Food preparation and cooking by means of microwave energy has, in the past few years, become widely practiced as convenient and energy efficient. Microwave ovens have the capability to quickly and thoroughly heat any food which has some degree of internal moisture. Because the heating occurs as a result of energy absorption by moisture and fat, heating is accomplished throughout the mass of a food item rather than from the outside to the inside as is the case with traditional cooking methods.
Traditional cooking methods, which involve heat transfer from the outside to the inside of a food item, cause a browning or crispening of the outside surface of the item. One significant, identified, drawback of microwave cooking methods resides in the fact that microwave cooking does not result in a browning or crispening of the surface of a cooked food item. To alleviate the problem, manufacturers of microwave ovens have proposed building traditional infrared elements into the ovens as "browning elements". There are, also, offered cooking vessels which are made to, themselves, absorb microwave radiation and become hot enough to sear and brown the surface of food items which come into contact with the vessels.
Also, there have been packaging or wrapping materials which are designed for use in contact with or near to food items to be cooked and browned by microwave radiation. Those materials are made to absorb microwave radiation and generate enough local heat to brown the surface of nearby food items. Unfortunately, those materials tend to arc and burn through when under microwave radiation adequate to cook food and out of contact with a solid which can serve as a heat sink. Such burn through is unesthetic and, possibly, hazardous.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds