GB2315397A

GB2315397A - Conditioning peeled potatoes prior to cooking

Info

Publication number: GB2315397A
Application number: GB9615120A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Kelvin Charles Vernon Lee
Original assignee: DRYWITE Ltd
Current assignee: DRYWITE Ltd
Priority date: 1996-07-18
Filing date: 1996-07-18
Publication date: 1998-02-04
Also published as: GB9615120D0

Abstract

A method and apparatus for conditioning peeled potatoes prior to cooking. Peeled potatoes are deposited in perforated buckets and the buckets are used to transport the peeled potatoes from a potato processing machine to a potato cooker. The peeled potatoes are immersed in one or more conditioning liquids by placing the buckets in one or more containers which are flooded with conditioning liquid and subsequently drained.

Description

CONDITIONING PEELED POTATOES This invention relates to a method and apparatus for conditioning peeled potatoes prior to cooking.

In restaurants, particularly "fast-food" restaurants, large volumes of fried chipped potatoes must be produced very quickly. In order to achieve this, it is conventional practice to peel large quantities of potatoes in a single batch, cut the potatoes into chips, and then store the chips ready for frying. In order to improve the quality of the chips, it is desirable to soak them for a period in water to remove starch.

If such chips are subsequently stored in the atmosphere, they rapidly discolour. To prevent such discolouration, it has been known for many years to treat the chips my immersing them in a solution of for example sulphur dioxide. After being removed from the sulphur dioxide solution the chips must be dried for a period of for example one hour such that the chips dropped into the fryer are substantially dry.

The conventional process described above is typically practised by dumping chips from the outlet of a chip-making machine directly into a large bin filled with water. After starch has been removed from the chips by the water the chips are transferred using a hand ladle to a second large bin containing a sulphur dioxide solution. The chips remain in the sulphur dioxide solution for typically fifteen minuets and the solution is then drained from the second bin. The chips then remain in that second bin typically for one hour to allow them to dry. Thereafter the chips are transferred by hand using a ladle into buckets which are used to transport the chips to a fryer.

The conventional process described above is unsatisfactory for a variety of reasons. Firstly, the chips must be manually transferred between containers twice.

This is labour intensive, time consuming and inevitably results in some damage to the chips. Secondly the residence time of an individual chip in the second bin containing the sulphur dioxide solution cannot be accurately controlled as it can take several minutes to transfer the chips from the first bin to the second bin and therefore the treatment time of an individual chip is a function of the time at which it is transferred between the bins. Thirdly the second bin is occupied for a prolonged period as the processed chips dry and cannot therefore be used for a further batch. Despite these problems the conventional process has been practised for more than fifty years without significant modification.

It is an object of the present invention to obviate or mitigate the problems outlined above.

According to the present invention, there is provided a method for conditioning peeled potatoes prior to cooking, wherein the peeled potatoes are deposited in perforated buckets, the buckets are placed in a container such that the potatoes are immersed in a conditioning liquid within the container, and the potatoes are removed from the container by lifting the buckets from the container.

The invention also provides a peeled potato conditioning apparatus comprising at least one container for receiving conditioning liquid, and at least two perforated buckets which may be filled with potatoes and deposited in the container such that the potatoes are immersed in the conditioning liquid.

The buckets may be placed in a first container filled with a first conditioning liquid such as water and then placed in a second container filled with a second conditioning liquid such as a solution of sulphur dioxide. Alternatively, the potatoes may be exposed to different conditioning liquids within the same container by placing the buckets within that container, flooding the container with the first conditioning liquid, draining the first conditioning liquid from the container, flooding the container with the second conditioning liquid, and then draining the second conditioning liquid from the container.

The potatoes may be dried by storing them in the buckets for a period after removal from the container.

An embodiment of the present invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is an end view of a container which may be used in accordance with the present invention; Figure 2 is a view of the lines 2-2 of Figure 1 after removal of the adjacent side and the lid of the container; Figure 3 is a plan view of the container of figures 1 and 2; Figure 4 is a side view of one of the buckets shown within the container of figures 2 and 3; Figure 5 is a sectional view of figure 4 on lines 5-5; and Figure 6 is a plan view of the bucket of figure 4.

