Method for preparing sheeted fried snack products from corn and other cereal flours

Claim 1

A method for making a sheeted expanded fired cereal-based snack product, comprising the steps of: preparing a dough consisting essentially of: (a) a low water-absorbing component comprising one or more raw or partially gelatinized cereal flours comprising from about 20% to about 80%, by weight, of the total solids contained in the dough; (b) a high water-absorbing component comprising one or more pregelatinized cereal starches or flours or dehydrated potatoes comprising from about 10% to about 35%, by weight, of the total solids in the dough; (c) a starch component comprising one or more extraneously added ungelatinized starches comprising from about 10% to about 45%, by weight, of the total solids; and (d) water mixed with the solids to form a dough in which the moisture content of the dough is from about 35% to about 50%, by weight, of the dough; sheeting the dough and cutting a dough piece from the dough; and frying the dough piece in hot cooking oil to form an expanded fried snack product, the dough pieces containing said amounts of the components (a), (b), and (c) and having said 35% to 50% moisture content at the time of frying, the dough piece at the time of frying also containing residual raw starch provided by said amounts of components (a) and (c), component (b) having a substantially greater ability td hold water than component (a) throughout the frying step up until the gelatinization temperature of said residual raw starch is reached, thereby retaining water present in the dough piece sufficiently to combine with said residual raw starch at said gelatinization temperature to cause the residual raw starch to gelatinize and form an expanded fried snack of substantially uniform porosity throughout its cross-section with an expansion from about 1.4 to about 2.5 times the original thickness of the sheeted and cut dough pieces.

Claim 2

A method for making a sheeted expanded fired cereal-based snack product, comprising the steps of: preparing a dough consisting essentially of: (a) a low water-absorbing component comprising one or more raw or partially gelatinized cereal flours comprising from about 20% to about 80%, by weight, of the total solids contained in the dough; (b) a high water-absorbing component comprising one or more pregelatinized cereal starches or flours or dehydrated potatoes comprising from about 10% to about 35%, by weight, of the total solids in the dough; (c) a starch component comprising one or more extraneously added ungelatinized starches comprising from about 10% to about 45%, by weight, of the total solids; and (d) water mixed with the solids to form a dough in which the moisture content of the dough is from about 35% to about 50%, by weight, of the dough; sheeting the dough and cutting a dough piece from the dough; and frying the dough piece in hot cooking oil to form an expanded fried snack product, the dough pieces containing said amounts of the components (a), (b), and (c) and having said 35% to 50% moisture content at the time of frying, the dough piece at the time of frying also containing residual raw starch provided by said amounts of components (a) and (c), component (b) having a substantially greater ability td hold water than component (a) throughout the frying step up until the gelatinization temperature of said residual raw starch is reached, thereby retaining water present in the dough piece sufficiently to combine with said residual raw starch at said gelatinization temperature to cause the residual raw starch to gelatinize and form an expanded fried snack of substantially uniform porosity throughout its cross-section with an expansion from about 1.4 to about 2.5 times the original thickness of the sheeted and cut dough pieces.

Claim 12

A method for making a sheeted expanded fried corn snack product comprising the steps of: preparing a dough consisting essentially of: (a) a low water-absorbing component comprising one or nore raw or partially gelatinized corn flours selected from the group consisting of whole corn flour and corn flour and comprising from about 20% to about 80%, by weight, of the total solids contained in the dough; (b) a high water-absorbing component comprising one or more pregelatinized cereal starches or flours or dehydrated potatoes comprising from about 10% to about 35%, by weight, of the total solids in the dough; (c) a starch component comprising one or more extraneously added ungelatinized starches comprising from about 10% to about 45%, by weight, of the total solids; and (d) water mixed with the solids to form a dough having a moisture content of about 35% to about 50% by weight of the dough; sheeting the dough and cutting a dough piece from the dough; and frying the dough piece in hot cooking oil to form an expanded fried snack product, the dough piece containing said amounts of the components (a), (b) and (c) and having said 35% to 50% moisture content at the time of frying, the dough piece at the time of frying also containing residual raw starch provided by said amounts of components (a) and (c), component (b) having a substantially greater ability to hold water than component (a) throughout the frying step up until the gelatinization temperature of said residual raw starch is reached, thereby retaining water present in the dough piece sufficiently to combine with said residual raw starch at said gelatinization temperature to cause the residual raw starch to gelatinize and form an expanded fried snack of substantially uniform porosity throughout its cross section with an expansion from about 1.4 to about 2.5 times the original thickness of the sheeted and cut dough piece.

