Patent Application
20140113037
The present invention relates to a package comprising a suspension device for holding a food while cooking and a seasoning for improving the organoleptic properties of the food.
When enjoying foods the organoleptic properties are important. Organoleptic properties relate to the sensory properties of a product, e.g. involving taste, colour, odour, texture and feel. The testing of the organoleptic properties involves inspection through visual, feel and smell examination of the food by a professional sensory panel.
In recent years consumers have become increasingly interested in the meals they eat including an increased focus on organoleptic properties when enjoying foods at restaurants or at home.
Traditionally foods are prepared by placing on a plate and cooking in the oven. However, this may result in uneven roasting because one side of the food is facing the plate and the other side is facing the heating element of the oven. The side of the food facing the heating element tends to be grilled and the side facing the plate tends to be stewed or boiled. Contact with the plate may results in loss of seasoning from the food to the plate or the juice of the food on the plate. These disadvantages compromise the organoleptic properties of the food.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,730,046 describes a rack for grilling chicken legs in a barbecue or an oven. The rack comprises a metal surface having downwardly extending support members at both ends. The rack comprises a plurality of predetermined slots to hold chicken legs upside down. The support members position the rack at a spaced distance above a cooking source or fire providing sufficient space for the legs to hang vertically substantially perpendicular to the fire. The slots comprise a plurality of parallel apertures, each including a central circular aperture for insertion of the legs and a pair of narrow elongated slots leading in opposite directions from the circular aperture. In operation, the chicken legs are inserted through the circular aperture, slid along the slot, and locked in place by the bone at the lower joint. The rack provides a uniform cooking surface without the possibility of burning the chicken legs.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,753,216 and US 2004/0000303 describe a metal or steel hook for penetrating meat to be roasted. The hooks are sharpened at one end in order to penetrate the meat to be hanged and roasted.
There is a need to further improve the organoleptic properties of “suspended” foods relative to “non-suspended” foods. To address this, at least in part, the applicant has developed a package comprising ingredients suitable for improving the organoleptic properties of a food, in particular in terms of texture, juiciness and taste.
Seasoning is the process of imparting flavour to, or improving the flavour of, foods. Flavour is the sensory impression of a food or other substance, and is determined mainly by the chemical senses of taste and smell. The flavour of the food, as such, can be altered with natural or artificial flavourings, i.e. seasonings, which affect these senses. Flavourings, or seasonings, are substances that give another substances flavour, altering the characteristics of the solute, causing it to become sweet, sour, tangy, etc. Seasonings include herbs and spices, which are themselves frequently referred to as seasonings. Salt may be used to draw out water, or to magnify a natural flavour of a food making it richer or more delicate, depending on the dish. This type of procedure is akin to curing. For instance, salt may be rubbed into chicken, lamb, and beef to tenderize the meat and improve flavour. Other seasonings like black pepper and basil transfer some of their flavour to the food. A well designed dish may combine seasonings in a seasoning where the different seasonings and the food complement each other.
In particular, it is an object of the present invention to provide a food covered with a seasoning and attached to a suspension device where the food is easily prepared, requires a minimum of handling and has maintained or has improved the organoleptic properties in terms of texture, juiciness and taste relative to non-ready meals and thus addresses, at least in part, the above-mentioned problems of the prior art.
An aspect of the present invention relates to a package comprising a suspension device for holding a food while cooking, e.g. roasting, steaming or smoking and a seasoning for improving the organoleptic properties of the food. By providing a package comprising both a suspension device and a seasoning the consumer is relieved from the burden of having to devise a mixture of seasonings for a particular type of foodstuff, e.g. chicken legs or chicken wings, but may simply apply the seasoning from the package and using the enclosed suspension device cook the food accordingly. The consumer may advantageously follow the cooking method described elsewhere in the present description. Generally the device may be used for cooking including roasting, steaming, grilling and/or smoking. The seasoning may include a single type or seasoning or a mixture of different seasonings.
