Claims
- 1. A food preparation process, comprising the steps of:
- blending a food product including a plurality of ingredients in a large kettle and at a temperature less than 130.degree. Fahrenheit sufficient to promote the uniform distribution of the ingredients and inhibit the settling thereof;
- thereafter, filling a plurality of containers with the food product at about said temperature and in a blended condition;
- sealing the filled containers;
- conveying the sealed containers consecutively through both a preheat vessel and a separate hydrostatic sterilizer to place said sealed containers in heat transfer relation with heat exchange fluids present in both said vessel and said sterilizer to first preheat the sealed containers in said vessel to a predetermined temperature above said blending temperature insufficient to achieve sterilizing conditions in the containers and then heat the sealed containers to sterilize the food product therein in the sterilizer;
- wherein said sterilization occurs by supplying heat exchange fluid to said sterilizer and controlling it to produce a predetermined heat transfer rate for providing the desired sterilization properties to said food product in accordance with the physical characteristics thereof; and
- wherein said preheating occurs by supplying heat exchange fluid to said preheater separately from the supply thereof to said sterilizer and controlling said heat exchange fluid supply to said preheater in response to the temperature of said food product in said filled containers and to the controlled rate of heat transfer provided by said sterilizer.
- 2. The process of claim 1 wherein the temperature of said food product during said blending step is between about 70.degree. and about 80.degree. Fahrenheit.
- 3. The process of claim 1 wherein said food product is a soup.
- 4. The process of claim 3 wherein said soup includes a starch to prevent settling of the components thereof in the large kettle during said filling step.
- 5. The process of claim 1 wherein in said preheating step the food product is preheated approximately 70 degrees Fahrenheit above the temperature of said blending step.
- 6. The process of claim 1 wherein said filling step is completed in a period of approximately two hours.
- 7. The process of claim 1 wherein said blending step blends at once approximately a 20,000 pound batch of the food product in the large kettle.
- 8. The process of claim 1 wherein the plurality of ingredients includes vegetables and meat.
- 9. The process of claim 8 wherein said conveying step includes passing the containers through the hydrostatic sterilizer at 250.degree. Fahrenheit for approximately fifty-five minutes.
- 10. The process of claim 1 wherein said filling step is at approximately 80.degree. Fahrenheit and said preheating step includes heating the filled containers so that the blended food product at the center of the containers is at approximately 150.degree. Fahrenheit.
- 11. The process of claim 1 wherein said heat exchange fluid supplied to said preheater for performance of said preheating step is steam.
- 12. The process of claim 1 further comprising, after preheating and before sterilizing, transporting the sealed containers at atmospheric pressure to said sterilizer.
- 13. The process of claim 1 in which said containers are conveyed substantially continuously along a path of movement through said preheater and said sterilizer.
- 14. The process of claim 13 further comprising, in conducting said containers between said preheater and said sterilizer, passing the preheated containers in and through an area whose atmosphere is temperature and pressure independent of that of both the preheat vessel and the sterilizer.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This is a continuation of copending application Ser. No. 07/607,024, filed Oct. 31, 1990, now abandoned, which is a division of copending application Ser. No. 07/470,601, filed Jan. 26, 1990, which issued Nov. 3, 1992, as U.S. Pat. No. 5,160,755.
US Referenced Citations (29)
Foreign Referenced Citations (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
3301763 |
Dec 1988 |
JPX |
Non-Patent Literature Citations (3)
Entry |
Service and Training Manual, Campbell Soup Company, Operation and Maintenance, A-B Cooker and Cooler, Service Manual 1003, 1968. |
Stork Hydromatic Automatic Sterilizing System. |
Complete Course in Canning, Book I, Eleventh Edition 1981, pp. 331-349 A. Lopez. |
Divisions (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
470601 |
Jan 1990 |
|
Continuations (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
607024 |
Oct 1990 |
|