GB2313535A - Snack meals - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to snack meals comprising a base (2) of toasted bread carrying at least three food layers (4, 6 and 8). The inner and outer layers (4 and 6) are predominantly a thickened cheese mixture while the intermediate layer (6) comprises a food filling.

Description

SNACK MEALS The present invention relates to snack meals.

Deep frozen snack meals in various formats are available such as pizzas, shepherds pie and the like.

The problem with meals such as shepherds pie, is that they need to be heated after defrosting so as to be appetising to the consumer. Cold shepherds pie lacks a certain degree of attraction.

Pizzas on the other hand which might be expected to look more attractive when defrosted, often become unattractive because the so called fillings or toppings which decorate the surface are subject to freezer burn and so become unattractive.

It is an object of the invention to provide an improved snack meal.

According to the present invention there is provided a snack meal comprising a base of toasted bread carrying at least three food layers, the inner and outer layers comprising a layer including predominantly cheese and the intermediate layer or layers comprising a food filling.

Preferably, the food filling comprises precooked fish or meat. Advantageously, the inner and outer layers comprise melted Cheddar cheese enhanced with a thickener. The thickener may comprise a mixture of milk and cornflour, the cornflour and cheese being present in the ratio in the range of between 1:2 and 1:4 but preferably in the ratio of 1:3.

The outer perimeters of the inner and outer layer are heat sealed together to totally enclose the immediate layer or layers.

The thickness of the inner layer is advantageously in the range of from 5 to 10 mm, the thickness of the outer layer is advantageously in the range of from 7.5 to 12.5 mm.

According to the present invention there is further provided a snack meal as described hereinbefore when vacuum packed and deep frozen.

According to the present invention there is still further provided apparatus for making a snack meal comprising a conveyor for conveying toasted bread slices which pass three longitudinally spaced valvedhoppers and sensing means for sensing the passage of each slice past each hopper to actuate the valve thereon and to deposit the contents as a substantially uniform layer on the slice, and grilling means located along the conveyor downstream of the hoppers to brown the outer surface of the outer layer of the slice.

A snack meal, and apparatus and a method of making the snack meal, embodying the present invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a section through the snack meal; and Figure 2 is a side elevation of an apparatus for manufacturing the snack meal.

The snack meal shown in Figure 1 comprises a base consisting of a slice 2 of bread toasted on both sides, covered with a first layer of a thickened cheese mixture 4. Deposited on the first layer in the central region thereof is a second layer 6 of cooked meat or fish.

Deposited on the second layer 6 is a layer of cheese mixture 8 similar in content to the cheese mixture of layer 1. Because the second layer 6 only covers a central region of the first layer 4, the third layer 8 makes contact with the first layer 4 around the perimeter. The multilayer structure is heated under a grill until the surface of the third layer 8 browns and the first and third layers 4 and 8 melt together to seal the second layer against access to the atmosphere.

The snack is now ready for wrapping in a plastics seal packaging and deep freezing.

To eat the snack it may be merely defrosted or following defrosting heated under a grill or in a microwave oven.

The cheese mixture is advantageously grated Cheddar cheese and a thickener such as cornflour. The mixture is such that when heated it does not run as normal grated Cheddar cheese would. This is believed to be largely due to the cornflour thickener which is present in an amount by weight having a ratio to cheese content in the range of from 1:2 to 1:4.

An example of the cheese mixture is as follows.

The contents consist of 0.5 kg of mature Cheddar cheese 170 gms of cornflour 1.28 litres of milk 20 gms of English mustard 4 gms of salt The mixture is prepared by mixing 170 gms of cornflour with 140 cc of the milk.

The cheese is grated, added to the remainder of the milk, the mustard, the salt and the pepper and is brought to the boil. At this point the milk and cornflour mixture is added to thicken, and the whole mixture is stirred until a smooth paste-like texture is achieved. At this point it is removed from the heat and coated onto a slice of toasted bread to a thickness of between 2 and 5 mm preferably 3.2 mm.

The filling is then applied to the central region to a thickness of between 5 and 10 mm preferably 7.5 mm. Finally an outer layer of the mixture is applied to a thickness of between 7.5 mm and 12.5 mm but preferably 9.5 mm.

