A cooked slice of a meat mass formed of a ground meat mixture and expanded pellets of cellular material provides a crispy, light meat snack product. In some embodiments, the pellets are rendered skin having a low pre-expansion moisture content. A method of making the meat snack product includes making a meat form by adding pellets of cellular material having a moisture content of less than 10% by weight to a ground meat mixture, batch cooking, chilling and slicing the meat form, and cooking the slices of the meat form to expand the pellets of cellular material to result in a crispy meat form slice.

A method for crystallizing aqueous carbohydrate-containing substances, comprising: purifying the aqueous substance containing carbohydrates; mixing said aqueous substance with a water-absorbing medium; distributing the above mixture in a layer on a high temperature resistant container; heating the mixture layer of the previous step in a microwave apparatus; cooling the mixture layer; re-heating and cooling the mixture layer until it reaches a humidity of 2 to 4%; spraying the crystallized mixture-layer, removing the water-absorbing medium from the crystals obtained; and recovering said crystals. A crystallized or granular product obtained by such a crystallization method.

A production line assembly for laser wall breaking of plant spores includes a material conveying module, a laser wall breaking module, and a stock solution recycling module which are successively connected by means of pipelines. The material conveying module is used for conveying a suspension liquid to be subjected to laser wall breaking to the laser wall breaking module; the laser wall breaking module is formed by a plurality of light energy receiving regions being successively connected along the conveying direction of the suspension liquid; each light energy receiving region comprises a laser, a light energy receiver, and an XY limiter; the suspension is circulated in the light energy receivers, and the lasers are in one-to-one correspondence with the light energy receivers and are used for performing laser wall breaking on the suspension liquid; the lasers are used for irradiating the light energy receivers horizontally or from top to bottom; and the light energy receivers are mounted on the XY limiters, and the XY limiters are used for adjusting the positions of the light energy receivers in X- axis and Y- axis directions.

The disclosed technology includes a food system that prepares food based on a user's preferences and environment (e.g., health and diet, tastes, availability of food, costs, location, and what is stored or available for the food preparation system). The food system can store, cool, serve, prepare, juice, recognize with an antenna array, cut, weigh, sanitize, or compost food. The food system can include a robotic arm or water jet for cutting a food item. The disclosed technology improves food consumption for users based on diet and observed behavior (e.g., tracking caloric intake and exercise).

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for controlling a cooking process of food. The method comprises a step of emitting (101) a plurality of radio frequency signals into the food non invasively. The method also comprises a step of receiving (105) a plurality of reflection signals or transmission signals of the radio frequency signals from the food, wherein the reflection signals is a part of the radio frequency signals that reflect from the food, and the transmission signals is a part of the radio frequency signals that transmit through the food. The method also comprises a step of obtaining (110) a protein status, wherein the protein status is the extent of protein denaturation, in the food in the course of heating the food based on the plurality of radio frequency signals and the plurality of reflection signals or transmission signals. The method also comprises a step of determining (120) a doneness level of the food based on the protein status, and a step of controlling (130) the cooking process of the food based on the determined doneness level. Using the protein denaturation provides a more direct and precise information of the status of food based on established relation between the doneness level and the protein denaturation extent.

A method for heat treating a packaged product includes providing a channel with a liquid disposed therein, the channel having a electrodes disposed in and spaced apart along a treatment portion of the channel, pressurizing the liquid in the treatment portion of the channel, transporting the packaged product, including a product disposed within a package, along the channel including transporting the packaged product through the treatment portion of the channel, heating the packaged product in the treatment portion of the channel including causing emission of radio frequency waves between the plurality of electrodes and into the treatment portion of the channel including forming an electrical field in the treatment portion of the channel, and shielding the electrical field in the treatment portion of the channel using a shield which forms a cavity around the treatment portion of the channel, the cavity being configured to substantially confine the electrical field.

The invention relates to a method (100) and apparatus for controlling the heating of food ingredients. The method comprises the step of measuring (110) the spectrum of energy absorption of the food ingredients in a given range of radio frequencies. The method also comprises the step of identifying (120), in said given range of radio frequencies, the radio frequency for which the food ingredients have the maximum energy absorption. The method also comprises the step of applying (130) an electrical field to the food ingredients, said electrical field having a radio frequency corresponding to said radio frequency for which the food ingredients have the maximum energy absorption. The step of measuring (110) comprises, for a plurality of selected radio frequencies in said given range of radio frequencies, the steps of: applying an electrical field on the food ingredients having a radio frequency corresponding to a given selected radio frequency in said plurality of selected radio frequencies; and, measuring the ratio between the energy of the radio frequency electrical field reflected or absorbed from the food ingredients, and the energy of the radio frequency electrical field applied to the food ingredients. The plurality of selected radio frequencies are selected from said given range of radio frequencies by the steps of: for each of said given range of radio frequencies, obtaining a penetration depth of an electrical field having a radio frequency corresponding to the given radio frequency into the food ingredients, and including the given radio frequency into the plurality of selected radio frequencies if the penetration depth of the electrical field having a radio frequency corresponding to the given radio frequency is equal to or larger than the thickness of the food ingredients in the direction of the electrical field applied to the food ingredients. This invention allows reducing the heating time of food ingredients.

A device for decontamination and detoxification by emitting light flashes rich in UV radiation, particularly UVC. The device includes: a flash lamp; a reflector, preferably placed behind the flash lamp, so as to reflect the light emitted by the lamp towards an output window; and a UV detector for measuring the UV radiation emitted by the lamp.

A method and an apparatus for heating a food product constituted of a sandwich or the like, before it is consumed, in which the food product 4 is enclosed between at least a first heating element 6 and a second heating element 7 facing each other, the first heating element 6 comprising a first plurality 8 of electrically conductive raised elements 9 protruding towards the second heating element 7, and the second heating element 7 comprising a second plurality 10 of electrically conductive raised elements 9 protruding towards the first heating element 6, and is radio frequency heated using the raised elements 9 as electrodes 11, 12.

The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a laver-like processed food using onions (Allium cepa L.), and more specifically, to a method of manufacturing a laver-like processed food using onions that has excellent texture and an improved flavor, wherein, according to the method of the present invention, after onions are molded into sheets and dried, the onion sheets are prevented from sticking to a laver mat for drying and being damaged when the onion sheets are separated from the laver mat, and in this way, a laver-like processed food that is thin and springy can be mass-produced without wasting raw ingredients.