Abstract:
A press for making a patty includes a substantially flat panel to contact the product to be pressed into a patty. An upstanding member is affixed to the panel. A weight member or “mould” surrounds the upstanding member. The weight member is moveable along the upstanding member between a first position where the weight member overlies the panel to facilitate the application of force to the product and a second position where the weight member is spaced from the panel.

Description:
CROSS-RELATED APPLICATION 
     The present application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/178,326 filed on Jan. 27, 2000. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates generally to cooking utensils and in particular to a press for making patties, and to a method of forming patties from food product such as hamburger patties. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     One of the problems associated with prior art food presses has been the non-uniformity of the final pressed product. Uniformity is important not only in connection with the quantity of food material to be incorporated into the patty, but also in relation to its shape and appearance. 
     Many food presses for forming patties have been considered. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,180,889 to Joffe discloses a mould for forming hamburger patties having an integral plastic flat top and sidewalls defining a cavity. The walls are notched at opposed locations, and the top has a U-shaped slot with its ends on a line between the points. The top is of reduced thickness between the slot ends and notches to form hinges. Unfortunately, this design suffers from the inability to form patties of uniform size, and is without the capacity to remove excess meat during patty formation. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,112,634 to Swearingen discloses a mould for forming ground meat into patties. The mould has a hollow, cylindrical collar, which may be placed on a surface, and a centre plug with a first end fitting closely into the collar. The first end is concave and has a plurality of outwardly extending dimples. The plug is inserted into the collar and pressed. Similar to the Joffe mould, this design also suffers from an inability to form patties of uniform size, and is without the capacity to remove excess meat during patty formation. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 4,106,162 to Fournier discloses a mould for forming patties comprising an annular flat lower disc and an upper annular disc. The upper disc is of a smaller diameter than the lower disc and has a depending wall. A hollow member extends from the centre of one disc while a complementary telescoping solid element extends from the centre of the other disc. When the two elements are in engagement, the discs are guided toward each other by the co-operating elements to form a patty with a central opening. Generally, the buying public objects to burger patties with missing portions and as a result this mould suffers disadvantages. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 3,943,602 to Siclari discloses a patty-making apparatus comprising an upper chamber for holding a food mix, and a lower chamber for holding stacked patty moulds. The chambers are separated by a partition having an opening therein so that food mix can pass from the upper chamber and into patty moulds in the lower chamber. The lower chamber is closed at the bottom in a resilient manner. Aside from being complex and thus expensive, the Siclari apparatus does not produce satisfactory uniformity in the patties, because their size depends on the amount of food mix dispensed from the upper chamber into the lower chamber each time. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 3,934,308 to Neri discloses a patty moulding device including a stationary horizontal base plate and a mould with a through opening providing a mould cavity to accommodate material to be moulded. The mould is moveably mounted with respect to the base plate and is resiliently urged away from the base plate. A core element is detachably secured to the base plate within the mould cavity. The mould is moveable between a first position where the core element is disposed in the bottom of the mould, and a second position where the core element is disposed in a higher position within the mould cavity. Co-operating retaining devices hold the mould and core element in the first position when the mould is not in use. Unfortunately, this design is such that, when the mould is moved to form a patty, there is no place for excess meat to go, if any, resulting in non-uniform patties. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 3,909,881 to Anderson discloses a two-part cylindrical mould for manufacturing a hollow hamburger. Means are provided for forming a pocket in the meat. The process involves dispensing a metal foil insert into the hamburger to serve as a lining for the pocket. The lining remains in the hamburger during cooking. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 3,863,020 to Robinson discloses a method of forming a meat patty by pressing a predetermined quantity of minced meat into a mould, which imparts to the patty a series of concentric circular ribs separated by narrow circular grooves. This method suffers disadvantages in that because of the grooves, the patties lack uniformity. In addition, the method involves using plastic to remove the burger from the mould. Additionally, excess meat cannot be removed from the mould. 
