WO1980001237A1

WO1980001237A1 - Device for cooking dough-blanketed foods

Info

Publication number: WO1980001237A1
Application number: PCT/US1978/000211
Authority: WO
Inventors: A Llaver
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1978-12-13
Filing date: 1978-12-13
Publication date: 1980-06-26
Anticipated expiration: 1981-06-13

Abstract

An improved cooking apparatus (12) that has a lower cooking member (14) and an upper cooking member (16) in a hingedly opposed relationship for movement between an open and a closed position. One of the cooking members includes a lower housing (20) that accomodates a heating element (38) and a food receiving plate (22). The food receiving plate has a plurality of wells (32) in the upper side thereof with each well having a volume slightly greater than the food to be cooked. The second member includes a lid housing (28) and a second heating element mounted therein. In the lower portion of the lid, a second food receiving plate (30) has a plurality of wells (32) in the lower side thereof with each well having a volume slightly greater than the food to be cooked. Each well of the lower housing and the lid housing are in an alined position so as to form a closed cavity when the cooking apparatus is closed. In use, the well in the lower housing is substantially filled with a batter and food-to-be-blanketed is placed in the center thereof. When the lid is closed, food-to-be-blanketed is forced into the center of the cavity displacing the batter from the lower well and causing the displaced batter to flow around the food forming a blanket or shell

Description

DEVICE FOR COOKING DOUGH-BLANKETED POODS -TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates to a device for cooking batter- blanketed foods and to a device for covering foods with a shell formed from a batter or dough and for cooking such foods.

^' BACKGROUND OF THE PRIOR ART

Among the dough-blanketed foods to which the device of this invention is applicable is prepared meat in sausage-like form. Such meat, commonly referred to as frankf rters, weiners or hot dogs, are popularly employed for, hot sandwiches. The food is often consumed together with condiments and garnishes as a snack or a meal. Besides home consumption, the frank¬ furter is widely available in prepared form at roadside res¬ taurants,^'beaches, sporting events and amusement parks. Al¬ though the frankfurter is the most popular filling, other foods are used for fillings including, but not limited to, pizza (cheese and tomato sauce), Reubens, potatoes, or hot desserts having apple or cherry mixtures. These have all been found to provide delicious dough-blanketed snack foods.

To facilitate preparation, various commercial and household devices have been developed. The marketplace has also supported specialized products, particularly baked goods such as elongated rolls and paper products for use therewith.

Available in the prior art are devices including for household use: various broilers, toasters modified to accommodate frankfurters and broiling aids^'such as forks and racks; and for commercial use; various conveyorized grills and devices for "cooking by heated rotating rollers. However, some of these devices yield nonuniform cooked products, while others are deficient in that they result in excessive drying out or require constant attention, these and other disadvan¬ tages inherent in former preparation methods are eliminated so that the frankfurter or the like is prepared quite quickly and without overcooking. The apparatus has two cooking members in a hingedly opposed-relationship for movement between an open and a closed position. One of the cooking members includes a lower housing that accommodates a heating element and a food receiving plate The food receiving plate has a plurality of wells in the upper side thereof with each well having a volume slightly greater than the snack food or frankfurter to be cooked. The second member includes a lid housing and a second heating element mounted therein. In the lower portion of the lid, a second food receiving plate has a plurality of wells in the lower sid thereof with each well having a volume slightly greater than the frankfurter to be cooked. Each well of the lower housing and the lid housing are in. an alined position so as to form a closed cavity when the cooking apparatus is closed. In use fo blanketing frankfurters, the well in the lower housing is sub¬ stantially filled with a batter and a frankfurter is placed in the center thereof. When the lid is closed, the frankfurter i forced into the center of the cavity displacing the batter fro the lower well and causing the displaced batter to flow around the frankfurter forming a blanket or shell.

O P It is one of the objects of the present invention to provide a device for cooking snack foods together with a batter quickly and conveniently in an improved manner.

A further object of the invention is to provide such improved cooking by an automatic cooking apparatus.

A further feature of the invention is to provide a de¬ vice for cooking frankfurters or the like having heating elements both above and below the item being prepared.

Other objects and features of the invention will be¬ come apparent in the course of the hereinbelow detailed descrip¬ tion.

Accordingly, in a particular preferred embodiment of the present invention, a device is provided for cooking a frank¬ furter while held in a cavity of surrounding batter thereby pro¬ ducing a cooked frankfurter and a baked shell combination.