Advantageously the package may be a multi-compartment package having more than one compartment, e.g. two or three or even more compartments. Advantageously one compartment may hold a seasoning and a suspension device and one compartment may hold a food, thereby having at least two compartments in the package. Advantageously one compartment may hold a seasoning and one compartment may hold a suspension device and one compartment may hold a food, thereby having at least three compartments in the package.
Advantageously the package may further comprise a compartment comprising a food. By having the seasoning, the suspension device and a food in one and the same package the consumer is even further relived of the burden of identifying a particular type of food and relate that to a desirable type of seasoning. Further the suspension device allow for a particular advantageous roasting method as will be apparent from the present description. As described the seasoning and/or suspension device and/or the food may be stored together.
Advantageously the package may comprise a container having multiple compartments each configured for storing one or two of a suspension device, a seasoning, a food. The container may e.g. be a relative stiff PE package defining specific compartments thereby separating the individual components of the package, so that the seasoning is not in contact with the food until the consumer so desires and the suspension device is also not in contact with the food. The suspension device and the seasoning may be stored in the same compartment, which may be especially advantageous if the seasoning is comprised in a separate seasoning package. The suspension device may be stored in a separate suspension device package, e.g. when stored with either the seasoning and/or the food. Thereby it is ensured that the seasoning does not compromise the stability of the suspension device, e.g. if the suspension device is made from a cellulose-based material, e.g. carton.
Advantageously the package comprises two flexible, laminate layers. Each layer may include several laminate layers. More layers may be present that the mentioned two. The two layers may form the package. The multiple compartments may be formed by heat welding the layers together. The sides of the layers forming the inner side comprise a coating for ensuring that the seasoning does not lose its flavour. The outside of the package may include print for identifying the content of the package.
An aspect of the present invention relate to a package wherein a first compartment comprises a suspension device for holding a food while cooking and a seasoning for improving the organoleptic properties of the food and a second compartment comprising a food. By supplying a package comprising all components for preparing e.g. the meat part of a meal to a consumer the consumer is relieved from the burden of identifying which types of seasoning is suitable for a particular piece of food.
Advantageously the seasoning is comprised in a seasoning package. Thereby it is ensured that the seasoning does not compromise the stability of the suspension device, e.g. if the suspension device is made from a cellulose-based material, e.g. carton.
When the food is to be prepared seasoning is poured into a bowl or directly on the food. If the seasoning has been poured into a bowl the food is then contacted with the seasoning, e.g. by turning the food in the seasoning to the extent desired. Any remaining seasoning may be mixed with at least part of a side-dish accompanying the roasted food.
The seasoned food is fixed to the second portion of a suspension device, said suspension device comprising an elongate body having a first portion and an opposite second portion, the first portion being configured to engage with a location in the cooking area, the second portion being configurable for holding the food.
The oven is preheated to a temperature between 160° C. and 220° C., preferably between 170° C. and 200° C., even more preferably about 180° C.
When the oven is warm the seasoned food is suspended in e.g. the grill of the oven which has been placed at or near to the top of the oven and the suspended and seasoned food is hangs vertically down from the grill in the suspension device.
Optionally, a tray of side-dish ingredients, such as vegetables or potatoes, optionally sliced, may be placed underneath the suspended and seasoned-food, in the bottom of the oven, in order to add cooking flavours to the taste of the side-dish ingredients.
The food is prepared for 15 to 90 minutes, preferably for 20 to 75 minutes, more preferably for 30 to 60 minutes, e.g. for at least 30 minutes, such as at least 45 minutes depending on the type and size of the food and the quantity of the side dish ingredients placed underneath the suspended and seasoned-food.
When the roasting is finished the suspended and seasoned food may be removed from the oven by holding on to the suspension device by hand preferably using gloves, tongs or a fork.
After use the used suspension device may be removed from the roasted food and discarded.
As the suspension device preferably is to be disposed after use and as the food fixed to the suspension device is suspended in the grill in top of the oven and optionally hanging above a tray of side-dish ingredients collecting the juice from the food the following dishwashing and cleaning may be reduced.
