Microwave browning of vegetables
AssigneeCommonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization
InventorsStephen Morris, Barbara Stephens
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method for the microwave irradiation of a vegetable to cook the same and to brown the exterior thereof includes the steps of applying a microwave activated browning agent to the surface of the vegetable; prior to irradiation, positioning a shielding material adjacent to the vegetable in a location such that, during irradiation, adjacent portions of the vegetable are shielded from microwave radiation; and irradiating the vegetable with microwave radiation to cook and brown the same.
Claims13
A method for the microwave irradiation of an unskinned whole vegetable to cook the same and to evenly brown the exterior thereof including the steps of:
- (i) applying a microwave activatable browning agent to the exterior of the unskinned whole vegetable;
- (ii) placing the unskinned vegetable inside a container having opposing halves, each half having a plurality of openings to allow the passage of steam from the container, the container having a band of shielding material about said unskinned vegetable and integral with the container about an equatorial horizontal portion of said container, said shielding material being selected from the group consisting of carbon black, conductive paint and conductive ink;
- (iii) said band thereby shielding the microwave activatable browning agent in a horizontal equatorial region of said vegetable from microwave irradiation to prevent overcooking of said vegetable in the equatorial region;
- and then
- (iv) irradiating the vegetable with microwave radiation sufficiently to cook the vegetable and evenly brown the exterior thereof.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.