Method of frying food and apparatus for the practice thereof

The method of frying meat, poultry, sea food, vegetables and the like wherein food is fried on one side and then all such food (which may consist of a multiplicity of discrete pieces) is inverted in unison and the other side of the food is then fried. Practice of the method is facilitated by the provision of a pair of hingedly connected holders for releasably holding food therebetween. The holders are perforated and have separate handles that enable a user to open and close the holders as well as to selectively position the holders in a a fry pan in an upright and an inverted position.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention relates to new and useful improvements in means and 
methods for frying food such as cut chicken. More particularly, the 
invention has to do with simultaneously placing a plurality of food pieces 
in a frying vessel, and after a sufficient interval, simultaneously 
inverting all the food pieces in the frying vessel, and finally removing 
all the food pieces simultaneously from the frying vessel. 
2. Description of Related Art 
The invention involves the use of means for holding or confining food so 
that the same can be manipulated in carrying out the method of the 
invention briefly alluded to above. 
U.S. Pat. No. 101,236 which issued Mar. 29, 1870, to Denman et al discloses 
a wire basket for holding meat and which may be hingedly opened and 
closed. The basket is mounted for rotation about a horizontal axis above a 
fire so that the meat may be broiled. 
U.S. Pat. No. 1,205,461 which issued Nov. 21, 1916, to McCullock discloses 
hingedly connected gridirons for holding meat in broiling environment. The 
handles of the gridirons can be used for inverting the meat. 
U.S. Pat. No. 637,619 which issued to Flamzberg on Dec. 4, 1906, discloses 
a meta holder that includes hingedly connected parts having perforate top 
and bottom plates, the central bottom portion of the lower plate is 
provided with a depending water vaporizer to keep meat moist during 
broiling operations. 
U.S. Pat. No. 1,070,263 which issued on Aug. 12, 1913, to Knoblock 
discloses a toaster bearing considerable similarity to U.S. Pat. No. 
637,619. 
U.S. Pat. Nos. 924,336, 933,545 and 1,010,887 which issued to Helen R. 
French during the years 1909-1911 are of some pertinence in that two 
cooking plates are provided in a skillet with one of such plates being 
pivoted to invert and fold the food cooking thereon over onto the food 
cooking on the other plate. 
U.S. Pat. No. 4,176,593 which issued on Dec. 4, 1979, to Terzian discloses 
a combined stove and support for side-by-side support of two skillets at 
predetermined positions. The stove also provides a pivotal connection for 
one of the skillets so that it may be pivotally inverted and superposed on 
the other skillet to constitute a closed cover for the latter. 
The following U.S. patents are of interest in that each of them discloses 
hingedly connected and superposed skillets for releasably containing food 
therebetween. Handles of the skillets are juxtaposed when the skillets are 
closed, whereby the user can selectively invert the skillets to place 
first one and then the other on the surface of a stove: 
U.S. Pat. No. 951,065 issued to Ferguson on Mar. 1, 1910; 
U.S. Pat. No. 1,410,818 issued to McCargar on Mar. 28, 1922; 
U.S. Pat. No. 1,987,594 issued to Chiles et al on Jan. 15, 1935; 
U.S. Pat. No. 2,061,610 issued to Burnette on Nov. 24, 1936; and 
U.S. Pat. No. 366,860 issued to Morgan on July 19, 1887. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The paramount objective of the invention is to provide a method of and 
apparatus for frying food, especially such as cut, floured, breaded or 
batter-coated pieces of chicken, fish or the like, that is convenient, 
expeditious and productive of a product such that a high degree of 
uniformity as to the degree of cooking and browning is achieved from piece 
to piece of cooked food while avoiding any necessity for handling or 
individually turning any of the pieces after the frying has been 
commenced. 
Another important objective is to provide a method of and apparatus for 
frying food such as to attain an optimum degree of safety and cleanliness 
by minimizing the spillage or leakage of cooking oil, while also 
minimizing the painful splattering of hot cooking oil. 
Still another important objective is to provide a method of and apparatus 
for frying food that is of such versatility as to be applicable to the 
frying of vegetables such as sliced potatoes and the like, in addition to 
meat, poultry and fish. 