Advantageously the body of the suspension device is elongate, but the body may be generally oval, square, oblong, elliptical, round or have any suitable polygonal shape.
Further it is advantageous to provide a device that suspends a food without piercing the product. If a food is pierced through the duration of cooking there is a risk of transferring heat to the inside of the food thereby raising the temperature inside the food unintentionally.
The suspension device may comprise a body having a first portion and a second portion. The first portion may be configured for engaging with a suspension location in the oven. The second portion may be configured for holding or supporting the food. The first portion and/or the second portion may have a thermal conductivity below 8 W/(mK), such as below 4 W/(mK), e.g. below 1 W/(mK), such as below 0.2 W/(mK).
The suspension device allows a piece of food, such as poultry, including a chicken leg, a turkey leg, a piece of chicken breast meat, or other meat such as a piece of pork, a fish or part of a fish, or a vegetable or other food, to be roasted, smoked, steamed or grilled in an oven such as a barbeque or an electric or gas oven. Further, the suspension device is configured to suspend the food from a suspension location in the oven, or cooking chamber. This further provides the advantage of reducing the transfer of heat from, for example, a baking tray or roasting pan which are usually made from a metal or other similar materials having a high heat conductivity, and which may cause the food to be burned. By hanging the food substantially freely in air, the food is roasted so as to obtain a crispy outside and a juicy inside.
Advantageously the body of the suspension device is elongate, but the body may be generally oval, square, oblong, elliptical, round or have any suitable polygonal shape.
Further it is advantageous to provide a device that suspends a food without piercing the product. If a food is pierced there is a risk of transferring heat to the inside of the food during cooking thereby raising the temperature inside the food unintentionally.
It is advantageous that the first portion has a thermal conductivity below 8 W/(m×K), such as below 4 W/(m×K), e.g. below 1 W/(m×K) as this reduces the risk of the person handling the device being on contact with the suspension device, e.g. when removing the food from the device. Most non-metal materials have a thermal conductivity below 8 W/(m K), such as below 4 W/(m K), e.g. below 1 W/(m K). It may be advantageous to ensure that the second portion also has a thermal conductivity below 8 W/(m K), such as below 4 W/(m K), e.g. below 1 W/(m K). This would reduce local heating of the food thus ensuring that the product is not over cooked in the region of contact with the device. For comparison, polypropylene has a thermal conductivity of 0.25 W/(m K), glass has a thermal conductivity of 1.1 W/(m K), gold has a thermal conductivity of 318 W/(m K), and pure copper has a thermal conductivity of 401 W/(m K).
The term suspension device means that the device is intended to be used for suspending, or hanging, a piece of food while cooking the food.
Advantageously the second portion is flexible. If the second portion is flexible, damage caused by forces on the device when mounting the food is reduced or avoided altogether. The material used for the second portion is preferably non-metal as metal devices are usually not flexible. In order to hold a food using a metal suspension device, one end of the suspension device must be sharpened to penetrate the meat for holding. This leads to two problems. Firstly, it limits the use to bone-free meat, excluding chicken legs, chicken wings or turkey legs. Secondly, the sharp end of the suspension device may cause injuries when attaching the device to the food, e.g. meat.
Advantageously the first portion has flexible properties similar to that of the second portion. By providing a first portion having similar flexibility to that of the second portion a more uniform device is provided. This further reduces damage to the device when mounting the food. Further the flexibility of the first portion lowers the risk of the person handling the food is injured when attaching the suspension device to the food.
Advantageously the second portion defines a distal end and the suspension device includes an opening for receiving the distal end so as to establish a loop for holding the food. By providing an opening for receiving the distal end it is possible to establish a loop. Part of the food is located through the loop to hold the food in suspension during cooking. Further, by establishing the loop when holding the piece of food it is possible to establish a loop having a size appropriate to the food. This provides a better holding force on the food. Further, adaptable loop sizes are advantageous when used for odd or varying sized foods.
