Process for preparing low-calorie, low-fat snack nuts

摘要

The Present Invention relies upon a physical process for preparing reduced fat, high fiber, high protein, low calorie roasted snack nuts. The process of the Present Invention exhibits significantly lower process times and higher yields than the prior art processes. The process comprises expelling the oil from nutmeat kernels (defatting) using a novel pressing process that takes less than a minute. The defatting process deforms the nuts. The nuts are reformed to their original shape using water. Then the reformed nuts are annealed using cold water to produce hardened nuts. The nuts are then dried and post-processed with coatings and roasting using state-of-the-art technology. The yield of snack nuts produced by this process is generally greater than eighty percent.