Disclosed is a process, and the product thereof, for producing swollen foods, e.g. croutons, having a softer mouth feel than might be expected from those obtained by a conventional process, which process comprises heating and pressurizing through an extruder a powder comprising fine particles of porous structure, e.g. eggshell or bone powder, and a food material predominantly comprising a starchy material and/or a protein and thereafter releasing and causing the same to swell.
The present invention relates to a cooked, extruded, and expanded savory cereal having a porous texture, specific weight of from 100 to 500 grams/liter, gelatinization degree of more than 25%, and residual water content of from 1 to 5%. The present invention also relates to a process for manufacturing a savory cereal using a multi-zoned extruder heated at various barrel heating temperatures to effect the cooking, extrusion, and expansion of the cereal product. The savory cereal may be used alone or as a component of a food preparation, mixture, or product such as an omelet or scrambled eggs.
A process of making a dried, cooked, extrudate cereal and vegetable composition of, in admixture, by weight dry matter, from 2% to 90% vegetable matter, from 8% to 96% gelatinized cereal matter and from 2% to 15% fat and having an apparent density of from 100 g/l to 500 g/l. The composition is prepared by cooking a mixture of, by weight, from 9 to 110 parts cereal, from 7 to 300 parts vegetable puree, from 2 to 15 parts fat and which has a water content of between more than 23% and less than 70% in an extruder and prior to extrusion of the cooked product from the extruder, allowing steam to escape from the mixture and extruder so that an extrudate product extruded from the extruder has a water content of from 15% to 23%, and then, the extrudate product is cut and dried.
