This disclosure generally relates to producing consumable products by cooling, and in particular it relates to producing shaped or modified congealed products using a contained refrigerant solution.
Though frozen comestibles formed on a stick (such as ice pops, POPSICLES and the like) enjoy wide popularity, they are generally obtainable only through commercial and industrial sources, such as ice cream vendors or grocery stores. There have been few useful convenient devices or processes that have been proposed or introduced for the quick preparation of such food items in the home. While frozen comestibles can be molded and frozen in common refrigerator/freezer units, such methods can take hours for the comestible to form.
There have, by contrast, been many types of modern household ice cream makers introduced. By and large, they use double walled bowls that have heat exchangers and contain liquids with depressed freezing points, such as below 32° Fahrenheit. Ice cream makers typically only freeze liquids directly touching the wall, which is then continuously scraped off and mixed to produce, for example, ice cream or frozen yogurts. Accordingly, such ice cream makers are adapted for those specific comestibles only, and cannot generally be used for making ice pops, POPSICLES and the like.
Accordingly, there is a need for a process and apparatus for conveniently making frozen comestibles on a stick, which overcomes the disadvantages of existing technologies.
The present disclosure, therefore, introduces methods and devices for making frozen comestibles, which are particularly suited for, but not limited to, making frozen, shaped comestibles on a stick. A suitable device may include a container for holding a refrigerant solution therein. The container has one or more molding cavities for receiving a fluid to be frozen, where the fluid is contained within the molding cavity separately from the refrigerant solution within the container. A molding cavity may include a coating on an inner surface thereof to facilitate removal of a frozen comestible produced from the fluid. A molding cavity may further include one or more heat exchangers on an external surface thereof, which are disposed within the refrigerant solution. When the refrigerant solution is at a sufficiently cool temperature, the fluid is frozen within the molding chamber, assisted by the thermal action of the heat exchanger and the refrigerant solution, to form the frozen comestible within, for example, ten minutes, and as few as three minutes dependent upon environmental conditions, state of recharging of the comestible maker and the shape of the molding cavities.
In various embodiments, a removable stick may be provided for use with the frozen comestible maker. The stick may having a blade for insertion into the molding chamber and the fluid to be frozen, and may further include a handle that is grasped by a human hand.
In various embodiments, a drip cup may be disposed between the handle and the blade.
In various embodiments, an extraction tool may be provided, which mates with the handle to produce a torque thereon and/or to provide additional linear force for the removal of the comestible. When operated by hand, the extraction tool provides sufficient force to loosen the frozen comestible from the molding cavity, and better enables the removal of the frozen comestible from the molding cavity by hand.
In various embodiments, a method for making a frozen comestible includes chilling the container of the frozen comestible maker in a refrigeration device to a temperature below the freezing point of water for several hours, removing the container from the refrigeration device, dispensing the fluid to be frozen into the molding chambers, inserting a stick into the molding chamber, and within ten minutes or less in various embodiments, applying the extraction tool to the handle of the stick to generate a torque, or otherwise removing the stick from the container, thereby producing a frozen comestible that is ready for consumption.
Further aspects of the present disclosure will be more readily appreciated upon review of the detailed description of its various embodiments, described below, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, of which:
The disclosed method devices and methods for making frozen comestibles include a mold or series of molds used for freezing pops and creating specifically shaped comestibles on a stick. Such devices may be used for quickly freezing water for ice cubes or for creating ice pops, ice cream pops, yogurt pops, juice pops, fruit pops, POPSICLES, FUDGESICLES, CREAMSICLES or other comestibles, particularly comestibles disposed on a stick, in a very short period of time. The disclosed devices will freeze its contents solid from the outside in, within typically three to ten minutes. Any appropriate suitable substance that can be poured into such devices is frozen quickly and extracted easily for consumption, thereby constituting an “instant” ice pop maker that is of suitable size for home use. The single or multiple molds or cavities are mated to a container that contains a refrigerating liquid or gel with a depressed freezing point below the freezing point of water, namely 32° Fahrenheit. Within the device and connected to the molds are efficient heat exchanging components in contact with the refrigerating fluid, which pull the heat away from the liquid to be frozen at a high rate of speed once it is poured into the mold, causing the contents to freeze rapidly. The heat exchanger and mold cavity are preferably made of a material with a high rate of thermal conductivity.
Referring now to
The refrigerant solution is any known and suitable type of liquid or gel substance that has a freezing point less than 32° Fahrenheit. A wide variety of suitable refrigerant solutions will be readily apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art, including gels used in well-known freezable ice-packs that are applied to a human body to reduce swelling and the like.
Accessories for use with the comestible maker 10 may include one or more sticks 50 on which the comestible is formed within the molds of the base container 20, and an extraction tool 70 that is applied to a handle portion of the sticks 50, and which is used to help dislodge a frozen comestible from a mold. The sticks 50 and extraction tool 70 are described in more detail herein below.
Between the bowl 21 and molding cavities 23, there may be disposed a seal 22 or gasket, such as a silicone gasket, that is used to prevent leakage of the refrigerant solution from the bowl 21.
