The present invention relates to methods of making edible food containers, and more particularly, to a method for making an edible packaging container comprising fermentable wheat flour.
Following a healthy diet is one of the most important things modern people can do to help maintain their overall health. Along with physical activity, the diet is the key factor that affects weight. Being overweight or obese increases risks of heart disease and many other diseases. Fortunately, nowadays, people are becoming more conscious of the importance of keeping fit and living healthy. In order to maintain a healthy diet, it is necessary to choose modes of cooking that are good for the health. Modes like barbecuing and frying at high temperature adversely affect valuable nutrients and often utilize too much oil. It has been well established that such processing may easily lead to weight gain, artery-vein and heart diseases, and damage to the metabolic system. Consequently, healthier modes of cooking such as water steaming are being favored. In particular, food made of fermentable flour cooked by water steaming has become a mainstream, as it is easy to digest and filling.
Food made of fermentable flour is often divided into two kinds: one made without fillings and one made with fillings stuffed therein. However, food, such as bread, made without fillings is often perceived to lack variety in flavor. And food made with fillings and then cooked by steam does not permit consumers to change the fillings as desired. Therefore, fermentable flour type foods having fillings that can be conveniently changed and that can be eaten directly without cooking, such as the so-called Chinese-Hamburger, have become increasingly popular among consumers.
A primary objective of the present invention is to provide a method of producing an edible packaging container that retains stuffed fillings while eating or carrying.
Another primary objective of the present invention is to provide a method of producing an edible packaging container that is applicable to mass production.
To achieve the above and other objectives, the present invention proposes a method of producing an edible packaging container, comprising the steps of: (a) preparing a kneaded batter; (b) forming an oil-layer region on the center portion of one side of the batter and a water-moisturizing region on the periphery of one side of the batter; (c) folding the batter by turning the oil-layer region thereof inwardly, and combining a portion of the batter by machinery to form the edge comprising the water-moisturizing region; and (d) cooking the batter by steaming and cutting along the folded lines to form a pocket-shaped container. The edible pocket container is produced by forming an oil-layer region and a water-moisturizing region at predetermined positions of the batter surface, enabling the edible pocket container to be made by machinery in mass production rather than by hand using the fingers to roll up the batter, thereby achieving the goal of mass production of the edible pocket container.
The present invention further discloses a method of producing an edible container, comprising the steps of: (a) preparing two pieces of identically-shaped batters; (b) forming an oil-layer region in the center portion and one edge of one side of each of the batters, and forming a water-moisturizing region on each of the remaining edges of one side of each of the batters; (c) folding up the two batters such that the oil-layer regions thereof are facing, and kneading a portion of the batters by machinery to form the edges comprising the water-moisturizing regions; and (d) cooking the folded batters by steaming to form an edible pocket-shaped container.
The method of producing an edible packaging container of the present invention can be fully understood by reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments, with reference made to the accompanying drawings, wherein:
The present invention is described in the following so that one skilled in the pertinent art can easily understand other advantages and effects of the present invention. The present invention may also be implemented and applied according to other embodiments, and the details may be modified based on different views and applications without departing from the spirit of the invention.
In that the center portion of the folded batter layer 300′ is formed with an oil layer region and is not pressed during kneading after the batter is folded, the center portion of the folded batter layer 300′ having an oil layer region is not combined and thus has a hollow gap between the upper layer and the lower layer thereof after cooking the semi-finished packaging container by steam. On the other hand, the edge of the folded batter layer between the upper layer and the lower layer thereof is formed with a water-moisturizing area by spraying filtered water thereon and is combined by kneading by machinery, therefore, after cooking the semi-finished packaging container by steam, the edge of the folded batter layer having a water-moisturizing region is combined to form a sealed side 390 as shown in
Thereafter, after cutting along the folded side, a pocket-shaped container is formed that has only one side thereof formed with an opening 370, while the remaining edges are sealed to form a hollow portion for packaging fillings therein as shown by
Reviewing, an oil layer region is respectively formed on the inner center portion and the edges of the non-arc-shaped (linear) side of the superposed batter layer 400′ and a water-moisturizing region is formed on the arc-shaped edges thereof. The center portion thereof having an oil-layer is not pressed to combine after the superposed batters are folded by machinery. Consequently, after cooking the semi-finished packaging container by steam, the center portion having an oil layer region and the non-arc-shaped side of the superposed batter layer 400′ are not combined and thus a hollow gap exists between the upper layer and the lower layer thereof. On the other hand, the arc-shaped edge of the superposed batter layer having a water-moisturizing area between the upper layer and the lower layer thereof is kneaded to combine by machinery to form a sealed side 490 as indicated by
Besides the hemisphere-shaped pocket container, the method of producing an edible container disclosed by the invention can also produce other pocket containers in a variety of shapes depending on the preferences and applications, such as folding one or superposing two rectangular batter covers to form a square-shaped pocket container, and folding one diamond shaped or superposing two triangular batter covers to form an edible triangular pocket container, and so on.
Having thus described preferred embodiments of the invention in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to make and use the invention, it will nevertheless be appreciated that numerous variations and modifications of the illustrated embodiment may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention, and it is intended that the invention not be limited by the above description or accompanying drawings, but that it be defined solely in accordance with the appended claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
094147465 | Dec 2005 | TW | national |