Support surface for heating food articles and method of making same

A support surface for transferring at least one of heat or cold from a source to food articles placed adjacent to said surface, said support comprising:

• a plurality of longitudinally extending support elements made of heat or cold conductive material placed in side-by-side relationship to form a substantially planar heating or cooling surface, each of said support elements having at least one longitudinal passageway extending therethrough from a first to a second end thereof for carrying at least one of a heated or cooled transfer fluid;
• first means operatively connected to said first ends of each of the adjacent support elements for providing a passageway in alignment with a corresponding passageway in an adjacent support element, said first means includes a first header member disposed adjacent to said support elements, said first header member having a plurality of interconnected apertures being in alignment with a corresponding passageway in said support elements, a tubular member being insertable in each of said apertures, selective tubular members including an orifice of reduced diameter for balancing the flow of heated or cooled fluid from said first header member to said support elements;
• and
• second means operatively connected to said second ends of each of said adjacent support elements for providing a passageway in alignment with a corresponding passageway in an adjacent support element, said second means includes a second header member disposed adjacent to said support elements, said second header member having a plurality of interconnected apertures each being in alignment with a corresponding passageway in said support elements, a tubular member being insertable in each of said apertures, selective tubular members including an orifice of reduced diameter for balancing the flow of heated or cooled fluid from said second header member to said support elements.

The method of making a support surface to transfer at least one of heat or cold from a source to food articles placed adjacent said surface comprising the steps of:

• providing a plurality of longitudinally extending support elements made of heat or cold conductive material, each having at least one longitudinal passageway extending therethrough from a first to a second end thereof;
• positioning a tubular element of heat or cold conductive material in each said passageways;
• expanding each of said tubular elements into tight, heat or cold conductive relationship with said support elements;
• positioning said support elements in side-by-side relationship to form a substantially planar heating or cooling surface;
• attaching means including a header in fluid tight relationship to said tubular elements to transfer therebetween at least one of heated or cooled fluid from said source;
• and
• balancing the flow of heated or cooled fluid from said header to said tubular elements by including an orifice of reduced diameter.