FR2788199A1 - SPACER FOR INDUSTRIAL COOKING TOOLS, COOKING TOOLS PROVIDED WITH SUCH A SPACER AND COOKING METHOD USING SUCH A TOOL - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention concerns a detachable spacer (17) for a cooking utensil characterised in that it comprises a first surface capable of being supported on a wall (4.2, 4.3, 5, 7, 19) of a container receiving food to be cooked and a second surface capable of being supported on the food to be cooked so as to provisionally reduce the available volume for the food in at least a container receiving food items to be cooked from the utensil (1) to provide the food with a desired shape and prevent said food from being deformed or expanding while it is being cooked. The invention is particularly useful for cooking ham.

Description

SPACER FOR INDUSTRIAL COOKING UTENSILS,

  COOKING PROVIDED WITH SUCH A SPACER AND COOKING METHOD USING

WORK SUCH AN ATTENTIVE

  The present invention relates mainly to a spacer for industrial cooking utensils, to a cooking utensil provided with such a spacer and to

  a cooking process using such a utensil.

  It is usual to place cooking hams, whether or not wrapped in plastic bags, in stackable cooking utensils, comprising a plurality of parallel chutes ensuring the maintenance of the hams during cooking, to stack the utensils and to arrange the stack of utensils garnished with ham to be cooked in a cooking cell into which a calorie-spreading fluid is introduced. The chutes possibly associated with lids give the hams the desired shape. This form depends on the one hand, on the expectation of the consumer influenced in particular by the local tradition and, on the other hand on the imperatives of storage or handling at the level of the distribution. There are in particular bar hams having a length of the order of a meter corresponding to the length of a chute and of square or rectangular section, hams having

  the same section but whose length is equal to a few tens of centimeters.

  These latter hams are molded in troughs provided with transverse walls delimiting, in each trough, a plurality of receptacles for receiving a ham to be cooked. On the other hand, rounded hams, called half-moon, usually have a length of a few tens of centimeters. These hams are molded in cooking utensils with rounded bottom troughs crossed by partitions

transverse.

  Thus, an industrialist wishing to manufacture hams having various shapes to meet the demand of his customers, and in particular to prepare hams having various lengths, must have sets of suitable cooking utensils, which requires significant investments and poses storage and

management of various utensils.

  It is therefore an object of the invention to offer a utensil capable of imparting various geometries to food and, in particular to hams, during

  molding and / or baking steps.

  It is also an object of the present invention to provide a cooking utensil

  cooking to obtain good quality hams.

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  It is also an object of the present invention to provide a cooking utensil

industrial easy to use.

  It is also an object of the present invention to provide a utensil

  allowing cooking with good energy efficiency.

  These objects are achieved by a spacer according to the present invention for industrial cooking utensil, in particular ham provided with a plurality of parallel chutes, the installation of the spacer in the cooking utensil making it possible to modify (reduce) the space available in the receptacles of

  the food to be cooked, in particular ham.

  o1 Advantageously, the spacers modify the length of the container and, by

next, cooking ham.

  Advantageously, a single spacer is arranged transversely with respect to a plurality of parallel troughs so as to allow installation

or quick removal.

  1 5 Advantageously, the shape and the material used do not interfere with the normal use of the utensil and in particular, its washing, filling, handling for loading into a cooking cell, operations

  cooking, or its unloading, in particular by turning the utensil.

  The use of a plurality of spacers at one or two ends of the container on opposite and / or adjacent faces makes it possible to vary so

  important, the geometry of the hams to be cooked.

  Similarly, according to the present invention, it is possible to use spacers comprising rounded elements allowing the molding and / or cooking of half-moon ham in a utensil comprising section troughs.

rectangular.

  The present invention mainly relates to a removable spacer for cooking utensil characterized in that it comprises a first face capable of bearing on a wall of a receptacle for receiving a food to be cooked and a second face capable of taking pressing on the food to be cooked so as to temporarily reduce the volume available for the food in at least one receptacle for receiving food to cook the utensil to give the desired shape to the food and avoid deformation or expansion of this food during cooking. The present invention also relates to a spacer, characterized in that it comprises means for fixing to the wall of a container of the cooking utensil.

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  The present invention also relates to a spacer, characterized in

  what it includes locking means in place in the cooking utensil.

