Reconstituted fried puffed pork skins

Claim 1

A method for producing a fried and puffed product from animal parts comprising: (1) providing a starting material which comprises particles of animal parts which are sufficiently high in collagen content to cause gelatinization of the animal parts and at least 50% by weight thereof are rendered parts; (2) moisturizing the particles to moisture contents between 18% and 35% by weight; (3) feeding the moisturized particles to the throat to a die-ended screw-type extruder having thermally-controllable barrel sections along the length of screw; (4) maintaining the barrel section next to the throat at temperatures of less than 85° F., maintaining the extruder barrel between the throat section and a section next to the die at a temperature of at least 215° F. to partially gelatinize but not to substantially denature said animal parts and maintaining the barrel section next to the die and the die at temperatures such that the extrudate exiting the die is at temperatures no greater than 220° F.; (5) rotating the screw of the extruder and controlling the rate of feed of the moisturized particles to the throat so that a smooth, glossy extruder exits from the die and the extrudate will not revert to an agglomeration of particulate material at room temperature; (6) cooling the extrudate to temperatures of less than 160° F.; (7) cutting the extrudate to pellets so that one dimension thereof is no greater than 1/8th inch; (8) drying the pellets to moisture contents of less than 15% by weight; and (9) frying the pellets in fat at temperatures between 350° F. and 420° F. until the moisture content of the pellets is less than 3.5% by weight and the pellets have puffed to at least twice the unpuffed volume.

Claim 2

A method for producing a fried and puffed product from animal parts comprising: (1) providing a starting material which comprises particles of animal parts which are sufficiently high in collagen content to cause gelatinization of the animal parts and at least 50% by weight thereof are rendered parts; (2) moisturizing the particles to moisture contents between 18% and 35% by weight; (3) feeding the moisturized particles to the throat to a die-ended screw-type extruder having thermally-controllable barrel sections along the length of screw; (4) maintaining the barrel section next to the throat at temperatures of less than 85° F., maintaining the extruder barrel between the throat section and a section next to the die at a temperature of at least 215° F. to partially gelatinize but not to substantially denature said animal parts and maintaining the barrel section next to the die and the die at temperatures such that the extrudate exiting the die is at temperatures no greater than 220° F.; (5) rotating the screw of the extruder and controlling the rate of feed of the moisturized particles to the throat so that a smooth, glossy extruder exits from the die and the extrudate will not revert to an agglomeration of particulate material at room temperature; (6) cooling the extrudate to temperatures of less than 160° F.; (7) cutting the extrudate to pellets so that one dimension thereof is no greater than 1/8th inch; (8) drying the pellets to moisture contents of less than 15% by weight; and (9) frying the pellets in fat at temperatures between 350° F. and 420° F. until the moisture content of the pellets is less than 3.5% by weight and the pellets have puffed to at least twice the unpuffed volume.