Abstract:
Methods and system for enabling the retail sale of hot, fresh miniature donuts, and other pre-cooked foods, where using a donut fryer is not an option. By quickly reheating frozen dough-based food products at a point of sale, donut stands can now be set up in locations that are not conducive to frying or heavy fumes. Locations such as small concession areas, food transport vehicles or areas in which a donut fry smell and/or high temperature grease may not be appropriate are the target of this invention.

Description:
PRIORITY CLAIM  
       [0001]     The present application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/608,813 filed Sep. 10, 2004, and entitled “SYSTEM FOR REPROCESSING PRE-COOKED FLOUR BASED FOOD PRODUCTS,” which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     Miniature or “mini” donuts are typically made using a small automated fryer that forms the donuts, places them in a fry tank and uses a conveying system to deposit them in a pan. The donuts are usually hot, crisp and fresh when sold to the consumer. While this approach is appealing to many, it has drawbacks.  
         [0003]     The automated fryers use grease heated to temperatures of about 375° F., which can be a potential safety threat to workers and customers in various situations. The cooking process also creates fumes from the cooking of the donuts. In some situations, exhaust fans can be used to reduce the amount of fumes in the area, but this adds expense to providing the donuts. Outdoor cooking may allow fumes to permeate the area, which can sometimes be a powerful marketing tool. However, such strong odors may not be acceptable in some situations.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0004]     The process and system described herein enables the retail sale of hot, fresh miniature donuts, and other pre-cooked foods, where using a donut fryer is not an option. With this invention, donut stands can now be set up in locations that are not conducive to frying or heavy fumes. Locations such as small concession areas, mobile food transport vehicles or areas in which a donut fry smell and/or high temperature grease may not be appropriate are the target of this invention (e.g., theaters, gaming and arcade centers, roller rinks, etc.).  
         [0005]     In one aspect, the present disclosure comprises methods for preparing miniature donuts and other food products in concession locations that are not conducive to the use of deep fryers or the generation of smoke and fumes. The methods can comprise one or more of the following steps including preparation of miniature donuts at a centralized bakery or suitable preparation area; freezing the miniature donuts upon completion of the cooking product; packaging of the frozen miniature donuts in either a bulk or serving size amount; transporting the frozen miniature donuts to a remote concession location such as, for example, a movie theater, sporting location; cafeteria, community gathering or the like and reheating of the frozen miniature donuts for consumption at the remote concession location.  
         [0006]     In another aspect, the present disclosure comprises a system for simulating the taste and texture of a freshly fried mini donut at a vending location remote from a donut preparation location. The donut preparation location can comprise the necessary cooking, freezing and packaging equipment necessary for processing bulk quantities of miniature donuts. The vending location can comprise a point-of-sale and a reheating oven for quickly restoring the bulk prepared miniature donuts to the taste, texture and temperature of the freshly prepared miniature donuts at the donut preparation location without generating smoke, fumes and/or odor as is typically encountered when deep frying miniature donuts.  
         [0007]     The various embodiments and aspects of the present disclosure are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed in the following detailed description. Rather, the embodiments are chosen and described so that others skilled in the art may appreciate and understand the principles and practices of the invention. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0008]     These, as well as other objects and advantages of this invention, will be more completely understood and appreciated by referring to the following more detailed description of the presently preferred exemplary embodiments of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, of which:  
         [0009]      FIG. 1  is a flowchart illustrating a method for providing freshly cooked food products at a vending location remotely located from a preparation location.  
         [0010]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of a reheating oven used for simulating freshly cooked miniature donuts at a vending location remotely located from a preparation location.  
         [0011]      FIG. 3  is a pictorial view of a system for providing freshly cooked food products at a vending location utilizing a preparation location and a remotely located concession location. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0012]     As illustrated in  FIGS. 1 and 3 , a process  40  and a system  60  can be utilized for providing a fresh, reheated cooked dough product at a concession or vending location  62  located remotely from an initial preparation location  64 . Process  40  can comprise a preparation step  50  in which a raw dough or batter-based product can be cooked and/or heated to form a cooked dough product. In a preferred embodiment, preparation step  50  can be used for bulk preparation of a plurality of deep fried mini donuts  66 .  
