Doritos are an American snack brand.
These are flavored tortilla chips introduced into the market in 1964.
The company that made this possible is Frito-Lay which is a subsidiary of PepsiCo.
The first Doritos were not flavored, but when they started, the initial flavor was toasted corn. This was followed by the taco flavor and then nacho cheese.
Other flavors made their debut as time went by.
So, whose idea was it to come up with a Dorito?
The idea originated in a Disneyland restaurant.
So, are Doritos fried or baked?
The answer is both. All Doritos are baked and then fried.
How are Doritos Cooked?
Doritos have gained serious fame thanks to great marketing including ads during Super Bowl.
This crunchy corn triangle has made moments thanks to its serious flavors.
Well, how are they made?
Life for a Dorito snack begins inside a huge sack of corn kernels.
The process starts with cooking the corn kernels.
Second step is soaking and rinsing thoroughly. The kernels are then ground to result in delicate corn dough.
The corn dough goes through flattening and then shaped into cool-looking triangles.
So how does the flavor inside your mouth get absorbed inside a Dorito?
Triangles are baked and then fried.
Salt is then added to taste and, of course, a special spice to knock you off your feet.
Now that is the lifecycle of a Dorito.
The process above is not as simple as summarized. Doritos go through meticulous stages of preparation.
The cooking, soaking and milling are done using methods that go back thousands of years.
All the corn is checked rigorously to ensure that it is the optimal size.
Any cracked kernels are disposed of so that the high quality of the special tortilla dough is maintained.
But there is no waste here because any cracked kernel is turned into animal feed.
The oven is a very important aspect of Dorito making.
It is what allows you to toast the outer part of the chip while locking in moisture in the middle. This is the formula for a great crunch on the first bite.
The bold and expressive flavors result from a thorough seasoning process.
Are Doritos Fried or Baked?
The entire process begins with sourcing a whole grain crop with zero preservatives.
Everything is wholesome. What follows is cooking every corn batch with water and lime.
The purpose of lime is to soften the corn.
Once the cooking is done, the corn is transferred and soaked in a tank for 12 hours.
After 12 hours are over, the corn is cooked and milled.
A dash of salt and some cholesterol-free oil is added.
Once this is done, the corn is taken back to the production section. This is where the corn is grounded into masa.
Masa is corn dough and it is extruded and sheeted to make Doritos.
Before the sheets, the masa is milled, squeezed between rollers and finally sheeted before being cut into cool triangular shapes.
During the making of Doritos, only the gold standard is accepted.
Samples are continuously pulled from the lines and professional tasters evaluate, grade and reference the samples according to the gold standard.
The gold standard checks the following:
- Flavor
- Texture
- Appearance
- Blisters per chip
The entire process starts with how the corn was cooked.
For instance, how long was it cooked to keep a certain amount of moisture?
The corn is then milled to get it to a specific moisture percentage.
It is a very detailed process where nothing should be missed. Any chip that does not meet the gold standard is turned into animal feed.
No animal has complained so far and neither do the farmers.
So, are Doritos baked or fried? All Doritos are baked and then fried.
Baking
- A gas oven is used to bake the masa at temperatures ranging from 260 to 290 degrees Celsius.
The baking time varies from 35 to 50 seconds.
Baking improves the alkaline flavor and reduces moisture.
This will also minimize oil absorption during frying.
- After the chips are baked, they are placed in the cooling racks.
Here they are left for up to 20 minutes before they are fried.
The cooling allows uniform consistency and reduces blistering because of frying.
It is during cooling that the chips lose moisture of up to 3%.
Frying
- The chips are fried in oil temperatures ranging from 170 to 190 degrees Celsius for 50 to 80 seconds.
- After frying, salt and seasoning are added immediately when the chips are still hot.
The process takes place in a rotating cylinder where a liquid seasoning mix is sprayed on the chips.
The liquid comprises hot oil, salt, flavors, coloring and seasoning.
Does Doritos Make Baked Chips?
Doritos were originally baked before they hit the hot oil.
The only limitation with baking is that Frito-Lay found that baked Doritos weren’t earning them enough profits.
The production of these baked goods was stopped and it caused a lot of disappointment to the baked Dorito fan base.
There are those who went as far as complaining on the company’s social media page, asking them to bring back their favorite snack.
The issue here is baked chips, but Doritos just makes them baked and then fried.
We have all eaten Doritos, those beautiful and tasty neon orange triangles.
They can be found in almost every store or vending machine.
Why are they so popular and tasty?