The filling can comprise ham, chicken, salmon, onion, pepperoni, salami or salt beef silver side each chopped finely enough to ensure relatively even spread.

The snack once constructed is heated under a grill to brown the outer surface of the outer cheese layer. The snack is vacuum packed in a plastics sleeve not shown and deep frozen.

Another example of the snack is as follows. The cheese mixture consists of 0.5 kg of mature Cheddar cheese 170 gms of cornflour 2 gms of Garam Masala 6 gms of finely chopped green Asian chilli peppers 1.28 litres of milk 20 gms of English mustard 4 gms of salt The mixture is prepared as with example 1 with the Garam Masala and the chopped peppers being initially added to the grated cheese and milk mix before heating.

The snack meal is built up as in example 1 except that the filling used this time consists of chopped tuna fish, mushroom, salmon, onion or asparagus or any combination of them.

It will be appreciated that the cheese mixture envelops the filling in a sealed envelope to protect it from freezer burn when stored in the deep freeze. The use of the thickener consisting mainly of cornflour and milk mixture stabilises the inner and outer cheese layers so they do not run significantly when reheated particularly under a grill.

The apparatus shown in Figure 2 for producing the snacks comprises an endless conveyor 20 for feeding a succession of toasted bread slices 22 under three longitudinally spaced hoppers 24, 26, 28. The hopper 24 stores the cheese mixture and has an electrically operable valve 34 at its lower end. A photocell 44 upstream of the hopper 24 detects the approach of a slice and opens the valve 34 so that the cheese mixture is deposited as an even layer on the slice. When the trailing end of the slice 22 is detected by the photocell 44, it closes the valve 34 to halt the further deposit of cheese mixture.

In this way only sufficient cheese mixture is discharged to cover the slice with little or no wastage.

The hopper 26 stores the filling and has an electrically operable valve 36 at its lower end. Two longitudinally spaced photocells 46A and 46B are located upstream of the hopper 36. The downstream photocell 46B detects the leading edge of the slice and opens the valve 36 in response thereto. The upstream photocell detects the trailing edge of the slice and closes the valve 36 in response thereto. The positioning of the two photocells 44A and 44B is such that only a central region of the slice is covered with filling.

The hopper 28 stores the cheese mixture and has an electrically operated valve 38 at its lower end and a photocell 48 upstream of the hopper 28. The operation of the hopper 28 is similar to the operation of the hopper 24.

Finally, downstream of the hopper 28 is a heater 30 which browns each snack passing below. Once browned the snack is discharged from the conveyor 20 into a packaging and freezing station (not shown).

Instead of using a slice of bread as a base, a section of french bread can be used instead.

Claims (1)

1. A snack meal comprising a base of toasted bread carrying at least three food layers, the inner and outer layers comprising a layer including predominantly cheese and the intermediate layer or layers comprising a food filling.

2. A snack meal according to Claim 1, wherein the food filling comprises pre-cooked fish or meat.

3. A snack meal according to Claim 1 or to Claim 2, wherein the inner and outer layers comprise melted Cheddar cheese enhanced with a thickener.

4. A snack meal according to Claim 3, wherein the thickener comprises a mixture of milk and cornflour.

5. A snack meal according to Claim 4, wherein the cornflour and cheese are present in the ratio in the range of from 1:2 to 1:4.

6. A snack meal according to any preceding claim, wherein the outer perimeters of the inner and outer layer are heat sealed together to totally enclose the immediate layer or layers.

7. A snack meal according to any preceding claim, wherein the thickness of the inner layer is in the range of from 5 to 10 mm, the thickness of the outer layer is in the range of from 7.5 to 12.5 mm.

9. A snack meal according to any preceding claim, when deep frozen and contained in a vacuum package..

10. Apparatus fo making a snack meal comprising a conveyor for conveying toasted bread slices which pass three longitudinally spaced valve hoppers and sensing means for sensing the passage of each slice past each hopper to actuate the valve thereon and to deposit the contents as a substantially uniform layer on the slice, and grilling means located along the conveyor downstream of the hoppers to brown the outer surface of the outer layer of the slice.

11. A snack meal substantially as hereinbefore described, with reference to Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings.

12. Apparatus for making a snack meal, substantially as hereinbefore described, with reference to Figure 2 or the accompanying drawings.