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AssigneeCulinary Sciences, Inc.
InventorsGeorge Shu-Xing Cheng, John Field, Richard Gillespie, Mark Linder
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A method and apparatus is disclosed relating to controlled environment agriculture (CEA), food processing facilities, and commercial kitchens. The inventive smart and scalable extreme vacuum cooling (EVC) equipment is based on a scalable and modular design that allows one or multiple food chamber modules to connect to one utility module so that all food chambers can share the available vacuum cooling capacity dynamically. A scalable EVC system can be built, shipped and assembled with as few as one food chamber module and one utility module to a number of food chamber modules and a utility module. The food chambers are designed with different sizes in dimension and power requirements but with the same interface to the utility module. In this way, multiple food chamber modules can operate for food rapid cooling and flavor infusion supported by only one utility module. In a CEA farm, leafy greens are harvested daily and need to be chilled rapidly to comply with USDA food safety standards. Leafy greens can occupy a lot of space with a small vapor payload in vacuum cooling. The multiple food chamber modules to a single utility module design can save the total system cost, space, and energy. For food flavor infusion in a commercial kitchen, brining and marinating take time. During the wait time, the food chamber is held at a low pressure condition without the need for pumping air out. During this time, the utility module can serve other food chambers. In this regard, an EVC system with multiple food chamber modules and a single utility module design will work well for food flavor infusion. The smart and scalable EVC technology and equipment can make a big impact on commercial food preparation and controlled environment agriculture (CEA) for rapid chill to comply with food safety regulations. They are also very useful for food flavor infusion in commercial kitchens and food foundries.
An apparatus for cooling, marinating, or brining food capable of operating at extremely low pressure conditions, comprising:
An apparatus for cooling, marinating, or brining food capable of operating at extremely low pressure conditions, comprising:
An apparatus for cooling fresh produce and marinating or brining foods, comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.