  The present invention also relates to a spacer, characterized in that it comprises a recess allowing it to be mounted on a wall or a partition so that it is placed simultaneously in two adjacent containers. The present invention also relates to a spacer, characterized in that it includes guide means during its installation, of the free end of

  the wall on which we ride it.

  The present invention also relates to a spacer, characterized in

  what it is made of folded and welded stainless steel sheet.

  The present invention also relates to an industrial cooking utensil for food, in particular hams, characterized in that it comprises a spacer. The present invention also relates to a utensil, characterized in that the spacer is arranged transversely along the entire length of one of the

utensil walls.

  The present invention also relates to a utensil, characterized in that it comprises cutouts making it possible to overlap arranged walls

  substantially orthogonally to the spacer.

  The present invention also relates to a utensil, characterized in

  that it comprises a plurality of parallel channels for receiving the food to be cooked.

  The present invention is also a method of cooking hams comprising the steps consisting in placing in a cooking utensil at least one spacer, so as to reduce the volume available in at least one of the receptacles of the cooking utensil; - place in the container, the volume of which is reduced by the spacer, a ham, the volume of which corresponds to the volume available once the spacer is in place; stack the garnished cooking utensils with the hams; - place the stack of cooking utensils in a cooking cell - supply the cooking cell with a heat transfer fluid for calories brought to cooking temperature during a cooking time of the ham; - remove the cooking utensils from the cooking cell; and

- unmold cooked hams.

  The invention will be better understood by means of the description below and

  attached figures given as nonlimiting examples and in which:

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  - Figure 1 is a plan view of a first embodiment of a cooking utensil comprising spacers according to the present invention; - Figure 2 is a plan view of a second embodiment of an industrial cooking utensil comprising a spacer according to the present invention; - Figure 3 is a plan view of a third embodiment of an industrial cooking utensil comprising spacers according to the present invention; - Figure 4 is a sectional view along IV-IV of the utensil of Figure 3 - Figure 5 is a sectional view along V-V of the utensil of Figure 3; - Figure 6 is a plan view of a cut flat plate, capable after shaping, of being assembled with a similar plate to form the preferred embodiment of a spacer according to the present invention; - Figure 7 is a view from one end of the plate of Figure 6 shaped; - Figure 8 is a top view of the preferred embodiment of a spacer according to the present invention; - Figure 9 is a plan view of a partition of the cooking utensil of Figure 3 capable of receiving a spacer of Figure 8; - Figure 10 is a longitudinal view of a spit capable of being used to lock the spacers according to the present invention on an industrial cooking utensil according to the invention; - Figure 1 1 is a cross-sectional view of a second embodiment of a spacer according to the present invention; - Figure 12 is a perspective view of a third embodiment of a spacer according to the present invention; - Figure 13 is a plan view of an industrial cooking utensil provided with two spacers arranged parallel to the axes of the chutes; - Figure 14 is a cross-sectional view of a spacer according to the present invention arranged astride two troughs of rectangular section; - Figure 15 is a cross-sectional view of a spacer according to the present invention arranged astride two rounded chutes; - Figure 16 is a sectional view of a fourth embodiment of a spacer according to the present invention; - Figure 17 is a sectional view of a fifth embodiment of a spacer according to the present invention; - Figure 18 is a sectional view of a sixth embodiment of a spacer according to the present invention; - Figure 19 is a cross-sectional view of a utensil according to the present invention provided with a seventh embodiment of a spacer according to the present invention. In FIGS. 1 to 19, the same references are used to designate the

same elements.

  In FIG. 1, one can see a one-piece industrial cooking utensil 1 carrying a plurality of receptacles for receiving a food. In the example, nonlimiting illustrated, the utensil 1 comprises four parallel chutes 3.1 to 3.4, provided with a flat bottom 4.1, horizontal in the position of use and with side walls 4.2 and 4.3 parallel to each other and orthogonal or substantially orthogonal to said bottom 4.1. The bottom 4.1 is connected to the side walls 4.2 and 4.3 at a right angle for food, in particular hams with a rectangular section or with rounded angles for so-called half-moon hams. Each chute 3.1 to 3.4 is advantageously produced by folding a stainless steel sheet. The chutes 3.1 to 3.4 are assembled together and / or with a chassis comprising for example a peripheral frame constituted by two end sheets 5 extending over the two widths of the utensil 1 and secured to the ends of the chutes as well as two sheets 7 arranged along the lengths of the utensil 1. The sheets 5 are joined, preferably by welding, to the ends of the chutes 3.1 to 3.4. Advantageously, the chutes 3. 1 to 3.4 are provided with means for draining and evacuating liquids in their positions of use to allow the flow of exudates and cooking juices in the case of cooking bare hams and calorie-spreading liquid as well as washing liquid in the case of cooking ham packed in hermetically sealed plastic film bags. These means of flow

