A method for treating used cooking liquid from a cooking process includes the steps of removing a portion of the used liquid cooking medium from a cooking vessel and channeling it to a treatment vessel. The treatment vessel is sealable against a pressure that is substantially greater than atmospheric pressure. The cooking medium in the treatment vessel is then subjected to a pressure substantially greater than ambient atmospheric pressure, and it is heated in the treatment vessel to a temperature greater than an atmospheric pressure boiling point for a sufficient time to restore the cooking medium to a condition suitable for cooking. Finally the treated cooking medium is returned to the cooking vessel from the treatment vessel. This method is environmentally useful for significantly reducing wastewater production and "makeup" water usage.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application is a continuation-in-part of utility application Ser. No. 09/935,270, entitled "Continuous Cooking Apparatus and Method Employing Hydrostatic Pressure," filed Aug. 22, 2001, which itself claims priority from provisional application No. 60/227,561, entitled "Continuous Cooking Apparatus and Method Employing Hydrostatic Pressure for Enhancing Cooking Temperatures and Time," filed Aug. 23, 2000.
