Patent Application
20140065273
Not applicable.
Not applicable.
I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the production of single-serve bakery items, such as muffins, cupcakes and the like, baked from batter, dough or other bakery mixes. More specifically, the present invention relates to a disposable baking tray which is both bakeable and microwavable and the use of such a tray to prepare and transport bakery products.
II. The Related Art
Commercial bakeries are prevalent throughout the United States. Such bakeries usually offer for sale a number of single-serve baked products such as muffins or cupcakes. The process employed to bake such products typically involves start-to-finish production at the bakery using a number of different containers including measuring cups, mixing bowls, metal baking pans, display trays, and containers used by the ultimate consumer. The process often takes a substantial amount of time for set-up, mixing, baking, displaying, and shipping the baked goods.
In recent years, commercial bakeries and other retail outlets which sell bakery items have sought to reduce the time and expense required to provide consumers with fresh baked goods of consistent quality by procuring and using pre-mixed batter, dough or the like provided by a food supply company. Such bakery mixes are typically shipped from the food supply company to bakeries or other retail establishments in non-biodegradable plastic tubs, bags or the like. The batter, dough or other bakery mix is then transferred to metal bakery pans for baking at the bakery or other retail establishment. While the use of such a bakery mix reduces the time the bakery or other retail establishment must expend mixing and cleaning the containers and utensils used during the mixing process, this technique does lead to substantial waste of batter or dough and the need to recycle or dispose of the containers in which the batter or dough is shipped. It also does not eliminate the need for clean baking trays and containers used to display and transport the baked goods.
Various attempts have been made to solve the problems described above by depositing a bakery mix in a non-metal biodegradable tray, freezing the bakery mix, and then shipping the frozen bakery mix to a bakery where it is then baked. As noted in U.S. Pat. No. 6,869,059 granted on Mar. 22, 2005 to Sloan et al entitled “Bakeable Muffin Pan, and Use Thereof”, some have even tried to bake the bakery goods in the trays in which the frozen bakery mix was shipped. This, however, has met with limited success because such trays are non-conductive resulting in hot and cold spots and uneven baking. As discussed by Sloan et al, muffins at the perimeter of the pan cooked more quickly than muffins at the center of the pan. Sloan et al attempted to address these problems by providing a pan made of a polymeric material, a thermoplastic material, a metal foil material, or a combination of paper and a food-contact liner made of polyester or an acrylic material. The pans disclosed by Sloan et al include a perimeter wall extending above the main surface of the pan, above the level of batter or dough in the pan, and above the top of the final baked product in the pan. The wall forms a shield or baffle which, according to Sloan et al, provides more consistent heat to the batter or dough than if no wall was present.
The use of the material described by Sloan et al creates certain complications related to the manufacture and disposal of the pan. The presence of the wall raises the material costs related to the manufacture of the pan and the efficacy of the wall also will depend on the nature and location of the heating elements in the oven, the shape of the oven cavity, the positioning of the tray within the oven cavity and the number of baking cups provided by the pan.
All of the foregoing problems are resolved by applicant's invention. Applicant provides a disposable baking tray comprising a body made from all-natural materials. The tray is bakeable, microwavable, and biodegradable. A plurality of cups is formed in the body. Each cup has an open top surrounded by an outer rim and a containment surface comprising a bottom and a wall extending between the outer rim and the bottom. The outer rim surrounding the open top may be raised. A top plate is also formed in the body. The top plate has a top surface, a bottom surface, and an outer edge. The top plate is integrally formed and extends between the cups joining the cups together while holding the walls of the cups away from each other. The top surface of the top plate is positioned below the top of the raised outer rim of each cup when such a raised outer rim is provided. The tray also includes a plurality of heat transfer passages. Some of the heat transfer passages comprise recesses in the outer edge of the top plate between each pair of adjacent cups bordering the outer edge. Others include holes through the bottom of each of the cups. Others include elongate slots in the walls of the cups. Still others include apertures through the top plate between the cups. The top plate may also include a plurality of dimples to assist in denesting a tray from a stack of trays.
Batter, dough or some other bakery mix can be prepared and deposited in each cup of the tray at a first location. The tray can then be covered and shipped to a second location either with or without first freezing the bakery mix. At the second location, the tray can be uncovered and placed in an oven to thaw and bake the food. The tray can then be employed to display the baked goods and even to transport the goods after baking. The use of such a tray in this fashion is environmentally sound because the tray is made of all-natural fibers derived from plant material which are recyclable and biodegradable. The use of such trays also eliminates the need to clean and sanitize multiple containers used to transport, bake and display the baked goods because all of these steps are carried out using the same tray. Other advantages arising from the use of such trays and the details of construction of such trays will become clearer from the detailed description provided below in view of the accompanying drawings.
The trays 1 shown in each of the drawings are preferably an integrally formed body 2 made from one or more all-natural fibrous materials. Suitable all-natural fibrous materials can be formed from fibrous plants such as bamboo, wheat straw or bagasse. Other plants may also serve as the source of fibrous plant material. Also, recycled paper may serve as the source of fibrous plant material since paper is typically made of such fibrous plant material.
The material employed is bakeable, i.e., it may be subjected to oven temperatures of at least about 450° F. without damage to the body 2 of the tray 1. The material is also microwaveable, i.e., the material is microwave transmissive such that the material will not materially shield the food from microwave energy and the material also is not susceptible to arcing or sparking when subjected to microwave energy. Any microwave energy absorbed by the tray will heat the tray and assist with baking.
Tray 1 includes a plurality of cups 10 formed in the body 2. While six such cups 10 are shown in the drawings, a lesser number of cups 10 or a greater number of cups 10 may be employed without deviating from the invention. Typically, the cups 10 will be arranged in rows and columns as illustrated in the drawings.
