Lincoln Foodservice Products, Inc.

Lincoln Manufacturing Company, Inc.

Kfc Corporation

Mitchell C Henke

Ronald E Bratton

Gordon D Bell

Michelle A Wibel

Carol S Nealley

Effie J Lee

Donald G Wolfe

John D Beltz

Keith D Barkhau

Donald R Kupski

Daniel S Kaminski

Roger K Gorsuch

Soldon A Svensson

Donald P Smith

Steven M Shei

Keith A Stanger

Virgil L Archer

Robert J Wenzel

Richard W Gigandet

Donald Ross Bedwell

John W Schindler

An air dispensing duct that can be used in an oven to heat or cook food products passing through the oven on a conveyor. The air dispensing ducts comprise a cover plate and at least one columnating plate, and a plurality of orifices disposed on the cover plate and the columnating plate. The orifices are larger than those of the prior art, which advantageously, and counterintuitively, provides for faster cooking of the food product.

Impinging air ovens having high mass flow orifices

An impinging air duct that comprises one or more ramps disposed within. The ramps direct air entering the duct through columnating orifices, and helps to provide an even flow of air out of the orifices, along the length of the duct. The angle of the ramp and the location of the ramp within the duct can be adjustable.

Air flow path for an air impingement finger duct

An air impingement oven having a conveyor belt assembly for moving food through a heat treatment passage. The air impingement oven has a fan, a supply duct, a plenum and a number of jet fingers being disposed above the conveyor belt assembly. The jet fingers have a base portion having a number of orifices for directing the impingement air onto the food. The orifices have an improved configuration. The improved configuration intensifies the airflow on the food to penetrate heat into the food surface thereby improving heat transfer. The improved configuration reduces a cooking time of the food in the air impingement oven.

High speed cooking oven having an air impingement heater with an improved orifice configuration

Food cooking apparatus for melting cheese disposed on a food product. The cheese topped food product, for example a bun half, burger patty and cheese stack, is transferred in and out of a cooking chamber by a trolley. Entry of the trolley to the cooking chamber starts a cooking cycle. A steam generator provides pressurized steam from a location just above the cheese by a distance of up to about 2.0 inches for a short time until the cheese is melted. The trolley carries a transport medium upon which the food product is placed. A plurality of holes is disposed in the medium to remove from it any water formed by condensation. The steam generator includes a heated platen and a lid that form a steam generating chamber. Water is injected into the chamber onto the heated platen in a small enough quantity that substantially all of the water is converted to steam substantially instantaneously. The steam quickly pressurizes the chamber and is forced through passageways disposed in bosses that extend from the platen into the chamber. The steam exits the passageways on the outside surface of the platen.

Method and apparatus for generating and applying steam for food cooking and finishing

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 the bottom of 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 flattens 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. 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 conveyed through an air impingement oven having a plurality of heated high velocity air jets which impinge on the meat product, displace a food product boundary layer of cool air, and evenly heat the irregular surface of the meat product as it passes through the jets.

Method for simulating open flame broiled meat products

A splatter capture shield for impingement ovens. The shield has a plurality of elements which are vertically overlapping but not physically touching to allow the jetted air streams of the impingement oven into a baking pan, but not to allow escaping gas with entrained grease to pass through the shield without hitting one of the shield elements. The vaporized grease collects on the shield elements and then drips back down on the food item, thus self-basting the food item.

Grease splatter capture shield

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 the bottom of 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 flattens 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. 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 conveyed through an air impingement oven having a plurality of heated high velocity air jets which impinge on the meat product, displace a food product boundary layer of cool air, and evenly heat the irregular surface of the meat product as it passes through the jets.

