Classifications

• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A23—FOODS OR FOODSTUFFS; TREATMENT THEREOF, NOT COVERED BY OTHER CLASSES
  • A23B—PRESERVATION OF FOODS, FOODSTUFFS OR NON-ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES; CHEMICAL RIPENING OF FRUIT OR VEGETABLES
  • A23B7/00—Preservation of fruit or vegetables; Chemical ripening of fruit or vegetables
  • A23B7/06—Blanching
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A23—FOODS OR FOODSTUFFS; TREATMENT THEREOF, NOT COVERED BY OTHER CLASSES
  • A23B—PRESERVATION OF FOODS, FOODSTUFFS OR NON-ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES; CHEMICAL RIPENING OF FRUIT OR VEGETABLES
  • A23B2/00—Preservation of foods or foodstuffs, in general
  • A23B2/40—Preservation of foods or foodstuffs, in general by heating loose unpacked materials
  • A23B2/42—Preservation of foods or foodstuffs, in general by heating loose unpacked materials while they are progressively transported through the apparatus
  • A23B2/425—Preservation of foods or foodstuffs, in general by heating loose unpacked materials while they are progressively transported through the apparatus in solid state
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A23—FOODS OR FOODSTUFFS; TREATMENT THEREOF, NOT COVERED BY OTHER CLASSES
  • A23B—PRESERVATION OF FOODS, FOODSTUFFS OR NON-ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES; CHEMICAL RIPENING OF FRUIT OR VEGETABLES
  • A23B2/00—Preservation of foods or foodstuffs, in general
  • A23B2/90—Preservation of foods or foodstuffs, in general by drying or kilning; Subsequent reconstitution
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A23—FOODS OR FOODSTUFFS; TREATMENT THEREOF, NOT COVERED BY OTHER CLASSES
  • A23B—PRESERVATION OF FOODS, FOODSTUFFS OR NON-ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES; CHEMICAL RIPENING OF FRUIT OR VEGETABLES
  • A23B7/00—Preservation of fruit or vegetables; Chemical ripening of fruit or vegetables
  • A23B7/005—Preserving by heating
  • A23B7/0053—Preserving by heating by direct or indirect contact with heating gases or liquids
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A23—FOODS OR FOODSTUFFS; TREATMENT THEREOF, NOT COVERED BY OTHER CLASSES
  • A23B—PRESERVATION OF FOODS, FOODSTUFFS OR NON-ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES; CHEMICAL RIPENING OF FRUIT OR VEGETABLES
  • A23B7/00—Preservation of fruit or vegetables; Chemical ripening of fruit or vegetables
  • A23B7/02—Dehydrating; Subsequent reconstitution
  • A23B7/0205—Dehydrating; Subsequent reconstitution by contact of the material with fluids, e.g. drying gas or extracting liquids
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A23—FOODS OR FOODSTUFFS; TREATMENT THEREOF, NOT COVERED BY OTHER CLASSES
  • A23B—PRESERVATION OF FOODS, FOODSTUFFS OR NON-ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES; CHEMICAL RIPENING OF FRUIT OR VEGETABLES
  • A23B7/00—Preservation of fruit or vegetables; Chemical ripening of fruit or vegetables
  • A23B7/02—Dehydrating; Subsequent reconstitution
  • A23B7/0215—Post-treatment of dried fruits or vegetables
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A23—FOODS OR FOODSTUFFS; TREATMENT THEREOF, NOT COVERED BY OTHER CLASSES
  • A23B—PRESERVATION OF FOODS, FOODSTUFFS OR NON-ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES; CHEMICAL RIPENING OF FRUIT OR VEGETABLES
  • A23B7/00—Preservation of fruit or vegetables; Chemical ripening of fruit or vegetables
  • A23B7/02—Dehydrating; Subsequent reconstitution
  • A23B7/03—Drying raw potatoes
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A23—FOODS OR FOODSTUFFS; TREATMENT THEREOF, NOT COVERED BY OTHER CLASSES
  • A23L—FOODS, FOODSTUFFS OR NON-ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; PREPARATION OR TREATMENT THEREOF
  • A23L19/00—Products from fruits or vegetables; Preparation or treatment thereof
  • A23L19/03—Products from fruits or vegetables; Preparation or treatment thereof consisting of whole pieces or fragments without mashing the original pieces
