FOOD PACKAGING

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

1. Field of Disclosure

The present invention relates to food in general and in particular to a method and apparatus for packaging food for rapid cooking.

2. Description of Related Art

In the field of food service and hospitality, it is frequently necessary to prepare food in large quantities. Such large quantities are frequently necessary in restaurants and the like. Examples of such food are bacon, ham, and other similar meat products.

A common method of cooking such large quantities of food products is to arrange a plurality of such food products on a parchment paper lined baking sheet or the like to be cooked. Difficulties exist with current methods of cooking food articles in such a manner however. In particular, such methods require a person to place each strip of bacon or the like on the baking sheet or the like individually. Such methods time consuming and require more labor to prepare such products for cooking.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

According to a first embodiment of the present disclosure there is disclosed an apparatus for storing and transporting food comprising a flexible substrate, at least one food article located on the substrate. The food article is freezable and substantially flexible. The substrate and at least one food article are rolled together to form a tubular transportation and storage form.

The substrate may be selected from the group consisting of wax paper, parchment paper and aluminum foil. The at least one food article may comprise a plurality of similar food articles.

The plurality of food articles may be arranged on the substrate in an array. The food articles may be arranged on the substrate in a single layer. The at least one food article may comprise a meat product. The food articles may comprise bacon. The flexible substrate may be sized correspond substantially to a baking sheet in an unrolled condition.

According to a further embodiment of the present disclosure there is disclosed a method for storing and transporting food comprising the steps of providing a flexible substrate, arranging a plurality of food articles on the substrate and rolling the substrate and the food articles into a tubular structure.

The plurality of food articles are arranged on the substrate in an array. The plurality of food articles are arranged on the substrate in a single layer. The flexible substrate may be sized to correspond to the size of a baking sheet in an unrolled condition.

Other aspects and features will become apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art upon review of the following description of specific embodiments in conjunction with the accompanying figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In drawings which illustrate embodiments wherein similar characters of reference denote corresponding parts in each view,

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a food transportation and storage apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the apparatus of FIG. 1 unrolled onto a baking sheet.

FIG. 3 is perspective view of a plurality of food articles being applied to a substrate sheet to form the apparatus of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is perspective view of substrate and plurality of food articles of FIG. 3 being rolled to form the apparatus of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, an apparatus for food preparation and transportation is disclosed generally at 10. The apparatus comprises sheet 12 of a substantially planar material forming a substrate and having a plurality of food articles 30 applied thereto. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the sheet 12 and food articles 30 may be rolled into a tubular shape, generally indicated at 14 for transportation and storage. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the sheet 12 and food articles may be unrolled onto a baking sheet 8 or the like when desired to be cooked by a user.

Turning now to FIG. 3, the sheet 12 may extend between first and second ends, 16 and 18, respectively and first and second side edges, 20 and 22, respectively. As illustrated, the sheet 12 has first and second surfaces, 24 and 26. The sheet 12 may be formed of any suitable food-safe material, such as, by way of non-limiting example, wax paper, parchment paper and aluminum foil. Although the sheet 12 is illustrated as having a substantially rectangular shape, it will be appreciated that the sheet may also have any other suitable shape, such as, by way of non-limiting example, square, circular, oval, octagonal or irregular. The sheet 12 may be selected to have a size corresponding to a baking sheet 8, such that when unrolled onto a baking sheet as illustrated in FIG. 2, the sheet will substantially cover the baking sheet.

Turning now to FIG. 3, the apparatus 10 of the present invention may be prepared by placing a plurality of food articles 30 on the top surface 24 of the sheet 12. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the food articles may be located on the sheet 12 in a regular or irregular array and are optionally located on the sheet 12 in a single layer. It will be appreciated that the food articles 30 may be placed upon the top surface 24 by hand or by automatic means, such as, by way of non-limiting example, a machine or the like. The food articles 30 may be selected from any desirable food article to be stored and transported. In particular it will be appreciated that meat products may be suitably stored and transported in such a manner, such as, by way of non-limiting example, bacon.

With reference to FIG. 4, after the food articles 30 have been placed on the sheet 12, the sheet may be rolled in a direction generally indicated at 40 so as to form the sheet and food articles into a tubular shape 14 as illustrated in FIG. 1. Such a shape may be stored, frozen or transported as desired. When a user desires to cook the food articles, the tubular shape 14 may be place upon a baking sheet 8 or the like and unrolled in a direction generally indicated at 42 in FIG. 2. Thereafter the baking sheet 8, sheet 12 and food articles 30 may be placed in an oven or the like for cooking. It will be appreciated that the present apparatus will assist in rapidly preparing a quantity of food, such as bacon, for cooking with less labour and effort.

While specific embodiments of the invention have been described and illustrated, such embodiments should be considered illustrative of the invention only and not as limiting the invention as construed in accordance with the accompanying claims.