Improvements in Cooking Utensils.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 27th May, 1892
Complete Specification Left, 24th June, 1892-Accepted, 30th July, 1892
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Cooking Utensils.
I, AUGUSTA ISAACS, of 217 East Sixtieth Street, New York, in the County
and State of New York, United States of America, Gentlewoman, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
My invention has for its object to provide a cooking utensil adapted to contain
food and to be placed in a pot or kettle of water for the purpose of cooking the
food either by steaming or boiling without allowing the food to be disturbed or to
escape into the surrounding water, the said utensil being furthermore so con-
structed that the food when cooked may be delivered in bulk on to a dish without
injury. A further object of the invention is to provide the utensil with a removable
receptacle in which a sauce, for instance, may be cooked simultaneously with the
food for the purpose of being eaten therewith."
The utensil is constructed of a perforated sheet metal cylinder closed at bottom
by a perforated sheet metal plate adapted to be slid through a horizontal slit in
the cylinder near the lower end, said plate fitting at its inner end against the
opposite wall of the utensil and being supported on brackets. Its outer end has
an upwardly-turned semicircular flange which fits against the outside of the vessel
and closes the slit through which this removable bottom slides.
A small sauce-pan is located in and closes the open top of the said vessel down
within which it extends some little distance and is provided with trunnions which
rest in bearings provided on the upper edge of the perforated body.
In use, the food to be cooked, say fish or asparagus for instance, is placed in the
perforated utensil and rests upon the bottom formed by the sliding plate. Sauce,
or any other adjunct to the food, may be placed in the small sauce-pan seated in
its bearings at the top of the body portion above mentioned. The utensil is now
placed in a pot or kettle containing water depending in quantity on whether the
food is to be steamed or boiled. The small sauce-pan will under all circumstances
be heated by the steam. After the food is cooked the utensil is removed from the
pot and placed upon a dish and then by drawing out the sliding bottom plate the
food will fall down en masse upon the dish without liability of being broken or
disfigured in serving up whilst the necessity of removing such articles as asparagus
piece by piece avoided.
The sauce-pan may be provided with a handle or bail for removing it from the
body of the utensil, for the purpose of pouring the sauce which has been cooked
therein over the food cooked in the body of the utensil. The sauce-pan may fit
snugly in the top of the body of the receptacle and constitute a cover therefor, or
the sauce-pan may be more or less loosely fitted to the body.
Dated this 27th day of May 1899
COMPLETE
SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Cooking Utensils.
I, AUGUSTA ISAACS of 217, East Sixtieth Street, New York, in the County and
State of New York, United States of America, Gentlewoman, do hereby declare
the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
My invention has for its object to provide a cooking utensil adapted to contain

page_text: food and to be placed in a pot or kettle of water for the purpose of cooking the
food either by steaming or boiling without allowing the food to be disturbed or
to escape into the surrounding water, the said utensil being furthermore so con-
structed that the food when cooked may be delivered in bulk on to a dish without
injury. A further object of the invention is to provide the utensil with a removable
receptacle in which a sauce for instance may be cooked simultaneously with the
food for the purpose of being eaten therewith.
Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this
Specification, in which
Figure 1 is a perspective view of the utensil and Figure 2 is a partial central
vertical section through the body of the utensil representing the same as in a pot,
the said pot being likewise in section.
Similar figures of reference indicate corresponding parts in both views.
The body 10 of the utensil is preferably made of perforated sheet iron or other
metal and may be of any shape in cross-section as for instance oblong or circular.
This perforated body portion is closed at bottom by a perforated plate 14 fitted
to slide through a horizontal slot 13 extending about half way round the side of
the body 10 which plate has at its front edge an upwardly-extending flange 15
adapted to fit against the side of the body 10 and close the slot 13 and provided
with a pivoted drop handle 16. The plate when slid into the slot 13 rests upon
brackets 17 secured within the body, as shewn in Figure 2, and constitutes a
removable bottom for the body of the utensil. At the upper edge the body 10 is
provided with sockets or bearings 12 at opposite points to receive the trunnions 19
of a small saucepan 18 which is placed in and closes the open top of the body 10,
the saucepan extending some little distance down within the body, as shewn.
In use, the food to be cooked, say fish or asparagus for instance, is placed in the
perforated utensil and rests upon the bottom formed by the perforated sliding
plate 14. Any desired adjunct to the food, as for instance sauce, may be placed
in the saucepan 18 which is seated in its bearings on the body portion, as shewn
in the drawings. The utensil is now placed in a suitable pot 20 containing water
depending in quantity on whether the food contained in the utensil is to be steamed
or boiled. The contents of the saucepan 18 will, under all circumstances, be
heated by the steam. After the food has been cooked, the utensil is removed from
the pot 20 and placed upon a dish adapted to receive its contents and then by
drawing out the sliding bottom plate 14, as shewn in Figure 1, the food will fall down
en masse upon the dish without liability of being broken or disfigured in serving up,
whilst the necessity of removing such articles as asparagus piece by piece is
avoided.
The saucepan may be provided with a handle or bail for removing it from the
body of the utensil for the purpose of pouring the sauce which has been simul-
taneously cooked therein over the food cooked in the body of the utensil.
It is obvious that this device is exceedingly simple, economic, and effective, and
that it will prevent food cooked therein from becoming injured or broken while
serving up and further that food of different kinds may be cooked at one time in
the same vessel.
The saucepan may fit snugly in the top of the body of the receptacle and
constitute a cover therefor, or the saucepan may be more or less loosely fitted to
the body.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is-
1. A cooking utensil constructed substantially as herein shewn and described.
2. As an improved article of manufacture, a cooking utensil consisting of a
perforated body open at its bottom and provided with a removable top and also
provided with an opening near the bottom and a slide entering said opening and
constituting a removable bottom for the receptacle, as and for the purpose specified.

page_text: 3. A cooking utensil consisting of a perforated body open at the bottom and
provided with a removable cover and a semi-circumferential slot at one side near
the bottom and a perforated slide adapted to enter the said slot and rest upon
brackets in the body, thus constituting a removable bottom for the latter, and
a shield or flange connected with the slide, substantially as shewn and described.
4. In a cooking utensil, the combination, with a perforated body open at the
top and bottom and provided with a slot near its bottom, of a perforated slide
having a partial marginal flange, the slide being adapted to enter the opening in
the body and constitute a removable bottom therefor, and a saucepan a portion of
which enters the top of the body the said saucepan being supported by the upper
edge of the body, as and for the purpose specified.
5. In a cooking utensil, the combination, with a perforated body open at the top
and its bottom and provided with a horizontal slot between its top and bottom, of
a perforated plate fitted to slide in the slot, brackets supporting the plate when in
the body, a flange extending partially around the margin of the plate, a handle
connected with the plate, and a saucepan extending partially downward in the upper
portion of the body, which saucepan is supported upon the upper edge of the body,
as and for the purpose specified:
AUGUSTA ISAACS,
By A. M. & Wm. Clark,
53, Chancery Lane, London, Chartered Patent Agents.