Abstract: The invention relates generally to a method permitting the production from a mass of product in the liquid or pasty state, of balls or granules of small sizes. More precisely this method consists of injecting this product under pressure into a refrigerant liquid which is under the physical conditions of passage to the gaseous state, this injection having the effect of atomizing the said product into the refrigerant liquid and forming therefrom deep-frozen balls or granules, the dimensions of which are a function of the difference in temperature between the injected product and the refrigerant liquid, and also of the injection pressure of this product. The invention has also for its object the apparatus for carrying the said method into effect and the alternative forms of such apparatus. The invention is also directed to the balls or granules thus obtained and it finds especially advantageous applications in the food preparation industries.