Apparatus for preparing hot food

Abstract

A pre-cooking operation pre-cooks a pasta product for a time substantially less than required to bring it to serving consistency. Pre-cooking is quenched with cold water and a measured weight of the drained product is sealed in a single-serving container with a measured amount of excess water. The pasta absorbs the excess water to achieve a water content approximating that of a freshly cooked pasta. Heating, dispensing a sauce on the pasta and delivering the product to a purchaser are performed in a rapid automatic sequence. Heating is accelerated by jets of hot water entering a strainer containing the pasta. Walls of a heating pot are double-walled with hot water continuously circulating therethrough to further accelerate the heating. The strainer is raised, drained and the pasta is released into a serving container. A serving of sauce, heated in a sealed heat exchanger is dispensed over the pasta. A water jet, optionally followed by an air jet cleans the sauce nozzle after each use.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.