Tortilla chip production

Tortilla chip manufacturing

A typical production process for tortilla chips is that illustrated on 'How it's made' (MAJ, 2008²):

Maize flour, sugar, salt, starch and other minor ingredients are mixed with water into a dough, and kneaded.
The dough is then broken into smaller parts and spread out appropriately to prevent clumps and uneven width in preparation for the rollers.
The dough is then pressed into a thin sheet and cut into triangular shapes. A quality control is done at this stage to ensure the chips are not too thin or to bulky: if too fat, they may not cook properly, if too thin, they may burn easily or break up during storage.
The chips are then pre-cooked in an oven, after which another quality control is done to ensure the chips have not burnt.
The cooking of the tortilla chips is finalized by frying.
Seasoning and any flavoring is then added by spraying the chips with oil and seasoning dust in a tumbler.
The finalized product is then ready for weighting, packaging and distribution.

(Video embedded from YouTube on 20 February 2012)

A home recipe for tortilla chips requires the making of the tortilla first³, then the chips, as illustrated on 'Howcast' (2010¹):

Corn flour and other ingredients are mixed with water, and the resulting dough is kneaded.
When ready, the dough is divided into small balls,
each ball is flattened to make a tortilla,
and the tortilla is pre-cooked in a frying pan (or oven).
After pre-cooking the tortillas, they are brushed with oil
and cut into triangular pieces.
The chips are then seasoned,
and, finally, oven-cooked (or deep fried) until crisp.

(Video embedded from YouTube on 20 February 2012)

Jose D PEREZGONZALEZ (2012). Massey University, Turitea Campus, Private Bag 11-222, Palmerston North 4442, New Zealand. (JDPerezgonzalez).

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Wikipedia - Tortilla chip: This Wikipedia page offers more information about tortilla chips, including their history and their role in Mexican cuisine.