Electric heating – Microwave heating – Cookware
Patent
1997-05-16
2000-10-24
Leung, Philip H.
Electric heating
Microwave heating
Cookware
219735, 426118, 426234, 99DIG14, H05B 680, B65D 8134
Patent
active
061370991
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to a package for use in heating a food product in a microwave oven.
The term "food product" is understood herein to cover any un-cooked and part-cooked food product that, in a cooked state, is intended to have a crisped and/or browned outer surface. In particular, the term "food product" is intended to cover, but is not limited to, foods encased in pastries, such as pies, pasties, and pizzas, and flash fried products, such as chips.
A long-standing problem of commercial and domestic microwave ovens is that the ovens are not able to "crisp" and/or "brown" the outer surface of food products of the type described in the preceding paragraph. This is a significant problem in both the convenience/fast food market sector and the retail market sector.
The use of "susceptor" materials (also known as "microwave interactive materials") has been proposed to solve the crisping and/or browning problem of microwave ovens.
The term "susceptor" material is understood herein to mean a material which is capable of absorbing microwave energy and releasing the energy in the form of heat energy.
A known susceptor material is metallised polyester. Typically, this material has an optical density of 0.24.+-.10%.
One particular susceptor material-based package is disclosed in Australian patent 635,667 entitled "A Container" in the name of Amcor Limited.
The package disclosed in the patent comprises a carton which is designed to store hygienically a food product, such as a pastie, prior to the food product being heated in a microwave oven. The package is also designed to cause the outer surface of the food product to crisp and/or brown as the food product is being heated in a microwave oven.
The package disclosed in the patent includes sheets of corrugated metallised polyester positioned on the inner surfaces of the top and bottom panels of the carton. The corrugated sheets are adhered to the panels with an adhesive which is selected to melt when the carton is exposed to heat in a microwave oven. This releases the upper corrugated sheet to drop onto and thereby come into close contact with the upper surface of the food product.
The patent describes that experimental work established that B flutes achieve the best crisping and/or browning results.
The patent also describes that flute heights of between 2.4 and 3.4 mm provide acceptable results. There is no detailed explanation given of the reason for the success of the corrugated sheets. The main disclosure on this issue is a sentence commencing at line 18 of page 7 which reads as follows: optimum distance from the microwave interactive layer but allows moisture or oil released from the food product to escape".
The crisping and/or browning performance of the package disclosed in the patent, whilst better than that obtained with other susceptor material-based packages known to the applicant, did not reach a level that was thought would be successful commercially. In addition, the cost of the carton is prohibitive, particularly for use in the retail market sector. Also, structurally, the carton is not suited to the retail market sector.
An object of the present invention is to provide a package for causing the outside surface of a food product to crisp and/or brown when the food product is heated in a microwave oven which alleviates the disadvantages of the known susceptor-based packages discussed above and in particular is viable commercially in the retail market sector.
According to one aspect of the present invention there is a provided a package for causing the outside surface of a food product to crisp and/or brown when the food product is heated in a microwave oven, the package comprising a corrugated sheet of a susceptor material that is adapted to be wrapped at least partially around the food product.
The extent to which it is necessary that the sheet be adapted to wrap around a food product is a function of a number of factors, such as the size, shape, and nature of the food product. In some instances, it is preferred that the sheet be adapted to
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Leung Philip H.
Pak Pacific Corporation Pty., Ltd.
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