In the past, many corn-based products were prepared using continuous deep-fat frying techniques. However, products cooked using oil contained cholesterol or fat and are generally deemed to be less wholesome than those without such by-products. To remove such undesirable contents, the industry attempted to produce the same type of product without using oils for cooking by baking the product. However, by changing the cooking processes, the taste of the product also changed.
Many factors play a role in the way a product tastes. These factors include ingredients, moisture content, and cooking time. The same factors also affect the texture of the product such as crispness, crunch, or bite, and the like. No matter whether the product was cooked by deep-fat frying or by baking, the industry has always thoroughly mixed the ingredients to produce a homogenous dough. To produce the dough, the ingredients were mixed sufficiently prior to sheeting so that the resulting dough was readily workable and would form an even sheet.
Fully gelatinizing the dough by thoroughly mixing and cooking the ingredients produces a glassy sheet of dough having a high moisture content, which requires longer baking and drying periods to drive off the moisture. Typically, such results produce a product which is brittle and has a less-desirable texture and taste.