  for example have openings made in the bottoms of the troughs.

  Advantageously, in the position of use, the lower ends of the plates 5 are arranged above the bottom of the chutes so as to provide slots 9 forming the flow means, visible in FIG. 5. The plates 7 are secured to the plates 5, with end troughs as well as with possible transverse elements arranged parallel to the plates 5 and improving

  the rigidity of the utensil according to the present invention.

  Advantageously, chimneys 11 are circulated for circulation of the calorie-carrying fluid, in particular water in the liquid and / or gaseous phase so as to minimize the temperature gradients inside a stack.

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  utensils 1 stacked in a cooking cell. Likewise, utensil 1 can be provided with thermal drains. In particular, the central ducts can be made of sheet metal having a larger section so as to better bring the heat to the

  feeds placed in the central chutes 3.2 and 3.3.

  The handling of the utensils 1 according to the present invention is advantageously carried out using forked vehicles. Thus, at least the lower utensil of a stack of utensils has feet or the like providing under the chutes a space for passage of forks. Advantageously, each utensil has feet 13 welded, as illustrated on the plates 5 arranged at the ends of the troughs or, as a variant, parallel to the external troughs, for example on the plates 7. Advantageously, each set of feet arranged on one side of the utensil according to the present invention is connected, in its upper part in position

  of use, by a bar or a tube 15 facilitating handling of the utensil.

  Advantageously, the feet 13 have a flared shape downwards facilitating the centering

  utensils one above the other when stacked.

  The utensil 1 according to the present invention may include other equipment of known type, such as for example covers intended for the chutes of the utensil placed immediately below in a stack of stacked utensils. These lids ensuring in particular the pressing of hams can be rigidly secured to the structure of the utensil, in particular with the bottom of troughs or, on the contrary, be mounted floating by elastic means of reminders,

  in particular leaf springs or coil springs.

  In the utensil 1, there are hams whose volume corresponds to the internal volume of the chutes which give, by molding during cooking, the shape of the hams. If a ham is placed in a chute the volume of which is less than the volume of the chute, this ham is not properly maintained during the cooking step and a cooked ham of desired quality is not obtained. In particular, this ham has configuration flaws: more flattened product, reduced slice height and

  irregular, greater loss at the start.

  To avoid this phenomenon, according to the present invention, spacers 17 are available in all or in certain chutes, for example plates placed at the walls of the chutes. In the example illustrated in FIG. 1, the plates are placed in the chute whose internal volume available to the ham is to be reduced near at least one of the ends of the chutes. For example, a plate 17 has been placed at each end of the chute 3.1, a plate in the chute 3.3 and a plate in the chute 3.4. The plates are

7 2788199

  substantially conforming to the chutes with the possibility of arranging liquid flow channels in the form of holes and / or notches. The plates 17 forming a spacer do not necessarily all have the same volume so as to be able to adapt to the various lengths of the desired hams. Likewise, it is possible to have several plates juxtaposed and, preferably, joined together, at the same end of a chute. The plates are made of a material compatible with cooking food. For example, they are made

  made of plastic, especially polyethylene or stainless steel.

  Advantageously, the plates 17 comprise fixing means on the wall in front of which they are arranged. For example, the plates 17 are provided with fixing lugs, magnets, pin passage openings or pins. Likewise, the plates 17 forming a spacer can be provided with means

  of mutual assembly so as to form a spacer of greater thickness.

  For example, as illustrated in FIG. 2, a single plate 17 extends over the entire length of the utensil 1 penetrating simultaneously into the four chutes 3.1 to 3.4. In such a case, the plate 17 includes notches allowing the

  penetration of the vertical or substantially vertical walls 4.2 and 4.3 of the chutes.

