FoodMake Plant-Based Foods, Snacks, and Ingredients
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Extrusion Cooking Systems
Continuous, highly stable process
Versatility to make new food options
Customized configurations to meet your unique needs
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Abundant Product Possibilities
Textured vegetable proteins, meat analogs, dry and wet texturization
Crisps, breadings, RTE cereals, fortified rice, snacks, modified starches
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Measurable Benefits
Improved output-to-energy ratios
Increased life of critical screw and barrel components
Reduced operating costs - simplified maintenance
Textured Vegetable Proteins
Wenger has a long history with textured vegetable proteins, dating back to the origination of TVP in the 1960's. In the decades since, Wenger has continued to innovate extrusion systems, dies, controls, and dryers/coolers that can produce an expanded range of textured proteins, including those that closely imitate the texture and mouth feel of whole muscle meat. Wenger's process and ingredient knowledge is unmatched in the industry and enables us to assist clients in meeting their product goals.
- TVP made from soy, pea, chickpea, wheat gluten, lentil, lupin, rice, legume and other plant-based proteins
- Available in many shapes and sizes including nuggets, chunks, strips, milled, minced, and flaked
- Recipe add-ins: salt, coloring, starches, oils, and flavors
High Moisture Meat Alternatives (HMMA)
- Plant-based products designed to mimic whole muscle meat including beef, poultry, pork, fish, and turkey
- Have a densely layered, fibrous structure
- Near fully hydrated and handled like real meat post-extrusion
Structured Meat Analogs (SMP)
Fibrous Soy Proteins (FSP)
Textured Meat Proteins (TMP) & Hybrids
PowerHeater
The PowerHeaterTM technology is an extrusion process with an emphasis on indirect, thermal cooking. This enables a wider range of softer textures and fibers for vegetable proteins and hybrids. For more information, visit the Source Technology website.
Protein Crisps
Wenger offers industry-leading experience and equipment solutions to produce consistent quality extruded crisps in two primary categories:
- Protein Fortified Crisps
- Cereal Crisps
Extruded crisps can be used in a wide variety of foods including
- Protein and Nutrition bars
- Protein snacks
- Granola mix
- Cereal bars
- Breakfast cereals
- Confections
Wenger's ingredient experience for crisps includes (but is not limited to):
Soy, Pea, Rice, Wheat, Corn, Starch
By combining Wenger's process experience with innovative twin screw extrusion and drying solutions, the possibilities produce crisps in various sizes, shapes, colors, ingredient combinations, and protein levels are nearly endless.
Breadcrumbs and Related Products
Wenger systems are ideal for producing breadings and modified starches. Extrusion cooking offers many advantages over conventional baking, especially for gluten-free breadings. All essential steps from traditional baking are accomplished in the extrusion process: mixing, kneading, proofing, shaping, rising, and baking. Extrusion systems can reduce equipment costs, labor, and energy costs compared to other methods, and typically require less space.
Breadcrumbs
- Expanded and dense varieties
- A porous cellular structure produces a tender breading
Stuffing, Croutons, Flat Breads, Breadsticks
Modified Starches and Flour
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Cooked grains
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Instant Cereals
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Sauces
Cracker Meal
Rusk Breading
- Can be mixed in cutlets, patties or ground meat to bind meat and flavorings when fried
Panko
- Flaky bread crumb used as a crunchy coating for fried foods
RTE Cereals
Extrusion cooking of ready-to-eat breakfast cereals offers processing advantages over conventional methods:
- Easily change the extruder for countless shapes and textures
- Apply coatings with various flavors and additives
- Products with higher nutritional value and textural variety
Direct Expanded Cereals
Using a short length/high-speed process, direct expanded breakfast cereals can be created with many options.
- Water and flavoring slurries can be added to raw materials
- Pressure, temperature and moisture combine to create steam that expands the product
- Rapid evaporative cooling results in the product structure
- Barrel length can be adjusted to deal with special recipes, such as those containing more than 50% oat flour
Flaked Breakfast Cereals
- Less energy is added to the product via friction due to higher moisture content and lower viscosity of the product
- Product is held in a low shear environment for up to 2 minutes
- Product is discharged with limited expansion, forming a bead that can be cooled and flaked
Infant Cereals
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Ingredients may include corn, wheat, and rice
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Instant hydration and partially cooked
Snacks
Produce snack foods in an variety of controlled shapes, sizes, colors, and textures from a wide slection of ingredients using Wenger's twin screw extruders. Wenger also offers low-shear, sanitary, and thermally efficient forming extruders to produce delicately formed and shaped snacks and flaked cereals.
Shape Flexibility
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Curls, Balls, Tubes, Rings, Puffs
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Flakes, Chips
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Complex shapes and textures
Ingredient Flexibility
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Rice and corn flours, grits and meals
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Ancient grains (such as quinoa or sorghum)
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Dried fruit powders
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Vegetables (such as peas or pumpkin)
Other Foods
Coating and Drying Systems
COATING
Wenger offers post-extrusion coating solutions for savory and sweet snacks and cereals. Systems can include:
- Mixing and feed tanks
- Liquid preparation kettles
- Seasoning feeders and reels
- Coating machines (sugar, cocoa, non-fat dry milk, corn syrup, honey, molasses)
- Nut, fruit, and granola bits additive systems
For more information, click here
DRYING
Post-extrusion dryers & ovens are custom designed to fit each client's application and capacity requirements. Wenger offers a wide range of single- or multi-pass dryers/coolers and ovens:
- Horizontal dryers/coolers
- Light duty ovens
- Convection roasting ovens
Extruders
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PRODUCT FLEXIBILITY
Twin screw extruders from Wenger allow you to produce a wide variety of ingredients, snacks, crisps, breadings, and cereals from the same setup without major modifications.
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TVP AND MEAT ANALOGS
Textured proteins and meat analogs can be challenging to produce without the right equipment and process knowledge. Fortunately, Wenger has expertise in every aspect needed to influence and control textured protein quality.
Request Info
to discuss the feasibility, design and implementation for your project
Research & Product Development
The Wenger Technical Center is an agrifood laboratory equipped with the latest in research and production scale extrusion and drying equipment. Let us assist you with:
- Product development
- Laboratory analysis
- Process evaluation
Project Feasibility, Design & Implementation
Count on our knowledge base and breadth of experience that is unsurpassed in extrusion processing and facilities construction.