An elongate potato product simulating a French fry and provided with a plurality of serrated, longitudinal ridges alternating with longitudinal valleys, is formed by extrusion of a potato mix through a suitable die. The serrations of the ridges provide a multiplicity of individual projections more or less resembling spicules, which are completely exposed to hot fat during initial frying of the product prior to freezing and to applied heat during reconstitution of the frozen product. This results...

The present invention relates to an apparatus for sorting elongate produce comprising a drum constituted by longitudinal grids, stationary and movable bars of which are mounted transversally to the longitudinal axis of the drum, the movable bars of each grid being kept in a fixed position one with respect to the other at constant and identical distances through a frame which is able to be moved relative to the stationary bars in a direction parallel to the longitudinal axis of the drum.

French fry strips and a related preparation process are provided, wherein the strips are produced from a corn based dough. The corn based dough comprises a matrix of corn meal and corn flour of different particle or granule sizes, admixed with water and optional flavoring and seasoning constituents to form a relatively thick dough having a texture suitable for extruding and cutting to form elongated strips having a size and shape conforming generally to conventional potato-based French fries. Th...

An uncooked strip of extruded potato mix having an elongated body and a polygonal cross section defined by concave sides of predetermined radius of curvature substantially equal to the mean of the longest and shortest dimension of the cross section of the strip meeting at rounded corners, said rounded corners having a predetermined radius of curvature which is substantially equal to about one-eleventh of the radius of said concave sides, the concave sides being deformable by cooking to acquire a...

A process for preparing frozen french fried potatoes which when finish fried closely resemble french fried potatoes prepared directly from fresh potatoes, in which potatoes are peeled, trimmed, cut into french fry sized strips, washed, dehydrated without prior blanching to remove a substantial amount of moisture, blanched in steam, partially fried, and then frozen.

Raw, unblanched potato strips suitable for French frying are heated principally by circulation of hot air to dry their surfaces, and simultaneously to cook the strips partially and to dehydrate the strips partially. The strips are then frozen and stored in frozen condition until they are to be finally deep fat fried ready for consumption.

A process for preparing french fried potatoes for freezing and subsequent finish frying to resemble closely french fried potatoes prepared directly from fresh potatoes, in which after completion of the preliminary potato treatment steps of peeling, trimming, cutting into french fry size strips, and washing, the strips are then treated with hot oil for a brief period, and that step is repeated following at least one treatment of the potato strips to a hot, (300.degree. to 400.degree. F.) high vel...

A frozen french fried potato product for heating in a toaster or oven, is provided. The product is made from a cohesive dough which is prepared by admixing cooked potatoes with additives comprising water, a binding agent, cellulose, and dehydrated potato flakes or granules. The dough is extruded into said product which is fried in cooking oil and frozen.

The present invention provides a process for quickly oven finishing (baking) oil-enrobed prebake fries in as litle as 0.75 minute at a temperature of from about 325.degree. F. (162.degree. C.) to about 800.degree. F. (426.degree. C.) to provide oven-finished French fries that have virtually the same taste and characteristics as deep fat fried finished French fries. The oven-finished shoestring French fries of this invention are characterized as having: a bulk moisture of from about 32% to about ...

A marking gauge for measuring and marking desired distances on French mats. The gauge has a sheet shaped as an isosceles right triangle for alignment with a corner of a cutout area. An elongated rectangular member is secured to and overlies the sheet, having a short edge coinciding with the base of the triangle from the midpoint thereof to one 45.degree. vertex thereof and a first long side leading from the midpoint of the base through the 90.degree. vertex, bisecting it. A second long side is p...