  The plate 17 forming a spacer in FIG. 2 allows rapid adaptation to a cooking utensil and easy removal when the use of the spacer is no longer desired. However, the plate 17 in Figure 1 does not allow

  to individually adjust the volume of each chute.

  It is understood that the present invention is not limited to containers extending over the entire length of the troughs. In the example illustrated in FIGS. 3 to 5, the industrial cooking utensil according to the present invention comprises three transverse partitions 19 extending over the entire width of the utensil 1 parallel to the walls 5 and divide each chute into four containers of equal volumes. The partitions 19 also participate in the rigidity of the utensil 1 according to the present invention. It is understood that one can vary the number and the arrangement of

  partitions 19 without departing from the scope of the present invention.

  As can be seen in FIG. 5, the utensil 1 is intended for cooking half-moon hams. However, it is understood that partitions 19 can be

  implemented with rectangular section trunking.

  In the example illustrated, a spacer 17 is placed astride the first and the last partition 19, which makes it possible, with only two spacers, to uniformly reduce the length of the sixteen containers formed by the three partitions

  19 in the four chutes 3.1 to 3.4.

  In FIG. 6, one can see a plate 21 which allows, after folding and assembly, in particular by welding with a similar plate, to form a spacer 17 illustrated in FIG. 8. The plate 21 includes recesses 23 making it possible to overlap the walls 4.2 and 4.3 of the trunking. The side of the plate 21 opposite to that carrying the recesses 23 is provided with alternating studs or projecting elements 25 and recesses or grooves 27. Each groove 27 is divided in two in its middle by a stud or projecting elements 29 of bigger

  height. The two ends of the plate 21 are provided with fins 31.

  During the forming of the plate 21 making it possible to obtain a half-spacer 17 as illustrated in FIG. 7, the lower part of the plate 21 is folded so as to form a bearing 33 parallel to the bottoms of the troughs. One end 34 of the bearing surface 33 bears on a receiving wall, in particular on a partition 19, the bearing surface 33 being orthogonal to a main face 35 of the spacer. Advantageously, the scope

  33 is supported on the bottom 4.1 of a chute.

  An upper part 37 of the plate 21 is folded a first time, at right angles to the main face, which therefore happens to be parallel to the bearing surface 33, then the studs 25 are folded at right angles. The projecting elements 29 are folded back at an acute angle with respect to the part 37, leaving with respect to the face of the projecting elements 25 opposite to the main face 35 a space substantially equal to half the thickness of the receiving plate on which the spacer 17 must

  be mounted, in particular of the thickness of the plate 19. The fins 31 are folded down.

  The plates as illustrated in FIG. 7 are assembled two by two by welding the projecting elements 25 opposite. The projecting elements 29 facing each other form a guide ramp facilitating the positioning of the spacer 17 on a

partition 19.

  An opening 32 ensures the passage of locking elements, in particular a pin 34, an example of which is illustrated in FIG. 10. Similar openings bearing the reference 36 in FIG. 5 are made in the walls 5 and the partitions 19. The the spacers 17 are put in place as follows. There is a spacer 17 above a plate 19 and it is pushed in so that this plate 19 passes between the ends of the bearing surfaces 33 then is guided by the projecting elements 29. Advantageously, the bearing surface 33 rests on the bottom 4.1 of the chutes. The same operation is carried out for all the spacers 17 which it is desired to have in all the utensils according to the present invention. Then a spindle 34 is passed through all the openings 32 and 36 to ensure the locking in place of the spacers which do not risk accidentally detaching from the utensil 1,

  especially when emptying cooked hams by turning the utensil 1.

  It is understood that the present invention is not limited to the implementation of the exemplary embodiment of the spacers 17 illustrated in FIG. 8. An alternative embodiment of spacers according to the present invention illustrated in FIG. 11 comprises a solid spacer is produced for example by molding or by extrusion optionally followed by machining to produce recesses 23 allowing its

  installation straddling a plurality of chutes (not visible in Figure 11).

