Method and apparatus of chilling slurries and liquids
AssigneeBlentech Corporation
InventorDarrell C. Horn
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method and apparatus for rapidly chilling liquid or slurried food products through a two-stage sequence of jacket cooling followed by vacuum chilling. Slurry and liquid food products heated in a batch are chilled by first employing a chilled liquid flowing through a double walled jacket (22) surrounding the vessel chamber (17). When the food product reaches a temperature at which jacket cooling becomes inefficient, this is followed by pulling a vacuum in the space above the product to vacuum cool the product to the desired chilled temperature.
Claims14
A method of cooling particulate food products in a vessel, said method including a jacket cooling phase and a vacuum chilling phase, said method comprising the steps of:
- jacket cooling the products to a predetermined temperature;
- and thereafter vacuum chilling the products by employing a vacuum system including a vacuum pump to pull a vacuum on the vessel.
A system for combining jacket cooling with vacuum chilling of particulate food products, said system comprising:
- a vessel 12 having an interior chamber 17;
- agitation means 20 for mixing and stifling particulate product within said vessel;
- a cooling jacket 22 encapsulating a portion of said vessel, said cooling jacket in fluid communication with a refrigeration system 35;
- a vapor outlet 34 which brings the interior chamber 17 of said vessel 12 into fluid communication with a vacuum system 36;
- and
- a vacuum system in fluid communication with said vapor outlet for vacuum chilling the particulate food products, said vacuum system including a vacuum pump for pulling a vacuum on said interior chamber of said vessel.
A method of chilling particulate food product in a cooking vessel, comprising the following steps, in order:
- jacket cooling the product to a predetermined point based on a factor or factors selected from the group consisting of product temperature, product cooling rate, and the temperature differential between the product and the jacket cooling system coolant, or a combination thereof;
- and
- when said predetermined point is reached, employing a vacuum system including a vacuum pump to pull a vacuum on the cooking vessel and vacuum chilling the product.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.