     As will be appreciated, the prior art moulds discussed above do not provide for the formation of uniform patties from food product. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a novel press for making patties and method of making patties from food product. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Accordingly, in one aspect of the present invention there is provided a press for making a patty, comprising: 
     a mould having an opening therethrough; and 
     a carrying component having a substantially flat panel and a handle affixed to said panel, said flat panel having a surface to contact a product to be pressed into a patty, said handle being sized to pass through said opening to allow said mould to move along said handle, said mould being positionable to overlie said panel and thereby facilitate the application of pressure to said product. 
     Preferably, the mould is significantly heavier than the flat panel and acts as a weight to facilitate the application of pressure to the product. It is also preferred that the mould is in the form of a disc having top and bottom generally circular surfaces bridged by a smooth, peripheral sidewall. The flat panel corresponds generally in shape and size to the bottom surface of the disc. The opening in the disc is positioned at the centre of the disc and the handle is centrally affixed to the flat panel. Preferably, the mould and carrying component are formed of stainless steel. 
     In one embodiment, the disc can be removed from the handle while in a second embodiment, the disc, although moveable along the handle, is retained on the handle. 
     According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a press for making a food patty comprising: 
     a substantially flat panel having a generally planar, circular surface to contact food product to be pressed into a patty; 
     an upstanding member affixed to said panel; and 
     a weight member surrounding said upstanding member, said weight member being moveable along said upstanding member between a first position where said weight member overlies said panel to facilitate the application of force to said food product and a second position where said weight member is spaced from said panel. 
     According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of forming a patty from food product using a food press, said food press including a carrying component having a flat panel to contact said food product and a handle affixed to said flat panel to allow said flat panel to be positioned relative to said food product, and a mould moveable along said handle, said method comprising the steps of: 
     placing food product on a surface; 
     positioning the flat panel on said food product with said mould overlying the flat panel; 
     applying pressure to said food press to flatten said food product and form a patty of desired thickness; 
     removing excess food product extending beyond the periphery of said flat panel and mould; 
     moving the mould along said handle away from said flat panel; and 
     separating said flat panel from said patty. 
     As will be appreciated, the food press in accordance with the present invention allows uniform patties to be made one at a time in a convenient and easy manner while avoiding sticking between the food press and the formed patties. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Embodiments of the present invention will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which like numerals denote like parts through the several views, and in which: 
         FIG. 1  is an exploded perspective view of a food press in accordance with the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the food press shown in  FIG. 1 , but with its components in an assembled condition; 
         FIGS. 3  to  7  are sequential perspective views showing the operation of the food press and the method by which a patty is formed; 
         FIG. 8  is a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of a food press in accordance with the present invention; 
         FIG. 9   a  is a perspective view of a mould forming part of the food press of  FIG. 8 ; and 
         FIG. 9   b  is a perspective view of a carrying component forming part of the food press of FIG.  8 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Attention is first directed to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , which show a food press  10  for making a food patty in accordance with the present invention. As can be seen, the food press  10  includes two primary components, namely a mould  12  and a carrying component  14 . Preferably, the mould  12  and carrying component  14  are formed of stainless steel. 
     In this embodiment, the mould  12  is in the form of a relatively heavy disc having substantially flat, circular top and bottom walls  16  and  18 , bridged by a smooth peripheral sidewall  20 . The mould  12  has a diameter of about 12 cm and a thickness of about 1.5 cm. The diameter of the mould corresponds generally to the ultimate diameter of the food patty to be formed. A central hole  22  is provided through the mould  12 . 
     The carrying component  14  includes a substantially flat, thin circular panel  24  having a diameter slightly smaller than the diameter of the mould  12 . In this manner, the bottom edge of the mould  12  remains accessible when the mould  12  overlies the panel  24 . The panel  24  is generally rigid and defines a lower surface  24   b  to contact food product that is to be pressed into patties. The carrying component  14  further includes an upright handle  26 , which is centrally affixed to the flat panel  24  by a weld. The handle  26  is elongate and is in the form of a solid cylinder. A loop  28  is welded to the upper end of the handle  26  to allow the food press  10  to be hung from a hook for easy storage. 
