Tuber Skin Rigidity via Freezing for Ingredient Insertion
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for preparing tubers with additional food ingredients often disrupt the skin and are not suitable for volume processing, making it difficult to insert ingredients without skin damage and efficiently produce consumer-ready products.
Innovation Solution
A method involving thorough cooking of tubers, followed by flash freezing to create a rigid skin, removal of a portion of the flesh, insertion of food ingredients through a hole in the skin, and optional mixing or distribution within the tuber using a rotary tool, allowing for later freezing and convenient consumption.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If food ingredients are inserted into tubers using conventional methods, then the tuber can be prepared with additional ingredients, but the skin is disrupted and the process is not suitable for volume processing
Solution Approach 1:
The tuber skin is frozen before insertion to create a rigid structure that maintains integrity during the insertion process. This preliminary freezing action enables volume processing by allowing mechanical insertion devices to operate efficiently without damaging the skin, thereby resolving the contradiction between ease of insertion and volume processing capability
Solution Approach 2:
The physical state of the tuber skin is changed from soft to rigid through freezing. This parameter change (temperature state) allows the skin to withstand mechanical insertion forces while maintaining its barrier function, enabling both ease of insertion and volume processing
2Strength
If the tuber skin is made rigid through freezing, then the skin integrity is maintained during insertion, but the flesh must be partially removed to accommodate ingredients
Solution Approach 1:
Only a portion of the flesh is removed to create a cavity for ingredient insertion, while the rest of the tuber structure remains intact. This local modification approach minimizes flesh removal while still providing sufficient space for the desired ingredients, balancing skin integrity with ingredient accommodation
3Ease of operation
If the tuber is thoroughly cooked before insertion, then the flesh becomes soft for removal and mixing, but the skin becomes more vulnerable to damage
Solution Approach 1:
The skin is frozen before flesh removal to strengthen it against damage during the soft flesh removal process. This preliminary freezing action resolves the contradiction by providing skin strength when it is most needed - during the vulnerable phase of flesh removal after cooking
Solution Approach 2:
The skin's physical state is dynamically adjusted: frozen to provide strength during insertion and processing, then thawed to allow for final cooking and serving. This dynamic state change enables the skin to exhibit different mechanical properties at different stages of the process
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables the seamless insertion of food materials into tubers with minimal skin disruption, facilitating volume processing and consumer preparation, while maintaining the tuber's integrity and ease of cooking.
Implementation Method 1
The tuber is frozen to provide rigidity about the skin of the tuber, while leaving a portion of the flesh unfrozen
Implementation Method 2
The rotary device is expanded, and rotating internally in the tuber to disturb the flesh of the potato
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention is a method of preparing a tuber for consumption, with the tuber having added food ingredients in the tuber. The tuber is thoroughly cooked. The tuber is frozen to provide rigidity about the skin of the tuber, while leaving a portion of the flesh unfrozen. A portion of the flesh of the tuber is removed either prior to or after cooking. The desired added food material is inserted through a hole in the skin and into the void where flesh of the tuber was removed. The tuber may then be completely frozen for later preparation and consumption.