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US 9,877,498 B2Granted
System and method for producing an extruded protein product
AssigneeGeneral Mills, Inc.
InventorsGoeran Walther, Bernhard H. van Lengerich, Steven C. Robie, James N. Weinstein
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present disclosure relates to systems and methods for producing an extruded protein product. In particular, a system for making an extruded protein product using a system that includes a die including channel having a transverse cross section that is a continuous loop along at least a portion of the length of the die is disclosed.
Claims21
A system for producing an extruded protein product, the system comprising:
- an extruder configured to produce a stream comprising a proteinaceous composition having a protein component configured to form oriented fibers, the composition having a protein content of about 15% to about 90% based on dry weight of the composition, the stream having a moisture content of at least 27%;
- and
- an elongated die having an internal longitudinal channel configured to receive the stream from the extruder, the longitudinal channel having a length, an outer diameter, and an inner surface configured to be cooled by a cooling apparatus, the longitudinal channel having a generally constant transverse cross-section that is a continuous loop along substantially an entire length of the die, the channel having a length and a gap thickness configured to form oriented fibers from the protein component in a generally parallel orientation to produce the extruded protein product, the length of the channel to the gap thickness of the channel having a ratio between about 30:1 and about 1000:1, the outer diameter being between about 200 mm and about 750 mm and the gap thickness being between 5 mm and about 30 mm.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.