OMPI BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF -DRAWINGS

This invention will be better understood with ref¬ erence to the drawing, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a prospective view of one form of the cook¬ ing apparatus embodying the invention shown with the cover in the open position;

FIGURE 2 is a cross-sectional view on lines 2-2 of FIGURE 1 showing one of the gas-operated heating elements;

FIGURE.3 is a front elevational view of the cooking apparatus shown with the cover closed;

FIGURE 4 is a cross-sectional view .of a second form, of the cooking apparatus embodying the invention, said view being similar to FIGURE 2, but showing the full cross section through the center of a cavity and electric heating elements; and,

FIGURE 5 is a partially sectioned side elevational view with the cavities filled with food under preparation_^

BES MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

In FIGURE 1, the cooking apparatus 12 of this inven¬ tion is illustrated. The lower cooking member 14 is hingedly attached to the upper cooking member 16 by hinge devices 18. The lower cooking member 14 has a lower housing or base chassis 20 that provides a stand for the entire apparatus 12 and par¬ ticularly for the lower heating element and food-receiving plate. In the uppermost face of the cooking or food-receiving plate 22 and time and temperature controls 24 and 26, respectively, des¬ cribed in greater detail below. The upper cooking member 16 has a lid or upper housing 28 that provides for^"a mounting arrange¬ ment corresponding . o^ above-mentioned..lower housing .20 and for the upper heating element. In the lowermost face of the upper housing there is provision for mounting another cooking or food- receiving plate 30 which may differ only in detail from the cor¬ responding one in the lower housing. Both of the receiving plates 22 and 30 have wells or cavities 32. Each opening of well 32 in one plate is constructed to aline with the opening of a corres¬ ponding well 32 in the other plate. The handle 34 is provided to move upper- cooking member 16 between an open and a closed posi¬ tion and in the latter position the said openings of both of paired wells 32 are constructed to be substantially in the same plane 36. FIGURE 3 marking the juncture or interface between the two sets of opposed wells 32.

FIGURE 4 shows a cross-section of lower cooking member 14 taken along line 4-4 in FIGURE 3. Heating element.38 is mounted in lower housing 20. In the restaurant model, in which for easy maintenance, the chassis are constructed from food-service grade stainless steel, the heating elements 38 are either gas jets 40, FIGURE 2, or electric heating elements 42,. FIGURE 4, and in the household model, the heating element 38 is an elec¬ tric heating element. FIGURES 2 and 4 also show the proximal relation of elements 38 and food-receiving plates 22 and 30. Although cast aluminum is the preferred medium for plate 22, . other materials such as cast iron, heat-resistant ceramics and the like may be used.

Although the heating elements are disclosed herein, there is no claim to novelty based thereon. Also, while two element food-preparing apparatuses are shown in the prior art, primarily waffle irons, such apparatuses are patentably dis¬ tinct from those shown herein.

The spike 44, FIGURES 1,4 and 5, provides means for positioning the snack food represented by the frankfurter 46, FIGURE 5, in the center of batter dough preparation 48. There may be one or more such devices per cavity and they may be in¬ tegrally cast with receiving plate.30 or constructed so as to be threadingly inserted thereinto.

The food-receiving plates 22 and 30 are preferably constructed by casting them from aluminum. Alternatively, cast iron or a suitably formable ceramic having moderate thermal conductivity may be used. For convenience, the food-receiving plates may be coated with a stick-resistant coating, such as teflon or the like. The structure of the food receiving plate 22 is preferably provided with a raised bead 50 surrounding eac well or cavity 32 so as to contain excess batter and prevent spills. Correspondingly, a chanel 52 is impressed in plate 30 to house the bead when the apparatus is. in the closed position.

The thermostatic control 26, described above, prefer- ably provides control at 25 F intervals between 350 and 550 F. The time control 24, described above, ^* preferably provides con¬ trol at 1-minute intervals between 1 and 15 minutes after start ing. Vent holes 54 are provided for ventilation. ^■ INDUSTRIAL' APPLICABILITY

In operation, a batter, commonly from flour, eggs, and water, is placed in the lower wells and a frankfurter or other food-to-be-dough-blanketed is placed in the center. When the lid is closed, the positioning means holds the frankfurter and pushes it into the well thereby displacing a portion of the batter. With the frankfurter centered in the closed cavity, the displaced batter flows around the sides and.top portion of the well in the upper food-receiving plate. It has been found that ooppeerraattiioo:n for 5 minutes at 400 F settings have yielded optimal results.

