PACKAGING SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PRECISELY PREPARING FRESH FOOD ITEMS SUCH AS TAHINI

Abstract

The present invention discloses a preferably single-serve and disposable container and lid packaging system for facilitating the preparation of a fresh food item to a desired consistency. The container contains a pre-measured amount of a main food item to be prepared, and its side wall has at least one visual indicator indicating an amount of liquid to add to the container and to be mixed with the main food item. The invention is particularly useful for making a single-serve portion of ready-to-eat tahini by adding a lemon juice mix contained in the lid, adding water to a visual fill-to line in the container containing raw tahini (or the lid), and then thoroughly mixing the mixture.

Claims

1: A packaging system for facilitating the preparation of a fresh food item to a desired consistency, comprising: a. a container having a side wall and a bottom that define inner and outer surfaces and an open top, the container containing therein a pre-measured amount of a main food item to be prepared; and b. a lid having an inner end that removably covers the container open top; wherein the container side wall includes a visual indicator indicating an amount of liquid to add to the container and to be mixed with the main food item.

2: The system of claim 1, wherein the container and lid are disposable.

3: The system of claim 2, wherein the pre-measured amount of the main food item is a single serving.

4: The system of claim 3, where the main food item is less than 5 fluid ounces of raw tahini.

5: The system of claim 1, further including a base connected to the outer surface of the container for placing the container on a substantially flat surface, and wherein the inner surface of the bottom of the container has no corners for facilitating a complete mixing of the liquid and the main food item.

6: The system of claim 1, wherein container further includes a rim disposed around the open top having a lip that extends inwardly over the open top for retarding the splashing out of the container of the main food item and liquid during mixing.

7: The system of claim 1, wherein the lid defines an inner space that contains a liquid flavoring to be deposited into the container.

8: The system of claim 5, wherein each of the container and lid are sealed with a removable film for removable before preparation of the fresh food item.

9: The system of claim 1, wherein the container side wall contains three visual fill-to indicators, each indicating a different amount of liquid to add to the container and to be mixed with the main food item, corresponding to a different desired consistency of the fresh food product.

10: The system of claim 9, wherein each of the three visual indicators include words indicating the different desired consistency of the fresh food product.

11: The system of claim 1, wherein the main food item in the container is raw tahini and the liquid to add to the container is water.

12: A packaging system for facilitating the preparation of a fresh food item to a desired consistency, comprising: a. a container having a side wall and a bottom defining inner and outer surfaces, and an open top, the container containing therein a pre-measured amount of a main food item to be prepared; and b. a lid having an inner end that removably mates with the container open end, the lid defining an inner space having an inner wall; wherein the inner wall of the lid includes a visual indicator indicating a measured amount of liquid to add to the inner space of the lid for subsequently pouring into the container.

13: The packaging system of claim 12, wherein the container and lid are disposable, and further including a disposable mixing utensil packaged with the container and lid for mixing the pre-measured amount of the main food item and measured amount of liquid in the container.

14: A container for adding a precise amount of a liquid admixture, with the container designed to contain a preset amount of a main food item to be mixed with the liquid to result in a ready-to-eat food product, comprising: a. a side wall; b. a bottom defining inner and outer surfaces; and c. an open top, wherein the side wall includes at least one visual measurement line indicating the amount of liquid admixture to add to the container when the container contains the preset amount of the main food.

15: The container of claim 14, wherein the side wall includes three substantially parallel, horizontal visual measurement lines, each indicating an amount of liquid admixture to add to the container when it contains the preset amount of the main food, depending on the desired consistency of the ready-to-eat food product.

16: The container of claim 15, wherein the side wall further includes at least one different word associated with each of three horizontal visual measurement lines, each at least one word indicating a different ready-to-eat food product.

17: The container of claim 16, wherein the main food product is raw tahini, the liquid admixture is water, and the words disposed on the side wall are “spread” “dip” and “salad dressing”.

18: A method of making a fresh ready-to-eat tahini serving using a container that contains a preset amount of raw tahini and a container lid that contains a preset volume of liquid flavoring, comprising: (a) pouring the volume of liquid flavoring into the container; (b) adding water to the container in an amount that causes the combination of the raw tahini, liquid flavoring and added water to reach a visual measurement line disposed on the container; and (c) mixing the combination of the amount of raw tahini, volume of liquid flavoring and added water.

19: The method of claim 18, wherein the liquid flavoring in the lid is a lemon juice mix.