         [0013]     Once prepared, the cooked dough product can be immediately frozen in a freezing step  52 . Freezing step  52  can comprise either a batch or continuous freezer  68  such as, for example, chest or walk-in style freezers or a continuous tunnel freezer. After freezing step  52 , the cooked dough product can be packaged in a packaging step  54 . Within packaging step  54 , the frozen cooked dough products can be placed in plastic bag style packaging and/or within a paperboard or cardboard box  70  or similar packaging. In some instances, packaging step  54  can comprise bulk packaging the frozen cooked dough products in a single bulk package or packaging step  54  can comprise packaging smaller serving sizes such as, for example, serving sizes of 5-15 mini donuts per package.  
         [0014]     Following packaging step  54 , the packaged, frozen cooked dough products can be transported to the vending location  62  utilizing a transportation step  56 . Within transportation step  56 , the packaged, frozen cooked dough products can be transported from the initial preparation location  64  utilized in preparation step  50  to a consumption site where the cooked dough products are sold a point of sale  72  in a selling step  58 . Point of sale can comprise a concession counter, concession cart, a concession booth, a serving line or the like and can further include a cash register or drawer for collecting money and dispensing change. Within selling step  58 , the cooked dough products are preferably sold in a serving quantity that can comprise from about 5 to about 20 of the cooked dough products.  
         [0015]     At the consumption site, the frozen cooked dough products are prepared for consumption in a reheating step  60  that utilizes a reheating oven  74 . Depending upon consumption rate, preparation of freshly reheated cooked dough products can be accomplished immediately following selling step  58  or reheating step  60  can performed essentially continuously such that reheating step  60  precedes selling step  58  such that freshly reheated cooked dough products can be immediately delivered to a purchaser. In some instances, freshly reheated cooked dough products can be placed under a warming device  76  such as, for example, a radiant or infrared heater, to maintain the temperature of the freshly reheated cooked dough products until they are sold in selling step  58 .  
         [0016]      FIG. 2  more clearly illustrates reheating step  60  for reheating frozen or room temperature cooked dough products such as, for example, miniature donuts  66 . Reheating oven  74  may be sourced from several different models by different suppliers and is preferably, preconfigured by the donut (or other pre-cooked food) supplier to obtain the desired temperature, texture and consistency of the finished donuts. In one representative example, oven  74  can comprise any suitable oven for achieving the desired cooking characteristics such as, for example, a toaster oven and/or convection oven. One suitable oven  74  can comprise the model QCS 350 conveyor toaster oven manufactured by Star Manufacturing International of St. Louis, Mo.  
         [0017]     Depending upon volume and the requirements of the consumption site, oven  74  can comprise a batch oven design or alternatively, a continuous oven design. A retail agent such as, for example, the person selling the cooked dough precuts in selling step  58  places mini donuts  66  in top load rack  106  such that the mini donuts  66  can be transported past one or more heating elements within oven  74  on a conveyor. Reheated donuts  66 A are dropped onto a discharge rack  108  where the retail agent takes them and places them in a bag  120  for sale to the customer. In one example embodiment, the bags are glassine bags.  
         [0018]     The following inventive method has been developed to enable the sale of donuts where the use of donut fryers may not be appropriate. Small donuts, for instance, are cooked in a donut fryer off-site. These donuts are the same as will be re-created on the retail site. The donuts are then transported to the retail site for use, or they may also be frozen to preserve freshness before transportation. The donuts may be held at the retail site on baking pans ready for the “refreshening” process.  
         [0019]     Referring to  FIG. 1 , once a package of donuts is sold, the retail agent places the appropriate number of mini donuts  66  in the load rack  106  of vendor supplied conveyor toaster  74 . Generally, the appropriate number of mini donuts  66  can comprise a serving amount from about 5 mini donuts to about 20 mini donuts. The reheating oven  74  can operate at a predetermined temperature and a predetermined conveyor rate such that mini donuts  66  are exposed to the optimum toasting time to reheat the donuts to the proper serving temperature. In some embodiments, reheating oven can be preconfigured for operation between about 300° F. to about 450° F. with reheat times for a single serving of small donuts (about one dozen) of about 45 seconds for room temperature donuts, and about 85 seconds for pre-cooked frozen donuts. Reheated donuts  66 A are ejected by the toaster conveyor on discharge rack  108  where the retail agent places the donuts in specially supplied glassine bags  120  for sale to the customer.  
         [0020]     It will thus be seen according to the invention a highly advantageous method a system for preparing miniature donuts at remote concession locations that are comparable to donuts fried on-site. While the invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments, it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that the invention is not to be limited to the disclosed embodiments. It will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that many modifications and equivalent arrangements can be made thereof without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure, such scope to be accorded the broadest interpretation of the appended claims so as to encompass all equivalent structures and products.