Claim 13

A method for making a sheeted expanded fried corn snack product comprising the steps of: preparing a dough consisting essentially of: (a) a low water-absorbing component comprising one or nore raw or partially gelatinized corn flours selected from the group consisting of whole corn flour and corn flour and comprising from about 20% to about 80%, by weight, of the total solids contained in the dough; (b) a high water-absorbing component comprising one or more pregelatinized cereal starches or flours or dehydrated potatoes comprising from about 10% to about 35%, by weight, of the total solids in the dough; (c) a starch component comprising one or more extraneously added ungelatinized starches comprising from about 10% to about 45%, by weight, of the total solids; and (d) water mixed with the solids to form a dough having a moisture content of about 35% to about 50% by weight of the dough; sheeting the dough and cutting a dough piece from the dough; and frying the dough piece in hot cooking oil to form an expanded fried snack product, the dough piece containing said amounts of the components (a), (b) and (c) and having said 35% to 50% moisture content at the time of frying, the dough piece at the time of frying also containing residual raw starch provided by said amounts of components (a) and (c), component (b) having a substantially greater ability to hold water than component (a) throughout the frying step up until the gelatinization temperature of said residual raw starch is reached, thereby retaining water present in the dough piece sufficiently to combine with said residual raw starch at said gelatinization temperature to cause the residual raw starch to gelatinize and form an expanded fried snack of substantially uniform porosity throughout its cross section with an expansion from about 1.4 to about 2.5 times the original thickness of the sheeted and cut dough piece.

Claim 21

A method for making a sheeted expanded fried cereal-based snack product, comprising the steps of: preparing a dough from solids consisting essentially of: (a) a low water-abosrbing component comprising one or more raw or partially gelatinized cereal flours comprising from about 45% to about 70% of the solids contained in the dough; (b) a high water-absorbing component comprising one or more pregelatinized cereal starches or flours or dehydrated potatoes comprising from about 15% to about 25%, by weight, of the total solids in the dough; (c) a starch component comprising one or more extraneously added ungelatinized starches comprising from about 15% to about 30%, by weight, of the total solids in the dough; and (d) water mixed with the solids to form a dough in which the moisture content of the dough is from about 35% to about 50%, by weight, of the dough; roller forming the dough into sheet form and cutting a dough piece from the sheeted dough; and frying the dough piece in hot cooking oil to form an expanded fried snack product, the dough piece containing said amounts of the components (a), (b) and (c) and having said 35% to 50% moisture content at the time of frying, the dough piece at the time of frying also containing residual raw starch provided by said amounts of components (a) and (c), component (b) having a substantially greater ability to hold water than component (a) throughout the frying step up until the gelatinization temperature of said residual raw starch is reached, thereby retaining water present in the dough piece sufficiently to combine with said residual raw starch at said gelatinization temperature to cause the residual raw starch to gelatinize and form an expanded fried snack of substantially uniform porosity throughout its cross section with an expansion from about 1.4 to about 2.5 times the original thickness of the sheeted and cut dough piece.

Claim 22

A method for making a sheeted expanded fried cereal-based snack product, comprising the steps of: preparing a dough from solids consisting essentially of: (a) a low water-abosrbing component comprising one or more raw or partially gelatinized cereal flours comprising from about 45% to about 70% of the solids contained in the dough; (b) a high water-absorbing component comprising one or more pregelatinized cereal starches or flours or dehydrated potatoes comprising from about 15% to about 25%, by weight, of the total solids in the dough; (c) a starch component comprising one or more extraneously added ungelatinized starches comprising from about 15% to about 30%, by weight, of the total solids in the dough; and (d) water mixed with the solids to form a dough in which the moisture content of the dough is from about 35% to about 50%, by weight, of the dough; roller forming the dough into sheet form and cutting a dough piece from the sheeted dough; and frying the dough piece in hot cooking oil to form an expanded fried snack product, the dough piece containing said amounts of the components (a), (b) and (c) and having said 35% to 50% moisture content at the time of frying, the dough piece at the time of frying also containing residual raw starch provided by said amounts of components (a) and (c), component (b) having a substantially greater ability to hold water than component (a) throughout the frying step up until the gelatinization temperature of said residual raw starch is reached, thereby retaining water present in the dough piece sufficiently to combine with said residual raw starch at said gelatinization temperature to cause the residual raw starch to gelatinize and form an expanded fried snack of substantially uniform porosity throughout its cross section with an expansion from about 1.4 to about 2.5 times the original thickness of the sheeted and cut dough piece.