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A23—FOODS OR FOODSTUFFS; TREATMENT THEREOF, NOT COVERED BY OTHER CLASSES
  • A23L—FOODS, FOODSTUFFS OR NON-ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; PREPARATION OR TREATMENT THEREOF
  • A23L19/00—Products from fruits or vegetables; Preparation or treatment thereof
  • A23L19/10—Products from fruits or vegetables; Preparation or treatment thereof of tuberous or like starch containing root crops
  • A23L19/12—Products from fruits or vegetables; Preparation or treatment thereof of tuberous or like starch containing root crops of potatoes
  • A23L19/18—Roasted or fried products, e.g. snacks or chips
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A23—FOODS OR FOODSTUFFS; TREATMENT THEREOF, NOT COVERED BY OTHER CLASSES
  • A23L—FOODS, FOODSTUFFS OR NON-ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; PREPARATION OR TREATMENT THEREOF
  • A23L5/00—Preparation or treatment of foods or foodstuffs, in general; Food or foodstuffs obtained thereby; Materials therefor
  • A23L5/10—General methods of cooking foods, e.g. by roasting or frying
  • A23L5/11—General methods of cooking foods, e.g. by roasting or frying using oil
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A23—FOODS OR FOODSTUFFS; TREATMENT THEREOF, NOT COVERED BY OTHER CLASSES
  • A23L—FOODS, FOODSTUFFS OR NON-ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; PREPARATION OR TREATMENT THEREOF
  • A23L5/00—Preparation or treatment of foods or foodstuffs, in general; Food or foodstuffs obtained thereby; Materials therefor
  • A23L5/10—General methods of cooking foods, e.g. by roasting or frying
  • A23L5/13—General methods of cooking foods, e.g. by roasting or frying using water or steam
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A23—FOODS OR FOODSTUFFS; TREATMENT THEREOF, NOT COVERED BY OTHER CLASSES
  • A23L—FOODS, FOODSTUFFS OR NON-ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; PREPARATION OR TREATMENT THEREOF
  • A23L5/00—Preparation or treatment of foods or foodstuffs, in general; Food or foodstuffs obtained thereby; Materials therefor
  • A23L5/10—General methods of cooking foods, e.g. by roasting or frying
  • A23L5/15—General methods of cooking foods, e.g. by roasting or frying using wave energy, irradiation, electrical means or magnetic fields, e.g. oven cooking or roasting using radiant dry heat
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A23—FOODS OR FOODSTUFFS; TREATMENT THEREOF, NOT COVERED BY OTHER CLASSES
  • A23L—FOODS, FOODSTUFFS OR NON-ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; PREPARATION OR TREATMENT THEREOF
  • A23L5/00—Preparation or treatment of foods or foodstuffs, in general; Food or foodstuffs obtained thereby; Materials therefor
  • A23L5/10—General methods of cooking foods, e.g. by roasting or frying
  • A23L5/17—General methods of cooking foods, e.g. by roasting or frying in a gaseous atmosphere with forced air or gas circulation, in vacuum or under pressure
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A23—FOODS OR FOODSTUFFS; TREATMENT THEREOF, NOT COVERED BY OTHER CLASSES
  • A23L—FOODS, FOODSTUFFS OR NON-ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; PREPARATION OR TREATMENT THEREOF
  • A23L7/00—Cereal-derived products; Malt products; Preparation or treatment thereof
  • A23L7/10—Cereal-derived products
  • A23L7/117—Flakes or other shapes of ready-to-eat type; Semi-finished or partly-finished products therefor
  • A23L7/13—Snacks or the like obtained by oil frying of a formed cereal dough
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
  • A47J—KITCHEN EQUIPMENT; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; APPARATUS FOR MAKING BEVERAGES
  • A47J37/00—Baking; Roasting; Grilling; Frying
  • A47J37/12—Deep fat fryers, e.g. for frying fish or chips
  • A47J37/1214—Deep fat fryers, e.g. for frying fish or chips the food being transported through an oil-bath

