A food processing apparatus includes a tank defining an inner compartment having an inlet end for receiving food product and an outlet end for discharging food product, an open-top screen mounted within the compartment and positioned relative to the tank in a first position, and a rotatable auger mounted such that at least a portion of the auger is within the screen for advancing food product within the tank from the inlet end of the tank toward the outlet end.

An object of this invention is to provide a parboiled rice manufacturing apparatus capable of efficiently manufacturing good-quality parboiled rice without increasing the overall size of the apparatus. A parboiled rice manufacturing apparatus according to this invention includes a drum which has a raw material hatch provided at a peripheral surface and is disposed to be rotatable about a horizontal axis, a heating unit which is disposed inside the drum and heats an interior of the drum, an agitation unit which is disposed inside the drum and agitates a raw material charged through the raw material hatch into the drum, a steam supply unit which supplies steam into the drum, a pressure adjustment unit which has a valve allowing communication of the interior of the drum with outside air and allows increase of pressure inside the drum with steam supplied from the steam supply unit by closing the valve at the time of processing of the raw material through the pressurized steam-boiling treatment, a water addition unit which is disposed inside the drum and adds water to the raw material inside the drum, and a drying unit which dries the raw material by reducing the pressure inside the drum.

A method and system for producing potato chips with widely varying organoleptic characteristics is disclosed. Whole or sliced potatoes are subjected to pulsed electric field treatment. The potato slices are par-fried to an intermediate moisture content in a first immersion fryer using hot oil at a first temperature, and then finish fried to a final moisture content in a second immersion fryer at a second oil temperature.

Described herein are automated cooking apparatuses for storing and cooking food items as well as methods of operating such apparatuses. In some examples, an automated cooking apparatus comprises a storage unit, a delivery unit, and a cooking unit. The storage unit may be equipped with a refrigeration unit and a container delivery opening. The delivery unit is aligned with this opening and configured to load a set amount of the food items into each food compartment of the cooking unit. The cooking unit moves its food compartments through a cooking tank (e.g., filled with a cooking liquid and heated using a set of heating elements) and into a cooked food receiver. The storage unit or, more specifically, its uncooked food container unit is positioned proximate (e.g., within 200 millimeters) to the cooking tank thereby reducing the time for transporting the food items relative to the cooking time.

An automatic cooking system is provided to reduce and/or optimize the amount of cooking medium required to operate the fryer, while improving the temperature and flow characteristics of cooking medium in the fryer. To this end, the cooking vat of the system is designed with one or more heating elements and one or more lanes for flow of cooking medium and food products between inlet and outlet ends, with the heating elements defining a low profile and/or being mounted externally to the cooking vat to avoid impeding flow of the cooking medium. One example of such a heating element is a printed heating element that is coupled to or directly printed on the cooking vat. This arrangement reduces the total volume of retained cooking medium needed to flow and move food products along a length of the cooking vat during a cooking process.

Described herein are automated cooking apparatuses for storing and cooking food items as well as methods of operating such apparatuses. In some examples, an automated cooking apparatus comprises a storage unit, a delivery unit, and a cooking unit. The storage unit may be equipped with a refrigeration unit and a container delivery opening. The delivery unit is aligned with this opening and configured to load a set amount of the food items into each food compartment of the cooking unit. The cooking unit moves its food compartments through a cooking tank (e.g., filled with a cooking liquid and heated using a set of heating elements) and into a cooked food receiver. The storage unit or, more specifically, its uncooked food container unit is positioned proximate (e.g., within 200 millimeters) to the cooking tank thereby reducing the time for transporting the food items relative to the cooking time.

An oil receiving system includes a housing proximate to a vat and a fluid connection disposed in either the side wall or the bottom wall, the fluid connection vertically disposed below a top edge of the front wall and a system to remove the contents within the housing through the fluid connection. The housing is connected to a cooking vat by a transition between the outer edge of the vat and the front wall of the housing, the transition extends at an upwardly extending orientation from the outer edge of the vat to the front wall of the housing, wherein a conveyor extends along the transition, the conveyor has a first portion that moves along the transition from over the outer edge of the vat and toward and over the front wall of the housing, and a second portion that moves along the transition from over the front wall of the housing and toward and over the outer edge of the vat.

A continuous frying device is for carrying out a frying process for food products. The device includes a frying oil reservoir which can be filled with a volume of frying oil; a food product carrier which can at least partially be immersed in the frying oil in the frying oil reservoir and at least one heating unit having at least one heating element which is positioned at least partially inside the frying oil reservoir and which has a heating surface which is in contact with the frying oil in the frying oil reservoir during the frying process. The filter chain has a first filter inside the frying oil reservoir and an external filter chain. In operation a volume of at least three times the volume of frying oil contained in the frying oil reservoir passes through the external filter chain per hour.

A fryer for frying pizza includes a flying tank designed to contain cooking oil, immersion means and pushing means. The frying tank includes an input and an outlet. The input houses a first conveyor belt arranged to introduce a product in the tank. The outlet houses the first conveyor belt or a third conveyor belt to extract the product from the tank. The immersion means are arranged to regulate immersion of the product in the cooking oil during at least a portion of a relative path from the input to the outlet of the tank. The pushing means are configured for moving the product from the input to the outlet.

Processing apparatus, in which a product is fried in a frying oil, frying oil is pumped by a pump in a flow direction through a microwave chamber, the microwave chamber includes at least one solid-state radio frequency source, the frying oil is configured to flow out of the frying oil chamber towards the microwave chamber where the frying oil is heated and then the frying oil is configured to flow back into the microwave chamber, the flow direction of the of the frying oil in the frying oil chamber is the same as a flow direction of the product that is transported by the transport means, the processing apparatus includes a filter in the tube of the microwave chamber, and energy generated by the at least one solid-state radio frequency source to heat the frying oil depends on a desired temperature of the frying oil.