  The spacer 17 has a longitudinal central groove 39 allowing it to be threaded i0 onto a partition 19. Advantageously, a circular opening 32 makes it possible to receive a means for locking the spacer 17 on a utensil 1 according to the present invention. The spacer 17 in FIG. 11 makes it possible to reduce the space available on the two sides of a wall, in particular a partition. It may be advantageous, to more finely adjust the length of the various hams to be manufactured, to have spacers capable of being placed only on a main face of a wall. An example of such a spacer is illustrated in FIG. 12. Such a spacer comprises a plate adapted to the housing capable of receiving it, for example a rectangular plate, possibly with notches allowing it to be mounted astride a plurality of chutes . As a variant, the spacer plate 17 may have rounded edges 41 indicated by dotted lines in the figure in order to be able to be arranged transversely in a chute for half-moon hams. The spacer 17 comprises means for fixing to a wall, for example lugs 43 advantageously provided with locking means adapted to the utensil. The locking means comprise for example openings 32 capable of receiving pins or locking pins or the like. The legs 43 are advantageously made of a metal, for example stainless steel. They can form elastic return springs resting on the fixing wall and are advantageously provided with locking means such as openings 32 capable of receiving a locking pin or penetrating lugs in

  openings in the wall on which the spacer is intended to be fixed.

  It is understood that the present invention is not limited to adapting the length of food, in particular hams. On the contrary, it extends to the adaptation of the width, as for example illustrated in FIG. 13, in which a first spacer 17 according to the present invention is arranged astride the edges of the troughs 3.1 and 3.2 as well as on the edges of trunking 3.3 and 3.4. In Figure 14, we can see a spacer 17 adapted to reduce the width of the troughs having a substantially rectangular section. The spacer has a general inverted U shape, the base of which is provided with a bearing surface 33 for bearing on the walls of the troughs so as to avoid it being crushed by the hams. Advantageously, the end 34 of the bearing surfaces 33 directed towards the walls of the troughs is folded at right angles so as to

  increase the support surface on its walls.

  In FIG. 15, one can see an exemplary embodiment of a spacer 17 according to the present invention adapted to the profile of the half-moon hams. This spacer also has an inverted U shape, the base 47 of which has a roundness similar to the rounding 49 of the troughs. Advantageously, a bearing surface 51 is disposed on the face of the spacer directed towards the wall 4. 1, 4.2 of troughs so as to prevent the forces exerted by the ham from deforming the spacer and encroaching on the volume which it

must occupy in the chutes.

  The spacer 17 of Figures 14 and 15 are adapted to the shape of the utensil 1 according to the present invention. If this utensil is provided with transverse partitions making it possible to divide each chute into a plurality of receptacles for receiving hams, the spacer has corresponding notches allowing

  advantageously its mounting over the entire length of the trunking.

  The spacers illustrated in FIGS. 16 to 19 allow the cooking of half-moon ham in utensils provided with chutes with rectangular section. The spacers 17 in FIGS. 16 and 17 are housed along the edges of the troughs 3.1 to 3.4, that is to say at the level of the intersection of the bottom 4.1 with the vertical or substantially vertical face 4.2 or 4.3. The spacer 17 illustrated has two orthogonal faces 53 connected by a rounded face 55 whose radius of curvature or profile

  corresponds to the radius of curvature or the profile that we want to give to the half ham

  Moon. The spacers 17 in FIGS. 16 and 17 can have the length of the troughs that they are supposed to equip. In this case, if necessary, they may include cutouts corresponding to the possible presence of the partitions 19. Alternatively, spacers 17 may be used having a length corresponding to the length of a container, that is to say tell the distance between two successive partitions 19. It should be noted that two identical spacers can be used in the same chute by

orienting correctly.

  The spacer 17 of FIG. 16 is a solid part produced for example by molding or by extrusion possibly supplemented by machining. This spacer is advantageously made of plastic material such as for example

food polyethylene.

  It] 2788199 The example illustrated in FIG. 17 corresponds on the contrary to a hollow profile corresponding substantially to the envelope of the profile of FIG. 16 produced by extrusion of metal, or by bending of sheet metal possibly followed by assembly

  especially by welding of folded sheets.