From the foregoing it will be appreciated that this invention provides a dual-element cooking apparatus in which an improved bushing arrangement is described. Although those skill¬ ed in the art may use the embodiments as shown which is believ¬ ed to best represent the objectives and advantages of the in¬ vention othervariations are contemplated as being within the scope of the invention.

OMPI m- WIPO .

Claims

CLAIMSWhat is claimed is:

1. ^" A device for cooking a dough-blanketed snack food, said device: a. two cast metal cooking plates; b. hinge means secured to said plates; c. a pivotal connection between said hinge means pr viding for movement between an open and a closed position of said device, said closed position having a plane of jointure common to said two cooking plates; d. a plurality of opposing cavities in said plates, each plate having a like number of equal-sized cavities corre pondingly positioned with each pair of corresponding cavities having substantially the same opening upon said .plane of join ture, the volume of each said cavity being at least equal to the volume of said snack food; e. positioning means for locating a snack food.so that the longitudinal axis thereof is positioned substantiall coincident to that of each pair of cavities; f. two heating means, one for each cooking plate, said heating means adjacent side opposite said plane of join¬ ture; g. a base chassis for supporting a first one of sai cooking plates; h. a lid enclosure for housing a second one of said cooking plates; i. a raised bead in said first cooking plate for re taining excess batter; and, j. a channel in said second cooking plate for housi said raised bead.

2. A device as described in claim 1 wherein said heatin means is an electric heating element.

3. A device as described in claim 1 wherein said cookin plates are cast from a material selected from a group consist¬ ing of iron, aluminum alloys, and iron alloys.

OMP

4. A device as described in claim 1 wherein said heating means is thermostatically controlled to reduce heat output therefrom when a predetermined temperature is exceeded.

5. A device as described in claim 4 wherein said prede¬ termined temperature is 400°F (205°C) .

6. A device as described in claim 1 wherein said heating means is controlled by a timer for stopping heat output there¬ from after a predetermined time.

7. A device as described in claim 6 wherein said prede¬ termined time is variably selectable from one-minute interval settings between 5 and 15 minutes.

8. A device as described in claim 1 wherein said posi¬ tioning means is a plurality of metallic spikes.

9. A device as described in.claim 8 wherein said spikes are integrally cast with said cooking plates.

10. A device as described in claim 8 wherein said spikes are;γthreadedly inserted into said cavity.

11. A device as described in claim 1 further comprising: a stick-resistant coating for ease of releasing said dough- blanketed snack food after cooking thereof.

12. A cooking apparatus for prepared meats, said apparatus having a first and a.second cooking member in a hingedly op¬ posed relationship for movement between an open and a closed position, comprising: a. a lower housing for said first cooking member; b. a first heating element mounted within said lower housing; c. a first cast metal food-receiving plate for heat¬ ing by said first heating element mounted upon said lower housing above said first heating element, said first plate hav¬ ing a pluralityof wells in the upper side thereof, each said well having a volume slightly greater than that of said pre¬ pared meat; d. a lid housing for said second cooking member; e. a second heating element mounting within said lid housing; f. a second cast metal food-receiving plate for

OMPI heating by said second heating element mounted upon the lowe face of said lid housing for cooperation with said first pla said second plate having a plurality of wells positioned opp site and corresponding to wells of said first plate, each sa well having a volume slightly greater than that of said pre¬ pared meat, thereby forming a substantially closed cavity wh said cooking apparatus is in said closed position.

13. A cooking apparatus as described in claim 12 wherei said first and second heating elements are electric heating elements.

14. A cooking apparatus as described in claim 12 wherei said first and second heating elements are thermostatically controlled to reduce heat output when a predetermined temper¬ ature is exceeded.

15. A cooking apparatus as described in claim 14 wherein said predetermined temperature is 400 F (205 C) .

-^■•.

16. A cooking apparatus as described in claim 12 wherein said first and second elements are controlled by a timer for stopping heat output therefrom after a predetermined time.

17. A cooking apparatus as described in claim 16 wherein said predetermined time is variably selectable from one-minut interval settings between 5 and 15 minutes.

18. A cooking apparatus as described in-claim 17 further comprising: g. positioning means for locating a frankfurter so that the longitudinal axis thereof is positioned substantiall coincident to that of each pair of opposed wells.

19. A cooking apparatus as described in claim 18 further comprising: h. a raised bead in said first cooking plate for re taining excess batter; and, i. a channel in said second cooking plate for housi said raised bead.

20. A cooking apparatus as described in claim 19 further comprising: j. a stick-resistant coating upon the well-containi

O faces of said first and second plates for ease of releasing said dough-blanketed snack food after cooking thereof.

OMPI