SBIR Phase I: Novel Optical Materials for Cooking Fast Foods without Fryer Oils

这个小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目将开发创新的光学材料，有可能彻底改变油炸食品生产和许多其他行业。 需要一种新技术来解决与油浸烹饪相关的健康和安全风险问题。 油浸烹饪导致油炸食品中吸收的油和脂肪含量不可接受地大幅增加。 研究目的是开发一种基于光谱选择性红外光的无油油炸技术。 传统的红外加热元件不太适合这些油炸应用，因为它们没有光谱选择性，并且在较长的波长下发射大部分能量，这会迅速烧焦和损坏食品。 这项研究将开发出一系列先进的陶瓷材料，这些材料在加热时只会发射出选择性较短红外波长的光，这些光在油炸快餐时很有用。 如果成功，这项研究将产生一系列材料，可以快速有效地油炸美味的食物，而不需要油，同时使用更少的能源和成本低于传统的油浸烹饪。该项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力将在食品行业。 最初的商业重点将是烹饪快餐食品没有油炸油。 例如，炸薯条可以吸收油炸中使用的烹饪油的30%重量。 这种新的红外烹饪技术有可能大大减少社会？人们对油炸油和脂肪的消费是肥胖流行的主要原因。 使用波长选择性红外光能量的烹饪具有在没有吸收的油的情况下实现上级或相当的味道质量的潜力。 这项技术还将提高对食品加工、散装干燥和灭菌领域的科学和技术认识。 对于真正的波长选择性红外发射材料存在许多其他重要的应用，这些材料在加工过程中不会以过热、燃烧或破坏有价值的食品特性的波长辐射能量。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will develop innovative optical materials with the potential to revolutionize fried food production and numerous other industries. A new technology is needed to solve health and safety risk problems that are associated with oil immersion cooking. Oil immersion cooking results in unacceptably large increases in absorbed oil and fat content in fried foods. The research objective is to develop an oil-less frying technique based on spectrally selective infrared light. Conventional infrared heating elements are poorly suited to these frying applications because they are not spectrally selective and emit large portions of their energy at longer wavelengths that quickly scorch and damage food products. This research will develop a series of advanced ceramic materials, which when heated only emit light at selective shorter infrared wavelengths that are useful in frying fast foods. If successful, this research will result in array of materials which can rapidly and efficiently fry foods that are tasty, without the need for oil, while using less energy and costing less than traditional oil immersion cooking.The broader impact/commercial potential of this project will be in the food industry. The commercial focus will initially be on cooking fast foods without fryer oils. French fries, for example, can absorb 30% by weight of the cooking oil used in deep frying. This new infrared cooking technology has the potential to significantly reduce society?s consumption of deep fryer oils and fats which are a major contributor to the obesity epidemic. Cooking using wavelength-selective infrared light energy has the potential to achieve superior or comparable taste quality without the absorbed oil. This technology will also enhance scientific and technological understanding in the areas of food processing, bulk drying, and sterilization. Many other important applications exist for true wavelength selective infrared emitting materials that do not radiate energy at wavelengths which overheat, burn, or destroy valuable food characteristics during processing.