A bezel 25 may serve to provide the comestible maker 10 with a more decorative, finished look. In addition, the bezel 25 hides the screws 24 or other fasteners used to mate and seal the molding cavities 23 to the bowl 21. The bezel 25 also acts as a lip around the molding cavities 23 to contain any liquid that does not end up in the molding cavities 23, and prevents it from spilling over the sides of the frozen comestible maker 10. The bezel 25 also functions to provide an area that is insulated and not thermally-conductive in order to protect a user's hands from the cold surface of the comestible maker 10, while they are handling the frozen comestibles or the comestible maker 10. The bezel 25 may also be used to mate and seal the frozen comestible maker 10 and can be made from any suitable durable material, such as a metal, a silicone or a plastic.
In various embodiments, the comestible maker 10 may include one or more feet 26, which may be made of rubber, plastic or the like to prevent the comestible maker 10 from slipping on a surface upon which it may be placed, such as a kitchen counter.
A notch 32 within a molding cavity 23 may be provided to properly position the stick 50 when it is placed into the molding cavity 23. The stick 50 may have tabs that mate with the notch 32 in the top of the molding cavity 23 when the removable stick 50 is inserted in the molding cavity 23, so as to place a blade 51 thereof substantially near a center of the molding cavity 23. This may facilitate the freezing of a comestible as described further below.
A fill line 33 may be provided to indicate a proper level of fluid to be placed in each molding cavity 23. The fill line 33 may be a step, an indentation or a printed fill line in the molding cavity 23.
A surface finish of the inside of an individual molding cavity 23 is critical to making the release of the frozen comestible by hand possible. When liquids freeze, they have a tendency to stick to surfaces that they are in contact with. Therefore, a coating may be provided on the inner surface 34 of a molding cavity 23 that helps produce a “non-stick” surface thereon. The coating may include a hard anodized aluminum, a special food-grade plastic/epoxy lining (such as used on the interior of aluminum beverage cans), or TEFLON. Any secondary treatment or material that provides a hard, smooth surface finish on the interior of the molding cavity 23, including for example stainless steel, will help ease the manual release of the frozen comestible. Oils, such as a vegetable oil, may instead be used in certain embodiments.
A chamfer 35 may be provided as a beveled or chamfered edge on the molding cavity 23 that acts as a funnel for the fluids that are poured into the molding cavity 23.
Fastener holes 36 are provided for the screws 24 or other fasteners to secure the molding cavities 23 to the bowl 21.
A second embodiment of a suitable heat exchanger 38 is also shown in
The blade 51 may be sufficiently wide and thick so as to help reduce freeze time by reducing the size of the frozen comestible “core” and filling a substantial part of the center of the molding cavity 23 where comestibles would take longer to freeze. The blade 51 may have grooves or holes to prevent ice from slipping off. The blade 51 may also have one or more shaped indentations, recesses or extrusions in a surface thereof for inducing a design in the frozen comestible and to provide an undercut to which the comestible may adhere when the stick 50 is removed from the comestible maker 10.
Handle portions 52 together form a handle for the stick 50. The handle portions 52 may be secured together by welding or fastening. In various embodiments, the handle may have an opening or notch for mating with an extraction tool 70. The handle portions 52 may include a nut 53 therein and concealed from external view, which is aligned with such a hole or notch to mate with a bolt of an extraction tool 70, as described later below.
A drip cup 54 is a separate part from the stick 50 and may be disposed on the stick 50 by a user. The drip cup 54 may be made of a soft flexible plastic, a silicone or the like. The drip cup 54 may snap on to the stick 50 between the handle 52 and the blade 51 (as shown in
It is likewise contemplated that the stick 50 and drip cup 54 can be integrally formed as one part. In such embodiments, the drip cup 54 may be translucent or transparent to allow the user to see the status of the freezing process when the stick 50 is placed in the molding cavity 23, reducing the chances of the stick 50 being put left in the molding cavity 23 after too much time has passed and the frozen comestible is too frozen.
To make frozen comestibles with the comestible maker 10 described above, a user would place the frozen comestible maker 10 in a freezer for 12-24 hours or until the refrigerant solution inside is completely frozen or “charged.” Once the refrigerant solution inside the device is frozen, the device is removed from the freezer and placed on to a counter or other level surface. The user then places a stick 50 inside the molding cavity 23 to help facilitate removal of the frozen comestible, and to be used as an implement to hold the frozen comestible while eating. Next, the user can pour water, fruit juice, sugar water, yogurt, or any other pourable comestible into the device. Within ten minutes, the comestible will be frozen solid and the user would use the extraction tool 70 to remove the stick 50 and the frozen comestible from the frozen comestible maker 10. Once a frozen comestible is removed, the molding cavities 23 can be filled with liquid again and the cycle can be repeated several times before the device needs to be recharged. Subsequent fillings may take longer to freeze, but are still very quick when compared to traditional methods. Additionally, the frozen comestible maker 10 will not need as long to recharge after an initial charge and brief use.
The device also allows the user to make multi-flavor frozen comestibles, and frozen comestibles that are layered horizontally, and also frozen comestibles with different flavored cores in a very short period of time, as shown in
Although the best methodologies have been particularly described in the foregoing disclosure, it is to be understood that such descriptions have been provided for purposes of illustration only, and that other variations both in form and in detail can be made thereupon by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, which is defined first and foremost by the appended claims.
This is a continuation application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/321,237, filed Jan. 16, 2009, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 12321237 | Jan 2009 | US |
Child | 13078252 | US |