Abstract:
An apparatus for rapidly cooking food includes a housing having a reservoir, a heating element, a binary distributor, and a container. In a method of using the apparatus for rapidly cooking food, food is placed into the container and water is poured into the reservoir. The heating element heats the water in the reservoir, and the resulting steam travels into the binary distributor. Pressurized steam then exits the binary distributor to uniformally cook the top of the food. Condensed steam gathers at the bottom of the container and is kept at a temperature capable of cooking the food. In such a way, food in the container is rapidly cooked. In one embodiment, the food to be cooked is a single serving of ramen brick style noodles.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/925,986, filed Jan. 10, 2014, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
     
    
     TECHNOLOGY 
       [0002]    The present technology generally relates cooking implements and methods of cooking. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0003]    An apparatus and process for rapidly cooking food is disclosed. Various embodiments are intended to provide for an alternative, independent, and self-contained means of preparing food. 
         [0004]    In one embodiment, the present technology is intended to provide a means of rapidly cooking Maruchan, Nissin, and other branded ramen dried noodle brick type soups. 
         [0005]    In one embodiment the apparatus includes a water reservoir, heating element, a binary distributor, and a removable container. Water stored in the reservoir is heated by the heating element, causing the water to steam upward into a thermal distribution channel of the binary distributor. The steam is pressurized inside the thermal distribution channel and exits the binary distributor via outlet ports. This pressurized steam exiting the outlet port is directed uniformly downward over the food in the container. As the steam passes over the food in the container, the steam cooks the top of the food and then condenses. This condensed steam accumulates around the bottom of the removable container and begins to fill the container. The hot plate maintains this condensed heat accumulating at the bottom of the container at a temperature capable of cooking the food. With pressurized steam cooking the upper surface of the food and water condensate cooking the food from the bottom, the food is rapidly cooked by the apparatus for rapidly cooking food. 
         [0006]    In some embodiments, the apparatus may also include a gasket disposed between the container and the binary distributor. The gasket is configured to create a vapor seal that prevents the pressurized steam exiting the outlet ports from escaping into the environment. The apparatus may also include a controller programmed to control the use of the apparatus, as well as a safety probe that automatically disables the apparatus. Furthermore, the shape and size of the hot plate, binary distributor and container may be varied. In one embodiment, where the apparatus is used to cook ramen noodles, the shape and size may be generally rectangular to match the shape of the ramen noodle brick. Optionally, the container of the apparatus may double as bowl such that, once the preparation process is complete, the container may be removed and used to consume the meal. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0007]    The proposed design, details, and overall apparatus architecture of the present technology are outlined in the following drawings in which: 
           [0008]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an apparatus for rapidly cooking food items, according to one embodiment. 
           [0009]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of an apparatus for rapidly cooking food items, according to one embodiment. 
           [0010]      FIGS. 3A  and B are additional perspective views of an apparatus for rapidly cooking food items with a container interlocked with the housing, according to one embodiment. 
           [0011]      FIG. 4  is an exploded view of certain components of an apparatus for rapidly cooking food items according to one embodiment. 
           [0012]      FIGS. 5A-F  illustrates different perspective views of the top seal portion of the binary distributor according to one embodiment. 
           [0013]      FIGS. 6A-F  illustrates different perspective views of the bottom outlet portion of the binary distributor according to one embodiment. 
           [0014]      FIG. 7  illustrates an electrical control circuit according to one embodiment. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0015]    The following terminology will be used in accordance with the definitions set forth below. 
         [0016]    The singular forms “a,” “an,” and, “the” include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Thus, for example, reference to “a heating element” includes reference to one or more of such heating elements. 
         [0017]    As used herein, the term “about” is used to provide flexibility to a numerical range endpoint by providing that a given value may be “a little above” or “a little below” the endpoint. 
         [0018]    As used herein, the term “substantially” refers to the complete or nearly complete extent or degree of an action, characteristic, property, state, structure, item, or result. The exact allowable degree of deviation from absolute completeness may in some cases depend on the specific context. However, generally speaking the nearness of completion will be so as to have the same overall result as if absolute and total completion were obtained. The use of “substantially” is equally applicable when used in a negative connotation to refer to the complete or near complete lack of an action, characteristic, property, state, structure, item, or result. 
         [0019]    As used herein, a plurality of items, structural elements, compositional elements, and/or materials may be presented in a common list for convenience. However, these lists should be construed as though each member of the list is individually identified as a separate and unique member. Thus, no individual member of such list should be construed as a de facto equivalent of any other member of the same list solely based on their presentation in a common group without indications to the contrary. 
         [0020]      FIGS. 1-7  illustrate one embodiment of an apparatus  200  for rapidly cooking food items. In one embodiment, an apparatus  200  for rapidly cooking food items comprises a housing  100  used to cook food that is placed into container  3 . The housing includes a liquid reservoir  11 , a lid  12  providing access to the reservoir  11 , a hot plate  9 , a heating mechanism, and an on/off switch  10 . 
