Apparatus for controlling pre-cooking and machine peeling shrimp

Abstract

Apparatus for more efficiently pre-cooking and peeling cold water shrimp such as the species Pandalus borealis is disclosed. The apparatus includes a conveyor for moving the shell-on or unpeeled shrimp up and out of a feeder tank. A perforated horizontal conveyor then carries the shrimp over a steam manifold with a multiplicity of apertures such that steam escapes from the manifold and rises through the perforated belt and surrounds the shrimp. A cooking chamber which completely encloses the horizontal conveyor except at the bottom, contains the lighter-than-air steam such that the raw shell-on shrimp are at least partially cooked by the surrounding steam. Since the lighter-than-air steam excludes all air from the cooking chamber, less oxidation of fats occurs and consequently a higher quality product is obtained. The shrimp are then immediately deposited by the perforated conveyor at the entry point of an automatic shrimp peeling machine, such that the shrimp have their shell removed or are peeled while still hot.

We claim: 
     
       1. Apparatus for processing certain species of shrimp comprising: means for moving raw shell-on shrimp out of a feeder tank;   a perforated conveyor belt for further moving said raw shrimp, said perforated conveyor belt having a selected width and including a substantially horizontal or level portion extending between a start and finish position;   means for driving said perforated conveyor at a selected speed;   a steam manifold located below said perforated conveyor, said steam manifold having a multiplicity of apertures for providing steam over a selected area, said selected area extending the width of said perforated conveyor between said start and finish position;   a source of steam for providing steam to said manifold at a selected rate;   a steam enclosure, said enclosure open on the bottom side and having one dimension greater than the width of said perforated conveyor, and a second dimension greater than the distance between said start and finish positions such that said horizontal portion of said perforated conveyor is fully contained and covered by said enclosure, and said enclosure further having sufficient depth such that steam discharged from said steam manifold rises through said horizontal portion of said perforated conveyor carrying shrimp, and is contained by said enclosure such that said horizontal portion of said perforated conveyor is continuously subjected to steam so that shrimp moving on said perforated conveyor are cooked at substantially the same rate and for substantially the same time regardless of their position on said perforated conveyor; and   an automatic shrimp peeler for receiving shrimp from said perforated conveyor subsequent to said shrimp passing said finish position for machine peeling said cooked shrimp.   
     
     
       2. The apparatus of claim 1, and further including a second steam manifold located above said perforated conveyor. 
     
     
       3. The apparatus of claims 1 or 2, wherein said multiplicity of apertures for providing steam extends substantially the full width of said perforated conveyor and substantially between said start and finish position. 
     
     
       4. The apparatus of claims 1 or 2, and further including a means for collecting hot condensate from said steam to reduce the amount of hot water entering said feeder tank so as to avoid an increase in temperature of said feeder tank. 
     
     
       5. The apparatus of claim 1 or 2 wherein said steam enclosure has double walls for insulation purposes. 
     
     
       6. The apparatus of claims 1 or 2, wherein an exhaust means is attached to said steam enclosure for exhausting steam at a selected rate from said enclosure. 
     
     
       7. The apparatus of .[.claims 1 or 2.]. .Iadd.claim 6 .Iaddend.and further including means connected to said exhaust means for condensing said steam for subsequent disposal. 
     
     
       8. The apparatus of claims 1 or 2, wherein said means for moving and said perforated conveyor are the same conveyor. .Iadd. 
     
     
       9.  Apparatus for cooking food products, comprising in combination, a perforated conveyor belt of predetermined width movable over a substantially horizontal cooking region for moving said products,   means for driving said perforated conveyor belt at a selected speed,   an unsealed enclosure chamber open to atmosphere, closed on the top and having an opening near the bottom, and disposed over the belt in said region to encompass in said horizontal region the food products carried by the belt for cooking within downwardly extending sidewalls of the enclosure chamber,   a saturated steam source,   steam manifold means for receiving and dispensing saturated steam from said source positioned such that saturated steam discharged from said steam manifold means directly enters said enclosure chamber to replace air and to envelop the horizontal portion of the belt carrying the food products thereby to envelop and cook said products in saturated steam at substantially atmospheric pressure as they pass through said horizontal region,   the downwardly extending sidewalls of said enclosure chamber further having sufficient depth that the saturated steam discharged from said steam manifold rises through said horizontal region of said perforated conveyor belt and is contained by said enclosure, and   means for dispensing saturated steam at a rate substantially to exclude air in the horizontal region and to provide cooking energy for subjecting said food products as they move on the belt to a constant cooking temperature at atmospheric pressure in a substantially pure steam environment. .Iaddend. .Iadd.   
     
