Rethermalizer with expansible rack

A rethermalizer unit for reheating foods packaged in vacuum sealed pouches, the rethermalizer unit comprising:

• a housing;
• a reservoir mounted within the housing and having an accessible open top end with a perimeter;
• a heater for heating water contained within the reservoir;
• and
• an upstanding rail extending along at least a portion of the perimeter, the rail including a plurality of notches disposed adjacent at least a portion of the perimeter of the open top end of the reservoir.

A rethermalizer unit for reheating foods packaged in sealed pouches, comprising:

• a housing;
• a reservoir mounted within the housing and having an accessible open top end with a perimeter;
• a heater for heating water contained within the reservoir;
• a plurality of notches disposed adjacent at least a portion of the perimeter of the open top end of the reservoir;
• and
• a rack suspended within the reservoir, the rack having a pair of side members and a bottom member, each side member having a lower end portion pivotally connected to the bottom member, each side member including a pair of oppositely disposed support pins connected to opposite sides of an upper end portion of the side member, the support pins for each side member being supported within selected notches adjacent opposite sides of the reservoir.

A rethermalizer unit for reheating foods packaged in sealed pouches, comprising:

• a housing:
• a reservoir mounted within the housing and having an accessible open top end with a perimeter;
• a heater for heating water contained within the reservoir;
• a plurality of notches disposed adjacent at least a portion of the perimeter of the open top end of the reservoir;
• and
• a rail traversing the open top end of the reservoir, the rail having a plurality of spaced apart notches for holding racks within said reservoir.

A rethermalizer unit for reheating foods packaged in vacuum sealed pouches, the rethermalizer unit comprising:

• a housing;
• a reservoir mounted within the housing and having an accessible open top end with a perimeter;
• a heater for heating water contained within the reservoir;
• a plurality of notches disposed adjacent at least a portion of the perimeter of the open top end of the reservoir;
• and
• a rack suspended within the reservoir, the rack including:
• a bottom member having first and second edges;
• first and second side members having upper and lower end portions, wherein the lower end portions are respectively connected to the first and second edges of said bottom member to define a pouch receiving space between the first and second side members and wherein at least one of the first and second side members is pivotally connected to the respective one of said first and second edges;
• a first pair of support members connected to the upper end portion of the first side member;
• and
• a second pair of support members connected to the upper end portion of the second side member;
• the rack being suspended from the pairs of support members with the support members resting within selected ones of the notches adjacent the perimeter of the reservoir and with the upper end portions of the side members spaced apart, whereby at least one of the side members may be pivotally moved with respect to the other side member to vary the size of the pouch receiving space for accommodating variously sized food packages.

An expansible rethermalizer rack, comprising:

• a bottom member having first and second edges;
• first and second side members each having upper and lower end portions, the lower end portions being respectively connected to the first and second edges of the bottom member to define a pouch-receiving space between the first and second side members, at least one of the first and second side members being pivotally connected to the respective one of said first and second edges by a hinge including a hinge pin;
• a first pair of support members connected to the upper end portion of the first side member;
• and
• a second pair of support members connected to the upper end portion of the second side member;
• whereby the rack may be suspended from the pairs of support members with the upper end portions of the side members spaced apart and at least one of the side members may be pivotally moved with respect to the other side member to vary the size of the pouch receiving space for accommodating variously sized food packages.