An apparatus for accommodating a beverage includes an outer vessel defining a vessel cavity for receiving a cooling agent, a container having a lid and a beverage receptacle and a port. The lid is configured for engagement with the outer vessel to releasably mount the container to the outer vessel. The beverage receptacle defines a receptacle chamber for accommodating a liquid beverage for consumption by a user. The receptacle chamber is isolated from the vessel cavity. The beverage receptacle comprises a thermal conductive material and is at least partially disposed within the vessel cavity of the outer vessel when the container is mounted to the outer vessel whereby thermal energy is transferred from the cooling agent to the liquid beverage. The port defines a port opening in fluid communication with the receptacle chamber to permit distribution of the liquid beverage to the user. The outer vessel and mounted container may be positioned within a freezing apparatus to freeze the cooling agent, e.g., water about the beverage receptacle.

A blast cell system is disclosed that includes a plurality of bays that are spaced across the blast cell, arranged to hold items to be cooled, wherein each bay is separated from each other bay so as to prevent cross-flow of air from one bay to another bay; a plurality of louvers, each covering a different bay of the plurality of bays; one or more flow sensors, temperature sensors, or both positioned to sense conditions for each of the plurality of bays; and a controller programmed to modulate open-closed positions of each of the plurality of louvers separately from others of the plurality of louvers, so as to allow different volumes of cooling air to flow through each respective bay.

The insulated container having an internal support to separate ice, food, and drinks from melted ice water or liquids to prevent damage to the dry items. The dry items are placed on top of the flat upper surface of the removable support. The removable support may include apertures that allow melting ice water to drain past the top surface and through the apertures of the removable support.

A rocker chiller includes a chilling tank and a baffle assembly. The baffle assembly includes a drive shaft, a baffle blade extending along a bottom of the tank and a plurality of spaced-apart and elongate baffle members extending in a radial direction from the drive shaft towards the bottom of the tank. The elongate baffle members contact the drive shaft at spaced-apart locations along the drive shaft and define a plurality of openings therebetween. The elongate baffle members are sized and shaped to push at least a majority of the carcasses laterally through the heat exchanging liquid in a direction generally orthogonal to a lengthwise forward movement of the carcasses from the first end of the tank to the second end of the tank.

A method for preparing an infant food consumable by hand comprises grinding at least one frozen plant base to form grains with a grain size of less than one millimeter, mixing the ground at least one frozen plant base with a natural texturizing agent in a proportion between 2% and 30% by weight based on the final mass of the mixture, and oil and/or at least one aromatic compound in a proportion between 2% and 20% by weight based on the final mass of the mixture, dosing the mixture to prepare individual portions, cooking the individual portions thus prepared in moist heat, freezing the cooked individual portions, and packaging the frozen cooked individual portions.

A high efficiency airflow management system can be used to reliably and consistently draw air through palletized product stacks with a minimum of energy expenditure. A racking system is provided with a grid of pallet bays separated from an air plenum/chamber by a wall having an airflow opening for each pallet bays. An air seal is formed at the periphery of each opening by resiliently flexible side seals and a top seal to form a highly airtight interface between the pallet assembly and the adjacent airflow opening. When a pressure differential is developed between the chamber and the pallet bay, air is efficiently drawn substantially exclusively through the pallet assemblies with minimal leakage. The flexible sealing arrangement accommodates pallet assemblies with unevenly stacked rows of cases without significant loss of system efficiency.

A system for supercooling a product is provided, the system comprising: a chamber containing a supercooling medium; and disruptors that emit sound waves, ultrasound waves, and/or electromagnetic waves in the chamber; wherein during a cooling cycle the chamber reaches a cooling temperature below 0 C. and during a warming cycle the chamber reaches a warming temperature greater than the cooling temperature. The supercooling system may be used to supercool perishable products below freezing to extend shelf life and freshness of the products. Other embodiments of the supercooling system, and methods for its use, are described herein.

The insulated container having an internal support to separate ice, food, and drinks from melted ice water or liquids to prevent damage to the dry items. The dry items are placed on top of the flat upper surface of the removable support. The removable support may include apertures that allow melting ice water to drain past the top surface and through the apertures of the removable support.

Food preservation can include depositing dry ice and food within packaging. The packaging can include a flexible liner defining a wall aperture and an internal chamber. The internal chamber can receive the deposited dry ice and food and have an internal atmosphere. The packaging can include a check valve mounted to the flexible liner and covering the wall aperture. The check valve can be configured to occupy: (i) a closed state blocking fluid communication between the internal chamber and ambient via the wall aperture and (ii) an open state enabling fluid flow from the internal chamber, through the wall aperture, and into ambient.

A blast cell system is disclosed that includes a plurality of bays that are spaced across the blast cell, arranged to hold items to be cooled, wherein each bay is separated from each other bay so as to prevent cross-flow of air from one bay to another bay; a plurality of louvers, each covering a different bay of the plurality of bays; one or more flow sensors, temperature sensors, or both positioned to sense conditions for each of the plurality of bays; and a controller programmed to modulate open-closed positions of each of the plurality of louvers separately from others of the plurality of louvers, so as to allow different volumes of cooling air to flow through each respective bay.