20: The method of claim 18, wherein the container includes three visual measurement lines, and the step of adding water comprises adding water in an amount that causes the combination to reach any of the three measurement lines, depending on the desired end consistency of the fresh, ready to eat tahini serving.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0020] Further advantages of the present invention may become apparent to those skilled in the art with the benefit of the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments and upon reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

[0021] FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic perspective view of a container bowl showing “fill-to” measurement lines in accordance with one non-limiting embodiment of the present invention;

[0022] FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic perspective view of an alternative embodiment of the present invention showing a container body and lid system for making a ready-to-eat product.

[0023] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the system as shown in FIG. 2 with the container and lid separated and with the insides of the container and lid having pure tahini and liquid flavoring products sealed in each, respectively;

[0024] FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic top view of the lid device shown in FIGS. 2 and 3;

[0025] FIG. 5 is an alternative embodiment of a container body having functional words alongside “fill-to” lines in accordance with another non-limiting embodiment of the present invention; and

[0026] FIG. 6 is an alternative embodiment of the present invention showing a lid with “fill-to” lines.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0027] Referring now to the drawings, like reference numerals designate identical or corresponding features throughout the several views.

[0028] In one preferred embodiment, a container used in a food packaging system according to the present invention is shown in FIG. 1. Container 100, which may be disposable, comprises bowl body 10, base 12, and lip 14, and preferably serves as a vessel within which a raw or base food item to be prepared, such as raw tahini, is placed and stored for later preparation. Preferably, a predetermined amount of the base food item to be prepared, such as relatively long shelf-life raw tahini, is deposited inside the bowl body 10 which is then sealed at its top during manufacturing. The inside wall of bowl body 10 may preferably be cylindrical and its bottom may be rounded, preferably without hard corners. Base 12 is shown as a small flat platform disposed in the middle of the bottom of the body 10, but it should be understood that other base shapes are within the scope of the present invention, such as legs or a wall portion that extends downward from the outer bowl. The purpose of base 12 is to enable the container to rest on a flat, preferably level surface. Lip 14 of the container is designed to serve as a backsplash of sorts to help prevent the food items being mixed inside bowl body 10 from splashing out of container 100 during vigorous mixing.

[0029] An important aspect of the system of the present invention is the “fill-to” measuring line feature that serves as a visual marker for the user preparing the food item to know how much liquid, such as water, to place in bowl body 10 (that contains the main food item) before the mixing step. This obviates the need of the user to use a separate liquid measuring instrument, such as a measuring cup, to fill with a precise amount of water required to mix with the food item in the container and then pour into container. Accordingly, in the preferred embodiment shown in FIG. 1, container 100 includes three parallel measuring lines, 16, 17, and 18 disposed around inner circumference of bowl body 10. Each of these lines corresponds to a slightly different “thickness recipe”, such that filling container 100 that already has in it a predetermined amount of pure food product, such as “raw” tahini, with, say, water to line 16 will result—after mixing—in final, ready-to-eat product that has a dense consistency (high viscosity), such as a tahini spread. Filling container 100 with water up to line 17 will result in a less thick final product (medium viscosity), such as a tahini dip, and filling it to line 18 will create the looser consistency end product (low viscosity), such as a tahini salad dressing.

[0030] Embodiments of the present invention are particularly useful for the easy and precise preparation of a single portion or smaller portions of fresh, ready-to-eat, tahini. As noted above, tahini is a healthy natural food item, originating in the Middle East that has in recent years become very popular worldwide. Raw tahini, has a long shelf life but conventionally needs a good deal of preparation to make it “just right” for ideal consumption—that is, by thoroughly mixing the raw product with the proper amount of flavoring, most commonly lemon juice and spices, and a precise amount of water to achieve the desired consistency. Until the present invention, the inventors of the present invention found that it was simply impractical or too burdensome for consumers who would like to eat fresh ready-to-eat tahini to follow a recipe, and do the work needed to prepare a single serving.

