Foamed, dough-based food and apparatus and method for production thereof and use of the apparatus

A method for the production of a foamed, dough-based gluten-free food product, the method comprising:

• a) providing a food product matrix to be foamed, comprising a proportion by weight of a starch-containing, gluten-free raw material and a proportion by weight of water in order to provide a food product matrix with an aqueous portion,
• b) introducing a gas into the aqueous portion of the food product matrix to be foamed,
• c) dissolving the gas under pressure in the aqueous portion of the food product matrix to be foamed,
• d) forming gas bubbles by controlled pressure relaxation so as to increase a volume of the food product matrix with a resulting reduction in density of the food product matrix as a result of bubble growth so as to form a foamed food product matrix, the controlled pressure relaxation being at a pressure drop rate of >60 bar/min and producing a uniform and even gas bubble distribution in the foamed food product matrix,
• e) stabilizing the foam of the foamed food product matrix by heat-induced solidification so as to form the foamed, dough-based gluten-free food product, wherein steps b) and c) are carried out by an extruder,
• the gas is introduced and dissolved in a subcritical state at a pressure of 10 bar<p<critical pressure of the gas in at least one of method step b) and method step c),
• at least one screw element within the extruder mixes the gas with the food product matrix in method step c),
• the gas dissolves in the aqueous portion of the food product matrix to be foamed during a dwell time of between 100s and 150s in at least one of method step b) and method step c), and
• step e) immediately follows step d).