WO1991005502A1

WO1991005502A1 - Rendered fat separator

Info

Publication number: WO1991005502A1
Application number: PCT/US1990/005955
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jeffrey Fiala
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1989-10-19
Filing date: 1990-10-17
Publication date: 1991-05-02
Anticipated expiration: 1992-04-19
Also published as: AU6542090A

Abstract

An apparatus for use with a food processor (8) for removing liquefied fat from cooked particulate meat having a spinnable bowl (12) insertable into a food processor bowl (44), the spinnable bowl (12) being provided with minute openings (32) in a peripheral wall (30) for centrifugally removing the liquified fat from the meat. The bowl (12) is made from plastic material and has a wall provided with reinforcement (36) to prevent bowing of the wall (30) and enlarging the openings. The device includes adaptors (24) for coupling the spinnable bowl (12) to a power shaft (26) of any of the available food processors (8).

Description

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RENDERED FAT SEPARATOR BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention is generally concerned with a device for separating a liquid from a solid, and more particularly, with a device for separating liquefied fat from cooked ground meat.

2. Description of the Prior Art

In the field of preparing food for consumption by humans, various devices have been used for separating components of a liquid derived from a cooking process, such as separating fat from gravy derived during roasting or other cooking process. For example, U. S. Patents Nos. 4,389,926 and 4,640,185 describe separators for separating liquid gravy from fats rendered during the cooking process. However, nothing has been done to separate a liquid from a solid, such as rendered fat from cooked ground meat. The usual method of removing excess fat from cooked ground meat is to pour off the excess from the top of the container in which the ground meat was cooked. As an alternative process, the cooked ground meat would be placed in a colander or a sieve and set aside for the fat to work itself out by gravity into a collecting receptacle. However, gravity alone is insufficient to remove most of the fat from the cooked meat.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the public awareness of health problems associated with high levels of blood choles- terol, as well as the problem of gaining weight from consumption of unnecessary fats, there has been developed a separator for centrifugally removing fat from cooked ground meat. The centrifugal force applied to the ground meat is obtained from any one of the food processors available qn the market by using adaptors to mate a particular food processor to a perforated bowl adapted to be spun by a power shaft of the food processor.

The main object of the invention is to provide a particularly constructed bowl which is to be spun by a food processor for centrifugally removing the fat from the cooked ground meat.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device that permits removal from cooked meat of a higher amount of liquefied fat than can be removed by mere draining or "pouring off".

Another object of the invention is to provide a rotary bowl made from material which is acceptable for heating in a microwave range.

Another object of the invention is to provide a particular construction of a perforated bowl which will not deform under high rotation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an exemplary food processor for use with the present invention; FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the fat separator comprising a perforated spinning bowl and a cover;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the spinning perforated bowl; FIG. 4 is a vertical cross-sectional view taken along lines 4-4 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a vertical cross-sectional view taken along lines 4-4 of FIG. 4, incorporating an adaptor shown in FIG. 6; FIG. 6 shows a side view of an adaptor;

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along lines 7-7 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view taken along lines 8-8 of FIG. 6; FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view taken along lines 8-8 to show a modification of the lower portion of the adaptor; and FIGS. 10 and 11 show modified cross-sectional views along lines 7-7 of FIG. 6.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to FIG. 2, a liquefied fat separator 10 comprises a spinnable perforated bowl 12 and a cover 14. The spinnable bowl 12 and the cover 14 are prefer¬ ably made from plastic material acceptable for use in a microwave oven.

The bowl 12 has a bottom 16 integrally formed with an adaptor receptacle 18 which extends from the bottom 16 in the central portion of the bowl. The adaptor receptacle 18 has an upper portion 20 which is concentrically arranged with a lower portion 22, both portions being hollow for accepting an adaptor 24, as best viewed in FIG. 5, wherein the adaptor 24 is coupled to a power shaft 26 of a food processor 8 shown in FIG. 1. The perforated bowl 12 has an exterior wall 30 perforated by a plurality of vertically extending slots 32 having a width of about 1 mm. Each pair of adjoining slots define a thick rib 34 provided with a vertically inwardly extending ridge 36 which extends from a collar 38 to the bottom 16, which bottom has an arched portion 40 meeting with a non-perforated vertical wall 42. The thick ribs 34 and the associated ridges 36 are struc- turally sufficient to prevent bowing out of the spinning bowl 12 during rotation.