Definitions

• the method may include a step of blanching the thin food pieces prior to drying them, e.g. by blanching them in a confined space while substantially retaining their moisture within the space, by retaining them between two sheets while exposing them to heat (e.g. generally impervious sheets), and/or by supporting them on a perforated sheet while blanching them and transferring them from the perforated sheet by applying an air stream.
• a step of blanching the thin food pieces prior to drying them e.g. by blanching them in a confined space while substantially retaining their moisture within the space, by retaining them between two sheets while exposing them to heat (e.g. generally impervious sheets), and/or by supporting them on a perforated sheet while blanching them and transferring them from the perforated sheet by applying an air stream.
• the method may include storing the thin food pieces for an extended period, after the step of drying them and before the step of exposing the thin food pieces to heat, under vacuum
• a vacuum fryer comprising:
• Figure 3 shows a plan view of components numbers 20 to 36 of Figure 1 ;
• Figure 4 shows a detail plan view of the area marked 43 in Figure 2;
• Manual quality control 15 ensures that there are no slices with double layers and quality control at this point will ensure that there are no contaminated or rotten particles beyond this point.
• the vibrating table conveyor 14 feeds the loading area of a blanching belt 16 that leads into a blancher-dryer 17.
• a storage temperature of 5-30 °C could be suitable. If the product contains no preservatives, the product should preferably be stored at 0-12°C until further processing. Lower temperatures in the range of 2-4°C are preferred.
• a scraper 173 ensures that no product 65 continues beyond this point along the belt 57. At the outside at the loser edge of the belt 68, there may need to be a supporting pulley 190 to nip the belt around the knife edge roller 172, yet ensure that the belt remains limp around the drive 59.
• Figure 7
• a spray mechanism 76 is provided which can be applied to moisten the vegetables if they are fairly old and dry (such as aged butternut, rubbery parsnips and honeycombed butternut).
• the hopper 92 in the vacuum chamber 109 prevents the material from entering all at once.
• the product enters through an opening 93 of the hopper that is conveyed on the belt 88 by means of friction and moves towards a rotary brush 94 (or multiple configurations thereof) above the conveyor belt 88 that controls the amount of product 103 passing through towards the
• a prison 96 is situated at the entrance and exit to the microwave section with the continuous conveyor belt 88 moving through the microwave ovens 97.
• the product 1 10 enters the microwave unit 108 it undergoes a cooking process and exits the microwave unit at 1 1 1 continuing through the prison 96 towards the drop-off point 101 onto a discharge belt 98.
• the product is then accumulated 104 to a suitable level for discharge into the drop off point 99.
• An alternative embodiment of the invention can be incorporated as radio frequency as the mechanism for heat expansion under vacuum of the product.
• the hinges on the hinge belt 1 16 allow the product to rotate and bring the product slices into contact with the infra-red rays on a continuous basis.
• the infra-red unit 1 19 heats and cooks the product as the hinge tumbler 1 16 rotates the product, and as it rotates the individual product slices receive an even dosage of the infra-red heating 124.
• Figure 17 is also similar to Figure 13, but shows two belts 138 supplied with heat elements beneath them.
• the product falls from the top level belt onto the lower level before exiting the chamber.
• the belt has no flights. If the vacuum chamber is big enough, there could be belts on further levels. Some or all of these belts may have heat elements.
• the heating could be electrical plate heating or oil heating or other conventional means of heating.
• the inflow and outflow pipes can be detached at 142 and 143, allowing removal of the fryer from the vacuum chamber for cleaning and maintenance.
• the flight 159 of the exiting screw feed 150 has similar holes.
