Multi-purpose kitchen utensil

Abstract: This appliance is consisting of a low cone (1) featuring a short, downward extending, cylindrical wall (2) covering half of the cone circumference, whereas a pouring spout (3) is located in the middle of the other semi-circumference. A large covering (4) and a large based hand grip (5) are located at the cusp of the cone. This utensil is helpful to turn food while cooking and to separate the seasoning or sauce if necessary, to support food during cooling off, to protect and bear dough or other mixtures and to act as a cover.

Description: At present there are no kitchen utensils really suitable for turning the food in pans and pots etc.. To turn over an omelette, pancake, crêpe and so on is always a laborious job with the risk to spoil the food. Nor is it easy to remove cakes, tarts and the like from their mould or container. We have to use make-shifts and we may drop the cake or burn our fingers in the process. Today it is far from easy to transfer fried food from the frying pan to the dish, especially if we have to drain-off the oil and separate it from the fried food. This invention has the aim to eliminate and make up for these shortcomings by providing a multi-purpose utensil which will facilitate moving and turning the food in the pan or pot, to remove the food from its container in the oven and to transfer fries from the frying pan into a dish while separating oil or sauce. This utensil can also be used as a normal cover. This invention is laid down in claim 1. The present prior art is disclosed in GB-A-873, 878. According to this invention, the utensil is cone-shaped and has a generally circular base, slightly larger than the opening at the top of the cookware, whether sauce-pans, frying-pans, pots, skillets, or casseroles, etc. in which the food is prepared. A short cylindrical wall, is extending peripherally along approximately one half of the cone-shaped base conference, in extension of the inner concave surface. A pouring spout is provided opposite to this cylindrical wall, recessed in the concave part of the cone. A handy grip is secured to the cusp of the cone and is externally provided with a protective covering. According to this invention, this utensil can be used to cover the cookware and, by turning the utensil upside down (by 180°), it is also possible to transfer the food from its container to the utensil and then return the food to its container. The sauce, gravy or fat transferred into the cone-shaped body, may or may not be poured back through the spout into the container. To remove cakes or tarts from the oven, the utensil is placed on the mold, turning the device plus cake or tart over by 180° so that the latter will rest on the utensil and can be left resting on its grip on a table or console to cool down . The invention in question is illustrated in its practical and exemplifying implementation in the enclosed drawings, in which: Fig.1 shows a lateral view of the utensil in question; Fig.2 shows the central vertical section of the utensil illustrated in Fig.1; Fig.3 shows a top view of the utensil illustrated in fig.1; Fig. 4, 5, and 6 show the exemplified utilization of the kitchen utensil to turn an omelette or similar food; Fig.7 shows an exemplified utilization of the utensil to cool down a cake; Fig.8 shows an exemplified application of the utensil to cover a cooking pot. With reference to these figures, the utensil 1 has a low cone shape with a generally circular base; a short cylindrical section 2 (extending downward as shown in fig. 1 and 2) is fixed to approximately one half of the peripheral cone edge in extension of the inner concave surface of cone 1. Opposite this wall 2, the cone 1 is provided with a pouring spout 3 recessed in the cone. The top of the cone 1 has a large covered area 4 to protect against scalds and burns, and a handy grip 5 with flat upper surface. The protective outer covering 4 and hand grip 5 may be secured to the cone 1 by screws 6 welded onto the cone, as shown in the drawings or by through screws; any other known system may also be used to attach this outer covering and grip. The utensil in question is usually combined with pots, pans and other cookware and for this reason the cone base shall be slightly larger than the edge of the pot and/or pan so that the cylindrical wall 2 will remain external to the food container. By its configuration, the utensil may be used for various kitchen purposes. Fig. 4, 5 and 6 show its use to turn an omelette or similar food; by placing the utensil 1 on the skillet 7 with handle 8 as shown in fig.4 it is possible to turn them together upside down (by 180 °) (keeping the grip 5 with one hand and the handle 8 with the other), transfer the turned omelette and its seasoning to the utensil as shown in fig.5; after the skillet 7 is replaced in its normal position as shown in fig.6, the omelette 9 is returned to its pan or skillet 7 while the oil or seasoning is poured back or drained off through the pouring spout 3. During the second phase, it is recommended to keep the skillet-utensil assembly slightly inclined with the cylindrical portion 2 downward and the pouring spout 3 upwards, as shown in fig.5, so that the oil or seasoning remains inside the body of the cone 1 and the cylindrical wall 2. The same process is followed to remove cakes, tarts and similar food from their mould; cakes may remain inside the utensil which is left standing on its grip 5 as shown in fig.5, to cool down. Fig. 8 exemplifies the utilization of the cone shaped utensil 1 as a normal cover for the pot 11. Obviously, the kitchen utensil subject matter of this invention may also be used for other purposes such as to cover dough or other mixes, as a support for raw and cooked vegetables etc. It is clear that the utensil in question may have various sides according to the cookware it has to cover and the cone base, besides circular, may also be elliptic, oblong etc. according to the shape of the cookware. The body of the utensil is usually in metal construction but any other suitable material, even plastic may be used since it won't get in touch with the flame. The protective covering 4 and hand grip are usually in plastic.

Claims: Multi-purpose kitchen utensil consisting of a cone-shaped body (1) and a hand grip (5) with a large upper base fixed at the cusp of the cone (1), characterized by the fact that the cone-shaped body has a short cylindrical lateral wall (2) along approximately half of its base edge, on one side of this base edge, in extension of the internal concave inner surface of the cone, a pouring spout (3) recessed inside the cone (1) being located on the opposite side of the base, and in that the utensil has a protective external central covering (4) of a large area at the top of the cone (1) so that it will be possibile, with help of this utensil, to turn an omelette and similar food, to remove cakes from their mould and let them cool down, to protect food or dough end to use it as a normal cover for cookware. Multi-purpose kitchen utensil as described in claim 1, characterized by the fact that the protective covering (4) and grip (5) are secured to the cone cusp (1) by welded or through screws (6) or by any other known fastening system. Multi-purpose kitchen utensil as described in claim 1, characterized by the fact that the cone base, although usually circular shaped, may have any other configuration depending on the shape of the cookware (7, 11) to be combined with the cone (1). Multi-purpose kitchen utensil as described in claim 1, characterized by the fact that the cone base (1) is larger sized than the outer size of the cookware (7, 11) so that the utensil will cover the cookware with its outer cylindrical wall (2).

Inventors: BOZZINI FRANCESCO, BOZZINI, FRANCESCO
Applicants: AETERNUM SRL, AETERNUM S.R.L.
Application year: 1991
Main classification: A47J36
IPC codes: A47J36, A47J43