Claim 24

A method for making a sheeted expanded fried cereal-based snack product, comprising the steps of: preparing a dough from a solids consisting essentially of: (a) a low water-absorbing component comprising fine particulate whole grain cereal solids selected from the group consisting of corn, wheat, barley, oats, rye and soy, in which the starch contained in the low water-absorbing component is raw or partially gelatinized and comprises from about 20% to about 80%, by weight, of the total solids contained in the dough; (b) a high water-absorbing component comprising one or more pregelatinized cereal starches or flours or dehydrated potatoes comprising from about 10% to about 35%, by weight, of the total solids in the dough; (c) a starch component comprising one or more extraneously added ungelatinized starches comprising from about 10% to about 45%, by weight, of the total solids in the dough; and (d) water mixed with the solids to form a dough in which the moisture content of the dough is from about 35% to about 50%, by weight, of the dough; sheeting the dough to form a dough sheet while substantially avoiding gelatinization of residual raw starch contained in the dough piece during the sheeting step; cutting a dough piece from the sheeted dough; and frying the dough piece in hot cooking oil to form an expanded fried snack product, the dough piece containing said amounts of the components (a), (b) and (c) and having said 35% to 50% moisture content at the time of frying, the dough piece at the time of frying also containing residual raw starch provided by said amounts of components (a) and (c), component (b) having a substantially greater ability to hold water than component (a) throughout the frying step up until the gelatinization temperature of said residual raw starch is reached, thereby retaining water present in the dough piece sufficiently to combine with said residual raw starch at said gelatinization temperature to cause the residual raw starch to gelatinize and form an expanded fried snack of substantially uniform porosity throughout its cross-section with an expansion from about 1.4 to about 2.5 times the original thickness of the sheeted and cut dough piece.

Claim 25

A method for making a sheeted expanded fried cereal-based snack product, comprising the steps of: preparing a dough from a solids consisting essentially of: (a) a low water-absorbing component comprising fine particulate whole grain cereal solids selected from the group consisting of corn, wheat, barley, oats, rye and soy, in which the starch contained in the low water-absorbing component is raw or partially gelatinized and comprises from about 20% to about 80%, by weight, of the total solids contained in the dough; (b) a high water-absorbing component comprising one or more pregelatinized cereal starches or flours or dehydrated potatoes comprising from about 10% to about 35%, by weight, of the total solids in the dough; (c) a starch component comprising one or more extraneously added ungelatinized starches comprising from about 10% to about 45%, by weight, of the total solids in the dough; and (d) water mixed with the solids to form a dough in which the moisture content of the dough is from about 35% to about 50%, by weight, of the dough; sheeting the dough to form a dough sheet while substantially avoiding gelatinization of residual raw starch contained in the dough piece during the sheeting step; cutting a dough piece from the sheeted dough; and frying the dough piece in hot cooking oil to form an expanded fried snack product, the dough piece containing said amounts of the components (a), (b) and (c) and having said 35% to 50% moisture content at the time of frying, the dough piece at the time of frying also containing residual raw starch provided by said amounts of components (a) and (c), component (b) having a substantially greater ability to hold water than component (a) throughout the frying step up until the gelatinization temperature of said residual raw starch is reached, thereby retaining water present in the dough piece sufficiently to combine with said residual raw starch at said gelatinization temperature to cause the residual raw starch to gelatinize and form an expanded fried snack of substantially uniform porosity throughout its cross-section with an expansion from about 1.4 to about 2.5 times the original thickness of the sheeted and cut dough piece.