An improved, non-fried expanded snack product is provided which is fabricated by extruding ingredients comprising a pasta flour followed by subjecting the extrudate to a two-step drying process. The extrusion process preferably makes use of a twin screw extruder and a slow screw rotation rate. Prior to each drying step, the product is agitated in air in order to reduce clumping of the wet material. The air agitation of the product should be carried out at temperatures which are less than the temperatures utilized in each of the drying steps, and preferably at ambient temperatures. The drying steps are preferably carried out in two separate drying apparatuses, and the air agitation comprises air conveying the product to each of the drying steps. A preferred air conveying device is a conventional cyclone separator.

A method for making dehydrated, shelf-stable, puffed, rapidly-rehydratable, vegetable or fruit food pieces by puffing and drying moist food pieces (e.g. potato shreds) by conveying them in a bed through an impingement drying zone maintained at substantially atmospheric pressure in which streams of pressurized heated gas in a plurality of spaced fluid conduits exit from the conduits in spaced impinging streams at a velocity in excess of about 1,000 feet per minute are directed against the moist food pieces to cause the pieces to be suspended in a fluidized bed. In one case, the heated gas causes the moisture content of the moist food pieces to be reduced rapidly to puff them into porous pieces which exit the impingement drying zone having a moisture content of at least about 4% with a texture and appearance suitable for use as a rehydratable food piece.

A method of preparing potato strips includes cutting potatoes into strips, blanching the strips, dipping the strips in an aqueous solution containing salt, color additives, SAPP or other additives, and drying the strips. The dry strips are parfried, partially deoiled, washed in water, cooled, exposed to superheated steam, dried in an impingement oven, cooled and frozen. The strips, before parfrying, may be coated with a batter. The frozen strips may be reconstituted by heating in an oven. In alternative methods, frozen strips are prepared with no or virtually no fat content.

A process and apparatus for a method for reducing the amount of acrylamide in thermally processed foods. This invention permits the production of foods having significantly reduced levels of acrylamide. The method relies on the manipulation of various unit operations used in the production of food products, particularly the washing and cooking unit operations. For example, the washing unit operation can be modified to provide a contacting step at an increased time and temperature, and adding components such as calcium chloride and L-cysteine to an aqueous solution used for the contacting. The cooking unit operation can be modified by dividing it into at least a higher-temperature first heating step and a lower-temperature second heating step in order to avoid the high-temperature/low-moisture conditions most favorable for acrylamide formation.