Pellet chips snack frying lines are semi-finished expandable snack food products that are manufactured using the extrusion process. These pellet snacks are available in multiple colors, forms, shapes, flavors, textures, and tastes. The texture of pellets is usually crispier and denser than that of directly extruded foods.
Snack pellet frying line manufacturers or consumers can use various methods to expand semi-finished snack pellets as per their preference through hot oil frying, hot air-popping, baking, or roasting. However hot air expansion and hot oil frying are two of the most commonly used methods for the conversion of snack pellets into finished ready-to-eat (RTE) form. Conversion of snack pellets using hot air is considered to be healthy as it avoids the use of excessive oil and the formation of acrylamide, a common cause for heart diseases and some specific cancers.
How are pellet chips snacks processed?
Snack pellets frying lines are food products cooked and processed in an extruder and forced out through a die at temperatures below 100 °C. The shape of the dough at low temperatures prevents the puffing forces of water turning into steam, thus intricate shapes can be made in pellets which would normally be destroyed in the direct expanded extrusion process. Corn, potato, and tubers Snack pellets products are extruded at 25–35% moisture and then dried to around 12% moisture for stability. Since the pellet chips frying line food product is unexpanded and dense at this stage, drying must be done at low temperatures and high humidity to allow the moisture to migrate out of the pellet. As a result, corn snack pellets frying line can be held for longer periods, shipped to long distances, or distributed to the pellet snacks food manufacturers or snacks food stalls or, consumers directly.
Grace Food Processing and Packaging Machinery is the most reliable, trusted, and pellet snacks manufacturers preferred supplier and distributers of snack pellets frying line machines and packaging equipment in India and overseas.
How are semi-finished pellet chips snacks made ready-to- eat?
Pellet chips snack frying lines are characterized by a translucent appearance, due to starch gelatinization. Then pellet chips snacks can be expanded by heating them rapidly to cause the water in the snacks to turn into steam in an explosive manner which puffs the pellet snacks. This can be done by hot oil frying, hot air-popping, baking, or microwaving, then coating with seasoning and packing. Hot oil frying is the most common method of expanding semi-finished pellet chips snacks because it is less expensive and works well. Frying conditions depend on pellet thickness, shape, and composition. Frying temperatures usually range between 170 and 210 °C for 10–60 s.
For low-oil pellet snack products, baking and microwaving method of expanding and making them eatable have been used. Due to rapid heat transfer rates required to expand a pellet uniformly, the ordinary snack dries and a baking oven will not puff a pellet. Therefore, microwaving of pellets also requires a rapid heat transfer rate, and high-powered continuous microwave expanders are commercially used. Expanded pellet chips snacks have a moisture content of 1–2%. They are usually flavored in coating drums for direct expanded products.
Why are pellet chips snacks are preferred by both consumers & manufacturers?
Pellet chips snack food offers a convenient snacking solution for brands and manufacturers. As consumers know pellet chips are a ‘semi’ finished snacks food which means that once produced by either pellet snacks frying machine or fully automatic potato chips frying line, automatic chips fryer or potato chips plant, pellet chips frying line, wheat pellet frying machine, corn pellet frying machine, potato pellet frying machine, snacks food customers have the options to manufacture and cook these pellet chips snacks into finished innovative food products by mixing different spices as per their consumers’ choice and tastes. As every individual snack consumer has diverse taste preferences that semi-finished unexpanded pellet snacks fulfil his or her demand by mixing spices and other ingredients during the expanding process for making finished eatable. Not only individual demand but pellet snacks also fulfil different consumers’ demand of their taste choice belonging to different communities, ethnicities, regions, genders or age groups by mixing spices and using methods of expanding either by hot oil cooking, air-popping, baking or roasting with spices of their choice.
Grace Food Processing and Packaging Machinery is one of the leading Pellet Frying Line manufacturers, suppliers, and exporters of processing and packaging machines and equipment in India and overseas. Its wide range of product concepts design and raw materials are endless.
Cheap raw materials make pellet chips snacks frying lines with higher capacity more in demand in India
A wide range of starch-based raw materials like cereal flours i.e. corn, wheat, rice, etc. the most common ones, followed by root starches like potato and tapioca are used for making semi-finished pellet snacks food. A great advantage of the pellet snacks technology is the possibility of making formulas with peculiar characteristics like high fiber content, multi-grain, or multi-colored snacks. These raw materials are cheap and widespread available in plenty everywhere in India. This is one of many reasons why pellet chips snack processing and packaging with higher capacity machines and equipment more in demand in India.
The other factor is increasing awareness about the health and intake of nutritional ingredients through ready to eat food is responsible for the research and development activities and penetration of new variety product in the snack market. Therefore the snack pellets market is one of the fastest-growing markets and has witnessed the strong growth trend over the last decade in India.
Causes of Snack Pellets Market Growth in India
- The rising living standards of the consumers and the globalization of the savory snacks industry has led to the rise in the demand for healthy and tasty pellet snacks.
- The other cause of increasing demand for semi-finished pellet snacks in the Indian market is due to a busier lifestyle among the consumers with the improved taste, ingredients, and flavor of varied innovative snack products.
- The Indian market for snack pellets is also growing rapidly due to the great diversity of products in terms of tastes, colors, and flavors.
- With the advancement in technology, there are many innovations taking place in food extrusion processes. These innovations, facilitate the manufacturers to produce a large number of snack pellets in different shapes, textures and sizes with low cost of production.
- The snack pellets own properties such as long shelf life, high-density features as well as simplifying storage process, leads to the growth of the global snack pellets market including India.
- The increasing health awareness and consumption of the nutrients, minerals, proteins, energy, saturated fats, and salts through snacks have also enhanced the demand for the snack pellets.
- With the growing prevalence of diseases such as celiac and gluten sensitivity, people with these conditions are preferring gluten-free snacks. Thus driving the demand for pellet snacks food.
- By using varied snack pellets, snack manufacturers are improvising on the snack recipes, enhancing the nutritional qualities and hence, are increasing the palatability. The rising demand for traditional potato-based pellets with enhanced flavor and added protein content has increased the demand for potato snack pellets in India.
- Moreover, the increasing marketing schemes such as discounts, promotions, etc. and information exchange programs, by snacks pellets manufacturers, related to snack pellets raw materials, assembly line, distribution, etc. are driving factors of the market for pellet snacks increasing demand.