Referring to figures 1 to 3, the illustrated container comprises a generally rectangular body 1 supported on wheels 2. A lid 3 is provided to protect the contents of the container from contamination. The base of the container defines trough 4 and 5 which intersect, the trough 5 leading at one end to an opening 6 through which the contents of the container may be drained away. The opening 6 will generally be closed by a simple valve device.

The troughs 4 and 5 divide the base of the container into four platforms each of which is adapted to support a stack of two buckets of the type shown in detail in figures 4 to 6. Each bucket has a main body 7 of generally fiustoconical shape and three outwardly projecting portions 8. A handle 9 may be lifted up as shown in figures 4 and 5 or folded down as shown in figure 6. The portions 8 are arranged such that the buckets may be nested together by aligning the portions 8. Alternatively, if the portions 8 are not aligned as shown in figure 3, the bottom sections of those portions define projecting feet 10 which can engage radially outside the main body portion 7 of a lower bucket. Thus by offsetting the portions 8 as show in figure 3 stacks of buckets may be supported one upon the other.

In use, two of the containers shown in figures 1 to 3 are provided and eight of the buckets shown in figures 4 to 6. Whole potatoes are peeled and formed into chips by machine and the chipped potatoes are then emptied into the buckets. The buckets are then stacked as shown in figures 2 and 3 within a first one of the outer containers and that outer container is flooded with water. Starch is removed from the chips by the water and the water is then drained through opening 6.

The second outer container contains a solution of sulphur dioxide the concentration of which is such that chips can be adequately conditioned so as to avoid discoloration by immersion in the solution for only ninety seconds. The full buckets are transferred from the first container to the second, a process which takes seconds given that it is an easy matter to rapidly transfer the eight buckets. A timer is activated as soon as the transfer process has been completed and after timing a delay of ninety seconds indicates that the chips have been adequately conditioned. The sulphur dioxide solution is then drained from the second container through the opening 6 and the buckets are left within that second container for a short period of for example five minuets to enable excess conditioning liquid to drain from them.

The conditioned chips are then removed in the buckets from the second container and stacked on the floor for approximately one hour to allow the chips to dry. After drying, the full buckets are then taken as required to a chip fryer and the chips are emptied directly from the buckets into the fryer.

It will be appreciated that with the described method of operation at no time is it necessary for chips to be transferred from one container to another using for example a ladle or scoop. Damage to the chips is avoided, the time taken for transfer between containers is dramatically reduced, and the residence time of the chips within conditioning liquids can be accurately determined, thereby enabling relatively strong solutions of sulphur dioxide to be used so as to reduce the total residence time of the chips in the conditioning liquid.

It will be appreciated that the process described above could be carried out in a single outer container by arranging for that container to be alternately flooded with water and sulphur dioxide solution. A simple valve and pumping system could provide the necessary liquid flow control. This would save space in that only one outer container would be required.

Claims

1. A method for conditioning peeled potatoes prior to cooking, wherein the peeled potatoes are deposited in perforated buckets, the buckets are placed in a container such that the potatoes are immersed in a conditioning liquid within the container, and the potatoes are removed from the container by lifting the buckets from the container.

2. A method accordingly to claim 1, wherein the buckets are placed in a first container filled with a first conditioning liquid and then placed in a second container filled with a second conditioning liquid.

3. A method according to claim 1, wherein the buckets are placed in a single container, the container is flooded with a first conditioning liquid and then drained, and the container is filled with a second conditioning liquid.

4. A method according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the first conditioning liquid is water and the second conditioning liquid is a solution of sulphur dioxide.

5. A method according to any preceding claim, wherein the or each container is filled with conditioning liquid after the buckets have been placed therein.

6. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the or each container is drained before removal of the buckets therefrom.

7. A method according to any preceding claims, wherein the peeled potatoes are dried by storing them in the buckets for a predetermined period of time.

8. A peeled potato conditioning apparatus comprising at least one container for receiving a conditioning liquid, and at least two perforated buckets which may be filled with potatoes and deposited in the container such that the potatoes are immersed in the conditioning liquid.

9. A method for conditioning peeled potatoes prior to cooking substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

10. A peeled potato conditioning apparatus substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.