Spherification/reverse spherification automated and integrated apparatus and method

Abstract

An apparatus for producing gelled pearls includes: a housing with at least one opening into which a flavored liquid is provided; external components; and internal components. The external components include: a first ingress port through which a first refill pack is coupled; and a dispenser with tubing through which a processed solution is expelled into a gelling bath. The internal components include: a mixing tank for blending the flavored liquid with the first solution; a first flow valve fluidly coupled with the mixing tank and directing the flavored liquid into and out of the mixing tank; a second flow valve fluidly coupled with the mixing tank and directing flow of a proportional amount of the first solution into the mixing tank; and a microcontroller device.

1 . An apparatus for producing gelled pearls, comprising:
 a mixing tank comprising a volume of a flavored liquid, said flavored liquid having a pH value;   a first pack comprising a first solution attached to a first ingress port in said mixing tank;   a second pack comprising a buffer solution attached to a second ingress port in said mixing tank;   a mixing mechanism in said mixing tank;   a dispenser coupled to said mixing tank, said dispenser expelling a processed solution from said mixing tank into a gelling bath in the form of droplets; and   a microcontroller:
 dispensing from said second pack an amount of said buffer solution based on said pH value of said flavored liquid, and from said first pack an amount of said first solution based on said volume of said flavored liquid into said mixing tank; 
 activating said mixing mechanism to form a processed solution in said mixing tank; and 
 activating said dispenser to dispense said processed solution as droplets into said gelling bath to gellify said droplets into gelled pearls. 
   
     
     
         2 . The apparatus of  claim 1  wherein said buffer solution comprises sodium citrate. 
     
     
         3 . The apparatus of  claim 1  wherein the apparatus performs spherification and wherein the first solution comprises concentrated sodium alginate. 
     
     
         4 . The apparatus of  claim 3  wherein the gelling bath comprises a salt solution 
     
     
         5 . The apparatus of  claim 4  wherein the salt solution comprises calcium lactate gluconate. 
     
     
         6 . The apparatus of  claim 1  wherein the apparatus performs reverse spherification and wherein the first solution comprises a salt solution. 
     
     
         7 . The apparatus of  claim 6  wherein the salt solution comprises calcium lactate gluconate. 
     
     
         8 . The apparatus of  claim 7  wherein the gelling bath comprises sodium alginate. 
     
     
         9 . The apparatus of  claim 1  wherein said microprocessor obtains said gelling bath from a third pack. 
     
     
         10 . The apparatus of  claim 1  further comprising:
 a third pack comprising a cleaning agent attached to a third ingress port to said mixing tank. 
 
     
     
         11 . The apparatus of  claim 10  wherein said cleaning agent comprises water. 
     
     
         12 . The apparatus of  claim 10  wherein said microprocessor obtains said gelling bath from a fourth pack. 
     
     
         13 . The apparatus of  claim 1  wherein at least one of said first pack and said second pack includes a monitor of the amount of solution remaining in the pack 
     
     
         14 . The apparatus of  claim 1  wherein at least one of said first pack and said second pack includes a one-way flow nozzle connection to the first or second ingress ports. 
     
     
         15 . The apparatus of  claim 1  further comprising: a digital identification reader validating an identifier disposed on at least one of said first pack or said second pack. 
     
     
         16 . The apparatus of  claim 1  wherein at least one of said first pack and said second pack is intended for a single use. 
     
     
         17 . The apparatus of  claim 1  further comprising: a communication link providing remote capability in operating the microcontroller. 
     
     
         18 . The apparatus of  claim 1  further comprising: a user interface comprising user-selectable options selected for customizing the gelled pearls. 
     
     
         19 . The apparatus of  claim 18  wherein the user interface is generated on a remote device. 
     
     
         20 . The apparatus of  claim 19  wherein the user-selectable options comprise recipes and wherein the microcontroller device further performs:
 receiving a recipe; and 
 calculating amounts of fluids to combine in order to follow the recipe.