as reflected in the position of a loop in the dough sheet between the gage roll and the pair of rolls immediately upstream of same.