Production of whole grain shredded products
View Patent ↗Shredded whole grain products, such as ready-to-eat cereals, and sweet and savory snacks, such as whole grain shredded corn chips are continuously produced by pelletizing agglomerates of cooked, tempered, whole cereal grain particles. Cooked whole grains, such as corn and other non-gluten or low-gluten containing grains have a tendency to become hard and rubbery after cooking during the cooling and tempering process. The pelletization results in the production of whole grain pellets having a soft, pliable texture, which are shreddable into continuous net-like sheets on a mass production basis. The pelletizing may be at a pressure of about 200 psig to about 600 psig, preferably from about 400 psig to about 500 psig. The pelletizing temperature may be controlled to provide a pellet temperature of about 80° F. to about 135° F., preferably from about 90° F. to about 110° F., upon exiting the pelletizer.
1. A method for producing a whole grain shredded food product prepared from non-glutenous or low gluten whole grains, the method comprising:
a. admixing non-glutenous or low gluten whole cereal grain particles selected from whole grain corn, oats, barley, rye, rice, triticale, and mixtures thereof with water and pressure cooking the non-glutenous or low gluten whole grain particles to at least substantially gelatinize starch of the non-glutenous or low gluten whole grain particles,
b. tempering the cooked, whole grain particles,
c. pelletizing the tempered, cooked, non-glutenous or low gluten whole grain particles in a screw extruder pelletizer to obtain whole grain pellets, the pelletizing being under pressure and temperature conditions to provide continuous shreddability of the whole grain pellets into continuous netted sheets,
d. shredding the whole grain pellets into whole grain netted sheets,
e. laminating the whole grain netted sheets to obtain a whole grain laminate
f. cutting the whole grain laminate into whole grain pieces, and
g. baking the whole grain pieces to obtain a whole grain shredded food product.
2. A method for producing a whole grain shredded food product as claimed in claim 1 wherein the whole cereal grain particles are whole corn grain particles.
3. A method for producing a whole grain shredded food product as claimed in claim 2 wherein the pelletizing reduces retrogradation of the starch of the tempered whole grain particles to increase their shreddability.
4. A method for producing a whole grain shredded food product as claimed in claim 2 wherein the whole corn particles are cooked with lime and the moisture content of the cooked whole corn grain particles is from about 29% by weight to about 42% by weight, based upon the weight of the cooked whole corn grain particles.
5. A method for producing a whole grain shredded food product as claimed in claim 2 wherein the pelletizing is at a pressure of about 200 psig to about 600 psig.
6. A method for producing a whole grain shredded food product as claimed in claim 2 wherein the pelletizing temperature is controlled to provide a pellet temperature of from about 80° F. to about 135° F. upon exiting the pelletizer.
7. A method for producing a whole grain shredded food product as claimed in claim 2 wherein the pelletizing is at a pressure of from about 400 psig to about 500 psig, and the pelletizing temperature is controlled to provide a pellet temperature of from about 90° F. to about 110° F. upon exiting the pelletizer.
8. A method for producing a whole grain shredded food product as claimed in claim 2 wherein the pellets have a length of about ⅛ inch to about ¼ inch and a diameter of about 3/16 inch to about 5/16 inch and are produced by extrusion through a pelletizer die having a plurality of apertures.
9. A method for producing a whole grain shredded food product as claimed in claim 8 wherein said extrusion die has an open area of about 25% to about 45%.
10. A method for producing a whole grain shredded food product as claimed in claim 2 wherein said whole corn grain particles are obtained by comminuting whole corn grains or kernels to a particle size of about 0.09 inch to about 0.165 inch.
11. A method for producing a whole grain shredded food product as claimed in claim 2 wherein said cooking is conducted at a temperature of at least about 250° F.
12. A method for producing a whole grain shredded food product as claimed in claim 2 wherein said cooking is conducted at a pressure of about 15 psig to about 30 psig.
13. A method for producing a whole grain shredded food product as claimed in claim 2 wherein said tempering is for about 0.5 hour to about 5 hours at a temperature of less than about 135° F.
14. A method for producing a whole grain shredded food product as claimed in claim 2 wherein said whole grain laminate is compressed to a thickness of about 0.05 inch to about 0.08 inch and the compressed whole grain laminate is cut into pieces.
15. A method for producing a whole grain shredded food product as claimed in claim 1 wherein whole soy seeds or comminuted whole soy seeds are admixed with said whole grain particles.
16. A method for producing a whole grain shredded corn snack having a crisp, chip-like texture comprising:
a. comminuting raw whole corn kernels or grains,
b. admixing the comminuted raw whole grain corn with water, and pressure cooking the comminuted whole grain corn to at least substantially gelatinize starch of the whole grain corn,
c. tempering the cooked, comminuted whole grain corn,
d. pelletizing the tempered, cooked, comminuted whole grain corn in a screw extruder pelletizer to obtain whole grain corn pellets, the pelletizing being at a pressure of about 200 psig to about 600 psig, and the pelletizing temperature being controlled to provide a pellet temperature of about 80° F. to about 135° F. upon exiting the pelletizer,
e. shredding the whole grain corn pellets into whole grain corn netted sheets,
f. laminating the whole grain corn netted sheets to obtain a whole grain corn laminate,
g. substantially compressing the whole grain corn laminate to obtain a compressed laminate having a shredded netted appearance,
h. cutting the compressed whole grain corn laminate into whole grain corn pieces, and
i. baking the whole grain corn pieces to obtain a whole grain corn shredded snack having a thin, crisp, shredded texture and a shredded appearance.
17. A method for producing a whole grain shredded corn snack as claimed in claim 16 wherein the pelletizing is at a pressure of from about 400 psig to about 550 psig, and the pelletizing temperature is controlled to provide a pellet temperature of from about 90° F. to about 110° F. upon exiting the pelletizer.
18. A method for producing a whole grain shredded corn snack as claimed in claim 16 wherein the tempered, cooked, comminuted whole grain corn are in the form of agglomerates upon entering the pelletizer.
19. A method for producing a whole grain shredded corn snack as claimed in claim 18 wherein the agglomerates have a hard texture, and the pelletizer produces pellets having a softer, more pliable texture for continuous shreddability into netted sheets.