Kfc Corporation

Pepsico, Inc.

Dennis G Ash

Sylvia L Schonauer

John D Beltz

Michael E Harlamert

Donald R Kupski

Keith D Barkhau

Gregory D MacGeorge

Mohan Rao

V N Rao

The specification discloses an apparatus for rapidly cooking meat products for a quick service restaurant which will simulate the appearance of an open flame broiled meat product. The meat product is clamped between a grill and a series of raised crown portions formed in a cooking pan. The cooking pan also includes rounded depressions which alternate with the upraised crowns to serve as reservoirs for the collection of fat and other rendered meat juices. The clamping action between the grill and the pan compresses the meat product having a range of product weight to a uniform thickness while simultaneously assuring conductive heat transfer from the crowns to the meat and radiant heat from the black body pan to the meat. The grill is pre-coated with a carmelizing agent which leaves grill marks on the meat product during the cooking cycle. The grill, meat product and pan are loaded into a convection oven having means for creating heated high velocity convecting air which contacts the meat product, displace a food product boundary layer of cool air, and evenly heat the irregular surface of the meat product as heated air passes over it.

Method for simulating open flame broiled meat products

A method of extending the holding time for a cooked food under specified conditions of temperature and high relative humidity, and more specifically, a method of significantly extending the holding time for cooked chicken products for an additional period through controlling of the environment or atmosphere within a holding chamber without encountering any appreciable loss in the organoleptic, olfactory or textured qualities of the food. The chicken product is maintained in a holding chamber in an environment or atmosphere at carefully controlled dry bulb and wet bulb temperatures under conditions of a high relative humidity. This high relative humidity in the enviornment within the holding chamber, which is a result of the high partial pressure of water vapor, will prevent any migration or diffusion of water vapor or flavor components from the cooked chicken product to the surroundings, which would cause a degradation in the organoleptic and olfactory properties of the chicken product, and cause the latter to lose its 'fresh' taste and attractive appearance to a consumer. The food may also be treated with tocopherol prior to cooking so as to retard and reduce lipid oxidation and development of warmed-over flavor during an extended holding time in the holding chamber subsequent to cooking of the food.

Method for extending the holding time for cooked food

Apparatus for simulating open flame broiled meat products

Growing community of inventors

Louisville, KY, United States of America

Dennis G Ash