Patent ID: 7275927

Claim:
A cooling die, for use in the manufacture of extruded food products, said cooling die comprising: a plurality of wedges forming a main body portion of the cooling die between die inlet and outlet ends and arranged about an axis of the die in neighboring relationship; a plurality of extrudate flow channels extending through the cooling die from the inlet end to the outlet end, defined by gaps between neighboring ones of said wedges; at least one bore in each said wedge through which coolant may flow; an enclosing structure adapted to secure the wedges against radial movement relative to the die axis; means for connecting the cooling die to an outlet of a food extruder, a cooling fluid source and a cooling fluid receptacle; and extrudate flow distribution means, located adjacent the inlet end, adapted to direct extrudate from the outlet of the food extruder into selected ones of said extrudate flow channels.