Verfahren zur Herstellung von Formstuecken aus Getreidemehlteigen

Ready to eat cereal foods are prepared by extruding a sheet of dough, tempering to harden the surface of the dough, cutting the sheet into pellets, and equalizing the moisture content of the individual pellets prior to for example cooking or puffing. The extruded sheet may be deposited on a conveyer, which may be moving at a speed faster than the dough is extruded, in order to stretch the sheet. The tempering may be effected by blasts of cold air, and after tempering the sheet may be passed between a pair of rollers to further reduce its thickness prior to cutting. The moisture content of the pellets may be equalized by subjecting them to a drying medium or by heating, for example by means of a blast of hot air at 130 DEG F.-160 DEG F., preferably with agitation, the final moisture content is preferably 6-20%. The dough is preferably cooked to produce at least partial gelatinization prior to extrusion. Suitable cereal grains for preparing the dough include rice, wheat, oats, barley, rye, corn, and combinations thereof, ground to a flour, which may also include mineral salts and fibres or other material. The extruded dough preferably contains 20-35% moisture.