Patent ID: 6427583
Filing Date: 2002-08-06
Classification: A47J

Abstract:
An apparatus for frying food, said apparatus comprising a housing, said housing having a food receiving opening and a discharge port, a food frying pot in said housing, a heating element for heating frying oil disposed in said pot, a perforated frying basket hingedly secured to a conveying means, a transfer chute associated with said perforated frying basket; control means for operating said conveying means to convey said frying basket along said conveying means to a food receiving position, a food frying position, and a food discharge position; said positions being spaced from one another along said conveying means, said transfer chute directing foodstuff into and out of said frying basket when said basket is at said food receiving position and said food discharge position, respectively, basket shaking means to shake said frying basket when disposed at a predetermined location to provide a high quality fried foodstuff, and ventilation means for venting air from said housing, said basket shaking means being constituted by reciprocating said conveying means and thereby said basket when said basket is disposed in said cooking pot to achieve more evenly fried foodstuff and prevent clustering of said foodstuff during cooking; said basket being further reciprocated when said basket is arrested at said loading position and above said frying pot whereby to shake off excess frying oil, in a return cycle only, from said foodstuff to provide foodstuff which contain less frying oil on their outer surface and also prevents sticking of the foodstuff to the frying basket, said basket having percussion means displaceably secured adjacent a bottom wall of said frying basket and immovable in said frying oil during frying, said percussion means impacting said bottom wall to impart vibration to said frying basket when at said loading position in said return cycle, and to impart percussion to said bottom wall at said discharge position to dislodge any french-fries sticking thereto.