Snacks
The crispy puffed snacks intended for direct consumption are the most well-known extruded products. Everybody is familiar with products such as "cheese balls", "peanut flips", "onion rings". These shapes are cut directly at the die of the extruder.
In addition to corn, the most common raw material for direct extrusion, snacks can also be made from other interesting and tasty raw materials such as potatoes, wheat or rice. Pulses and beans can also be used to adapt the taste to local preferences. Supplementary fibre-rich raw material additives offer a wide range of possibilities with regard to nutritional aspects.
Basic equipment
This equipment can be used to manufacture the products listed below.
Breadchips
Breadchips are not cut directly at the extruder die like many other shapes. After a short cooling and solidification phase, the extruded strand is fed into a specially developed cutting machine, that cuts the strand into slices of about 6 to 9 mm thicknes. When the already solidified material is cut, open pores are created, which give the extrudates an innovative, attractive look and texture that is reminiscent of the appearance of sliced bread.
To increase the visual appeal of the product, the surface of the strand can optionally be colored using a specially developed colour spraying system.
Breadchips are attractively flavored as a snack or served as an accompaniment to a dip. They are also suitable as a side dish in a soup or a salad.
Machines necessary
In addition to the basic equipment, the following machines are required:
Sticks/Stripes
Most directly expanded products are cut by one or more rotating knives directly on the die as soon as they exit the die opening.
Rod-shaped, straight products or flat extrudate strips are attractive, but cannot be achieved by cutting directly at the die.
The expanded strands of dough coming out of the extruder are pulled off the die by means of special rollers. After leaving the die, part of the water contained evaporates, the dough cools and hardens. A rotating knife cuts the endless strands into pieces. After that the products are pneumatically conveyed into the dryer.
Machines necessary
In addition to the basic equipment, the following machines are required:
Flatbread- / wavychips
A variant of the sticks described above are cut or embossed strips, flat or with a wavy profile, in which the product strands are extruded and, after sufficient solidification of the texture, cut or embossed into pieces. These extrudates can be further processed into chip-like products with appropriate formulations.
Machines necessary
In addition to the basic equipment, the following machines are required:
Spirals
The further development of the 3D cutting process patented by Schaaf enables the production of spiral extrudate strands in a wide range of textures using a variety of raw materials as the basis for miscellaneous spicy snacks.
An expanding endless strand emerging from the extruder is partially cut in a defined manner by one or more knife blades. This cut must be precisely coordinated in terms of time and space and is the prerequisite for spiral shaping. After the partial cut, the extrudate strand is fed onto a belt before the endless strand is cut to length in a cutting machine and pneumatically fed to the drying process.
Machines necessary
In addition to the basic equipment, the following machines are required:
Thinwall chips
Thin-walled chips are characterized by their crispy, splintery texture. Strands with wall thicknesses of less than 3 mm are obtained by a dedicated stretching process and then further processed in a suitable forming machine into short rings or as flat strands into chip-like products. The thin-walled extruded strands are then brought to the desired final moisture content in a dryer or deep fryer and then flavoured.
Machines necessary
In addition to the basic equipment, the following machines are required:
- Cutting machine - sticks
- Embossing machine
- Slitting machine
- Hot air injection
Liquid direct injection snacks
The two-coloured products are an innovative product category developed by Schaaf based on TURBO technology. Food coloring can be selectively injected into certain sections of the dough to create interesting patterns. E.g. it is possible to produce a disc with a specific colored central area or a special colored border area. Color is injected into specially designed TURBO extrusion process sections to obtain attractive shapes. In addition to the unique TURBO process parts, a particular pump is required, which enables the food coloring to be injected into the high-pressure zone of the extruder, as well as a suitable die for shaping.
Machines necessary
In addition to the basic equipment, the following machines are required: