Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Processes – Storing solid material under controlled condition
Reexamination Certificate
1999-04-13
2002-03-19
Bhat, Nina (Department: 1761)
Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products
Processes
Storing solid material under controlled condition
C426S520000, C099S483000, C099S448000, C099S468000, C219S395000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06358548
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a device and method for storing cooked food portions at elevated temperatures and more particularly to a staging device for holding previously cooked food portions at elevated temperatures.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Quick service restaurants face a number of conflicting factors when striving to provide fast, palatable and safe food. First, the customers expect to receive their food quickly, with a minimum of delay and with predictable and constant high quality. Moreover, the rate of customer demand varies over time, with some periods, such as lunch and dinner times, having extremely high rates of customer demand. However, the kitchens of many quick service restaurants are of limited size and/or production capacity and thus necessarily have a limited number of food cooking devices.
Typical food products that are of most interest include sandwiches that are composed of a bun or other bakery cooked bread product and a sandwich filling that is cooked at the quick service restaurant. Typical sandwich fillings include hamburger patties, breaded fish fillets, Canadian bacon, pork sausage, eggs and breaded chicken patties, for example, as well as other products, such as chicken nuggets, biscuits, muffins and hotcakes. Consequently, the cooked food supply capacity of the restaurant is limited by the size and number of food cooking devices located at the restaurant.
To meet the competing factors of quick service and consistent high quality, it is advantageous for quick service restaurants to frequently cook a number of individual food sandwich filling portions which are then almost immediately incorporated into individual sandwiches and then wrapped and held ready in advance of actual customer orders in an open storage bin for a relatively short predetermined period of time. To insure constant high quality, if the items are not sold prior to the expiration of that time, the sandwiches are destroyed. Holding the previously cooked, prepared and wrapped sandwiches incorporating the previously cooked sandwich fillings is thus of limited utility.
Since some quick service restaurants sell very large quantities of food, even a small increase in the efficiency of handling cooked sandwich fillings and other food would be desirable.
A need exists for a device and method that acts as a buffer between the relatively fixed and limited capacity of the sandwich filling cooking step and the highly variable completed sandwich demand without any significant adverse impact on sandwich quality or food safety. In addition, a need also exists for a food staging device which promotes efficient food handling and use of space within the kitchen of the quick service restaurant.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with the present invention, an improved food staging device and method for holding previously cooked food items at elevated temperatures is provided.
The device is particularly adapted for storing over extended periods of time cooked sandwich fillings such as hamburger patties, fish fillets, Canadian bacon, pork sausage, eggs, chicken patties, chicken fillets, as well as other types of food, including biscuits, muffins and hotcakes. When used in combination with trays specifically configured for use in the staging device, the appearance, taste, and texture of the previously cooked food items is maintained over extended storage periods (such as about up to two hours or more depending on the type of food) without risk of bacterial contamination.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a method is provided for storing previously cooked food, that is especially suited for a plurality of individual portion sandwich fillings, over extended periods of time without any significant detrimental effect on the quality of the food, including the appearance, taste and texture and without risk of bacterial contamination.
The food staging device in accordance with the invention includes a cabinet containing a plurality of discrete compartments, each bounded by an upper heated compartment surface and a lower heated compartment surface. The upper and lower compartment surfaces are constructed from a material having a high thermal conductivity, preferably from anodized aluminum. The previously cooked food portions are held within the compartments until the food portions are sold or otherwise disposed of. The air currents throughout the cabinet, if any, are limited because each of the compartments is segregated from other compartments and has solid upper and lower surfaces as well as closed sidewalls and limited access doors, the combination of which limits air flow in the compartments. In addition, air currents within the compartments are limited because both the lower and upper surfaces of the compartments are heated, thereby minimizing regions of thermal gradients within the compartments.
The device also includes at least one inlet door on one side of the device for inserting the food portions into the compartments and one complementary outlet door on the opposite side of the device for removing therethrough food portions contained in the compartments. This pass-through configuration of the doors promotes an efficient use of space in the kitchen containing the device because, for example, the device can be positioned intermediate the food cooking area and the cooked food assembly area, thereby providing cooking and assembly restaurant personnel separate access to the device. One inlet and corresponding outlet door may be provided to service one, two or more compartments.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the device may include a plurality of opposed corresponding inlet and outlet doors such that each of the compartments has its own inlet and outlet door. In addition, the inlet and outlet doors preferably are vertically spaced apart from each other by a distance approximately equal to the thickness of the doors to enable the doors to open by swinging in a generally upward direction, without any further structure enclosing the cabinet interior in the area between adjacent doors from the exterior. Thus, there is provided a relatively narrow, elongated slot opening permitting limited air flow between the compartment of the device and the atmosphere. Typically, the slot height should be no more than about 0.25 inches. Using a separate inlet and outlet door for each compartment further limits air transfer between the interior of the device and the atmosphere, thereby limiting vapor transfer from the cooked food articles contained therein and further protecting the appearance, taste, and texture of the food portions. The inlet and outlet doors preferably are attached to the cabinet by pins located at the upper opposed edges of the doors, enabling the doors to open by swinging in a generally upward direction. If desired, no stops are provided for holding the doors open. Consequently, the doors automatically close by their own weight, thereby further minimizing air transfer and promoting a relatively constant temperature within the compartments. Alternatively, a stop may be provided for each door as desired to hold it in an open position.
In accordance with still another aspect of the invention, the device includes a plurality of trays for containing the food portions. One type of tray includes a sidewall having an upper edge and a lower edge, a closed bottom attached to the lower edge, and an open top defined by the upper edge. The trays have a height such that the top edges of the trays are a predetermined vertical distance, generally in the range of from 0 to 0.25 inches and most preferably about 0.16 inches, from the upper heated compartment surface when the trays are inserted into the compartments. The preferred gap for biscuits and hotcakes is about 0.125 inches. A typical tray height is in the range of from about one inch to about 2.5 inches. By limiting the space between the top edges of the trays and the upper compartment surface, evaporation of liquid from the cooked food portions is minimized, thereby maintaining the appearance, taste
Coffey Jimmie L.
Ewald Henry T.
Sus Gerald A.
Venetucci Patricia A.
Bhat Nina
Restaurant Technology, Inc.
Ryndak & Suri
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