     
       10.  Apparatus for cooking food products, comprising in combination, a perforated conveyor belt of predetermined width movable over a substantially horizontal region for moving said products,   an unsealed enclosure chamber open to atmosphere, closed on the top, having an opening near the bottom, and disposed over the belt in said region to encompass in said horizontal region the food products carried by the belt for cooking within downwardly extending sidewalls of the enclosure chamber,   a saturable steam source,   steam manifold means for receiving and dispensing saturated steam from said source positioned such that saturated steam discharged from said steam manifold means directly enters said enclosure chamber to replace air and to envelop the horizontal portion of the belt carrying the food products thereby to envelop and cook said products in saturated steam at substantially atmospheric pressure as they pass through said horizontal region,   means for dispensing steam at a rate substantially to exclude air in the horizontal region and to provide cooking energy for subjecting said food products as they move on the belt to a constant cooking temperature at atmospheric pressure in a substantially pure steam environment, and   means for collecting and draining substantially all water resulting from steam condensed in cooking the product. .Iaddend. .Iadd.   
     
     
       11.  Apparatus for cooking as defined in claim 9 further comprising, means for conveying raw shrimp food products out of a feeder tank on said conveyor belt into said horizontal region in said chamber. .Iaddend. .Iadd.   
     
     
       12.  Apparatus for cooking food products, comprising in combination, a perforated conveyor belt of predetermined width movable over a substantially horizontal region for moving said products,   an unsealed enclosure chamber open to atmosphere, closed on the top, having an opening near the bottom, and disposed over the belt in said region to encompass in said horizontal region the food products carried by the belt for cooking within downwardly extending sidewalls of the enclosure chamber,   a saturable steam source,   steam manifold means for receiving and dispensing saturated steam from said source positioned such that saturated steam discharged from said steam manifold means directly enters said enclosure chamber to replace air and to envelop the horizontal portion of the belt carrying the food products thereby to envelop and cook said products in saturated steam at substantially atmospheric pressure as they pass through said horizontal region,   means for dispensing steam at a rate substantially to exclude air in the horizontal region and to provide cooking energy for subjecting said food products as they move on the belt to a constant cooking temperature at atmospheric pressure in a substantially pure steam environment, and   steam collector means disposed to collect said steam as it escapes below said chamber. .Iaddend. .Iadd.   
     
     
       13.  Apparatus for cooking food products comprising in combination: means for introducing saturated steam at a rate into a cooking region for cooking within downwardly extending sidewalls of an unsealed closed top enclosure chamber having an opening at the bottom for removal of steam and to keep the inside pressure of the chamber substantially atmospheric,   manifold means for supplying the saturated steam at a continuous rate to maintain saturated steam in the cooking region,   means for introducing food products into said chamber comprising a perforated conveyor belt of predetermined width carrying the food products at a predetermined rate through the cooking region for cooking within said chamber by said saturated steam,   the downwardly extending sidewalls of said enclosure chamber further having sufficient depth that the saturated steam introduced from said manifold means rises through said perforated conveyor belt and is contained by said enclosure, and   means for maintaining the rate of the steam introduced into said chamber to subject the food products as they move on the conveyor belt to constant cooking temperature at atmospheric pressure in a substantially saturated steam environment. .Iaddend. .Iadd.   
     
     
       14.  The apparatus of claim 13 further comprising: means for varying the speed of the conveyor belt to vary the cooking time within said chamber,   means for passing the belt over a substantially horizontal region cooking area in saturated steam under said chamber, and   wherein said means for introducing saturated steam further comprises steam manifolds on opposite sides of the food products on the conveyor belts. .Iaddend. .Iadd.15. The apparatus of claim 13 further comprising:   means for conveying raw shrimp out of a feeder tank on said conveyor belt   
     
     
        at a predetermined rate for cooking in said chamber. .Iaddend. .Iadd.16. Apparatus for cooking food products, comprising in combination, a perforated conveyor belt of predetermined width movable over a substantially horizontal region for moving said products,   an unsealed enclosure chamber open to atmosphere, closed on the top, having an opening near the bottom, and disposed over the belt in said region to encompass in said horizontal region the food products carried by the belt for cooking within downwardly extending sidewalls of the enclosure chamber,   a saturable steam source,   steam manifold means for receiving and dispensing saturated steam from said source positioned such that saturated steam discharged from said steam manifold means directly enters said enclosure chamber to replace air and to envelop the horizontal portion of the belt carrying the food products thereby to envelop and cook said products in saturated steam at substantially atmospheric pressure as they pass through said horizontal region,   means for dispensing steam at a rate substantially to exclude air in the horizontal region and to provide cooking energy for subjecting said food products as they move on the belt to a constant cooking temperature at atmospheric pressure in a substantially pure steam environment,   wherein the steam manifold means includes a multiplicity of apertures for dispensing steam substantially evenly across the width of the perforated   
     
