Patent attributes
An extruder die assembly and method for using same is disclosed that may be adapted to a wide variety of commercial-grade extrusion devices common in the food industry. The disclosed method comprises extruding a known composition of a farinaceous food product through the extruder die assembly of the present invention to produce a flavored direct-expanded food product exhibiting enhanced flavor characteristics, but requiring no post-extrusion drying or seasoning process. The injection section of the extruder die assembly is used to impart flavoring additives into the extrudate mass shortly before expansion, thereby preserving the flavoring characteristics of the additive by minimizing the heat exposure of the flavoring additive. The extruder die assembly may also include static mixing elements downstream from the injection section to homogenize the flavoring or seasoning media into the flowing mass of extrudate.
