Foods and beverages: apparatus – Cooking – Boiler or deep fat fryer type
Reexamination Certificate
2001-12-07
2004-03-30
Alexander, Reginald L. (Department: 1761)
Foods and beverages: apparatus
Cooking
Boiler or deep fat fryer type
C099S340000, C099S339000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06711992
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed at providing a cooking apparatus which is sufficiently versatile to enable deep frying large/heavy objects such as turkeys, while also providing for steaming and boiling of other food items without introducing added component requirements and the need to assemble multiple components. The present invention is also directed at facilitating the draining of cooking fluid from a cooking basket and/or a pot in which the cooking fluid is provided.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
There exist a variety of cookware, both indoor and outdoor, for deep frying, steaming and boiling food items. Deep frying large poultry items such as whole turkey with an outdoor cooking apparatus has gained in popularity as a way of cooking which is both quicker than baking and less susceptible to drying out the food. Outdoor cooking apparatus often include a stock pot which is received on a gas (e.g., propane) cooker stand. In deep frying a whole turkey, a pot that is sufficiently sized to receive a whole turkey is utilized in conjunction with a sufficient level of cooking oil. To avoid exposure to the oil (e.g. splashing or actual contact), turkey securement arrangements have been developed.
Examples of turkey securement arrangements for deep frying turkey cooking apparatus can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,896,810 and 5,813,321. U.S. Pat. No. 5,896,810 describes a perforated turkey support plate with underlying legs to lift the bottom of the supported turkey off the bottom of the pot and a central turkey skewer rod having an upper end lifting loop for hooking engagement with a grab hook. This cooking approach is limited to deep frying a skewered turkey slid down along the skewer rod. Thus, this device is one dimensional and does not provide a system which provides for steaming or boiling other types of food items (e.g., steaming shelled seafood). Also, having to skewer a turkey requires a large degree of undesirable food handling and can be difficult when dealing with a not entirely thawed turkey or one not having a sufficiently sized or oriented through passage.
The cooking apparatus in U.S. Pat. No. 5,813,321 is described as being capable of performing either a deep fat frying or steaming function. A frame structure having a turkey penetrator and a pair of vertical members for hook attachment is provided for lifting and dropping a turkey into the oil. To achieve the steaming function, a steamer plate is slid in position inside the vertical members and past a central opening in the plate which receives the turkey penetrator. Thus, while being suited for both steaming and deep frying, there is relied upon multiple components which leads to the potential difficulty of having all components available at the time of desired usage as well as undesirable assembly and disassembly requirements between usage.
As further described in the background portion of U.S. Pat. No. 5,896,810, conventional deep frying baskets generally have one or two handles located near the top edge of a mesh or perforated basket. U.S. Pat. No. 5,896,810, in adapting a skewering alternative to a conventional deep frying basket, points out that the conventional baskets are not appropriate for deep frying turkeys as they are often not strong enough to support a large turkey and the handles end up close to the hot oil which is dangerous in deep fat frying a turkey or the like. There is also often little peripheral room for manipulating such baskets as the stock pots are generally tall and of smaller diameter to facilitate meeting the oil level and cooker sizing requirements
GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The present invention comprises a cooking apparatus that is particularly well suited for deep frying heavy objects such as a whole turkey and steaming and/or boiling smaller and/or larger food items.
The present invention is also directed at facilitating the draining of cooking fluid upon completion of deep fry or boiling or the proper positioning of a cooking basket during a steaming operation. The present invention is also directed at facilitating the drainage of cooking fluid from the pot holding the oil. One embodiment of the cooking apparatus of the present invention comprises a pot with diametrically opposed exterior handles and a lid with its own lid handle. The pot is of relatively large capacity (e.g., 10 to 50 qts. or more preferably 20 to 40 qts.) making it well suited for cooking large objects such as a turkey (e.g., a 10 or more pound turkey, including a 15 or 16 pound turkey, which represents a general upper range for preferred cooking turkey sizes).
The cooking apparatus of the present invention further comprises a multi-purpose basket that is sized for reception within the above noted cooking pot, and also has a sufficiently large periphery and depth to receive a large cooking turkey as described above (e.g., basket having an 8 to 12 inch diameter received in a pot having a diameter which provides ½ to 2½ inches of radial clearance relative to a central positioned basket and the interior surface of the cooking pot). This close radial relationship helps minimize the quantity of oil that needs to be placed in the pot to submerge the turkey.
As the basket is designed to provide for deep frying heavy objects such as a turkey (including the added weight associated with post cooking absorption of cooking oil) it is preferably formed of unitary metal structure with apertures formed therein and preferably not of low load wire or metal rod screen or mesh arrangements such as in conventional indoor deep fat fryers. Because of the heavy load possibility the basket is formed of relatively thick aluminum (e.g., at least 1.0 mm thick) material. To maintain sufficient strength there is a greater percentage of solid surface than open surface in the areas where apertures are provided. For example, 0.3 to 0.7 inch diameter holes with 0.7 to 1.5 inch minimum spacing between holes. A series of 0.5 inch holes with 0.9 inch minimum spacing covering all surfaces of the basket provides a good high strength/drain-steam arrangement.
The basket has a side wall that is of sufficient height to adequately retain a large turkey in position within the basket despite the turbulent effects of deep fat frying. For example, a height sufficient to extend to or past at least half the lower half of a large vertically oriented turkey in the basket (e.g., 6 to 16 inches) with a height ratio range of 2:8 to 5:8 relative to the cooking pot. A basket height as indicated is also well suited for steaming typical quantities of seafood such as clams and mussels. A basket height (main body) of about 7 to 10 inches which is sufficient to extend to between the ⅔ turkey height to the top of an average height large vertically oriented turkey, is a preferred basket height range for the present invention).
The basket also includes its own handle structure. In one embodiment of the invention, the handle structure includes a unitary U-shaped bailing handle having its free ends either pivotably or rigidly attached to an upper edge region of the basket. The height of the handle above the main body of the basket is preferably less than the height of the upper edge of the cooking pot relative to the upper edge of the main body. The free ends of the bailing handle are preferably permanently secured to the basket to avoid inadvertent (manual) detachment (e.g. a sufficiently closed loop arrangement or permanent weld or bulbous captured end). The bailing handle has a capture receptor in an upper region for facilitating placement and location of a grasping handle relative to the bailing handle structure. In one embodiment the capture recess is a centralized V-shaped or C-shaped bend region designed for facilitating a grasping hook capture relationship when using a unitary bailing handle. In another embodiment, the handle structure comprises a pair of upstanding (e.g. vertical) bars rigidly fixed to the basket's main body. Engagement means such as loops are provided at the free end of the diametrically oppos
Alexander Reginald L.
Smith , Gambrell & Russell, LLP
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