As shown in FIG. 5, the fat separator 10 is placed within a processor bowl 44 of the food processor 8 and covered by a processor cover 46. A bore 48 in the upper portion 20 of the adaptor receptacle 18 is provided with engageable means, such as grooves, on the inside wall of the bore to engage with a complementary engageable surface provided on a driving end 50 of an adaptor 24. A driven end 52 of the adaptor 24 is provided with a bore provided with an engaging surface to couple with an exterior end of the power shaft 26. The fat separator 10 is ideally suited for removing saturated fat and calories contained therein from cooked ground meat which is used in many dishes such as spaghetti, "sloppy joe's", tacos, hamburgers, chili, etc. During the preparation of the foregoing dishes, ground meat is thoroughly browned and cooked long enough to liquefy the fat. While still hot, the ground meat is placed in the spinnable perforated bowl 12 and then placed in the processor bowl 44 to engage via the adaptor 24 with the power shaft 26. The food processor is then energized to spin the bowl 12 at speeds of 1,800 r.p.m. for about 15-20 seconds. To remove most of the liquefied fat from the meat, it is necessary that the meat is as hot as possible. In the event that the spinnable bowl 12 with the meat cannot be immediately placed on the food processor, the spinnable bowl may be conveniently placed later in a microwave oven to reach the desired high temperature to obtain efficient centrifugal separation of the liquefied fat from the meat. During the spinning operation, it is necessary that the spinnable bowl 12 be covered with the cover 14 to retain the contents inside the processor bowl 44. The cover 14 has a central hole of size to permit grasping of receptor receptacle 18 for easy insertion and removal of the assembly into the food processor, and to enable removal of the cover.

The upper portion 20 of the adaptor receptacle 18 has an opening 28 for admitting an elongated member such as a rod or other implement to push out the adaptor 24 out of the adaptor receptacle 18 when the spinning is completed and the spinnable bowl 12 is removed from the food processor 8.

When the meat is placed into the spinnable bowl 12, it is advisable to distribute it as evenly as possible with a spoon and then start the spinning operation at a lower speed until uniform distribution takes place in the bowl before the bowl is subjected to higher spinning speeds. The foregoing should avoid excessive vibration of the spinnable bowl and the food processor.

When subjected to a spinning, usually in less than 15 seconds, most of the saturated fat in liquid form is removed from the meat.

This process removes at least twice as much fat from ground cooked meat as does normal separation and draining. By means of this process, one can buy inexpen¬ sive, high fat meat and remove a high percentage of the fat, and still have the same product that one would have if he brought a low fat content meat at a higher price and allowed the fat to be rendered normally. As mentioned before, the interior wall of the spinnable bowl 12 is provided with ribs 34 and ridges 36. Without this, the sides would bow out, and the slots would become larger, and the meat would pass through the slots 32. The slots 32 do not extend fully to the bottom of bowl 12 to avoid escape of liquefied fat while in the process of installing the bowl 12 in the processor.

The bottom of the bowl 12 is curved along the periphery where the bottom meets the side wall 30 to permit liquefied fat at the bottom of the bowl to be spun outwardly by centrifugal force.

FIG. 4 is in all respects the same as FIG. 5 except that it does not require an adaptor. Some food processors may have a processor shaft 26 which will extend directly into the upper portion 20 and properly support the spinnable bowl 12 above a predetermined distance above the bottom of the processor bowl 44 to thereby provide a space for collecting the centrifugally expelled liquefied fat. One embodiment of the adaptor 24 is shown in

FIGS. 6-8, wherein the driving end 50 of the adaptor 24 is separated from the driven end 52 by a flange 54 which abuts a round shoulder 51 defined between the upper portion 20 and the lower portion 22 of the adaptor receptacle 18 to thereby support the spinnable bowl 12 a predetermined distance above a bottom 60 of the processor bowl 44. Preferably a minute clearance exists between an undersurface 55 of the flange 54 and a circular wall 61 of a neck 62 of the processor bowl 44, which is ountable on the processor shaft 26. The driving end 50, as shown in FIG. 7, is provided with a flat 56 which is adapted to engage a corresponding flat in the interior of the bore 48 in the upper portion 20 of the adaptor receptacle 18. The driven end 52 is provided with a bore 58 having a hexagonal configuration adapted to mate with a corresponding configuration on the processor shaft 26.

