Refrigerated breading and batter table

• US 6,505,547 B1
• Filed: 08/09/2001
• Issued: 01/14/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 08/09/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Giles Enterprises, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Giles Enterprises, Inc.
• Inventors: McNeal, William T., Lewis, Johnny R., Burnett, Craig D.
• Primary Examiner(s): Simone, Timothy F.
• Application Number:
  US09/924,456
• Time in Patent Office: 523 Days
• Field of Search: 994/94, 993/48, 995/16, 995/34--36, 994/501, 118/13, 118/16, 118/31, 118/19, 118/23, 118/24, 118/312, 118/18, 118/417, 118/418, 62/63, 62/64, 623/81, 623/80, 623/74, 623/75, 62/521, 623/76
• US Class Current: 99/494
• CPC Class Codes: A23L 13/03 Coating with a layer; Stuffing, laminating, binding, or compressing of original meat pieces
• CPC Class Codes: A23L 13/57 Coating with a layer or stuffing
• CPC Class Codes: A23L 17/75 Coating with a layer, stuffing, laminating, binding or compressing of original fish pieces
• CPC Class Codes: A23P 20/12 Apparatus or processes for applying powders or particles to foodstuffs, e.g. for breading; Such apparatus combined with means for pre-moistening or battering

Abstract

A mobile table for batter dipping and breading food products such as chicken pieces, shrimp, fish pieces and other food products prior to cooking such as by deep frying. The table includes a batter pan and a breading pan oriented adjacent to each other and supported in a table top. A self-contained refrigeration system is provided in a cabinet underneath the table top to cool the batter pan, the breading pan and to chill water in a refrigerated water reservoir to supply prechilled water to the batter pan. The refrigeration system maintains the batter material in the batter pan and breading material in the breading pan at a temperature to retard or substantially reduce bacteria growth.

Claims

1. A table for coating food products with batter and breading comprising a support structure, a batter pan mounted on said support structure adapted to receive a quantity of batter material, a breading pan mounted on said support structure and adapted to receive breading material to enable food products to be coated with batter by dipping into batter material in said batter pan and breaded in breading material in said breading pan, a refrigeration system mounted on said support structure including a cooling coil in heat exchange relation to both of said pans to maintain the material in said pans at a temperature selected to retard bacteria growth, a water supply system mounted on said support structure and including a faucet in alignment with said batter pan, a water reservoir supplying water to said faucet, said refrigeration system including a cooling coil mounted in said water reservoir to chill water in the reservoir to a predetermined low temperature to supply chilled water to said faucet for discharge into said batter pan to form a chilled batter dip into which food products are dipped to coat with batter prior to breading in the breading pan.

2. The table as defined in claim 1, and further including a spray nozzle mounted on said support structure and connected to a water supply for rinsing and cleaning the pans.

3. The table as defined in claim 2, wherein said batter pan is provided with a drain line having a valve therein to drain batter from the batter pan, said valve being actuated by an actuator extending toward an external area of said table.

4. The table as defined in claim 1, wherein a motor driven pump transfers chilled water from the reservoir to the faucet aligned with the batter pan.

5. The table as defined in claim 4, wherein said reservoir includes a float valve to determine the level of water in said reservoir.

6. The table as defined in claim 5, wherein activation of said motor driven pump automatically closes a water inlet valve to said reservoir and automatically opens said inlet valve when the motor driven pump is stopped to enable the reservoir to be refilled.

7. A table for coating food products with batter and breading comprising a support structure, a batter pan mounted on said support structure adapted to receive a quantity of batter material, a breading pan mounted on said support structure and adapted to receive breading material to enable food products to be coated with batter by dipping into batter material in said batter pan and breaded in breading material in said breading pan, a refrigeration system mounted on said support structure including a cooling coil in heat exchange relation to both of said pans to maintain the material in said pans at a temperature selected to retard bacteria growth, and further comprising a sifter underlying said breading pan, a closeable discharge opening in said breading pan to discharge breading including any breading material that may have joined together to form dough balls into the sifter when the discharge opening is open, said sifter including a container having a bottom screened area and a movable agitator to discharge reusable breading material from the sifter through said screened area and retain dough balls in the sifter container for disposal.

8. The table as defined in claim 7, wherein said sifter is removably supported under the breading pan, said agitator being rotatably driven by a motor having a separable drive connection engaged externally of the sifter to drivingly connect the agitator with said motor when the sifter is placed in a position underlying the breading pan in alignment with the discharge opening in the breading pan and enabling separation of the driving connection when the sifter container is removed from under the breading pan.

9. A table for coating food products with batter and breading comprising a support structure, a batter pan mounted on said support structure adapted to receive a quantity of batter material, a breading pan mounted on said support structure and adapted to receive breading material to enable food products to be coated with batter by dipping into batter material in said batter pan and breaded in breading material in said breading pan, a refrigeration system mounted on said support structure including a cooling coil in heat exchange relation to both of said pans to maintain the material in said pans at a temperature selected to retard bacteria growth, wherein each of said pans is provided with an open top, and further including a removable closure member retaining the chilled condition of the batter dip material and breading material.

10. A table for coating food products with batter and breading comprising a support structure, a batter pan mounted on said support structure adapted to receive a quantity of batter material, a breading pan mounted on said support structure and adapted to receive breading material to enable food products to be coated with batter by dipping into batter material in said batter pan and breaded in breading material in said breading pan, a refrigeration system mounted on said support structure including a cooling coil in heat exchange relation to both of said pans to maintain the material in said pans at a temperature selected to retard bacteria growth, wherein said table includes a hood adjacent said pans for supporting a food product container.

11. A table for coating food products with batter and breading comprising a support structure, a batter pan mounted on said support structure adapted to receive a quantity of batter material, a breading pan mounted on said support structure and adapted to receive breading material to enable food products to be coated with batter by dipping into batter material in said batter pan and breaded in breading material in said breading pan, a refrigeration system mounted on said support structure including a cooling coil in heat exchange relation to both of said pans to maintain the material in said pans at a temperature selected to retard bacteria growth, and further including a perforated basket supported from an upper end of the batter pan for receiving food products for dipping into the batter material in the batter pan by lowering the basket into the batter material to immerse the food product in the batter material.

12. A food product processing table comprising a batter pan adapted to receive a quantity of batter material, a breading pan adapted to receive a quantity of breading material to enable food products to be sequentially coated with batter and breaded prior to cooking and a source of low temperature in heat exchange relation to said batter pan and batter material therein and to said breading pan and breading material therein to maintain said batter material and breading material at a temperature selected to retard bacteria growth in said materials, wherein said source of low temperature includes a refrigeration system including a refrigerant expansion cooling coil in heat exchange relation to each of said pans, wherein said table further comprises a water reservoir in communication with said batter pan, said refrigeration system including a refrigeration expansion cooling coil in said water reservoir to provide prechilled water to said batter pan to enable batter to be formed by using chilled water.

13. A breading and batter table comprising a table top and an enclosed cabinet underneath supporting said table top, a breading pan and a batter pan supported on said table top and extending into said enclosed cabinet through openings in said top, and a self-contained refrigerant system supported in said cabinet and in refrigerating communication with at least one of said breading pan and said batter pan.

14. The breading and batter table as defined in claim 13, wherein said refrigeration system includes a chilled water reservoir in communication with a dispenser to provide chilled water into the batter pan to enable batter dip to be formed in the batter pan.

15. The breading and batter table as defined in claim 14, wherein said chilled water reservoir includes a temperature monitoring probe and a heater to raise water temperature in said reservoir to actuate refrigeration cycle to maintain lower temperature in at least one of said batter pan and said breading pan.