Patent ID: 7695746

Claim:
A method for replicating a drying profile of a fried food product when cooking said same food product in a non-oil medium, said method comprising the steps of: a) determining the moisture level in the fried food product at a plurality of points in time during the time that the fried food product is fried; b) plotting the determined values of step a) as moisture remaining per mass of dry food product versus time; c) using said plotted data of step b) to identify three cooking phases relating to three linear segments of said plotted data, said three cooking phases consisting of a first phase, a second phase, and a third phase, wherein further each phase consists of a determined average dehydration rate and duration; and d) determining power inputs required from non-oil cooking to maintain the determined dehydration rates for at least the first phase and second phase of step c) for cooking said same food product in a non-oil medium; and e) applying the determined power inputs to a food product for the time period identified in step c) for the respective cooking phases, thereby mimicking the drying profile of the fried food product.