Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Contacting food in liquid or solid state with exteriorly... – Applied material formed by combustion or is product of...
Reexamination Certificate
2000-02-23
2001-03-20
Cano, Milton (Department: 1761)
Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products
Contacting food in liquid or solid state with exteriorly...
Applied material formed by combustion or is product of...
C426S092000, C426S289000, C426S294000, C426S312000, C426S315000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06203834
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to processes and apparatuses for preparing smoked food items and to products produced by such apparatuses and methods. More particularly, but not by way of limitation, the present invention relates to processes and apparatuses for simultaneously cooking and smoking food items, and to smoked food products produced by such processes and apparatuses.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Meats, poultry, and other food items have typically been smoked in smokehouse-type systems. Smokehouse systems commonly involve batch-type operations wherein food items are placed in cages, or on racks, which are then placed in a smoking chamber. In the smoking chamber, smoke circulates down the sides and then up through the center of the chamber. The smoking process typically involves (1) a heat-up cycle wherein moisture is removed from the surfaces of the food items in order to prepare the items for smoking, followed by (2) a smoking cycle.
Smokehouse operations have many shortcomings. For example, batch-type smoking operations for poultry items commonly require five to seven hours or more. In addition to being inefficient, these slow smoking processes can sometimes impart an extremely dark color and/or an overpowering smoke flavor to the food items. Smokehouses commonly also do not provide desirably uniform temperature and smoke profiles. The existence of hot spots and low smoke points within the smoking chamber can cause substantial variations in the nature and quality of the products produced.
Some smokehouse operations have been modified to include means for pushing the smoking racks/cages through the smoking chamber or through a series of chambers wherein different phases of the smoking process are conducted. U.S. Pat. No. 4,976,009 discloses a smokehouse assembly including a sequence of processing chambers and a trolley assembly for carrying meat racks through the chambers. Each chamber includes an internal diffuser panel which is intended to provide improved air distribution within the chamber. A heat exchanger assembly is mounted in each chamber above a fan. The fan moves air downwardly from the heat exchanger, through the diffuser panel, and then over the meat items hanging on the rack.
Unfortunately, the use of a trolley-type system to push product racks or cages through sequential smoking chambers or zones does not resolve the problems mentioned above. Such smoking processes are still slow, still require a relatively high level of product handling, and are therefore costly and inefficient. Additionally, due to the length and nature of the smoking process, the products produced therefrom tend to be very dark in color and can have an overpowering smoke flavor. Further, non-uniform temperature and smoke profiles within the chambers can result in substantial variations in the nature and quality of the products produced.
Continuous fired ovens and continuous indirectly heated ovens are known in the art. To our knowledge, no one has heretofore used such continuous ovens for simultaneously cooking and smoking food items.
An indirect heated, continuous impingement oven
2
of a type known in the art is depicted in FIG.
1
. The oven comprises: a housing
4
including a base portion
6
and a liftable hood
8
; a belt-type conveyor
10
for continuously conveying food items through the oven; a circulation system
12
for circulating a cooking medium (preferably air) through the oven; at least one burner
14
or other heating device for indirectly heating the cooking medium; and impingement headers
15
positioned above and below conveyor
10
. Impingement headers
15
include a plurality of impingement nozzles, impingement orifices, and/or other such impingement structures
16
. As will be understood by those skilled in the art, impingement devices
16
are operable for applying the cooking medium to the food items in an impinging manner.
Circulation system
12
will typically include at least one fan or other type of blower
17
which draws (recirculates) the cooking medium
13
from oven chamber
18
into blower inlet
19
and then delivers the cooking medium through impingement structures
16
. Circulation system
12
will also typically include a heating element and/or heating chamber wherein burner
14
indirectly heats the cooking medium to a desired cooking temperature. Because the cooking medium is indirectly heated by burner
14
, the combustion product produced by burner
14
(i.e., flames and combustion gases) does not contact either the cooking medium or the food products.
If allowed to contact food items such as poultry, combustion gases can act as curing agents and impart a raw, pink color to the meat. The end user of the product could therefore mistakenly believe that the product is not thoroughly cooked. For this and other reasons, indirect- fired ovens are generally preferred over direct-fired ovens for at least certain types of cooking operations.
Impingement structures
16
are positioned above, below, and across the width of conveyor
10
to thereby completely envelope the food items in a high velocity cooking atmosphere. Thus, each food item is properly cooked, regardless of its position on conveyor
10
. Such uniformity minimizes overcooking and provides optimal yields. Conveyor
10
preferably utilizes a low density (highly porous) belt to ensure good air contact on the bottoms of the food items.
Continuous impingement oven
2
will also typically include: a steam system for humidifying the cooking atmosphere; systems for selecting and controlling temperatures, humidities and air velocities; means for adjusting nozzle height and conveyor height; a hoist for lifting oven hood
8
; and a sealing system (e.g., a water seal) for sealing the sides of oven
2
when hood
8
is lowered onto base
6
.
It is also typical that oven
2
be divided into a plurality of cooking zones and/or that a plurality of ovens
2
be operably linked together. When linked together in series, the ovens
2
will commonly employ a single conveyor
10
which extends through all of the ovens. A different set of cooking parameters can be employed in each individual zone and/or oven. In multizone systems, it is typical that a relatively high heat input be used in the first zone in order to bring the product up to cooking temperature. Less heat is needed in subsequent zones since the product need only be maintained at cooking temperature.
An indirect heated continuous spiral oven
22
of a type known in the art is depicted in FIG.
2
. Spiral oven
22
comprises: an oven housing
24
having a cooking chamber
25
; a spiral, belt-type conveyor system
26
for conveying food items through oven chamber
25
; a circulation system
28
for circulating a cooking medium (preferably air) through chamber
25
; and at least one burner or other heating device
30
. Circulation system
28
includes at least one fan or other type of blower
31
and has a blower inlet
32
. As with the heating device
14
used in impingement oven
2
, heating device
30
is preferably operable for indirectly heating the cooking medium so that none of the heating medium/combustion product produced by device
30
contacts either the cooking medium or the food items.
Circulation system
28
and heating device
30
operate in substantially the same manner as the circulation system
12
and heating device
14
of impingement oven
2
except that the spiral oven circulation system
28
typically does not include an impingement system. Rather, circulation system
28
delivers the heated cooking medium into cooking chamber
25
such that the cooking medium passively contacts and heats the food items conveyed on spiral conveyor
26
. Spiral conveyor
26
will typically employ a dense belt (i.e., a belt which is either nonporous or has a low porosity) such that, when circulating system
28
delivers the hot cooking medium to the top of spiral conveyor
26
, the cooking medium generally flows in a passive manner down the spiral belt (i.e., generally parallel to the belt) to the bottom of the oven.
Bec
Anders Gary H.
Bott, Jr. Joseph F.
Brown Dennis D.
Cano Milton
Fellers, Snider, Blankenship, Bailey & Tippens
Tyson Foods, Inc.
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