Yet another important objective is to fry a plurality of batter-coated 
pieces of food in such a manner as to minimize such contact, abrasive or 
rubbing contact, and collision between the pieces that tend to dislodge 
batter or crust from the pieces. 
A final objective to be expressly stated is to provide cooking apparatus in 
accordance with the foregoing objectives that can be efficaciously cleaned 
and readied for reuse, enable novices with only brief instruction to 
prepare fried foods that would be a credit to a master chef, and which can 
be equally useful in a private family kitchen as well as in a large 
commercial restaurant or food preparation establishment.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Referring now to the drawings, wherein like numerals designate like parts 
throughout the various views, the reference numeral 10 designates a food 
holder assembly generally, such assembly 10 comprising first and second 
holders 12 and 14 that are hingedly connected by hinge means 16, and which 
holders 12 and 14 are respectively attached to handles 18 and 20. 
The reference numeral 22 designates an open-topped frying vessel that 
receives the holder 10 therein with either of the holders 12 or 14 
selectively lowermost. 
Excepting the handles, the holders 12 and 14 are identical and a detailed 
description of one will suffice for both. The holder 12 comprises a 
generally planar and horizontally disposed member that is provided with a 
continuous and integral wall 32 of uniform height about its periphery. 
The member 30 is shown as having a generally rectangular peripheral 
configuration and it is to be emphasized at this point that such need not 
necessarily be the case and it will become manifest to those of modest 
skill in the art that a wide selection of peripheral configurations may be 
employed such as trapezoidal, regular polygonal, elliptical, circular and 
so on. It should also be made clear at this point that although the 
peripheral wall 32 is shown as being vertical, such wall 32 can, as will 
become quite evident, be upwardly and outwardly inclined, and may 
conveniently be of arcuate character to present an outwardly convex 
surface, if desired. Whatever the choice for the peripheral configuration 
of the member 30 and the choice of configuration of the peripheral wall 
32, it will be understood that it is preferred that the entire extent of 
the upper edge 34 of the peripheral wall 32 terminate in a plane parallel 
to and spaced above the member 30. 
As inspection of the drawings, particularly FIG. 4, will show it is 
preferred that the maximum horizontal extent of the plate 30 substantially 
exceed and most preferably be a multiple of the height of the peripheral 
wall 32. 
For a purpose to be presently explained, the member 30 is provided with a 
plurality of openings or apertures 36 therethrough, and optionally the 
peripheral wall 32 is provided with spaced openings or apertures 38 
therethrough as clearly shown in FIGS. 2 and 4. It will be noted that the 
total perforate area constituted of the perforations or apertures 36 is 
less than one half of the total horizontal area of the member 30. Also, 
the spacing of the perforations relative to two normal directions is quite 
apparent. 
While actual tests of the illustrated apparatus have not shown such as 
providion to be necessary or certainly not to be essential, means may 
optionally be provided for preventing or inhibiting the movement of food 
pieces about the upper surface of the member 30 when supported on the 
latter. Such means can be in the form of upstanding pointed tangs fixed to 
the upper side of the member 30 such as the tang shown at 40 in FIG. 3. 
For reasons to be more fully explained subsequently, thin protective pads 
44 are secured to the underside of the member 30 at spaced positions 
spaced about its periphery such as those shown near the corners of the 
member 30 in FIGS. 1 and 2. 
The open-topped vessel or fry pan 22 has a flat bottom wall 50. While it is 
only essential that the vessel 22 be large enough to receive the holder 10 
therein so that the member 30 seats reasonably flush against the bottom 
wall 50, it is highly preferred that the peripheral configuration of the 
bottom wall 50 be conformable to and only larger than the member 30 to a 
minimum extent commensurate with ease of insertion and removal of the 
holder 10 from the vessel 22. The bottom wall 50 of the vessel 22 is 
provided with an upstanding peripheral wall 52, and it is highly preferred 
that the wall 52 be generally conformable to the wall 32 with a minimum 
clearance therebetween commensurate with unimpeded insertion and removal 
of the holder 10 from the vessel 22. 
While small clearance as described is highly preferable, reasonably good 
results are obtained if corresponding horizontal dimensions of the vessel 
do not exceed those of the holder 12 by more than one-half inch on 
average. 
In any event vessel dimensions should not exceed holder dimensions more 
than about 10 to 15 percent. 
