A process for cooking, in a cooking fluid, food products which lose a portion of their moisture content as vapor during the cooking cycle is provided. The food products are spaced and oriented so that during cooking, water vapor is expelled from the food products into the vertical convection channels formed by the spacing and orienting of the food products. The expelled buoyant water vapor augments the upward vertical convection of the cooking fluid through the vertical convection channels, thereby improving heat transfer from the cooking fluid to the food products. As a result, cooking time and fat uptake is reduced and a more uniform product quality is provided.
This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 07/366,283, filed June 13, 1989, now abandoned, which is a continuation of Ser. No. 07/121,989, filed Nov. 18, 1987, now abandoned.
The apparatus is a chip fry lid having an array of long and short posts for contacting and agitating the chips during the deep frying process. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, each of the posts is formed by proximate sets of wire bent to form a series of long and short generally U-shaped prongs. A hinge at the front of the lid and a handle at the opposite end facilitate manual oscillation of the lid during the deep frying process to achieve a high percentage of chips of uniform high quality, both in terms of uniform cooking and chips having sufficient curls to form a chip functionally useful for holding dipped food and also aesthetically pleasing.
The apparatus is a chip fry lid having an array of long and short posts for contacting and agitating the chips during the deep frying process. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, each of the posts is formed by proximate sets of wire bent to form a series of long and short generally U-shaped prongs. A hinge at the front of the lid and a handle at the opposite end facilitate manual oscillation of the lid during the deep frying process to achieve a high percentage of chips of uniform high quality, both in terms of uniform cooking and chips having sufficient curls to form a chip functionally useful for holding dipped food and also aesthetically pleasing.
