Patent ID: 9232817
Filing Date: 2016-01-12
CPC Classification: A23B,A23L

Claim Text:
1. A method for the surface pasteurization or surface sterilization of pieces of food products with minimized water absorption, the method comprising: pre-warming the food products to a temperature below an evaporation temperature of pasteurization or sterilization systems, wherein the pre-warming temperature of the food product is selected to be lower than a saturation temperature; heat treating the food product in a pure steam atmosphere free of air, for performing pasteurization at temperatures between 55 and 99° C. at a pasteurization pressure below atmospheric pressure, or sterilization at temperatures between 100° C. and 140° C. at a sterilization pressure above atmospheric pressure, wherein the heat treatment is performed in the course of 1 to 30 mins; and removing condensation water from a surface of the food products by subsequent vacuum drying under a reduced pressure wherein a pressure in a treatment chamber is reduced by a vacuum pump and as soon as the pressure falls below a set value, a steam supply valve opens and a steam supply is started.