  In Figure 18, we can see a spacer 17 which is intended to be placed at the bottom of a chute. Thus this spacer comprises a bottom 57 intended to be applied to a bottom 4.1 of a trough 3.1 to 3.4, the bottom 57 having a width substantially equal to or slightly less than the internal width of the troughs and two faces 59 parallel to one another and orthogonal at the bottom 57 intended to bear on the walls 4.2 and 4.3 of a chute. A face 61 opposite the faces 57 and 59 has the shape that the curvature gives to a ham and in particular a substantially flat bottom and rounded 55 providing the transition between the flat bottom and the substantially vertical walls 4.2 and 4.3 of the chutes. The spacer 17 in FIG. 18 is produced by the same technologies

than the spacer 17 in Figure 16.

  Alternatively, a spacer 17 according to the present invention may comprise a piece of metal sheet or the like, covering the bottom 4.1 and at least part of the walls 4.2 and 4.3 with at least one chute. In the example illustrated in FIG. 19, a first end of a spacer plate 17 is hung on an external rim 63 of the chute 3. 1 on the walls 4.2, the bottoms 4.1 and the walls 4.3 of the chutes 3.1 to 3.4, except at the edges where it has a rounded 55 allowing to mold a half-moon ham. The second end of the plate of the spacer 17 is hung on a flange 63 of the chute 3.4. Advantageously, the spacer 17 in FIG. 19 has openings at the level of the chimneys 11 between successive troughs so as to facilitate the circulation of the heat spreading fluid. It is understood that the spacers 17 of FIGS. 16 to 19 can

  include locking means not shown.

  The spacer 17 in FIG. 19 can have a length substantially equal to the length of the trunking or, on the contrary, have a width limited to the space available between two consecutive partitions 19 or between a wall 5 and the consecutive partition 19.

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  It is understood that the present invention is not limited to the use of cooking utensils comprising containers in the form of chutes but applies to all industrial cooking containers of hams, of the honeycomb type or

individual mold, or the like.

  The present invention is particularly applicable to the food industry.

  The present invention applies mainly to the cooking of hams.

Claims (11)

  1. Removable spacer for cooking utensil characterized in that it comprises a first face capable of bearing on a wall (4. 1, 4.2, 4.3,, 7, 19) of a receptacle for receiving a food to to cook and a second side capable of resting on the food to be cooked so as to temporarily reduce the volume available for the food in at least one receptacle for receiving food to cook cooking utensil (1) to give a shape desired to   the food and avoid deformation or expansion of this food during cooking.   2. Spacer according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises means (29, 33, 43) for fixing on the wall (4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 5, 17, 19) of a container for the cooking utensil (1).   3. A spacer according to claim 2, characterized in that it comprises   locking means (32, 36) in place in the cooking utensil.   4. A spacer according to any one of the preceding claims,   characterized in that it has a recess (39) allowing it to be mounted on a wall or a partition so that it is arranged simultaneously in two adjacent containers.   5. A spacer according to any one of the preceding claims,   characterized in that it comprises means (29) for guiding when it is put in place,   from the free end of the wall on which it straddles.   6. A spacer according to any one of the preceding claims,   characterized in that it is made of folded and welded stainless steel sheet.   7. Industrial cooking utensil for food, in particular hams, characterized in that it comprises a spacer (17) according to any one of previous claims.   8. Utensil according to claim 7, characterized in that the spacer (17) is arranged transversely along the entire length of one of the walls (4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 5, 7, 19) of the utensil.   9. Utensil according to claim 7 and 8, characterized in that it comprises cutouts (23) allowing to overlap the walls arranged substantially   orthogonally to the spacer.   10. Utensil according to claim 7, 8 or 9, characterized in that it comprises a plurality of chutes (3.1 to 3.4) parallel for receiving the food to be cooked. 11. A method of cooking hams comprising the steps consisting in placing in a cooking utensil at least one spacer according to any one   of claims 1 to 6, so as to decrease the volume available in at least   one of the cooking utensil containers (1); - Place in the container, the volume of which is reduced by the spacer (17), a ham, the volume of which corresponds to the volume available once the spacer (17) is in place; - stack the cooking utensils (1) garnished with the hams; place the stack of cooking utensils (1) in a cooking cell; - supplying the cooking cell with heat spreading fluid brought to the cooking temperature for a cooking time of the ham; remove the cooking utensils from the cooking cell; and - unmold cooked hams.