         [0021]      FIGS. 3A and 3B  illustrate one embodiment of heating mechanism used to heat food items of the apparatus  200  for rapidly cooking food items. As seen in  FIG. 3B , an inlet of a heating element  6  is fluidly connected to an outlet end of the reservoir  11  via a first tube  1 . Heating element  6  may comprise one or a plurality of heating elements. As seen in  FIG. 3A , an outlet of heating element  6  is fluidly connected to an inlet  51  of a binary distributor  50  via a second tube  7 . Heating element  6  is also thermally connected to hot plate  9 . In one embodiment (as seen in  FIG. 3B ) hot plate  9  is thermally connected to heating element  6  by being disposed atop heating element  6 . However, it is to be understood that hot plate  9  may be thermally connected to heating element  6  by any number of thermal connection, and thus the placement of heating element  6  with respect hot plate  9  may be any configuration as desired. 
         [0022]    As seen in  FIG. 4-6 , binary distributor  50  comprises a top seal portion  5  and a bottom outlet portion  15 . The mating of top seal portion  5  and bottom outlet portion  15  forms a binary distributor  50  having a thermal distribution channel  14 . As seen in  FIGS. 5A-5F , the inlet  51  to binary distributor  50  is located on the upper surface of top seal portion  5 . As seen in  FIG. 5B-5E , extending from the bottom surface of top seal portion  5  is a wall  55  defining a top half  14   a  of thermal distribution channel  14 . 
         [0023]    The bottom outlet portion  15  of binary distributor  50  is illustrated in  FIGS. 6A-6F . As seen in  FIG. 6F , extending from the top surface of bottom outlet portion  15  is a wall  25  defining a bottom half  14   b  of thermal distribution channel  14 . The arrangement of wall  25  of bottom outlet portion  15  mirrors the arrangement of the wall  55  of top seal portion  5 . Thus, when top seal portion  5  and bottom outlet portion  15  are connected together to form binary distributor  50 , wall  25  and wall  55  align to define thermal distribution channel  14 . 
         [0024]    As seen in  FIG. 6A , located within the bottom half  14   b  of thermal distribution channel  14  are a plurality of outlet ports  27 . As seen in  FIG. 6C , the outlet ports  27  are spaced within the bottom part  14   b  of thermal distribution channel  14  at predetermined locations such that the outlet ports  27  form a generally uniform arrangement on the bottom surface of bottom outlet portion  15 . 
         [0025]    Top seal portion  5  and bottom outlet portion  15  are constructed such that when the two portions are connected together, the two portions form a tight seal connection that is configured to prevent steam and/or fluid from escaping from the thermal distribution channel  14  of the binary distributor  50  except for through outlet ports  27 . Alternatively binary distributor  50  can be constructed as a unitary component comprising an inlet  51 , a thermal distribution channel  14 , and outlet ports  27 . Although  FIGS. 5 and 6  illustrate one embodiment of the pattern, size, shape and configuration of thermal distribution channel  14  and outlet ports  27 , it should be recognized that that the pattern, size, shape and configuration of both the thermal distribution channel  14  and outlet ports  27 , as well as the number of outlet ports  27  may be varied. It should also be understood that the shape and size of container  3  can take on any numerous embodiments. Furthermore, although in one embodiment (as seen in  FIG. 4 ) the shape and size of hot plate  9  and binary distributor  50  generally match the shape and size of container  3 , the shape and size of hot plate  9  and binary distributor  50  can comprise any number of shapes and sizes. 
         [0026]    As seen in  FIG. 7 , the apparatus  200  for rapidly cooking food items may also incorporate a safety feature. After all water has left reservoir  11 , the water level probe shown in  FIG. 7  is triggered, opening the cooking circuit and disabling heating element  6 . The user can then open lid  12 , disengage container  3  from the binary distributor gasket  4 , and remove the rapidly cooked food contained in container  3 . 
         [0027]    Additionally, the apparatus  200  for rapidly cooking food items may optionally include a controller. Controller may be programmed to control any number of features of the apparatus  200  for rapidly cooking food items. For example, the controller may be programed to control the amount of water in reservoir  11  to use when cooking food. Based on a user selected input of the type of food and the amount of food to be cooked, or the desired amount of water to be used, the controller may control the apparatus  200  for rapidly cooking food items to only use a predetermined amount of water regardless of the amount of water in reservoir  11 . Among other things, controller may also be programmed to: separately and independently control heating of the hot plate  9  and the water in the reservoir  11  using the heating element  6 ; control the temperature of hot plate  9  based on a user input of the type of food and/or the amount of food to be cooked; automatically switch off the device after a predetermined time; allow the heating element  6  to act in a ‘warm only’ mode wherein heating element  6  only heats hot plate  9  and not water once a predetermined amount of time has passed; sound an alarm when the food has finished cooking; etc. 
