Apparatus and methods for making puffed food products are disclosed. In one implementation, an innovative process may include improved configurations and control of hydraulic drive cylinder(s) to more swiftly and precisely apply pressures to heatable mold elements during production of puffed food products. According to one particular implementation, in order to drive a first hydraulic piston to move at least one movable mold element to a desired position, a second hydraulic piston may be first positioned to set up an adjustable hard-stop based on the desired position, such that the first hydraulic piston may rapidly drive the moveable mold element to stop at precisely the desired position.

Apparatus and method for preparing a puffed food product. At least one profood item is placed within a compartment defining a sealed enclosure. The profood item comprises a shell, and an interior contained within the shell, the interior comprising a foodstuff comprising at least one starch, and a liquid adapted to form a vapor when subjected to heating. The pressure in the compartment is rapidly reduced with a pressure device, while heating the compartment, until the profood item reaches breakage threshold conditions at reduced breakage temperature, causing a rupturing of the shell, inducing a sudden release of the vapor at a high pressure, resulting in puffing of the starch to produce the puffed food product. The reduced breakage temperature may be in the range of 200-220° C. The pressure reduction may take place in less than 1 second. The puffing process duration may be in the range of 6-7 seconds.

A profood item for preparing a puffed food product and method for producing the profood item. Profood item shell comprises a first foodstuff, the shell characterized by a hardness and rigidity able to withstand breakage when subject to temperature/pressure below breakage threshold conditions. Profood item interior contained within shell comprises a second foodstuff comprising at least one starch and a liquid adapted to form a vapor when subjected to heating, where an increased pressure of the vapor when heated causes a rupturing of the shell when breakage threshold conditions reached, inducing a sudden release of vapor at high pressure resulting in puffing of starch to produce puffed food product. The profood item micropellet may be prepared using an extrusion process and coated with a coating process to form a shell.

A composition formed from chickpea flour and having improved mouthfeel and taste, includes dextrinized starch and a controlled concentration of certain volatiles. Methods of forming the composition include extruding a composition containing chickpea at a temperature and pressure such that, when the extrudate exits the extruder, at least one volatile component is expelled.

A process of forming a crispy pressed snack includes combining at least one expandable plant product having a pre-gelled starch with a plurality of inclusions to form a mixture. The process also includes pressing the mixture together in a mold while applying heat at a temperature less than 220° C. to the mold to steam-cook the inclusions and cook the pre-gelled starch in the expandable plant product. The process further includes expanding the mold to reduce the pressure in the mold, thereby expanding the expandable plant product and forming the crispy pressed snack. A crispy pressed snack includes a mixture including an expanded plant product and pieces of at least one steamed low-starch vegetable. The steamed low-starch vegetable is present at about 10% to about 20%, by weight of the mixture. A starch of the expanded plant product holds the mixture together.

A process of forming a crispy pressed snack includes combining at least one expandable plant product having a pre-gelled starch with a plurality of inclusions to form a mixture. The process also includes pressing the mixture together in a mold while applying heat at a temperature less than 220° C. to the mold to steam-cook the inclusions and cook the pre-gelled starch in the expandable plant product. The process further includes expanding the mold to reduce the pressure in the mold, thereby expanding the expandable plant product and forming the crispy pressed snack. A crispy pressed snack includes a mixture including an expanded plant product and pieces of at least one steamed low-starch vegetable. The steamed low-starch vegetable is present at about 10% to about 20%, by weight of the mixture. A starch of the expanded plant product holds the mixture together.

A puffed food composition having crispy texture, unlikely to stick to teeth, and exhibiting suppressed astringent taste is provided. The puffed food composition includes an edible plant, 3 mass % or more of insoluble dietary fibers, 5 mass % or more of starch, and 4 mass % or more of protein. The particle size d60 of particles in a dispersion liquid of the puffed food composition after disturbance is 0.3 to 1,000 μm, the maximum particle size of particles in a dispersion liquid of the puffed food composition before disturbance is 200 μm or more, and the minimum differential value is −100 kN/m.sup.2% or less.

The disclosure provides chips formed by slicing with an apple cell clean water jet scalpel and a processing technology. The processing technology comprises the following specific steps: harvesting fresh fruits, sorting, peeling, slicing, drying and packaging to obtain the apple crispy chip. According to the disclosure, the tangxin apple is peeled by adopting an ultrahigh pressure water jet flow cutting technology, cut into slices with a thickness of 5 mm and inoculated for 15 min in 30° C. and 30% Lactobacillus brevis fermentation broth. PPO is a terminal oxidase with Cu.sup.2+ as a prosthetic group, and Lactobacillus brevis and Lactobacillus plantarum are complexed with Cu.sup.2+, leading to rapid oxygen consumption to generate organic acid and CO.sub.2, quickly reduction of pH and creation of an approximate oxygen-free environment to effectively inhibit PPO activity while removing oxygen required in enzymatic browning, thereby effectively inhibiting browning.

The disclosure provides chips formed by slicing with an apple cell clean water jet scalpel and a processing technology. The processing technology comprises the following specific steps: harvesting fresh fruits, sorting, peeling, slicing, drying and packaging to obtain the apple crispy chip. According to the disclosure, the tangxin apple is peeled by adopting an ultrahigh pressure water jet flow cutting technology, cut into slices with a thickness of 5 mm and inoculated for 15 min in 30° C. and 30% Lactobacillus brevis fermentation broth. PPO is a terminal oxidase with Cu.sup.2+ as a prosthetic group, and Lactobacillus brevis and Lactobacillus plantarum are complexed with Cu.sup.2+, leading to rapid oxygen consumption to generate organic acid and CO.sub.2, quickly reduction of pH and creation of an approximate oxygen-free environment to effectively inhibit PPO activity while removing oxygen required in enzymatic browning, thereby effectively inhibiting browning.

Apparatus and methods for making puffed food products are disclosed. Embodiments of the innovative process may include two or more cycles of compression, baking, and expansion to convert raw ingredients into at least one intermediate food product before yielding a final food product. An exemplary apparatus for making such food products may include a control unit coupled to a driving system, a raw material supply system, and at least one heatable mold having at least one movable mold element connected to the driving system. The control unit may electronically control the raw material supply system to input ingredients into the heatable mold and cause the driving system to position the at least one moveable mold element to achieve the multiple cycles of compression, baking, and expansion.