A continuous-belt baking system having a pair of upper rollers rotatably mounted in frame and spaced at a first distance, a pair of lower rollers rotatably mounted in frame and spaced at a second distance, a continuous thermally-conductive belt passing over the upper rollers, a continuous thermally conductive belt passing over the lower rollers, and two arrays of radiant heating elements. The radiant arrays include a first group of heating elements above a lower run of the upper belt between said upper rollers and a second opposing group of heating elements below an upper run of the bottom belt between the lower rollers. Each heating element may be separately controlled insofar as its ON/OFF state or in accordance with temperature, to provide more localized baking capabilities.

The present disclosure provides an apparatus for making edible containers which includes a hollow female mold for holding a flowable food product and a male mold insertable into the hollow female mold. The two molds when assembled define a gap of preselected thickness so that when assembled with the food product in the female mold, the gap is filled with the food product in the shape of the final edible container produced once the food product is cooked or baked. An alignment and positioning mechanism is provide that keeps the two mold sections aligned but allows them to move with respect to each other during heating so that when the food product expands, the two molds can move with respect to each other while still keeping the two mold sections aligned with each other so the final edible container keeps its same general shape before and after cooking.

There is disclosed a method of forming a biodegradable container, such as a cup, comprising a plurality of successive press forming operations, each press forming operation comprising relative movement between an outer die 202 and an inner punch 204 from an open configuration to a forming configuration to shape a dough 400 as it expands. There is also disclosed a corresponding forming apparatus and container.

There is disclosed a method of forming a biodegradable container, such as a cup, comprising a plurality of successive press forming operations, each press forming operation comprising relative movement between an outer die 202 and an inner punch 204 from an open configuration to a forming configuration to shape a dough 400 as it expands. There is also disclosed a corresponding forming apparatus and container.

A new and improved automated bun handling and toasting system and method are disclosed comprising a plurality of horizontally oriented bun storage tubes mounted upon a carousel, and an indexing system operatively connected to the carousel so as to rotate the carousel in a predetermined incremental manner and thereby dispose a particular one of the plurality of horizontally oriented bun storage tubes at a predetermined discharge position such that a bun can be discharged from the particular bun storage tube. The discharged bun has a vertical orientation, however, a bun separator separates the bun into its crown and heel bun segments which then attain horizontal orientations with the internal surface portions facing upwardly so as to pass through a toaster appliance so as to be toasted.

One variation of a method for preparing a foodstuff includes: loading a first batter into a first cook chamber; inserting a first core insert into the first cook chamber to form a first thin-shell cavity of a first geometry; heating the first chamber to cook the first batter into a brittle edible shell of the first geometry; loading a second batter into a second cook chamber; inserting a second core insert into the second cook chamber to form a second thin-shell cavity approximating the first geometry; heating the second chamber to cook the second batter into a soft edible shell approximating the first geometry; applying a binding promoter to the soft edible shell; nesting the soft edible shell inside of the brittle edible shell to form a multilayer edible carrier; and loading a set of fillings into the multilayer edible carrier to complete a foodstuff.

One variation of a method for preparing a foodstuff includes: loading a first batter into a first cook chamber; inserting a first core insert into the first cook chamber to form a first thin-shell cavity of a first geometry; heating the first chamber to cook the first batter into a brittle edible shell of the first geometry; loading a second batter into a second cook chamber; inserting a second core insert into the second cook chamber to form a second thin-shell cavity approximating the first geometry; heating the second chamber to cook the second batter into a soft edible shell approximating the first geometry; applying a binding promoter to the soft edible shell; nesting the soft edible shell inside of the brittle edible shell to form a multilayer edible carrier; and loading a set of fillings into the multilayer edible carrier to complete a foodstuff.

One variation of a method for preparing a foodstuff includes: loading a first batter into a first cook chamber; inserting a first core insert into the first cook chamber to form a first thin-shell cavity of a first geometry; heating the first chamber to cook the first batter into a brittle edible shell of the first geometry; loading a second batter into a second cook chamber; inserting a second core insert into the second cook chamber to form a second thin-shell cavity approximating the first geometry; heating the second chamber to cook the second batter into a soft edible shell approximating the first geometry; applying a binding promoter to the soft edible shell; nesting the soft edible shell inside of the brittle edible shell to form a multilayer edible carrier; and loading a set of fillings into the multilayer edible carrier to complete a foodstuff.

One variation of a method for preparing a foodstuff includes: loading a first batter into a first cook chamber; inserting a first core insert into the first cook chamber to form a first thin-shell cavity of a first geometry; heating the first chamber to cook the first batter into a brittle edible shell of the first geometry; loading a second batter into a second cook chamber; inserting a second core insert into the second cook chamber to form a second thin-shell cavity approximating the first geometry; heating the second chamber to cook the second batter into a soft edible shell approximating the first geometry; applying a binding promoter to the soft edible shell; nesting the soft edible shell inside of the brittle edible shell to form a multilayer edible carrier; and loading a set of fillings into the multilayer edible carrier to complete a foodstuff.

An apparatus for automatically preparing baked waffle cone sheets, for use in preparing a waffle cone to be filled with a frozen confectionery product, from waffle cone batter, the apparatus comprising a baking station, the baking station comprising a plurality of baking plate locations onto which the waffle cone batter is to be deposited, each baking plate location comprising an essentially planar baking surface comprising a characteristic waffle region comprising a first array of parallel linear grooves, so as to produce a characteristic waffle pattern in the baked waffle sheet from the resulting parallel linear protrusions in the baked waffle sheet; wherein each baking plate location also comprises a graphical region, the graphical region being located within the characteristic waffle region and comprising grooves corresponding to a graphical image, and also comprising at least one linear groove, each linear groove being contiguous with, dimensionally similar to and collinear with a groove in the characteristic waffle region, and wherein the spacing density of grooves in the graphical region is less than that in the surrounding characteristic waffle region.