puffed snacks extruder

Corn curls were invented in the USA in the early 1930s. These are puffed corn snacks, often cheese flavoured with a light crunch, great taste and melt in the mouth experience. They may be ball shaped, curly, straight or irregularly shaped. Some are even shaped as animals or other objects. In the extrusion process, ground corn (alone or in combination with potato, rye, wheat, rice, etc) is transformed into a plasticised dough using heat, pressure, and shear before being squeezed through a small shaped opening, expanding as it exits into soft, light pieces which are then baked in the oven to make them crisp. Flavouring is then added, with a little oil, before the product is packed.