Patent ID: 8808783

Claim:
A method of making a snack piece, said method comprising the steps of: extruding a dough into a pellet; drying said pellet to an intermediate moisture content between about 5% and about 15% by weight to produce a half-product; selecting a rigid mold, the mold comprising a first mold portion and a second mold portion, the first mold portion having a cavity therein; charging the cavity with a plurality of said half-products; closing the rigid mold by sliding the first mold portion into the second mold portion, the second mold portion covering the cavity such that the half-product-charged cavity is completely surrounded by walls of the rigid closed mold, the surrounding walls defining a target shape; and producing said snack piece in a substantially target shape by restrictively expanding said half-products against the surrounding walls of said closed rigid mold such that at least 40%, but less than 95%, of the surface area of each wall of the closed mold abuts an outer surface of at least one of said expanded half-products in said closed mold, and by adhesion of half-products to each other in the closed mold.