Method for heating and cooking foods in a closed treatment chamber by maintaining the temperature and moisture content

Claim 1

In a rapid continuous process for heating and cooking foods, the steps of forming a treating zone within a substantially closed treatment chamber, said chamber having inlet and outlet openings, introducing food to said chamber in the form of solid discrete pieces, said food moving through said chamber along a pathway extending through said inlet opening and said treating zone and exiting through said outlet opening, generating a gaseous process vapor within said treatment chamber and rapidly and continuously circulating the same along the pathway in said treating zone in a direction concurrent to the direction of movement of said food, heating said rapidly circulating process vapor to continuously maintain the temperature thereof within the range from 165° to 600° F., the temperature of said rapidly circulating process vapor bearing a relationship to the entering food such that a substantial temperature differential exists between the food and process vapor ranging to as much as 295° to 560° F., said food being moved in a concurrent direction with said rapidly circulating process vapor at a rate and for a distance to effect heating and cooking thereof for a period of time sufficient to raise the center temperature of said discrete pieces of food to within the range from 140° to 195° F., intermittently releasing saturated steam into said rapidly circulating and heated process vapor to raise the moisture content thereof continuously removing external air from adjacent the inlet and outlet openings of said treating chamber to thereby substantially prevent the entry of external air to said treating zone, such exclusion of air serving to limit the proportion of air within the process vapor continuously and rapidly circulating within said treatment chamber and through said treating zone, continuously monitoring the moisture content of said rapidly circulating process vapor to determine variations in the moisture content and continuously using the variations in moisture content so determined to control said intermittent release of saturated steam to the process vapor being rapidly circulated within said treatment chamber, thereby to provide a rapidly and continuously circulating process vapor of controlled temperature and moisture content as needed and desired for heating and cooking particular foods undergoing treatment.