Food processing system including extruder with hollow core screw assembly

A twin screw processing device operable to create a food product from a mixture of food ingredients, said device comprising:

• an elongated barrel having a material inlet for said mixture and a processed material outlet, there being a restricted orifice die operably coupled with said processed material outlet;
• a pair of elongated, axially rotatable, helical screws within said barrel, each of said screws having an elongated shaft with a hollow core, and elongated helical fighting extending outwardly from said shaft, said elongated shaft hollow core configured to receive heat exchange media,
• said helical screws configured for driven, directional co-rotation;
• and
• a media delivery assembly including a pair of media delivery tubes extending from a point outside of said barrel and respectively into a corresponding one of said elongated shaft hollow cores, and structure coupled with said delivery tubes permitting introduction of media to said tubes for delivery into said elongated shaft hollow cores,
• each of said helical screws having a first helical fighting section with a pitch length D1 of from about 0.4-1.2 based upon the diameter of the first helical fighting section and operable to convey material from said material inlet toward and through said processed material outlet, and a second helical flighting section proximal to said processed material outlet and operable to retard the flow of material therepast, said first and second helical fighting sections being of opposite hand, said second helical fighting section being shorter than said first helical fighting section and having a pitch length smaller than the pitch length of said first helical fighting section,
• said first and second helical fighting sections being fully intermeshed along the lengths thereof, and
• at least a portion of said first helical flighting section having a hollow helical area along the length of said first helical fighting section portion, said helical area being open along at least a part of the length thereof, said helical area being in communication with said hollow internal region and said elongated shaft hollow core,
• said intermeshed, co-rotating helical screws and said pitch lengths D1 being configured, upon rotation of said helical screws, to increase shear conditions within said barrel, to generate a temperature of at least about 90° C., and to create a pressure level within the barrel of from about 200-600 psi, during processing of said mixture.