Advantageously the outer edge of the second portion includes a barbed portion. The barbed portion provides an improved gripping force of the distal end when inserted into the opening when establishing the loop.
Advantageously the second portion includes an opening configured for receiving the food. The opening may be a pre-shaped hole or cut-through area formed in the second portion. The opening may be a slit or have a part where, when the suspension device is not loaded with a food, the two sides of the opening abut. As the suspension device may be flexible, the opening may be easily opened to receive the food.
Advantageously the opening is a slit and/or an aperture having an area of more than 0.1 square mm. The opening may have the geometric shape of a slit initially before the food is inserted. The opening may also include non-straight lines as to provide a strengthened end or ends of aperture to prevent damage to the suspension device during attachment of food to the suspension device.
Advantageously the opening is defined by a straight line, a triangle wave line, a saw tooth wave line or a combination thereof. The opening may include lines that are not straight so as to provide a larger retention force on the food and thereby minimising the likelihood of the food falling off during cooking.
Advantageously the first part includes a hook part for engaging a grill rack, a ring, a bar or a combination thereof. The hook-shaped part allows the suspension device to be removably mounted to a bar of a rack in an oven.
Advantageously the elongate body includes a cellulose material, a coated cellulose material, a plastic material or any combination hereof. Manufacturing the suspension device from a non-metallic material provides the advantage that the person using the device will not be burned by contact with the device.
It is advantageous to manufacture the suspension device from a cellulose material as this allows the device to be recyclable and disposable. It is contemplated that a cellulose material allows the device to be relatively soft so that a person handling the device is not hurt by the device. It is advantageous to use a non-metallic material as many metals a have high thermal conductivity. This leads to the problems described above, namely local heating of the food and risk of burns to the hands and/or fingers of a person removing the device from e.g. an oven.
Advantageously the material used for the elongated body has sufficient strength to hold or support a product weighing in the range of 50 to 500 g.
Advantageously the first portion includes a foldable section so as to establish two hook parts for engaging the suspension location in the oven. The foldable section provides the possibility to establish a larger hook area so as to improve the force for holding the suspension device in the intended position while cooking.
Advantageously the oven is an electric oven, a gas oven or a grill. The use of the suspension device conveniently allows fixing various shapes of foods. Also, optimal usage of available oven space is obtained. Further the suspension device may be placed on a rack that is removable from the oven and not a usual part of the oven, e.g. an oven or barbeque kettle.
Advantageously the second portion has a thermal conductivity less than 8 W/(mK), such as below 4 W/(mK), e.g. below 1 W/(mK). The low thermal conductivity is advantageous as the person removing the food is not burned by the suspension device if a finger or hand comes into contact during cooking or when the food is being removed from the suspension location in the oven. Further a low thermal conductivity reduces unintended roasting of the food in the contact area between the suspension device and the food.
The features and advantageous mentioned above may each be combined with any of the other features and advantages. This and other aspects of the invention will be apparent from and elucidated with reference to the embodiments described hereinafter.
The invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying figures. The figures show one way of implementing the present invention and are not to be construed as limiting the invention in any way. It is appreciated that other embodiments falling within the scope of the claims are contemplated as part of this invention.
The present invention relates to a package comprising a suspension device and a seasoning for a food. The food is to be attached to the suspension device. The suspension device is configured to be attached to a suspension location in a cooking device. The suspension device generally comprises a body having a first portion and a second portion, the first portion being configured for engaging a location in the cooking device, and the second portion being configured for holding the food. By hanging or suspending the food using such a suspension device in an oven, gas or electric, or a barbeque, a particular crispy and juicy product may be achieved.
In the embodiment illustrated, the second portion 16 is flexible. This allows establishment of a food engagement part by creating a loop with the slit opening 18. As the second portion 16 is flexible, a person applying the suspension device 10 to a food, e.g. a piece of meat or vegetable, will use his or her fingers to separate the parts 20 and 22 so as to create an opening. This opening will then fit over a part of the food.