• the screw shaft 149 is supported at one end by a metal cap 184 suspended from a bracket 147.
• the other end of the shaft is held in place by fitting into a rotary lip seal 140 in a closure plate 185 at the end of the fryer 173.
• the lip seal prevents oil from leaking out of the fryer.
• the machine which drives the screw shaft has a shaft of its own which extends all the way through the sealing plate and clicks into the end of the screw shaft 141 when the sealing plate is closed.
• the rotary lip seal should preferably be made of Teflon.
• the seal 140 and cap 184 remain stationary while the shaft rotates.
• the shaft of the exiting screw feed 150 has similar (but not identical) support fittings, with 145 being similar to 184 (but not removable), and 189 being similar to 141 as it fits into its drive shaft 155. There is also a removable supporting ring 153 suspended from a bracket to hold the shaft in place.
• Figure 19B shows a detail end view of the fryer 173 in Figure 19A.
• a supporting frame179 which is welded onto the outside of the fryer.
• the supporting frame 179 assists in ensuring that the frying chamber does not distort when heated.
• the frame can also have wheels 180 on a rail 181 mounted onto the inner walls of the vacuum chamber 186. The wheels and rail facilitate ease of removal of the fryer from the vacuum chamber for cleaning and maintenance.
• Oil flow restrictor sleeve D To control the oil flow into the required area, sleeve D is used. This sleeve has a tight fit around the pipe and can be rotated and can be placed over an opening E or a portion of the opening as a restrictor or as a closing device thereby controlling the oil flow into the required area.
• FIG 22 shows the vacuum system for the vacuum fryer (with the other components shown in Figure 20 removed from this illustration for the sake of clarity).
• a compressor 216 is connected to a cooling element which is immersed in the water in a supply tank 224.
• a motorised paddle mixer 217 helps to circulate the water.
• the vegetable or fruit pieces could be sliced into various types of slices prior to processing. Examples are illustrated here.
• a raw fruit or vegetable slice is typically in the range of 0.8 mm to 12 mm thickness. The thickness should be standardised to ensure consistent product quality.
• 225 shows a cross-section of the shape of a neat raw vegetable or fruit slice prior to processing.
• 226a and 226b are slices of fruit or vegetable after blanching and drying (also shown in cross- section). The dark area indicates that the inside has more moisture than the outside.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Food Science & Technology (AREA)
• Polymers & Plastics (AREA)
• Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• Nutrition Science (AREA)
• Wood Science & Technology (AREA)
• Zoology (AREA)
• Chemical Kinetics & Catalysis (AREA)
• General Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Oil, Petroleum & Natural Gas (AREA)
• Preparation Of Fruits And Vegetables (AREA)
• General Preparation And Processing Of Foods (AREA)
• Confectionery (AREA)
• Frying-Pans Or Fryers (AREA)
• Freezing, Cooling And Drying Of Foods (AREA)

Priority Applications (8)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=47741195

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (8)

Cited By (4)

Families Citing this family (19)

Citations (7)

Family Cites Families (32)

• 2012
  • 2012-12-21 BR BR112014015403-1A patent/BR112014015403B1/pt not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2012-12-21 AU AU2012356034A patent/AU2012356034B2/en not_active Ceased
  • 2012-12-21 US US14/367,753 patent/US9510605B2/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2012-12-21 WO PCT/IB2012/057634 patent/WO2013093886A1/en not_active Ceased
  • 2012-12-21 JP JP2014548322A patent/JP6243348B2/ja not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2012-12-21 EP EP12824916.6A patent/EP2793666B1/en not_active Not-in-force
• 2014
  • 2014-07-21 ZA ZA2014/05350A patent/ZA201405350B/en unknown
  • 2014-07-22 IN IN6147DEN2014 patent/IN2014DN06147A/en unknown

Patent Citations (7)

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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