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FST-508 Confectionery and Snack Foods

Extruded Snacks
Lecture no.11

PREPARED BY
DEPARTMENT: FOOD SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Introduction 2

 Increasing demand for an ever-broadening selection of snack foods

 Extrusion provides a mean of manufacturing new and novel products and has
revolutionized many conventional snack manufacturing processes
 Extrusion is the forcing of solid material through a suitably shaped small hole under
compressive force
 It is somewhat analogous to squeezing toothpaste through a tube
 Extrusion equipment offers many basic design advantages that result in minimizing
time, energy, and cost while at the same time introducing a degree of versatility and
flexibility, not available previously
 Many common snack foods such as fried or baked products (corn curls) are
produced on rather simple single-screw high-pressure extrusion cookers
 Food or snack extruders are generally divided into two major categories
Single screw extruder
 These may be divided into four subcategories: 3
 Low-shear forming
 Low-shear cooking
 Medium-shear cooking
 High-shear cooking
 Twin screw extruder
 These may be divided into several subcategories:
 Co-rotating intermeshing
 Co-rotating non-intermeshing
 Counter-rotating intermeshing
 Counter-rotating non-intermeshing
 Conti… 4
• In recent years the twin-screw extruder has begun to challenge the dominance of the
single-screw extruder for snack food production
• By using this type, a number of functions can be exercised in a short time under
controlled, continuous or steady-state operating conditions
• These functions may include heating, cooling, conveying, feeding, compressing, reacting,
mixing, melting, cooking, texturing, and shaping
• Energy sources to provide heat for cooking, texturing, or melting may include:
• Conversion: Mechanical energy is dissipated into the extruder in the form of heat caused
by shearing or friction generated by pumping or conveying inefficiencies
• For high-shear extruders it is possible that 100% of the heat may be generated through
shear
• This type is referred to as an adiabatic extruder (without change in heat)
Conti… 5

 Conduction: Heat is transferred through the barrel of the extruder

from a thermal fluid or other external source
 Convection: Heat is transferred to the extrudate by direct contact
such as steam injection
Conti… 6
The basic components having specific functions common to all extrusion systems
include:
 A holding bin for mixed raw material capable of discharging raw premixed dry
ingredients continuously and uniformly
 A variable speed metering/feeding device to feed the raw dry mixed ingredients
uniformly and in an uninterrupted manner at the desired flow rate
 A preconditioner in which liquids and/or steam, and/or other vapors may
be uniformly combined with the premetered dry or pretempered ingredient mix
 An extruder assembly whose configuration of barrel segments, screws, and
shear locks has been preselected to properly feed, knead and cook the dry or
remoistened process material
 A final die to restrict the extruder discharge and to shape the final product
 A cutting device to cut the extruded profile to the desired length
Extrusion Process 7
 The most important criterion for extruding a wide range of raw
materials to produce array of finished products is the selection of a
proper extruder configuration
 The term extruder configuration is subdivided into three distinct
categories:
 (1) The feeding and preconditioning configuration
 (2) The screw and barrel profile of the extruder
 (3) The die configuration

FEED
SCRE
WS

SHEARLOCKS

Extruder components
Preconditioning Configuration 8
 Preconditioning is prerequisite processing step of putting a substance into the proper or
desired condition
 Mixing, hydration, cooking, pH modifications, and addition of vapors, flavors, lipids,
colors, etc., may all take place in a properly designed preconditioning process
 The single most important aspect of the preconditioning system is the added mixing
and retention time, which is imperative for all reactions, chemical or physical
 There are basically two types of continuous pre-conditioners available:
 1. Pressurized pre-conditioners
 Pressurized conditioning chambers normally provide approximately 1-3 minutes
residence time at temperatures up to 240°F (115°C)
 These have a negative effect on the nutritional quality of food and feed products
2. Atmospheric pre-conditioners

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Atmospheric conditioning chambers provide from 20 to 240 seconds retention during
which time a product formulation is preheated and the moisture is allowed to penetrate the
individual particles
 Preconditioning enhances flavor development and to aid in the final product texture
 Oats, for example, have a bitter aftertaste that may be removed by preconditioning.
 In addition to flavor development, preconditioning reduces extruder component wear,
refines cell structure and permits increased throughput of the extruder

 The method of water addition is an important part of preconditioning a product

formulation
 The residence time of the raw material in the conditioning cylinder permits the moisture to
penetrate the grain particles equally throughout each particle that results in more uniformly
cooked and textured final product
Extruder Configuration 10
 The barrel of the extruder is made up of screws, heads, and flow restrictors or
shear locks
 Some screws must convey raw material and/or preconditioned material into the
extruder barrel while other screw elements must compress and degas the extrudate
 Where kneading is required, kneading screws may have one or multiple flights to
add turbulence, increase backflow, or increase mechanical energy dissipation into
the extrudate
 The final cooking screws may be conical
 These conical final screw elements cause a rapid pressure increase, a uniform
pressure distribution around the screw periphery
 Screws are not the only component that affect shear energy input or mechanical
energy dissipation within the barrel of the extruder
Conti… 11
 The head or barrel segments may be ribbed (grooved) to increase the function
of each specific extruder segment
 For example, the ribbing may be used to increase the volume in the inlet of the
extruder barrel for achieving higher throughputs
 Extruder Zones
• Both single-screw and co-rotating twin-screw extruders may be subdivided into
processing zones:
• The feeding zone
• The kneading zone
• The final cooking zone
Conti… 12

 The feeding zone of the extruder is that area where the low-density
discrete particles of raw materials are introduced into the extruder
barrel inlet
 The incoming material is compressed slightly in this zone, with the
air being expelled
 Water is typically injected into the extruder barrel to facilitate
textural development and viscosity development, and to enhance
conductive heat transfer
Conti… 13

 The kneading zone of the cooking extruder continues the

compression started in the feeding zone, and the flow channels of
the extruder achieve a higher degree of fill as a result of the
extrudate being compressed
 Within this zone of the extruder barrel the extrudate begins to lose
some of its granular definition, extrudate density begins to increase,
and pressure begins to develop in the extruder barrel
 The mechanism of shear begins to play a dominant role in the
kneading zone because of the barrel fill condition that exists here
Conti… 14
 Within the kneading zone of the extruder barrel the discrete particles of
material begin to agglomerate because of the increasing temperature
resulting from conduction, direct steam injection, and viscous energy
dissipation
 The extrudate begins to form a more integral flowing dough like mass and
as it moves through the kneading zone will typically reach its maximum
compaction
 The final cooking zone of the extruder barrel is that area where
homogeneity is achieved and texturizing occurs
 Temperature and pressure typically increase rapidly
Conti… 15

 In this region shear rates are highest because of the extruder screw
configuration and maximum compression of the extrudate
 The pressure, temperature, and resulting fluid viscosity are such that
the extrudate will be expelled from the extruder die to yield the
desired final product texture, density, color, and functional
properties
 The single-screw extruder has some definite process limitations in
the food processing industry
Die Configuration 16

 Die design and its effect on functional properties and quality of a

final product is frequently overlooked
 Die shear rates may be altered dramatically by changing from a
single-die with one opening to a triple or quadruple die with
multiple openings and flow channels
 When changing from a single-die configuration to a multiple die
configuration, the degree of barrel fill is also increased