Each cup 10 has an open top 12 surrounded by an outer rim 14 which may be raised as illustrated. Each cup 10 also has a containment surface comprising a bottom 16 and a wall 18 which extends between the outer rim 14 and the bottom 16. As such, each cup 10 forms a separate baking chamber 20 accessible through the open top 12.
Tray 1 also includes a top plate 30 formed in the body 2. The top plate 30 has a top surface 32, a bottom surface 34, and an outer edge 36. The top plate 30 is integrally formed with and extends between the cups 10. The top plate 30 serves to join the cups 10 together while holding the walls 18 of the cups 10 away from each other. The top surface 32 of the top plate 30 is positioned at or below the top of the outer rims 14 of each of the cups 10. The top plate 30 also has a plurality of dimples 38 which assist when denesting a tray 1 from a stack of such trays 1.
Formed in the tray 1 is a plurality of heat transfer passages. Such heat transfer passages include recesses 40 formed in the outer edge 36 of the top plate 30. As shown, a recess 40 is formed between each pair of adjacent cups 10 bordering the outer edge 36 of the top plate 30. The number of recesses 40 will depend on the number of cups 10 bordering the outer edge 36 because such a recess 40 should be formed between each such pair of cups.
Such heat transfer passages also include apertures 42 formed through the top plate 30. The apertures 42 are located in the portions of the top plate extending between four cups 10. The number of apertures 42 will depend upon the number and arrangement of cups 10 because an aperture 42 should be formed in each portion of the top plate 30 extending between more than two cups. In the drawings, apertures 42 are formed in the spaces extending between four cups 10. By way of example, if the body 2 of tray 1 included four cups 10 arranged in two rows, one aperture 42 would be provided. Likewise, if the body 2 of tray 1 included two rows of four cups, three such apertures 42 would be provided. If the body 2 of tray 1 included nine cups 10 arranged in three rows of three cups 10, four such apertures 42 would be provided.
Thus, the tray 1 may include at least four separate types of heat transfer passages—(1) the recesses 40 formed in the outer edge 36 of the top plate 40 between each pair of cups 10 bordering the outer edge 36; (2) the apertures 42 formed in each portion of the top plate 30 extending between four cups 10; (3) the holes 44 through the bottom 16 of each cup 10; and (4) the slotted openings 49 through the walls 18 of the cups 10. The presence of these heat transfer passages provide relatively uniform heating of food deposited in the cups when placed in a conventional or microwave oven.
Uniform heating is further assisted by the spacing between and shape of the cups 10. As illustrated, the wall 18 of each cup has a frusto-conical shape. The angle between the bottom 16 and the wall 18 of each cup 10 is approximately 104°. In other words, the outer draft of the walls 18 of the cups 10 is about 14° from vertical (104°−90°=14°). The spacing between the outer rims of adjacent cups 10 in a row or column is preferably approximately ¼ inch or greater. The angle between the walls 18 of such adjacent cups 10 is approximately 28°. The outer rim 14 of each cup 10 extends above the top surface 32 of the top plate 30 by about at least 1/16 of an inch.
The thickness of the walls 18 and bottoms 16 of the cups 10, the size of each cup 10 and size of the open top 12 of each cup 10 also assist to provide uniform heating. Trays 1 having cups 10 of different sizes may be provided to bake treats of different sizes. The thickness of the bottom 16 and wall 18 are each about 0.024 inches. The diameter of the bottom of the cup is about 3.2 inches and the outside diameter of the top of each cup (from the outside of the raised rim) is about 4.5 inches. While it is possible to change the foregoing angles and dimensions and still achieve heating uniformity adequate for baking, the angles and dimensions recited above have been found to yield sufficient heating uniformity.
When openings are provided through the containment surface such as the holes 44 are provided through the bottom 16 or the elongate slotted openings 49 through the wall 18 of a cup 10, a cup liner (not shown) may be employed to prevent bakery mix (e.g., batter or dough) from exiting the cup 10 through such openings. Such cup liners are well-known in the art and are commonly used with metal muffin pans to prevent food from adhering to the muffin pan. Preferably, the cup liners employed will be made of an all-natural, biodegradable, bakeable and microwavable material. Such cup liners will also be thin-walled and, perhaps, corrugated to promote uniform heating of the food placed in the cup liner.
In certain situations it will, of course, be advantageous to cover the tray 1 and the goods to be, or which have been, baked therein as illustrated in
To couple the tray 1 and cover 50 together, the outer edge 36 of the top plate 30 of the tray 1 may be provided with a continuous downwardly projecting lip 37 or with a plurality of lips 37 positioned along the outer edge 36. The cover 50 may be provided with a single continuous flange 56 or a plurality of flanges. The cover 50 may be joined to the tray 1 as illustrated in
The tray 1 offers various advantages for commercial bakery, restaurant, grocery, convenience store and food distribution operations as illustrated in
At the second location (e.g., a commercial bakery, grocery store, convenience store or restaurant) the covering may be removed from the tray 1. The tray 1 and bakery mix in the cups 10 may then be placed in a standard oven or microwave oven as illustrated at step 70 and subjected to sufficient energy to thaw and/or bake the bakery mix as illustrated at step 72. The tray 1 can then be used to hold the baked goods during cooling, storage, sales display, transportation, and even serving of the baked goods as indicated at step 74. A cover such as cover 50 may be employed as indicated at step 73 to prevent contamination and to retain the baked goods within the cups 10 of the tray during step 74.
The present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments of the invention described above. The invention is only limited to the subject matter defined by the following claims together with a full range of the equivalents.