Ideally, the member 30 will seat flush against the wall 50, though it will 
be recognized that manufacturing departures of such elements from flatness 
and subsequent normal distortion of such elements as will occur from 
usage, effects of high temperatures will preclude such ideal seating as a 
practical matter. Accordingly, as used in this specification and the 
appended claims, the expression "contact", "engagement", or the like with 
respect to the elements 30 and 50 will ordinarily mean actual contact at a 
plurality of places with such elements otherwise being in close proximity 
over the remainder of their superimposed areas with a view to optimizing 
heat exchange therebetween. The pads 44 are either sufficiently conductive 
in their own right or of such area and thinness as to allow an adequately 
efficient heat exchange. 
It will be noted that the holder 14 is inverted and superposed on the 
holder 12 so that the edges 34 of such holders seat against each other in 
opposed fashion at a plane of symmetry of such holders as thus far 
described. The edges 34 of the holders 12 and 14 are shown slightly 
separated in the drawings to improve the clarity of the latter. 
The hinge means 16 can be in the form of a conventional piano hinge as 
shown, though any other form definitive of a horizontal pivotal axis 
adjacent to the juncture of the walls 32 and in alignment with the local 
extent of the latter can be used. Should the holders be of a generally 
circular configuration, the axis of the pivotal connection would be 
substantially tangential to the local extent of the peripheral walls 32. 
Such would be rather analogous to the hinged connection of the parts of a 
conventional round lady's compact or make-up box. 
If desired or deemed expedient, the hinge means 16 can be of detachable 
character such as those shown in the prior art previously cited (the 
disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference). Such 
detachability of the holders at their hinged connection may be considered 
preferable from the standpoint of facilitating cleaning by reducing the 
size of the components to be handled. 
The hinge means 16 enables the holders 12 and 14 to be swung apart from the 
closed relationship shown in all the drawings except FIG. 6 wherein the 
same are shown partially opened. If desired the hinge means 16 enables the 
holders 12 and 14 to be opened 180.degree. so that they can rest side by 
side on a common horizontal supporting surface, not shown, or as will be 
seen presently, suspended in opened condition from a support, not shown, 
against a vertical wall, also not shown. 
A departure from the desired conformity or generally mating configurations 
of the holder 12 and the vessel 22 occurs in the vicinity of the locations 
at which the handles 18 and 20 are attached to the holders 12 and 14. 
As clearly shown in the drawings, the periphery of the member 30 of the 
holder 12 as well as its counterpart of holder 14 is indented from the 
general peripheral configuration thereof at a position diametrically 
opposed to the location of the hinge means 16, such indentation or recess 
is indicated at 60, and it will be evident on inspection of the drawings 
that the peripheral wall 32 conforms to such indentation, with such 
conforming portion of the peripheral wall 32 being indicated at 62. 
It is to be noted that the periphery of the vessel or fry pan 22 does not 
conform to the indentation 62 as one of the purposes of the latter is to 
provide an enlarged space 66 between the holders 12 and the vessel 22 as 
shown in FIG. 6. 
As thus far described, the holders 12 and 14 are mirror images of each 
other. 
The handle 18 is fixedly secured to the wall portion 62 and extends 
thereabove to a height greater than the height of the wall 32 inclusive of 
its portion 62, and the handle 18 thence extends in a generally horizontal 
direction from the holder 12 and the hinge means 16. The handle 20 is 
fixedly secured to and associated with the holder 14 in a substantially 
analogous manner; however, it is to be expressly noted that the handles 18 
and 20 are horizontally offset from each other so that neither is in the 
travel path of the other. This latter imperative precludes the handles 
sharing the plane of symmetry of the holders 12 and 14. If desired or 
deemed expedient, the holders 12 and 14 together wtih their attached 
handles can be identical to each other and meet the criteria given above 
as will be evident to those familiar with the art. Whether such a choice 
is made in the light of these teachings or not, the vertical extent of the 
handles immediately adjacent the wall 62 is such that a vertical 
projection thereof falls within the area of indentation so that such 
vertical handle extent lies within the general outline or configuration of 
the members 30 to the end that the handles will not preclude horizontal 
contact of the wall 32 with the wall 52 of the vessel 22. 
