Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Processes – Preparation of product which is dry in final form
Patent
1993-05-11
1994-12-27
Scherbel, David A.
Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products
Processes
Preparation of product which is dry in final form
99349, 99372, 99439, 993234, 426523, 425261, A23L 100, A47J 3700
Patent
active
053763955
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a cooking machine particularly useful for cooking rice cakes, sometimes known as rice wafers, although any suitable product could be cooked using the machine and method according to the invention. The rice cakes are preferably a puffed rice crispbread type product. The invention also relates to a pnematic device suitable for use in such a cooking machine.
Known in the prior art, for example from U.S. Pat. No. 4,328,741, is an automatic machine for making rice cakes which includes a generally cylindrical shaped mould consisting of three components. The three components are a generally cylindrical continuous side wail with open ends, the open ends being occupied by respective reciprocally movable end walls which closely fit within the cylindrical wall. Heating elements are included and used so as to control the temperature within a predetermined operating range. An uncooked rice mixture is introduced into the mould and crushed before cooking. After a predetermined cooking period, the rice cake is allowed to expand as only the top end wall is withdrawn and then the cooked rice cake is ejected.
Although the above-described apparatus works reasonably well, it has been found that there is room for improvement as the rice cakes produced in the machine are not as consistent in quality as is desired.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a cooking machine which will substantially ameliorate some of the disadvantages of prior art rice cake making machines.
Accordingly, in one broad form, the present invention provides a cooking machine comprising a mould with first and second similarly shaped end walls and a generally surrounding, continuous side wall, the three walls together defining an internal moulding volume, the three walls being reciprocally movable relative to one another; heating means in at least one wall or in thermal contact therewith; and control means at least controlling relative movement of the walls so that at the end of a predetermined cooking cycle the end walls and the side wall are relatively separated simultaneously.
In a one preferred embodiment, the two end walls are simultaneously retracted from the side wall so as to open the moulding volume from both ends simultaneously. In a second embodiment, one of the end wall is retracted relative to the other end wall and the side wall is also retracted relative to the other end wall, but more slowly than the first end wall so that the moulding volume is opened from both ends simultaneously.
In another aspect the invention may broadly be said to provide a method of cooking comprising: introducing a cookable mixture into a moulding volume having opposed ends; confining the volume of the moulding volume; introducing heat for a predetermined cooking cycle; allowing expansion of the moulding volume for a short predetermined period; and thence opening the moulding volume adjacent each end simultaneously and extracting the cooked article.
In the above-described machine it is preferred that the end walls include the heating elements.
In the above-described method, especially In the case of cooking rice cakes, it is preferred that immediately after the introduction of the cookable mixture, end walls of the moulding volume are pressured together so as to evenly crush the cookable mixture in a heated state so as to fuse together the individual components.
The expansion of the moulding volume after the cooking cycle is also preferably obtained by quick separation of end walls. In this separation the two end walls are completely removed from the moulding volume and then one end wall is positioned so as to allow easy removal of the cooked product.
In a further aspect, the invention provides a pneumatic device for moving an element using either a large or a small pneumatic force comprising a large cylinder defining a large air volume having a large piston therein and a small cylinder defining a small air volume having a small piston therein. The small a
REFERENCES:
patent: 3005402 (1961-10-01), Starger et al.
patent: 3776124 (1973-12-01), Morley
patent: 4281593 (1981-08-01), Gevaert
patent: 4328741 (1982-05-01), Yoshikazu
patent: 4586896 (1986-05-01), Smith
patent: 4667588 (1987-05-01), Hayashi
patent: 5102677 (1992-04-01), Van Den Berghe
Supplementary Partial European Search Report, Annex and Sheet B to the Supplementary Partial European Search Report.
Alexander Reginald L.
Real Foods Pty Ltd
Scherbel David A.
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