Who doesn’t love Funyuns?
Funyuns is the brand name of an onion-flavored maize snack made by Frito-Lay. The name comes from combining its element of fun with the onion flavor it’s famous for.
Funyuns consist primarily of cornmeal, ring-shaped, reflecting the form and texture of fried onion rings.
They were created in 1969 by George Bigner in the United States and they have been a household name since. They get their flavour from a salt and onion blend. In Brazil, the product is known by the name Cebolitos.
How are Funyuns made?
Funyuns are made using an extrusion process. They start with basic cornmeal. Cornmeal is then mixed up with water in a giant hopper that creates the batter. The extrusion machine both kneads and heats the batter along a central screw. The dough continues to warm up up as it flows.
As it is forced through the chamber, it hits a lower atmospheric pressure, it causes the dough to rapidly expand.
This creates a popcorn effect that puffs up the dough and cooks it instantaneously. This also provides the Funyun its distinctive onion ring shape and crunch as it lands on the production line.
They are inspected to make sure they are uniform. The onion rings then travel through the fryer where they get a gentle coating before going through a drum where a salt and onion mix gives the Funyun it’s flavor.