Abstract: With the process for producing potato based expandable pellets, an intermediary product is manufactured that is capable of being stored for up to about six months. These pellets can be later expanded into a food product, particularly a potato based snack product that has improved flavor qualities and increased oil pick up. To form the pellets, a potato meal is passed through a twin screw extruder at a relatively low extruder rotational speed, which increases the residence time and the volume of bed pack in the extruder while decreasing shear. The extrudate produced is then split into ribbons that are subsequently perforated. These ribbons are then formed into shaped pellets.

Abstract: In the process of producing corn-based pellets, preconditioner steam and water addition, as well as extruder water or screw configuration and RPM, can be manipulated to precisely control the cook level, gelatinization, and moisture level of the meal during processing, and level of defects despite minor variation in the characteristics of the corn flour. Specifically, the preconditioner added steam-to-water ratio can be manipulated to effect cook, hydration, and partial gelatinization of the meal. In the extruder, lower extruder rotational speeds increase the residence time and increases cook. With the increase in residence time the volume of bed pack in the extruder increases. This can be reversed by adding water directly into the extruder, thereby decreasing the viscosity of the meal in the extruder. Product bulk density is changed by increasing and decreasing cook of the meal.