         [0028]    In use, food desired to be cooked using the apparatus  200  for rapidly cooking food items is placed into container  3 , and container  3  is inserted into housing  100  such that container  3  rests atop hot plate  9 . Lid  12  is lifted and a desired amount of water is poured into reservoir  11 . Lid  12  is closed and the apparatus  200  is turned on using on/off switch  10 . 
         [0029]    When the apparatus  200  in turned on using the on/off switch  10 , heating element  6  is turned on, and liquid from the reservoir  11  flows through the reservoir-to-heater tube  1  and into heating element  6 . Once the water in the heating element  6  begins to boil, steam generated from the boiling water rises up through the heater-to-distributor tube  7  and enters into thermal distribution channel  14  of the binary distributor  50  via inlet  51 . 
         [0030]    As steam accumulates in the thermal distribution channel  14 , the resulting pressure buildup will force steam out from thermal distribution channel  14  through the outlet ports  27  and into the container  3  in an evenly distributed manner. This high pressure steam will evenly cook the top portion of the food in container  3  while condensing into near boiling water about the bottom of the container  3 . Because the hot plate  9  is thermally connected to and thus heated by heating element  6 , the near boiling water that accumulates at the bottom of container  3  remains at a temperature capable of cooking the food in container  3 . 
         [0031]    In one embodiment, the speed at which food is cooked is increased by incorporating a gasket  4  that is configured to create a vapor tight seal between container  3  and binary distributor  50 . Because the vapor tight seal produced by gasket  4  is configured to prevent or minimize steam evaporating and escaping container  3 , pressure within container  3  is increased. This increased pressure within the container  3  further encourages condensation of the steam at the bottom of container  3 . This accumulated condensed water, which is reheated by the hot plate  9 , increases the rate at which food in container  3  is cooked. 
         [0032]    In one embodiment, the food to be cooked includes ramen noodles such as Maruchan, Nissin, and other branded ramen dried noodle brick type soups. Preferably, in this embodiment container  3  comprises a generally rectangular shape matching the shape of the ramen dried noodle brick. Container  3  is sized so as to be large enough to accommodate the ramen noodles and broth once the ramen dried noodle brick has been cooked by the apparatus  200  for rapidly cooking food items. In this embodiment, the reservoir II may specifically be designed to hold a volume of water needed to cook the ramen brick style noodles. The inside of the reservoir  11  may include a marking indicating to a user how much water to pour into the reservoir  11 . In this embodiment, the apparatus  200  for rapidly cooking food items may be programmed to automatically disable the after a predetermined time that is needed to specifically cook ramen brick style noodles. Additionally or alternatively, the apparatus  200  for rapidly cooking food items may include a probe (such as described with reference to  FIG. 7 ), wherein after the predetermined amount of water need to cook ramen brick style noodles has left reservoir  11 , the water level probe shown in  FIG. 7  is triggered, opening the cooking circuit and disabling heating element  6 . 
         [0033]    When cooking certain foods—such as, e.g. ramen noodles—it is desirable for the food to be cooked simultaneously by high-pressure steam and by the reheated condensed water that collects in container  3 , (e.g. as in the embodiments described above). However, when cooking other types of food it may be desirable for the food to only be cooked by steam. Thus, in an alternative embodiment, container  3  may include a top strainer portion and a bottom tray portion (not shown). The bottom of top strainer portion may include a plurality of openings. When the high-pressure steam that emerges from the outlet ports  27  of binary distributor  50  condenses, the water will pass through the plurality of openings at the bottom of the top strainer portion and will instead collect in the bottom tray portion. Because bottom tray portion is in contact with hot plate  9 , the near boiling water that collects in bottom tray portion will be reheated. Hot plate  9  can be programmed and controlled to achieve a temperature high enough to bring the water collecting in bottom tray portion to a boil. Thus, as the collected water in the tray portion is reheated by the hot plate  9  to boiling temperature, the water in the tray portion will begin to form steam. The steam rising from the water in bottom tray portion will then pass through the plurality of openings in the bottom of strainer portion to cook the bottom of food in container  3 . In this embodiment, in addition to including a gasket  4  to create a vapor tight seal between container  3  and binary distributor  50 , another gasket (not shown) may also be provided between top strainer portion and bottom tray portion of container  3  so as to also create a vapor tight seal. 
         [0034]    Of course, it is to be understood that the above-described embodiments and arrangements are only illustrative of the application of the principles of the present apparatus for rapidly cooking food. Numerous modifications and alternative arrangements may be devised by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the present technology and the appended claims are intended to cover such modifications and arrangements. Thus, while the present technology has been described above with particularity and detail in connection with what is presently deemed to be the most practical and preferred embodiments, it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that numerous modifications, including, but not limited to, variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use may be made without departing from the principles and concepts set forth herein.