[0031] Thus, in one particular embodiment of the present invention, a single-serve, disposable, tahini packaging system 200 as might be found on a grocery store shelf is shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. As will be explained, a purchaser of this system 200 can easily prepare a fresh, “perfect every time”, single serving of ready-to-eat tahini in a disposable package. The system has a predetermined amount of raw tahini (see FIG. 3) contained in disposable container 20 having bowl body 21 and base 22, and a lemon juice mix 32 contained in disposable lid 30. As seen, body 21 also includes visible, “fill-to” lines 26, 27 and 28—in this embodiment, visible both on the inside and outside of bowl body 21—for visually directing the user to add water to container 20 up to any one of the lines corresponding to a desired consistency of the end product to be consumed. Thus, FIG. 3 shows a view of the system of FIG. 2 with lid 30 off container 20, and bowl body 21 shown in a see-through view. As seen, container 20 preferably contains a predetermined amount of long shelf-life raw tahini 42 and is maintained inside body 21, preferably with a peel-away seal 40 sealing the open top of body 20. Similarly, a predetermined amount of lemon juice mix 32, which may also be prepared with various spices and flavorings, is stored in the volume of space created by the underside of lid 30 and is sealed therein preferably with a peel-away film closing the opening of lid 30. In this way, this single-use packaging system may be manufactured in large volumes, shipped to stores and stored on the shelf for long periods of time.

[0032] Using the system of the present invention, preferably all of the key ingredients needed to make fresh tahini, except the water, are stored, and can be sold in a grocery store, in a single, long-shelf-life unit 200. This enables an inventive method of the present invention for easily preparing a fresh food item requiring a measured amount of liquid. Thus, when the user is ready to prepare the mix for consumption, she simply snaps off lid 30 and peels film 40 off bowl body 20 exposing the raw tahini. The user then may peel film 50 off away from lid 30 and pour the lemon juice mix 32 stored therein into bowl body 21. Now, the user may add water to bowl body 21 until the volume of raw tahini 42, lemon juice mix 32 and water reaches a desired one of the measuring lines 26, 27, or 28, corresponding to high viscosity (e.g., a spread), medium viscosity (e.g., a dip) or low viscosity (e.g., a salad dressing) tahini end product, respectively. Preferably, the user will add the water when base 22 is resting on a flat, horizontal surface so that the raw contents in and fill-to measuring lines of body 21 are horizontal for accurate measurement. Finally, using a mixing utensil such as a spoon or fork, etc., the user can vigorously mix all ingredients together until the desired smoothness of the combined items are achieved. Delicious, fresh product is now ready to eat.

[0033] In an alternative embodiment of FIGS. 2 and 3 shown in FIG. 5, the container may include measuring lines 26′, 27′ and 28′ that include descriptive words indicating the type of final product to be created by adding water to the respective line. Thus, the user will know that adding water to the lowest line 26′ will result in a tahini spread (the thickest use of tahini), adding water to line 27′ will result in tahini dip, and adding water up to fill-to line 28′ will create a tahini dressing, the least viscous recipe.

[0034] Many alternative embodiments are contemplated by the present invention. For example, only one “fill-to” line may be provided on the mixing bowl. Also, instructions for making ready to eat product may be printed on the container or lid. Moreover, in disposable single use embodiments of the system of the present invention, a disposable mixing utensil, such as a paper or plastic spoon may be packaged with the container/lid combination.

[0035] In yet another alternative embodiment shown in FIG. 6, in place of (or in addition to) container bowl body 21 in FIGS. 2 and 3 having one or more “fill to” lines, measuring lines 60, 62, 64 (or one line) may be included on the inside of lid 30′. In one implementation of this alternative, after a peel away film is removed from lid 30′ and all the lemon juice mix contained therein is emptied into its mating container containing the raw tahini (similar to the steps described in connection with FIGS. 2 and 3), the now empty lid 30′ may be refilled with water in an amount up to one of the fill-to measurement lines, and then emptied into the container containing the pure food item and liquid flavoring, followed by a vigorous mixing of all ingredients as explained above. This alternative offers the option of simply measuring the desired amount of water to be used by liquid weight rather than liquid volume, as would be done in the prior embodiments, where water is added directly to bowl body 21 up to one of the lines included in the body wall. Moreover, creating the final tahini product having a desired consistency using this embodiment may be considered more forgiving than having the lines in the container, because now a user can correct a “wrong” amount of water filled into lid 30′ before committing to add it to the raw tahini-lemon juice mix mixture in the container, for example, by spilling out a bit of water from lid 30′ that the user inadvertently filled past the desired fill-to measuring line.

[0036] While embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described, it is not intended that these embodiments illustrate and describe all possible forms of the invention. Various changes, modifications, and alterations in the teachings of the present invention may be contemplated by those skilled in the art without departing from the intended spirit and scope thereof. It is intended that the present invention encompass such changes and modifications.