Since many of the food processors have different types of shafts 26, the modified configura¬ tions shown in FIGS. 10 and 11 may be suitable for the particular food processors. As a further variation, a food processor may have a driven end 52 having a cross-sectional view as shown in FIG. 9, which would be received by a processor shaft 26 having a collar adapted to receive the configured shape shown in FIG. 9. FIG. 10 shows a modified cross-sectional view of a driven end 50 having a bore 64 defined by arcuate portions 66 joined by flats 68 and adapted to engage with a corresponding configuration on the power shaft 26. FIG. 11 shows a driven end 58 provided with a bore 64 having a modified engageable surface.

While certain novel features of the present invention have been shown and described, it will be understood that various changes in the device, as illustrated, can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. A device for separating liquefied fat from cooked food, comprising a bowl having a peripheral wall provided with a plurality of slots extending longitudinally between a collar and an unperforated wall arching upwardly from the bottom of said bowl, an adaptor receptacle integrally formed with said bottom and extending outwardly and concentrically to said peripheral wall, said adaptor receptacle having a bore provided with an engaging surface, and an adaptor for coupling said bowl to a source of rotatable power, said adaptor having a driving end provided with an engaging surface to complementarily engage with said engaging surface in said adaptor receptacle and having a driven end connectable to said source of rotatable power.

2. A device according to Claim 1, wherein said peripheral wall is defined by a plurality of thick ribs extending from said collar to said unperforated wall of said ribs having an associated ridge extending from said collar past said unperforated wall to said bottom.

3. A device according to Claim 1, including a ring cover having an outer diameter rim for engaging on an interior wall of said collar.

4. A device according to Claim 1, wherein said bore communicates with a large bore which extends to the bottom of said bowl, the transition between said bores defining a shoulder, said adaptor having said driving and driven ends separated by a concentric flange having a diameter less than the diameter of said shoulder and adapted to abut said shoulder, said flange being a a predetermined distance with respect to the driven end to support said bowl above said power source.

5. A device for separating liquefied fat from cooked food, said device being adapted to be used with a food processor having a contents bowl with a power shaft extending through the bottom of said contents bowl to provide a source of rotating power for processing food, said device comprising a slotted bowl placeable into said contents bowl, an adaptor receptacle integrally formed with the bottom of said slotted bowl and extending upwardly and concentrically in said slotted bowl, said adaptor receptacle having a bore provided with a coupling surface, and an adaptor for coupling with said bowl via said adaptor receptacle, and means on said adaptor for coupling with said power shaft.

6. A device according to Claim 5, wherein said slotted bowl has a peripheral wall defined by a plurality of adjoining thick ribs separated by slots, a rim of said slotted bowl being defined by a collar, a lowermost wall portion of said slotted bowl defining an unperforated wall, said ribs extending between said collar and said unperforated wall, a ridge centrally disposed along the length of each rib and extending radially inwardly of said slotted bowl, each ridge extending from said collar past said unperforated wall to said bottom.

7. A device according to Claim 5, including a ring cover having an outer diameter rim for engaging on an interior wall of said collar.

8. A device according to Claim 5, wherein said bore communicates with a large bore which extends to the bottom of said slotted bowl, the transition between said bores defining a shoulder, said adaptor having driving and driven ends separated by a concentric flange having a diameter less than the diameter of said shoulder, and adapted to abut said shoulder, said flange being disposed at a predetermined distance with respect to said driven end to support said slotted bowl a predetermined distance above said contents bowl.

9. A device according to Claim 6, wherein said wall lowermost portion of said slotted bowl merges with the bottom to define an arched wall to propel centrifuged liquefied fat toward the slots.

10. A device according to Claim 1, wherein said unperforated wall and said bottom of said bowl define an arched surface to conduct centrifuged liquefied fat toward the slots.

11. A method for removing the liquified fat from cooked meat using a spinnable food processor, said method comprising steps of: cooking a meat to liquify fat therein; providing a food processor having a spinnable member; placing the cooked meat in the spinnable member; and spinning the cooked meat in the spinnable member at a rate of speed to centrifugally remove the liquified fat from the cooked meat.

12. A method in accordance with Claim 11 including the step providing a spinnable bowl with minute perforations therein and spinning the meat to discharge liquified fat from the cooked meat through the minute performations in the spinnable bowl.

13. A method in accordance with Claim 12 including the steps of connecting the spinnable bowl to a power drive shaft of the food processor by selecting an appropriate one of several adapters of different sizes and shapes to fit the power drive shaft of the food processor being used.