     The handle  26  is sized and shaped such that it is adapted to pass easily through the hole  22  in the mould  12 . This allows the mould  12  to be placed on the flat panel  24  and act as a weight when the press  10  is manipulated to form a patty yet be easily moved along the handle  26  away from the flat panel  24  after a patty has been formed. 
     Attention is now directed to  FIGS. 3  to  7  for an explanation of the operation of the food press  10 . During use, a ball  30  of food product such as ground meat or other food product is placed on a flat surface. Typically enough food product is utilized to provide slightly more than the desired amount of food product that is to form the final patty, thus ensuring that there will be excess food product. 
     At this stage with the mould  12  overlying the flat panel  24 , the food press  10  is positioned to place the flat panel  24  over the ball  30  of food product, and sufficient pressure is applied to the ball  30  by pushing down on the mould  12  thereby to flatten the ball into a patty  32  having the desired thickness as shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4 . The weight of the mould  12  facilitates this action. Since the ball  30  of food product typically utilizes more food product than is necessary to form the patty of desired thickness, excess food product  34  is ejected from beneath the flat panel  24  and extends beyond the peripheral sidewall  20  of the mould  12 . The excess food product  34  is easily removed or stripped away from the patty  32  by running a finger  36  along the peripheral sidewall  20  as shown in FIG.  5 . 
     With the patty  32  formed and the excess food product  34  removed, the mould  12  is lifted upwardly along the handle  26  and away from the flat panel  24  while maintaining the flat panel on the patty  32  as shown in FIG.  6 . Once the mould  12  has been separated from the flat panel  24 , the flat panel  24  is removed from the patty  32  by lifting the carrying component  14  away from the patty using the handle  26  as shown in FIG.  7 . Since the weight of the mould  12  is removed from the patty  32  before the flat panel  24  is separated from the patty, the flat panel  24  does not stick to the patty allowing the carrying component  14  to be easily removed from the patty. 
     Utilizing the present food press  10  in the above described manner produces a patty which is smooth, fully formed and ready for cooking or freezing. The patty forming process is easily reproduced allowing uniform patties to be formed one at the time. 
     When it becomes necessary to clean the food press  10 , the mould  12  and carrying component  14  are separated in order to provide ready access to all portions of the food press that contact food. 
     Turning now to  FIGS. 8 ,  9   a  and  9   b , an alternative embodiment of a food press in accordance with the present invention is shown and is generally identified by reference numeral  110 . In this embodiment like reference numerals will be used to indicate like components with a “100” added for clarity. The food press  110  is very similar to that of the previous embodiment and includes a mould  112  and a carrying component  114  both of which are formed of stainless steel. The carrying component  114  includes a flat panel  124  and an upright handle  126  centrally affixed to the flat panel  124  by a mould. The upright handle  126  in this embodiment is in the form of a hollow cylinder. The handle  126  passes through an opening  122  in the mould  112  and is sized to permit the mould  112  to move along the handle  126 . An elongate loop  128  is affixed to the open distal end of the handle  126  by a weld and acts as a retainer to inhibit the mould  112  from being removed from the handle. 
     The food press  110  is used in the same manner as that of the previous embodiment. The mould  112  however, cannot be removed from the handle due to the loop  128 . The mould  112  can however be lifted from the panel  124  toward the loop  128  after a patty has been formed to facilitate separation between the panel  124  and the patty. 
     Although the mould has been shown as a disc, it will be appreciated that the mould can take other shapes such as a square, hexagon etc. if desired. Also, if desired, the opening in the mould can extend to the peripheral sidewall allowing the mould to be separated from the carrying component by moving the mould laterally away from the handle. In this case, when excess food product is being removed from a formed patty, the mould can be rotated to provide a smooth, finger running peripheral surface. 
     While preferred embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated in the accompanying drawings and described hereinabove, it will be evident to those skilled in the art that variations and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention as defined by the appended claims.