Hot air expansion - an alternative to snack frying
Date: 07 April 2009
Baker Perkins at Snackex 09
Healthy alternatives to traditional snack frying are being exhibited by Baker Perkins at Snackex 09 in Berlin (June 8-9).
Hot air expansion is a Baker Perkins technology that can replace frying as a means of forming extruded pellets into a finished snack. During traditional frying, snack pellets absorb a large amount of oil giving them a high fat content: hot air expansion produces snacks of comparable texture and appearance, with a minimum amount of oil being applied at the end of the process for flavouring.
The healthy positioning of hot air expanded snacks can be further extended through the complete elimination of oil. Baker Perkins has successfully applied knowledge from their confectionery technology to enable polyol based syrups to carry seasoning and flavours. Polyols are low-calorie sugar substitutes without the sweetness of sugar, and are ideal carriers for savoury flavours.
The equipment used for hot air expansion includes the Baker Perkins Thermoglide2 toaster. This fluidised bed machine gently lifts and tumbles the pellets to ensure even and consistent expansion. Designed specifically for snacks and similar products such as breakfast cereals, the Thermoglide2 is a compact, energy efficient machine and is easy to clean and maintain.
Another development from Baker Perkins is filled co-extruded snacks that offer the option of replacing traditional savoury fillings with real fruit to bring positive nutrition into the extruded snack arena. A selection of innovative shapes creates additional opportunities by adding interest and variety.
Co-extruded fruit filled snacks can be marketed to both children and adults as 'good for you', while still offering the taste and convenience that consumers demand in a snack product. The concept involves the replacement of conventional savoury fillings with a fruit filling; the key to their appeal is the combination of intense fruit flavour with a crunchy cereal case that can incorporate whole grains and high fibre.
The same ranges of shape and texture used for savoury snacks are available, and there are many exciting possibilities for different flavour combinations of fruit fillings. All the product shapes that have been successful in the savoury snack arena can be replicated.
The second new concept in co-extrusion is the co-extruded wafer - a thin 'credit card' type product that opens up a whole new area of marketing opportunities including dips and countlines.
These slim, rectangular products can also incorporate fruit or savoury fillings; they may be positioned as snacks in their own right or as 'dipping' products - perhaps a fruit filled snack into yoghurt, a healthy peanut butter into savoury spread, or a tomato filled snack into cheese.
