Cheese curls

Cheese puffs

Cheese puffs in a bowl
Alternative names	Cheese curls, cheese balls, cheesy puffs, cheese poofs, cheesy poofs, corn curls, corn cheese
Type	Snack food
Place of origin	United States
Main ingredients	Puffed corn, flavoring

Cheese puffs, cheese curls, cheese balls, cheesy puffs, corn curls, corn cheese are a puffed corn snack / crisp, coated with a mixture of cheese or cheese-flavored powders. Common brands include Pirate's Booty (U.S.), Cheetos (U.S.), Cheez Doodles (Northeastern U.S., Scandinavia), CheeWees (New Orleans, South Central U.S.), Chizitos (Perú), Boliquesos (Perú), Cheezies (Canada), NikNaks (South Africa), Twisties (Australia), Kurkure (India), Utz (U.S.) Wotsits (U.K.),Curl (Japan), Cheese Balls (Nepal), and Chee.Toz (Iran).

They are manufactured by extruding heated corn dough through a die that forms the particular shape. They may be ball-shaped, curly ("cheese curls"), straight, or irregularly shaped. Some are even shaped as animals or other objects. Puffcorn is a similar food, without cheese flavoring.

Cheese puffs were invented in the United States of America in the 1930s; there are two competing accounts. According to one account, Edward Wilson and/or Clarence J. Schwebke of the Flakall Corporation of Beloit, Wisconsin (a producer of flaked, partially cooked animal feed) deep-fried and salted the puffed corn produced by their machines, and later added cheese. He applied for a patent in 1939 and the product, named Korn Kurls, was commercialized in 1946 by the Adams Corporation, formed by one of the founders of Flakall and his sons. Adams was later bought by Beatrice Foods.