In the illustrated form the handle 18 comprises a rod 68 of a generally 
U-shaped configuration with a vertical plane of symmetry and having end 
portions 70 securely fixed as by welding or the like to the indented wall 
62, as best shown in FIGS. 1 and 3. The rod 68 is bent to extend 
vertically 72 upward from the portion 70 in the space 66 of the 
indentation 62 to a height spaced well above the upper end of the wall 32 
as well as above the height of the pan wall 52 as evident on inspection of 
FIGS. 3 and 6. 
The rod 68 thence extends horizontally from the portions 72 in the form of 
rod portions 74. The horizontally extending bight portion 76 of the handle 
is integrally connected to the portions 74 by inclined portion 78 in an 
arrangement that spaces the bight portion 76 below the free end of the 
handle 20 as shown in FIG. 5. 
The handle 30 is a rod having a single end portion 82 fixedly secured to 
the indentation portion of the wall of the holder 14. 
The rod 80 extends vertically from its end portion 82 as vertical portion 
84 which in turn is connected to a horizontal portion 86. 
The vertical portion 84 is disposed in the space 66 and the position of the 
juncture 88 of the portions 84 and 86 is spaced (as viewed in side 
elevation) from the holder 14 the same as the junctures 90 of the portions 
72 and 74. 
The horizontal outer portion 92 of the handle is connected to the rod 
portion 80 by an inclined portion 94, and the free end of the handle 20 
terminates in an eye 96. 
It will be evident from FIG. 1 that the handle 20 is disposed in the plane 
of symmetry of the handle 18. The apparatus can be hung from a wall 
support, not shown, by either the eye 96 or the bight portion 76 with the 
holders 12 and 14 either opened or closed. 
It will be noted that the handles 18 and 20 coact with the pan 22 in 
identical fashions when the holder 10 is inverted, and that in addition to 
affording substantial clearance of the upper edge of the pan 22 by the 
handle of the lowermost holder, the arrangement provides sufficient 
clearance for the electrical controls, plug and socket housings and the 
like that are conventional on electric fry pans or skillets, should the 
cook choose to use such a device in lieu of the simple fry pan indicated 
at 22. Such a choice may be strongly indicated, especially when the 
conventional electric fry pan includes a thermostatically controlled 
electric heating element that can be set to a selected temperature. 
The illustrated handle configuration also allows the handle of the 
uppermost holder to rest on the rim of the fry pan, with the hinge 16 
allowing the holders to open to the extent necessary. 
While the holder 10 can be made of any suitable material that can withstand 
the described environment of its use, transfer heat adequately, be 
resistant to corrosion, easy to clean, and not contaminate the food in any 
way. The holder is preferably fabricated of metal, with stainless steel 
being especially preferred because of its bright appearance and resistance 
to corrosion. The use of metallic construction is also indicated because 
of typically relatively higher thermal conductivity. 
The holder portions can and preferably are provided with overall thin 
surface coating of a substance such as tetrafluoroethylene resin or the 
like such as marketed by DuPont under the trademark TEFLON for the purpose 
of minimizing the adherence of food thereto. Provision of such a coating 
essentially precludes sticking of the holder 10 to the pan 22. Provision 
of such a coating usually obviates any need for the pads 44. 
Conventional fry pans such as the pan 22 are often lined with a 
tetrafluoroethylene resin or the like. Such linings are susceptible to 
mechanical damage, and the principal purpose of the pads 44 (preferably 
made of tetrafluoroethylene resin or the like) is to minimize or eliminate 
damage to such a lining by the holder 10. 
In use, a suitable cooking oil 100 is placed in the vessel 22 and brought 
to a temperature of about 300.degree. to 350.degree. F. by applying heat 
to the bottom of the vessel. With the holder 10 remote from the vessel 22, 
cut pieces of chicken are conventionally coated with batter, flour or 
breading, and placed, with the holder 10 being open, in a horizontally 
distributed fashion as indicated at 102 in FIG. 6. The holder 10 is then 
closed insofar as possible by manipulation of the handles 18 and 20 so as 
to confine the pieces of chicken in a zone defined by the closed or 
substantially closed holder. The handles 18 and 20 may then be gripped in 
one hand of the user, and while being held, the user places the holder 10 
in the fry pan or vessel 22 so that the member 30 of the lowermost holder 
12 or 14 is in heat exchange relation with the bottom wall 50 of the 
vessel 22. 