Your guess is as good as the truth.
The frying element plays a major role. It is that little golden thing that matters.
What Chips are Not Fried?
Most consumers believe that baked means healthy.
It is believed that a baked chip does not contain as much fat as a fried one, but is this true?
What are the cooking methods?
Fried potato chips
- Washing
- Peeling, slicing and blanching
- Dehydration
- Frying, de-oiling
- Flavoring
- Packaging
The frying time is 6 minutes at a temperature of 180 degrees Celcius.
Blanching takes between 7 to 15 minutes at a temperature of 70 degrees Celcius.
Baked potato chips
- Washing and peeling
- Slicing
- Blanching
- Dehydration
- Baking
- Flavoring
- Packaging
The baking time takes about 3 minutes at a temperature of 180 degrees Celcius.
Blanching time takes about 15 minutes at a temperature of 70 degrees Celcius.
From the above processes, it can be easily seen that both fried and baked chips seem to go through the same process.
Does this mean that baked is healthier?
Truth is that even baked chips need oil on them so that they do not stick.
Oil is the adhesive that holds baked chips together.
Baked chips might have fewer calories depending on the brand.
It also depends on how much of these baked chips you consume and how active you are.
At the end of the day, it comes to portions and physical activity.
It is very clear that the sermon about baked being healthy is a marketing strategy.
So what chips are not fried?
- Baked Lay’s Potato Chips
- Baked Ruffles Baked Ruffles Cheddar Sour Cream
- Lay’s Oven Baked Barbecue Flavored Potato Crisps
- Lay’s Oven Baked Sour Cream & Onion FlavoredPotato Crisps
- Baked Tostitos Oven Baked Scoops Tortilla Chips
- Ruffles Oven Baked Cheddar & Sour Cream Flavored Potato Crisps
- Ruffles Oven Baked Original Potato Crisps
- Ruffles Oven Baked Potato Chips, Cheddar and Sour Cream Flavored
- Frito-Lay’s Cheetos Baked Crunchy Cheese
Does Doritos Have Pork in it?
This is a question that has been asked so many times and everyone has a right to information.
There is a man who claimed to have seen one ingredient as pork enzymes.
He even reached out to Doritos who denied the claim.
According to the Vegans First website, the following Dorito flavors do not contain pork enzymes:
- 3D Crunch Chili Cheese Nacho Flavored Corn Snacks
- 3D Crunch Spicy Ranch Flavored Corn Snacks
- Cool Ranch® Flavored Tortilla Chips
- Dinamita® Chile Limón Flavored Rolled Tortilla Chips
- Flamas® Flavored Tortilla Chips
- Flamin’ Hot® Limon Flavored Tortilla Chips
- Flamin’ Hot® Nacho Flavored Tortilla Chips
- Flavor Shots Fiery Habanero Triangles
- Nacho Cheese Flavored Tortilla Chips
- Poppin’ Jalapeño Flavored Tortilla Chips
- Reduced Fat Cool Ranch Flavored Tortilla Chips
- Reduced Fat Flamas Flavored Tortilla Chips
- Simply Organic Spicy White Cheddar Flavored Tortilla Chips
- Simply Organic White Cheddar Flavored Tortilla Chips
- Reduced Fat Nacho Cheese Flavored Tortilla Chips
- Spicy Nacho Flavored Tortilla Chips
- Spicy Sweet Chili Flavored Tortilla Chips
- Reduced Fat Spicy Sweet Chili Flavored Tortilla Chips
- Reduced Wild White Nacho Flavored Tortilla Chips
- Salsa Verde Flavored Tortilla Chips
- Taco Flavored Tortilla Chips
- Tangy Pickle Flavored Tortilla Chips
- Tapatio® Flavored Tortilla Chips
- Twisted Lime Flavored Tortilla Chips
- Wasabi Flavored Tortilla Chips
Do Doritos Have Oil in Them?/ What Oil are Doritos Cooked In?
Yes, Doritos have oil in them.
Now, you may wonder what oil are used to cook them?
So, Doritos are cooked in vegetable oil but the main oil that is used is palm oil.
Sources:
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doritos
- https://www.pepsico.co.uk/news/stories/tv-programme-takes-an-inside-look-at-how-our-world-famous-doritos-are-made
- https://www.fmamfg.org/blog/making-fritos-cheetos-doritos-toasty
- https://www.potatochipsmachinery.com/news/fried-potato-chips-vs-baked-chips.html
- https://actions.sumofus.org/a/doritos-palm-oil
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