Modularized food preparation device and tray structure for use thereof

A food preparation system comprising:

• A) a food preparation device including:
• a housing including one or more receiving structures dimensioned to receive any one of a plurality of trays containing food items, the one or more receiving structures being configured to maneuver the one or more trays internally to dispose their food items stored within the one or more trays into a food preparation receptacle;
• an extraction mechanism to extract the food items from individual trays into a preparation receptacle;
• a heating mechanism to heat the preparation receptacle;
• and
• a processing resource to control (i) the extraction mechanism in extracting the food item from individual contains, and (ii) the heating mechanism in heating the extracted food items in the preparation receptacle;
• and
• B) the plurality of trays containing food items;
• wherein each tray of the plurality of trays is pre-packaged and includes:
• a tray housing formed from (i) a rigid frame, and (ii) expandable and malleable material that retains the food item of the tray in a vacuum state;
• a seal positioned at an opening of the tray housing to maintain the vacuum state of the tray housing;
• and
• a retention structure provided at a perimeter of the tray housing to enable the tray housing to be received and retained by the one or more receiving structures of the food preparation device.