A system and method utilizing a robotic arm to prepare a food product such as a meat for cooking and then subsequently assembling a sandwich from the cooked meat is disclosed. In addition, the robotic arm may also be used to wrap the assembled sandwich in a wrapper. The system may utilize a wire basket with a basket adapter, or handle, to allow the robotic arm to easily maneuver the basket and also utilize a wrapping assist device to wrap a wrapper around the assembled sandwich.

The present invention is an apparatus comprising a disposable frying oil filter and a filter securing element, and a method of using the same. The disposable filter is adapted to cover the sides and base of a fryer basket and allow oil to pass though at a substantially similar rate to a filterless fryer basket, while trapping virtually all small particles released from a cookable item. The filter securing device is preferably a frame attached to the fryer basket, and is adapted to hold the disposable filter in place and allow for easy replacement when the disposable filter becomes saturated with small particles.

Systems and methods are disclosed for cleaning a fryer using a washing element coupled to a bottom wall of a cooking chamber. An upper portion of the washing element extends above the bottom wall of the cooking chamber and includes a plurality of spray jet nozzles that are separated at predetermined angles relative to one another around a periphery of the upper portion of the washing element to orient the plurality of spray jet nozzles so as to spray a plurality of pressurized streams of the cooking medium to predetermined areas of the cooking chamber, including at least one corner of the cooking chamber. Also disclosed is a fryer that includes a spreader bar that maintains an electric heating coil in the serpentine pattern.

A fryer and method for cooking food products is provided that automates the movement of baskets carrying the food products. The fryer) includes a cooking chamber with a heating element located therein for heating cooking medium in the cooking chamber. The fryer also includes at least one vertical transport assembly that selectively engages with and moves the basket vertically into and out of the cooking medium. A horizontal transport assembly selectively engages with and moves the basket horizontally between different positions. The horizontal transport assembly hands off the basket to and from the vertical transport assembly, and first and second hooks on the horizontal transport assembly engage with front and rear receiving mechanisms on the basket to continuously maintain at least two points of contact with the basket. This allows for controlled pivotal movements of the basket when food products are to be added or removed from the basket.

A flume for supplying vegetable pieces in a supply of liquid, the flume extending between a flume inlet and a flume outlet, the flume comprising: a gulley section having an upstream inlet end at the flume inlet and a downstream outlet end, the gulley section having opposed sidewalls and a gulley floor therebetween, and a spreader section having opposed first and second lateral walls and a spreader floor therebetween, the spreader section having an upstream end connected to the downstream outlet end of the gulley section, the spreader section progressively increasing in width between the opposed first and second lateral walls in a downstream direction from the upstream end to a downstream end of the spreader section, wherein the opposed first and second lateral walls are each outwardly inclined away from a longitudinal axis of the spreader section by a respective angle ?? for the first lateral wall and ?? for the second lateral wall, in respective opposite directions, which extends from the upstream end of the spreader section to the downstream end of the spreader section, wherein the gulley section has a width of the gulley floor at the downstream outlet end of W1, the length of the spreader section between the upstream and downstream ends of the spreader section is N, and the dimensionless ratio N/W1 is within the range of from 2 to 15, and wherein the sum of ?? and ?? is from 10 to 25?.

A portable cooking oil distribution device for filling remote fryers with fresh cooking oil. In other embodiments the device can also collect used cooking oil from the fryer. In one embodiment, a portable device includes a fresh oil tank, a three-way valve connected by piping to the fresh oil tank, a pump connected by piping to the three-way valve, and a nozzle connected by piping to the pump, the nozzle having an outlet tube connected to the piping between the pump and the nozzle. The device may also include a used oil tank, a second three-way valve connected by piping to the used oil tank, a second pump connected by piping to the three-way valve, and piping connecting the second pump to the nozzle, where the nozzle includes a inlet tube connected to the piping between the pump and the nozzle.

An improved dispenser unit for dispensing bulk food items, including a cabinet having at least one hopper having a drum with product compartments, a deflector and flexible gate valve, a dispense assembly, and a control system. The dispense assembly may or may not include one or more belts and/or sensors. The product compartments include flexible and/or elastic membranes, which dynamically change the effective product storage volume within a compartment, and eliminate rigid or semi-rigid pinch points between the drum and drum compartment. A product flow divider may be positioned above the receiving container in the dispense assembly, said divider configured to cause the dispensed product to divide into two or more flow streams into the receiving container. The receiving container may be vibrated or oscillated.

A system for measuring the state of degradation of cooking oil or fat includes at least one fryer pot. A conduit is fluidly connected to the fryer pot for transporting cooking oil from the fryer pot and returning the cooking oil back to the fryer pot. A pump is provided for re-circulating cooking oil to and from the fryer pot. A sensor is disposed in fluid communication with the conduit and measures an electrical property of the cooking oil as the cooking oil flows past the sensor and is returned to the at least one fryer pot.

A product dispenser, preferably for frozen food product, having a storage hopper, a rotatable drum having paddles on a periphery thereof located at a bottom of the storage hopper, and a drive motor connected to the rotatable drum. Rotation of the drum causes the product to be delivered to a weighing/dispensing assembly having a load cell and one or more dump doors on which product to be dispensed accumulates. A controller is configured to actuate the drive motor to rotate the rotatable drum in a first rotational direction at a start of a dispensing cycle, and to then actuate the drive motor to rotate the rotatable drum in a second rotational direction, opposite to the first rotational direction in a next dispensing cycle. Within a dispensing cycle, the controller can also monitor a drive motor current draw, and reverse the drive motor if a current limit is exceeded.

An improved dispenser unit for dispensing bulk food items, including a cabinet having at least one hopper having a drum with product compartments, a deflector and flexible gate valve, a dispense assembly, and a control system. The dispense assembly may or may not include one or more belts and/or sensors. The product compartments include flexible and/or elastic membranes, which dynamically change the effective product storage volume within a compartment, and eliminate rigid or semi-rigid pinch points between the drum and drum compartment. A product flow divider may be positioned above the receiving container in the dispense assembly, said divider configured to cause the dispensed product to divide into two or more flow streams into the receiving container. The receiving container may be vibrated or oscillated.