An apparatus for the continuous ohmic thermal treatment of a fluid product includes a conduit defining a longitudinal flow path for the product to be treated extending between an inlet and an outlet. The conduit includes a first and a second heating chamber that are disposed longitudinally along an axis and arranged in sequence, with each heating chamber including a first electrode and a second electrode, separated by an electrical insulating member. The first electrode is located near the inlet or the outlet of the conduit, and the second electrode is located in an intermediate zone of the conduit. A first and a second rotor extend into the first chamber and the second chamber, respectively, and are rotatable about the longitudinal axis. A support system is configured to support in the radial direction the first and second rotors at the intermediate zone of the conduit.

A delivery apparatus and method for delivering liquid cryogen to a chilling application includes a liquid cryogen feed tank; a liquid cryogen conduit in fluid communication between the liquid cryogen feed tank and the chilling application, wherein the chilling application uses the liquid cryogen to produce an exhaust gas; a device for measuring a temperature of the exhaust gas, the device in operative communication with a controller; and wherein the controller is in communication with the temperature measuring device and a flow control valve, and is configured to receive a signal corresponding to the temperature of the exhaust gas from the temperature measuring device to vary the speed of delivery of the liquid cryogen through the liquid cryogen conduit to the chilling application in response to the temperature of the exhaust gas.

The disclosure relates to a system for heating and/or cooling, in particular pasteurizing, closed containers filled with an in particular liquid filling material. The system comprises a transport device designed to transport the containers in a transport direction, a device designed to heat and/or cool the containers according to a temperature profile along the transport direction, and a control device designed to control a transport speed of the transport device and the temperature profile. The control device is designed to control the transport speed during the time change between a stop and a nominal transport speed and to control the temperature profile as a function of a predicted system parameter. The disclosure also relates to a method for heating and/or cooling the closed containers filled with an in particular liquid filling material by means of such a system.

An acoustic apparatus and method for using a combination of low-frequency and high-frequency vibration of dried food, grain being an example, such that there are a large number of collisions among the individual grain particles for destroying microorganisms that reside on the surface or just below the surface of the grain, are described. Embodiments of the invention permit bulk and continuous processing of the food. It is expected that such collisions do not produce any chemical changes in the food, nor should it have any adverse effects on the taste thereof. Embodiments of the apparatus are applicable to destruction of airborne microorganisms.

Apparatus and method for pasteurizing food products and ready meals in hermetically sealed packages (22) by means of microwaves, comprising a microwave chamber (14); a lower conveyor belt (20) for the packages (22); an upper conveyor belt (18), extending substantially horizontally and vertically movable, and a microwave source (16) located below the lower conveyor belt (20), the microwave chamber (14) being under atmospheric ambient pressure. The apparatus comprises a cooling plate (10) in close contact with the upper conveyor belt (18) so that during microwave heating the top of the package (22) is cooled to below the condensation point of water vapor and overpressure in the package is avoided.

A food freezing apparatus according to the present invention comprises: a transport unit having multiple vertically spaced levels provided so as to continuously transport food; a cooling unit for cooling the food transported by the multiple levels of the transport unit; a pre-freezing unit for pre-freezing the food transported by the multiple levels of the transport unit after having been cooled; a freezing unit for freezing the food transported by the multiple levels of the transport unit after having been pre-frozen; and a defrosting unit connected to the freezing unit so as to remove frost that forms inside the freezing unit.

A method of processing products in a retort having a length includes arranging products in at least one product carrier for movement along at least a portion of the length of the retort and reciprocating the at least one product carrier along at least a portion of the length of retort in a non-sinusoidal pattern of movement.

A method and apparatus is disclosed relating to food processing and preparation in commercial kitchens. The inventive extreme vacuum cooling (EVC) technology and apparatus for food rapid cooling and food flavor infusion can work in ultra low pressure conditions with adaptive chamber pressure control to avoid liquid splash inside the food chamber. The disclosed EVC cooling and food flavor infusion apparatus has a one-unit design for handing small payloads, and a dual-module design to handle larger payloads. It can accelerate the food marinating and brining process with substantial time savings. Using the EVC apparatus, large amounts of meats, vegetables, and fruits can be prepared with various flavor infusion recipes. Plant-forward and high-volume food service kitchens can become more time and energy efficient, less labor intensive, and higher throughput food preparation operations.

A high-frequency heating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes a heating chamber, an electrode, a high-frequency power supply, at least one matching element, and a controller. The heating chamber accommodates a heating target. The high-frequency power supply applies a high-frequency voltage to the electrode. The impedance matcher includes at least one matching element having a matching constant that is variable. The controller stops the high-frequency power supply to complete heating based on a temporal change of the matching constant of the at least one matching element. In this embodiment, a heating target can be heated efficiently.

A cart treatment system according to the present invention includes: a pre-treatment module for cart treatment; an intermediate module provided to receive and treat the cart which is treated in the pre-treatment module; and a post-treatment module provided to receive and treat the cart which is treated in the intermediate module, wherein the intermediate module is provided to be put in either a coupled state in which the pre-treatment module is coupled to the post-treatment module or a detached state in which the pre-treatment module is detached from the post-treatment module.