Such placement of the holder 10 in the vessel 22 results in heated cooking 
oil entering the lowermost holder 12 or 14 through openings 36 so that the 
lowermost part of all the chicken pieces 102 are immersed in hot cooking 
oil. The amount of oil placed in the pan 22 is preferably such that the 
level thereof rises to some level below the upper edge of the wall 32 to 
such as that indicated at 106 in FIG. 6. 
The application of heat to the bottom wall 50 of the vessel 22 is continued 
to maintain the oil at a temperature of about 300.degree. to 350.degree. 
F. and to apply heat to chicken in contact with the member 30 by reason of 
the thermal conductivity of the latter and by reason of its heat exchange 
relation with the bottom wall 50 of the vessel 22. Such first cooking 
phase or interval should be carried out about 5 to 20 minutes, after which 
the user manipulates the handles 18 and 20 to raise the holder 10 
sufficiently so that the latter may be inverted and replaced in the vessel 
22 in the same relationship as described above except for the roles of the 
holders 12 and 14 now being reversed. 
The holder 10 is held directly above the vessel 22 during the inverting 
step so that all oil dripping therefrom falls back into the vessel 22. 
The holder 10 need not be elevated to any significant height above the 
vessel to perform the inverting step and the user may allow the holder 10 
and its contents to rest upon the bottom wall 50 to some extent during all 
or a considerable portion of the inverting operation. 
After the inversion has been completed, the application of heat is 
continued as during the first cooking interval to maintain the oil at a 
temperature in the range of about 300.degree. to 350.degree. F. for an 
interval of about 5 to 15 minutes. Usually the second cooking interval can 
be of a shorter interval than the first or initial interval. 
At the end of the second cooking interval, the holder 10 can be removed 
from the vessel 22 and placed on a drip pan, not shown, and the holder 10 
opened to release the pieces 102 from confinement for serving. 
If desired or deemed convenient, the holder 10 can be opened and the 
chicken served therefrom while the holder 10 remains in the vessel 22, 
though this is not preferred. 
The desired close conformity in size of the vessel 22 to the holder 10 
results in a minimization of the amount of cooling oil required, and it 
has been found that the hot residual oil remaining in the vessel 22 after 
the holder 10 is removed is about ideal in amount for addition of the 
conventional ingredients such as flour, milk or water, and spices for the 
preparation of old fashioned pan gravy to which it lends the flavor and 
aroma that it attained during its prior cooking contact with the chicken. 
While conventional methods of frying chicken in a skillet with a minimum of 
oil involve the turning of individual pieces and the exercise of 
considerable skill and judgment as to which pieces and when they need 
turning, the method of the instant invention requires no such skill or 
judgment as all pieces are turned simultaneously with substantially 
reduced likelihood of different parts of a piece of chicken being cooked 
to a markedly different degree. Also the inhibiting of relative motion of 
the pieces of chicken reduces the dislodgment of batter or crust. 
While the frying of chicken has been stressed and in fact is deemed to be 
the principal utility of the method and apparatus, it is obvious that the 
invention has utility in frying other foods such as fish or the like. 
Indeed, the invention is deemed to have potential utility in the frying of 
vegetables such as okra, potatoes, bread and the like. 
The advantage of having the handles extend upwardly immediately adjacent 
the attachment to the wall 62 to a height considerably greater than that 
of the wall 62 will be evident on inspection of FIGS. 5 and 6. It will be 
seen that the upward extension 74 of the handle 18 allows the holder 12 to 
rest on the bottom wall 50 even though the holder 12 otherwise is of 
substantially lesser height than the wall 52 of the vessel 22. It will be 
noted that the arrangement is such that the handle 20 contacts and rests 
upon the upper edge of the wall 52 in a manner that the holder 10 is 
partially opened on the holder 14 being tilted up a bit. This is not a 
disadvantage when the height of the wall 52 is so high as to partially 
open the holder 10 as the food is not actually released from confinement, 
and is of advantage in that it reduces splatter of hot cooking oil, and 
does not steam the food being fried. 
Having fully described the invention, its structure and its practice, 
attention is now directed to the appended claims to ascertain the actual 
scope of the invention.