     
        conveyor belt. .Iaddend. .Iadd.17.  Apparatus for cooking food products comprising in combination: means for introducing saturated steam into a cooking region of a closed top chamber having an opening at the bottom to keep the inside pressure substantially atmospheric,   means for supplying the steam at a continuous rate to maintain saturated steam in the cooking region,   means for introducing food products into said chamber comprising a conveyor belt of predetermined width carrying the food products at a predetermined rate through the cooking region for cooking within said chamber by said saturated steam, and   means for maintaining the rate of the steam introduced into said chamber to subject the food products as the move on the conveyor belt to a constant cooking temperature at atmospheric pressure in a substantially saturated steam environment   wherein the means for introducing saturated steam further comprises means for dispensing the steam substantially evenly across the width of the   
     
     
        conveyor belt. .Iaddend. .Iadd.18.  Apparatus for processing certain species of shrimp comprising: a perforated conveyor belt for moving said raw shrimp, said perforated conveyor belt having a selected width and including a substantially horizontal or level portion extending between a start and a finish position;   means for moving raw shell-on shrimp on said belt out of a feeder tank;   means for driving said perforated conveyor belt at a selected speed;   a steam manifold located below said perforated conveyor belt adjacent to the shrimp moved on the belt, said steam manifold having a multiplicity of apertures for providing steam over a selected area, said selected area extending the width of said perforated conveyor belt between said start and finish positions;   a source of steam for providing steam to said manifold at a selected rate; and   a steam enclosure, said enclosure open on the bottom side for removal of steam and having one dimension greater than the width of said perforated conveyor belt, and a second dimension greater than the distance between said start and finish positions such that said horizontal portion of said perforated conveyor belt is fully contained and covered by said enclosure, and said enclosure further having sufficient depth such that steam discharged from said steam manifold rises through said horizontal portion of said perforated conveyor belt carrying shrimp, and is contained by said enclosure such that said horizontal portion of said perforated conveyor belt is continuously subjected to steam so that shrimp moving on said perforated conveyor belt are cooked at substantially the same rate and for substantially the same time regardless of their orientation on said   
     
     
        perforated conveyor belt. .Iaddend. .Iadd.19.  Apparatus for cooking food products comprising in combination, a perforated conveyor belt of predetermined width movable over a substantially horizontal cooking region for moving said products,   an unsealed enclosure chamber open to atmosphere, closed on the top and having downwardly extending sidewalls, with bottom edges defining an opening near the bottom, and disposed to enclose the cooking region of the belt with the bottom edges extending significantly below said horizontal region to exclude atmospheric air and to encompass in said horizontal region the food products carried by the belt for cooking within the downwardly extending sidewalls of the enclosure chamber,   a saturable steam source,   steam manifold means for receiving and dispensing saturated steam from said source positioned within said cooking region such that saturated steam discharged from said steam manifold means directly enters said enclosure chamber to replace air and to envelop the horizontal portion of the belt carrying the food products thereby to envelop and cook said products in saturated steam at substantially atmospheric pressure as they pass through said horizontal region, and   regulation means for dispensing saturated steam at a rate substantially to exclude air in the horizontal region and to provide constant temperature cooking energy at 212 degrees F. for cooking said food products as they move on the belt at atmospheric pressure in a substantially pure steam   
     
     
        environment. .Iaddend. .Iadd.20.  Apparatus for cooking food products comprising in combination: a cooking region with a closed top chamber having downwardly extending sidewalls defining an opening at the bottom exposed to the atmosphere to keep the inside pressure substantially atmospheric,   means disposed in said chamber for supplying saturated steam at a continuous rate to the chamber to maintain saturated steam in the cooking region to the exclusion of air,   means for introducing food products into said chamber comprising a conveyor belt of predetermined width carrying the food products at a predetermined rate upwardly into the cooking region for cooking within said chamber by said saturated steam, and   regulation means for matching the rate of the steam supplied to said chamber to the rate of cooking the food products as they move on the conveyor belt through the cooking region thereby maintaining a constant cooking temperature of 212 degrees F. obtained at said atmospheric pressure from said saturated steam. .Iaddend.