BACKGROUND

The invention relates generally to sealed bags and more particularly to sealed bags with multiple compartments for foodstuffs and methods for separating liquid contents from solid contents.

In sous vide cooking, foods are vacuum sealed in plastic bags and cooked in water baths at precise temperatures. The foods can be eaten immediately after cooking or refrigerated or frozen for later consumption. Foods, such as vegetables, meat, poultry, and seafood, are often cooked in the bag with a sauce or marinade. During cooking the solid foods themselves can also release liquid. Often, the amount of liquid is more than is desired, especially when the food is to be eaten in a salad, on a sandwich, or in a wrap, for example.

SUMMARY

One version of a sealed bag comprises a front and a back and a top, a bottom, and first and second side edges defining an outer periphery. An outer seal is formed around the outer periphery. And an inner seal separates a primary compartment from a secondary compartment. The inner seal has a gap through which the first and second compartments communicate.

A method for separating liquid from solid contents in a primary compartment of a two-compartment sealed bag comprises: (a) holding a sealed bag having solid food contents contained in a primary compartment separated from a secondary compartment by an inner seal with a gap with the primary compartment above the secondary compartment;

(b) forming an opening to the atmosphere in the primary compartment of the bag; and

(c) allowing liquid to drain through the gap from the primary compartment into the secondary compartment by gravity.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic of a two-compartment bag viewed from the front.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a method for using a bag as in FIG. 1.

FIGS. 3A-3E are schematics of alternative versions of a bag as in FIG. 1. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A sealed plastic bag useful in separating fluids from solid food items is shown in FIG. 1. The bag 10 has a front and a back and a top 12, a bottom 13, a first side edge 14, and a second side edge 15 that form the bag's periphery. An outer seal 16 is formed along the periphery. Solid food products, such as shrimp 18 in this example, reside in a primary compartment 20. And they remain in the primary compartment 20 during conventional stove-top, microwave, or sous vide cooking, heating, or thawing. A secondary compartment 22 is separated from the primary compartment 20 by an inner seal 24. The secondary compartment 22 is shown as smaller than the primary compartment 20, but it could be the same size or larger. The inner seal 24 extends from a first end 26 at the first side edge 14 of the bag 10 to a distal end 27 spaced apart from the bag's second side edge 15 across a gap 28. The primary and secondary compartments 20, 22 are in fluid communication through the gap 28. The width of the gap 28 is small enough to prevent any of the solid contents 18 in the primary compartment 20 from passing through to the secondary compartment 22. The bag 10 optionally includes a perforated seal 30 whose perforations extend across the primary compartment 20 from the bag's first side edge 14 to its second side edge 15 near the top 12 of the bag. Additionally or alternatively instead of perforations extending across the bag 10, a starter notch 31 formed in the periphery at the outer seal 16 could serve as the starting point for tearing the bag open.

The flowchart of FIG. 2 describes one method for draining liquid from the solid food contents in the bag of FIG. 1. First, the bag 10 is opened at the top 12 either by cutting it open with a scissors or a knife or by removing a top part 34 of the bag at the perforations 30 to break the vacuum by exposing the first compartments 20 to atmospheric pressure. The bag 10 is held with the primary compartment 20 above the secondary compartment 22, i.e., with the top 12 up. Then the bag 10 is tilted toward the gap 28 at the bag's second side edge 15 as indicated by arrow 32 in FIG. 1. With the vacuum in the primary compartment 20 broken and the bag 10 tilted toward the gap 28, the liquid drains from the primary compartment 20 by gravity into the secondary compartment 22 through the gap 28. The bag can be shaken during this step to hasten the separation of the liquid from the solid food contents 18. Next the bag 10 is tilted toward its first side edge 14 away from the gap 28 as indicated by arrow 36 in FIG. 1 to empty the solid food contents 18 from the primary compartment 20 through the opening at the top 12 of the bag. The inner seal 24 largely retains the liquid that has drained into it because the gap 28 is at the raised second side edge 15 of the bag 10, which is tilted toward the first side edge 14. If the contents of the bag 10 are frozen, they are first thawed before starting this process.

As shown in FIG. 1, the inner seal 24 is shown parallel to the top 12 and bottom 13 of the bag— perpendicular to the side edges 14, 15. Alternatively, as indicated by the dashed line, the inner seal 24' can extend obliquely from the bag's first side edge 14 so that its distal end 27' is closer to the bottom 13 of the bag 10 than is the first end 26. The oblique orientation helps the liquid drain downward toward the gap 28 even if the bag is not tilted in the direction of the arrow 32. And when the bag 10 is tilted for emptying as indicated by the arrow 36, the downward slope of the oblique inner seal 24' helps retain the liquid in the secondary compartment 22. Note that the dashed line does not necessarily represent a segmented inner seal: the seal could be continuous or segmented.

Other alternative bag configurations are show in FIGS. 3A-3E. The bag 40 in FIG. 3A is characterized by an inner seal 42 that extends obliquely from the bag's first side edge 14. Unlike the oblique inner seal 24' of FIG. 1, the distal end 44 of the oblique inner seal 42 in FIG. 3A is farther from the bag's bottom 13 than is its end 46 at the first side edge 14. Like the inner seal 24 in the bag of FIG. 1, the inner seal 52 of the bag 50 of FIG. 3B extends across the width of the bag from its first side edge 14 to its second side edge 15. But the inner seal 52 is segmented with gaps between consecutive segments. The bag 60 shown in FIG. 3C has a first inner seal 62 like the inner seal 24 in FIG. 1, but with a second inner seal 64 extending obliquely from the bag's second side edge 15 to the bag's bottom 13 below the inner seal 24. In the bag 70 shown in FIG. 3D, the inner seal 72 is made of a first segment 74 extending obliquely from the first side edge 14 toward the bag's bottom 13 and a second segment 75 extending obliquely from the second side edge 15 toward the bag's bottom. The two inner-seal segments 74, 75 converge toward the bottom 13 to form a funnel leading to a gap 76 in the seal 72. The bag 80 in FIG. 3E is similar to the bag 70 of FIG. 3D, except that the primary compartment 85 is subdivided by a segmented second inner seal 84 into two subcompartments: a first sub compartment 82 and a second subcompartment 83. The primary sub compartment 82, which is nearer the top 12 of the bag 80, could hold the primary food content 88, and the second subcompartment 83 could hold auxiliary solid food contents 89, such as onions, lemons, garlic, sauces, and marinades, to help season the primary food, but not necessarily for consumption. Gaps 87 between consecutive segments provide for the exchange of liquid between the first and second subcompartments 82, 83.

Liquids can later be drained into the lower secondary compartment 86. As an alternative, the positions of the primary and secondary subcompartments could be switched so that the secondary subcompartment is nearer the top 12 of the bag 80. In that way, holding the bag top-up allows the juices with the flavorings in the second subcompartment to flow down through the primary food content in the primary sub compartment and then to drain into the lower second compartment 86. The perforations or starter notch would be positioned to open the lower primary sub compartment to empty the primary food content from the bag.

The multi-compartment bags described in detail represent only a few examples of inner seal configurations covered by the claims.