Patent ID: 6258396
Filing Date: 2001-07-10
Classification: A21C,A23L,A23P

Abstract:
A method of manufacturing an expanded cereal with the overall shape of an array of touching balls comprising:providing a cooker-extruder comprising an elongated barrel with one or two processing screws within the elongated barrel with a mixture comprising between about 60 and 90 parts by weight of a starchy material, up to 15 parts by weight of sugar, up to 10 parts by weight of oil, and a sufficient amount of water so that the mixture has a water content of between about 15 and 25 percent by weight;cooking the mixture under positive pressure in the cooker-extruder to provide a thermoplastic substance;extruding the thermoplastic substance through at least one die comprising an array of parallel extrusion tubes each having an outlet orifice so that the thermoplastic substance expands when it exits the outlet orifices of the extrusion tubes to provide a bundle of strands of expanded thermoplastic substance that stick together; andcutting the bundle into slices as they exit from the outlet orifices of the extrusion tubes to provide an expanded cereal having an overall shape of an array of touching balls.