A method for the provision and conservation of communal meals is provided, in which a plurality of foodstuff and meal components are brought into packaging units and sealed therein following the preparation of said food by heating at a temperature of at least 75° C. A water bath at a temperature of less than 3° C. is used to cool the sealed packaging units in order to bring the meal component from a core temperature of 65° C. or higher to a core temperature of 3° C. or lower within no more than 90 min. Methods for regenerating the cooled packaging units for consumption are also provided, in a water bath having a temperature of 80°-90° C.

A food warming device is shown and described. The food warming device includes a container having a base and at least one sidewall rising therefrom creating an interior volume. A removable lid section is secured to the end of the at least one sidewall opposite the base wherein the base, the at least one sidewall, and the removable lid include an insulative property. The interior volume of the container is partially filled with a volume of hot liquid. A handle is secured to the at least one sidewall adjacent to the removable lid.

A chafer device is provided to offer protection against wind, helping keep sterno burners from being extinguished so that food can be kept warm. The present invention provides a chafer device that comprises a skirt member and an attachment member. The skirt member is removably attached to a top perimeter of a chafing dish frame via the attachment member. The skirt member wraps around the chafing dish frame and extends downward from the top perimeter of the chafing dish frame to form a wall around the chafing dish frame, thereby enclosing a heat source below the chafing dish frame.

A disposable support pan has a sidewall with a top lip that support the lips of rectangular food trays above a support surface. A disposable suspension tray inside the support pan has a flange resting on a support pan shoulder so the bottoms of two pockets in the suspension tray are between the support surface and the bottom of the food trays. Water in each pocket reacts with a calcium-oxide packet in each pocket to boils a predetermined amount of water to generate steam that heats the food trays without having the packets contact the food trays. One or two tray supports on each side of the pan may extend from the shoulder to a top support flange extending outward around a periphery of the support pan. The suspension tray has corresponding recesses to mate with the tray supports to keep steam from entering the area below the suspension tray.

The invention relates to devices for reheating food. The technical result consists in being able to use a device for delivering and simultaneously reheating and/or cooking food. The device for delivering and reheating food comprises a housing, which contains a food heating container, a container for a hot medium, and a switching module which switches over between different operating modes of the device. Moreover, the container for the hot medium is in the form of a thermally insulated vessel which is connected to the heating container by a medium exchange conduit. The medium exchange conduit is in the form of two conduits—a conduit for supplying the hot medium from the thermally insulated vessel to the food heating container, and a conduit for returning the medium from the food heating container to the thermally insulated vessel, and the switching module is connected to a pump for pumping the medium and to a power supply.

A chafing dish set may comprise a stand, a water pan capable of being restably coupled to the stand, wherein the water pan comprises a holding portion configured to receive and hold a liquid, and a food pan capable of being restably coupled to the water pan, wherein the food pan comprises an interior portion configured to receive and hold at least one of a food and a liquid. In some embodiments, the chafing dish set further comprises a lid capable of being restably coupled to the food pan, wherein the lid is configured to substantially cover the interior portion of the food pan.

Predictive cooking systems and methods. A representative system can include a cooking device submergible in a container of fluid and a memory device storing instructions for causing a processor to receive information and determine heater set point temperature and on time. The processor can receive information indicative of one or more characteristics of a food item to be cooked in the fluid and a desired food temperature. The processor can perform a control process that can include sending instructions for controlling a heater, obtaining a temperature measurement of the fluid from a temperature sensor, determining a measurement of power delivered to the heater, determining constants related to corresponding physical characteristics of the fluid and/or the container based on at least one of the temperature measurement and the measurement of power, and determining a food temperature of the food item.

A roasting/serving device has a base rack and a removably attachable raised rack. The assembled base and raised racks are held within a single pan or between a lower pan and an oppositely-oriented upper pan. The pan or pans containing the assembled base and raised racks is/are placed within a wire chafing stand with rotatable handles. The handles are rotatable to clamp together rims of the upper pan and lower pan.

A utility skirt for a wire chafing dish rack, wherein the utility skirt is folded around the wire chafing dish rack. The utility skirt having an upper edge, a lower edge, a left edge, and a right edge defining an area of the utility skirt. The upper edge of the utility skirt runs along the upper rim of the wire chafing dish rack. Three tabs extend from the left edge and three slits are made in the utility skirt near the right edge. The three tabs can interlock with the three slits for coupling the left edge to the right edge. Three fold lines divide the utility skirt into four sections, each of the four sections corresponds to the four sides of the wire chafing dish rack. Rim-tabs from the upper edge of the utility skirt folds over the upper rim for supporting the utility skirt over the wire chafing dish rack.

A system of interchangeable chafing dish components may comprise a water pan comprising a holding portion configured to receive and hold at least one of liquid and ice, a food pan capable of being restably coupled to the water pan, the food pan comprising an interior portion configured to receive and hold at least one of a food and a liquid, a lid capable of being interchangeably coupled to at least one of the water pan and the food pan, and a plurality of knobs comprising a first knob and a second knob that is different from the first knob, wherein each of the first knob and the second knob is capable of being interchangeably coupled to the lid.