Method and apparatus for simulating open flame broiled meat products

A food preparation oven includes an enclosure defining a chamber for receiving a food product therein. A heater and a fan are provided for heating and recirculating the air within the chamber. A foraminous wire mesh conveyor loop passes through the chamber for supporting and transporting a food product in and through the chamber. A plate having an upper infra-red radiant emissive surface is disposed within the conveyor belt loop. A plurality of lower duct fingers located below the conveyor belt loop communicate with the outlet of the air recirculating fan and are configured for directing columnated jets of hot air upwardly through the lower loop portion of the conveyor belt loop such that the hot air impinges on the lower surface of the radiant plate. After heating the radiant plate the hot air passes around the edges thereof and enters a plurality of upper return duct fingers disposed above the coveyor belt loop. The upper return duct fingers area in communication with the inlet of the air recirculating fan. The upper return duct fingers include infra-red radiant emissive surfaces facing downwardly toward the upper loop portion of the conveyor belt loop, which radiant surfaces are heated by hot air entering the return finger ducts.

Hot air oven having infra-red radiant surfaces

A food preparation oven comprising a plurality of radiant panel ducts which include apertures for directing streams of heated air toward a food product within the heating chamber. The radiant panels are made of highly thermal conductive aluminum and the outer surfaces thereof facing the food product are of a black color so as to radiate infrared energy toward the food product.

Oven with radiant panel

A food preparation apparatus including a cooking chamber having a pair of openings in two opposite facing walls thereof. A conveyor extends through the side wall openings and the chamber for conveying a food product through the chamber. First and second pairs of impingement finger ducts are provided for forming a plurality of columnated air jets and for impinging the jets against discreet points of a food product supported on the conveyor. A first one of each of said pairs of ducts is disposed above the conveyor and a second one of each of said pairs of finger ducts is disposed below the conveyor. First and second plenums, each of which has a fan respectively associated therewith, supply air to the finger ducts. One or more baffles in each of the plenums guides and streamlines the air as it flows out of the plenums and through the finger ducts. A single burner is associated with the plenums for simultaneously supplying heat energy to both plenums.

Air flow system for a low profile impingement oven

A grooved baking pan and a method for baking therewith wherein the bottom surface of the pan is provided with a plurality of grooves. In the preferred embodiment, the grooves are V-shaped. The grooves are arranged in a pattern such as a grid pattern and apertures are located in the areas bounded by the intersecting grooves. The pan is used to bake high density food products such as pizza in an impingement oven wherein columns of heated air are formed which are directed at localized areas of the bottom surface of the pan. The pan is moved relative to the impinging air columns while the food product is being baked.

Method for baking a food product

An oven for preparing food products such as pizza including three chambers which are serially connected and through which a conveyor carries a food product which may be received in an open-topped pan or which may be placed directly on the conveyor. The center chamber includes steam impingement structure for impinging jets of hot steam onto the top surface of the food product. The center chamber also includes a hot air impingement structure for impinging jets of hot gas onto the bottom surface of the container of the food product. The first and last chambers in the oven include hot air impingement structure for impinging hot jets of air onto both the top surface of the food product and the bottom surface of the pan.

Impingement and steam oven apparatus for preparing food products

Grooved baking pan

An improved air delivery system is provided for an impingement food preparation oven including a plurality of air ducts disposed in a cooking chamber, a plenum connected to the air ducts, and a scoop-type fan disposed in a backwall opening of the plenum to provide a flow of heated air smoothly and uniformly through the plenum into the air ducts. The fan device includes a plurality of tear-drop shaped blades, wherein each blade has a leading edge portion that tapers to a point in the direction of rotation and a trailing row portion at a given pitch angle for forcibly moving the flow of air in an axial direction toward the plenum front wall. The plenum front wall has a plurality of openings connected to the duct members, and a multi-tapering surface tapering from the front wall openings inwardly of the plenum toward the fan, whereby the axially directed flow of heated air from the fan is smoothly and uniformly directed by the multi-tapering surface to the plurality of air ducts, thereby providing a uniform cooking temperature in the cooking chamber.

Growing community of inventors

Fort Wayne, IN, United States of America

Mitchell C Henke