Foods and beverages: apparatus – Cooking – Automatic control
Patent
1990-06-07
1993-03-16
Simone, Timothy F.
Foods and beverages: apparatus
Cooking
Automatic control
99331, 99353, 99404, 99405, 99407, A47J 3700, A47J 3712, A23L 101
Patent
active
051934400
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to processes and equipment for preparation and cooking of edible materials. The invention relates more particularly but not exclusively to processes and equipment for the automatic slicing and deep frying of vegetables, especially potatoes.
References hereafter to "potato crisps" are to be taken as referring to relatively thin slices (typically 1-2 millimeters) of potato which have been totally immersed in suitably hot oil or otherwise cooked for sufficient time to render them not only cooked throughout, but also crisp throughout. (For the avoidance of doubt, what are known as "potato crisps" in the United Kingdom are generally called "potato chips" in the USA; however, these latter should not be confused with so-called "French-fried potatoes" which are commonly called "chips" in the United Kingdom and have a much greater thickness than crisps, together with an approximately square cross-section in contrast to the sheet-like proportions of crisps).
At present, potato crisps are commercially manufactured in the United Kingdom on a large scale by what are essentially industrial processes that cannot be scaled-down for practical adaptation to domestic circumstances. An underlying consideration in the industrial production of potato crisps is the necessity of the product having good storage properties such that the crisps can be cheaply packaged, distributed normally, and have a long shelf-life in ambient indoor conditions without perceptible degradation for a reliable minimum period of weeks or months. This consideration necessitates that the product be substantially completely dehydrated. In turn, this requires both precooking and cooking procedures that are impracticable on a domestic scale.
Thus, industrial potato crisp manufacture places the following restrictions on material and processes:
(A) Potatoes must be selected for low free sugar content (typically less than 0.25 per cent) singe higher sugar contents cause crisps to discolour at the high temperature needed (see below) due to carmelisation, which also gives an undesirable burnt taste;
(B) Potatoes have to be stored at temperatures above 9 degrees Centigrade (48 degrees Fahrenheit) singe low temperatures encourage the formation of free sugar;
(C) Potato slices must be washed and dried between slicing and cooking to remove surface starch which otherwise would cause the crisps to tend to stick together during cooking;
(D) A typical commercially sliced potato has a raw slice thickness of about 1.55 millimeters which can result in a tendency to ballooning during cooking, in which opposite sides of localized areas of the slice separate due to steam bubbles forming between them; this diminishes the quality of the product; and
(E) Cooking is undertaken by immersing the potato slices for a period of about four minutes in oil at a temperature of at least 185 degrees Centigrade (365 degrees Fahrenheit); cooking time must be carefully controlled to achieve thorough dehydration without burning while the high temperature increases the risk of over-cooking/burning and in any event, the heat produces large quantities of malodorous hot oil vapour that would be unacceptable in a domestic environment.
In comparison to the rigorous industrial requirements, the domestic production of potato crisps should ideally meet the following criteria:
(1) Any type of potato that is ordinarily available to the domestic user should be capable of being used (and regardless of its storage conditions); i.e. free sugar content should be immaterial (with the possible limitation that slices of raw potato should be coherent and not disintegrate);
(2) Slicing should be mechanised to produce uniform slices without laborious and skilled handling of a knife;
(3) Washing and drying of potato slices should be eliminated as being particularly laborious and time-consuming if not performed by (necessarily complex) machinery;
(4) Cooking temperature should be reduced to minimise and preferably eliminate the risk of burni
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Gooding International Limited
Simone Timothy F.
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