Warm food product distributor

Abstract

The present invention relates to an apparatus capable of supplying a portion of warm food product, consisting at least of one food component, for example selected among typical components of the dressing of a pizza, and used for filling an edible container, for example a wafer, creating a ready-to-eat single-dose warm food product. The apparatus provides a heating chamber (20) comprising a recess having an inner heated surface (82), in which a piston (84) slides sweeping the surface (82) and pushing towards an outlet (83) at least one food component (33) heated in said heating chamber (20) and coming from a magazine (30). The magazine (30) may be refrigerated (32), and a liquid food component (40) may be added. The heating chamber (20) is heated by an electrical resistance (81). The apparatus, furthermore, comprises a system (50) for applying a dressing on the upper surface of the product and a carousel (60) for positioning automatically an edible container (71) in different operative stations.

Description

technical field [0001] The present invention relates to the field of food products, and more particularly the present invention relates to a device for filling a portable container with a serving of hot ready-to-eat food. Background technique [0002] A variety of food products are known that can be eaten by hand, having a hard edible structure (eg, a pancake) and being filled with food. [0003] Such products are known mainly in two categories, hot and cold. The first type is known eg ice cream, the second type is known eg pizza cone. [0004] For hot food, especially cone pizza, it is known, as described in US 4463021, to use edible cones whose dimensions and characteristics are such that they can be easily held in the hand when eaten. The cone may include a removable wrap that wraps around the lower portion to protect the consumer's hands from burning. Pizza cone fillings may include traditional pizza condiments such as cottage cheese or other cheeses, tomato or other ...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

[0007] The known method described above is limited in that it has a non-negligible waiting time, since the preparation of the seasoning and the filling operation takes several minutes, and the subsequent cooking step in the oven also takes a few minutes, the total waiting time is about Often too long for crowded venues, thereby adversely affecting customer satisfaction as people line up

[0008] Another limitation of the known method is that it is not fully automated, the steps of preparing and filling the cone require the presence of the operator

[0009] Additionally, the cold, wet cheese that sits in the cone for a few minutes before melting in the oven can affect or reduce the crispness of the cone crepes, causing the cone to Soggy is undesirable or needs a tighter cone

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