486 Chapter 18
collets are then fried in vegetable oil or
baked. Prior to seasoning application, the
collets are further dried for 4 to 6 minutes at
149 ° C (300 ° F). The dried collets are sieved
to remove the fi nes and coated with cheese
seasoning.
Cheddar cheese is a popular seasoning.
The typical composition of a cheese slurry
consists is 58% to 66% collets, 24% to 30%
vegetable oil, 5% to 9% dry cheddar cheese
powder, 3% to 4% dry acid whey, 1% to 4%
cheese fl avor concentrate, and 0.2% to 3%
salt (Chandan, 1997 ). The slurry is prepared
in a water - jacketed kettle equipped with
mixers; hot water at a constant temperature
is circulated in the jacket. A homogeneous
slurry of the various ingredients is obtained
by a recirculation pump. The slurry tempera-
ture is maintained at 48 ° C to 54 ° C (120 ° F to
130 ° F), and should not exceed 63 ° C (145 ° F).
Coating procedures consist of (a) dry
application, in which the extruded product is
sprayed with warm vegetable oil, followed
by dusting with dry seasonings, or (b) the
oils, fl avors, salt, and spices are slurried in
a tank and sprayed onto the extruded product
in a tumbler. Collets are coated in a rotat-
ing drum designed for a uniform and posi-
tive fl ow of product down the length of
the unit. Longitudinal fl ights turn the bed
of the collets over while the liquid cheese
slurry is dispersed inside the tumbler at the
in - feed end.Cheese Seasonings
Dairy - and cheese - based seasonings contrib-
ute desirable color and fl avor to many snack
items. Sour cream, onion or garlic, and
cheese fl avors are popular in coated nuts,
crackers, potato chips, and extruded and
puffed snack items. In addition, nacho, ranch
and barbeque fl avors are widely accepted
fl avors in which whey and other dairy ingre-
dients constitute signifi cant building blocks.
Dry whey powders may constitute as much
as 5% to 30% of cheese powders and blends,manageable size, sliced, and rewashed. The
slices are fried at 182 ° C to 193 ° C (360 ° F to
380 ° F) until the moisture is reduced to less
than 1.5%. They are then salted or dusted
with cheese or dairy seasonings prior to
packaging.
Tortilla Chips and Corn Chips
The process for fried corn chips is similar to
that for tortilla chips. A softer corn is gener-
ated by prolonged cooking in additional
water; the resulting masa contains 50% to
52% water. The texture of the masa is coarser
than tortilla masa. The masa is extruded, cut
into pieces, and fried at 205 ° C to 210 ° C
(400 ° F to 410 ° F). The corn chips are then
cooled and coated with seasoning and salt.
Corn chips contain 34% to 40% oil, whereas
tortilla chips contain 22% to 26% oil. Corn
chips have a little more salt (1.5% vs. 1%),
and the moisture content of both should be
1% to 1.2% (Snack Food Association, 1988 ;
Chandan, 1997 ). The process for making
corn chips is illustrated in Figure 18.2.
Collets
Collets are puffed, second generation snacks,
popularly named cheese curls and cheese
balls, that are extruded and then either fried
or baked. They are made from corn meal
which is continuously fed into the extruder,
accompanied by a small quantity of water.
The mixture is subjected to heat and pressure
in the barrel, and the extruder auger trans-
ports the meal through the extruder. Water in
the corn meal dough is turned into vapor
from heat generated by friction, creating high
pressure in the system. As the stream is
forced between two rotating heads, a sudden
pressure release results in the formation of a
rope with a puffed texture. The rope is cut
into the appropriate length with a rotating
knife; the snack shape may be cylindrical or
ball - like. The moisture content after extru-
sion ranges from 8% to 10%. These extruded