Method of fixing an edible coating to a food product

Abstract

Process and apparatus are provided for rapidly stabilizing a food product. The stabilization may take the form of either fixing or glueing a coating to the food product, treating the surface thereof to impart a particularly desired property such as rigidity or shape retention to the end product after further treatment thereof, cooking the entire product or a combination thereof. The product to be treated is moved through one or more processing chambers wherein it is contacted only by superheated steam, air having been excluded from the chambers. Saturated steam is supplied in a non-superheated condition at atmospheric pressure and remains substantially at atmospheric pressure throughout its movement through the apparatus. The steam is superheated within the chambers by the use of heating elements located within the chambers. By supplying the chambers with more steam than is sorbed by the food product during its treatment, air is effectively excluded from the chambers. In a preferred embodiment, two main product treatment chambers are arranged in tandem with the steam within the chambers capable of being automatically maintained at different pre-selected temperatures to process the food products differently in each chamber.