The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Sep. 24, 2002
Filed:
Jan. 14, 2000
Applicant:
Inventors:
Hershell R. Ball, Waconia, MN (US);
Fabien De Meester, Marche-en-Famenne, BE;
James D. Schuman, Carver, MN (US);
Assignee:
Other;
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
A23L 1/32 ; A23B 5/005 ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
A23L 1/32 ; A23B 5/005 ;
Abstract
The present invention provides the discovery that efficient heating of shell eggs can be achieved using convection currents of humidity controlled air. The humidity controlled air heating process described herein provides an efficient and attractive means of pre-heating and/or pasteurizing (i.e., pre-heating and holding) intact shell eggs. Also provided are pasteurized shell eggs produced by the inventive methods. As further aspects, the present invention also provides methods of cooling shell eggs as well as surface sanitizing shell eggs using humidity controlled air.