The first portion 14 is then secured to the intended area or suspension location, e.g. bar of a rack, a grill rack, a ring or a combination thereof. The rack carrying one or more foods is then introduced into the oven for roasting or smoking as discussed above. Alternatively the food, with the suspension device already attached, is hung or suspended from a suspension location in the oven. Further alternatively the suspension device is mounted at the suspension location in the oven and the food is then mounted or positioned at the second portion 16 of the suspension device 10. Each suspension device is configured to carry or suspend only one food. The method of using the suspension device applies generally to all embodiments of the suspension device.
The suspension device 10 includes a pre-bend line 24 to facilitate bending the device slightly when applying the device to a food. Also, the bending facilitates storing the device 10 in a smaller compartment than if the device 10 could not be bent.
Even though the suspension device 10 may be composed of several parts, the suspension device is preferably an integral device wherein the first portion 14 has flexible properties similar to that of the second portion 16.
In
In
In the suspension device 40, 42, the outer edge of the second portion 44, 46 includes barbed portions. These barbed portions are configured to engage the sides of the openings 52 and 54 so as to establish a firm loop. The size of one barb is at the largest point slightly above the size of the opening 52, 54. As the second portion of the device 40, 42 is flexible the second portions may be squeezed to reduce the width, while inserting the second portion 44, 46 into the opening 52, 54.
The embodiments of suspension devices illustrated in
The embodiments in
The opening in the suspension device where the food is to be placed may include a part that is only partially open, where the remainder of the opening is optionally openable for the user, e.g. via a tear-line and/or perforations.
In a further embodiment the package may further comprise a third compartment comprising a food. Further the package may comprise a container having multiple compartments each configured for storing one or two of a suspension device, a seasoning, a food. The container could e.g. be a PE, PET or other plastic material container providing a relatively hard container and e.g. a transparent laminate layer may be provided as a lid for the container.
It is also illustrated that the seasoning 114 is comprised in a seasoning package 120. As mentioned elsewhere this is advantageous, especially if there is a risk that the seasoning 114 alters the properties of the suspension device 112, e.g. lowering the tear strength of the suspension device. Further, the suspension device 112 may be packaged in a separate suspension device package for ensuring the integrity of the suspension device.
Generally the elongate body of the suspension device according to the present invention may include a cellulose material, a coated cellulose material, a plastic material or any combination hereof. It is advantageous to manufacture the suspension device from a non-metallic material as this avoids the risk of the person using the device being burned by heated metal. Further it is advantageous to manufacture the suspension device from a cellulose material as this allows the device to be recyclable and also disposable. It is contemplated that a cellulose material allows the device to be relatively soft so that a person handling the device is not hurt by the device. It is advantageous to use a non-metallic material as many metals (including steel) have a high thermal conductivity which leads to the problems as described above
The suspension device according to the invention has proven especially suitable for foods having a weight in the range of approximately 150 g to 350 g, but other sizes of foods may be used.
As mentioned it is advantageous that the second portion has a thermal conductivity less than 8 W/(mK), such as below 4 W/(mK), e.g. below 1 W/(mK). This generally includes all non-metal materials, including polymers, ceramics, glass, graphite, rubbers and combinations thereof. It is preferable that the material is heat resistant up to around 250 degrees C. as this is the usual maximum temperature of a common domestic oven. Slightly higher temperatures may be obtained in a barbeque kettle.
Although the invention has been described with reference to specified embodiments, the invention should not be construed as being in any way limited by those embodiments. The scope of the invention is defined by the accompanying claims. In the context of the claims, the terms “comprising” or “comprises” do not exclude other possible elements or steps. Also, the mentioning of references such as “a” or “an” etc. should not be construed as excluding a plurality. The use of reference signs in the claims with respect to elements indicated in the figures shall also not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention. Furthermore, individual features mentioned in different claims, may possibly be advantageously combined, and the mentioning of these features in different claims does not exclude that a combination of features is not possible and advantageous.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11169617.5 | Jun 2011 | EP | regional |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/EP2012/059082 | 5/16/2012 | WO | 00 | 12/9/2013 |
