Process for producing baked potato slices with expanded texture

Abstract

A method is disclosed for producing a baked snack chip made from a raw potato slice. The snack chip has a light, crispy, expanded texture similar to the texture of a fried potato chip. It is formed by compressing and heating a partially dried potato slice and then expanding the potato slice. Alternatively, the expanded potato slice is compressed again.

1 . A snack chip made by a method, said method comprising:
 providing a raw potato slice;   pre-drying said raw potato slice to an intermediate moisture content between about 11% and about 14% by weight to produce a partially dried potato slice   compressing and heating said partially dried potato slice between a top plate and a bottom plate inside a mold to produce a pressed potato slice; and   expanding said pressed potato slice to produce an expanded snack chip with a moisture content less than about 6% by weight.   
     
     
         2 . The snack chip of  claim 1  further comprising finish drying said expanded snack chip to a final moisture content between about 1% and about 2% by weight. 
     
     
         3 . The snack chip of  claim 1  further comprising recompressing said expanded snack chip to produce a compressed snack chip. 
     
     
         4 . The snack chip of  claim 1  wherein said expanded snack chip has a moisture content between about 4% and about 6% by weight. 
     
     
         5 . The snack chip of  claim 1  wherein said compressing and heating further comprises heating said top plate to a temperature between about 190° C. and about 230° C. 
     
     
         6 . The snack chip of  claim 1  wherein said compressing and heating further comprises heating said bottom plate to a temperature between about 200° C. and about 240° C. 
     
     
         7 . The snack chip of  claim 1  wherein said pre-drying comprises drying said raw potato slice inside a microwave oven containing superheated steam at a steam temperature between about 100° C. and about 160° C. for a dwell time between about 30 seconds and about 10 minutes. 
     
     
         8 . The snack chip of  claim 1  wherein said pre-drying comprises drying said raw potato slice using at least one of RF heating, convection heating, or microwave heating. 
     
     
         9 . The snack chip of  claim 1  wherein said compressing and heating occurs at a pressure between about 100 pounds per square inch and about 2200 pounds per square inch. 
     
     
         10 . The snack chip of  claim 1  wherein said compressing and heating occurs during a time interval between about 2 seconds and about 8 seconds. 
     
     
         11 . The snack chip of  claim 3  wherein said recompressing occurs during a time interval between about 1 second and about 4 seconds. 
     
     
         12 . The snack chip of  claim 3  wherein said recompressing occurs at a pressure between about 100 pounds per square inch and about 2200 pounds per square inch. 
     
     
         13 . The snack chip of  claim 1  further comprising, per 1 ounce serving of snack chips:
 no more than 5 grams of fat; 
 no more than 1 gram of saturated fat; 
 about zero trans-fatty acids; 
 less than 25% calories from added sugar; and 
 no more than 240 milligrams of sodium.