A PUDDING-BASIN
Year: 1885

page_text: I, DAVID HARRY SHUTTLEWORTH-BROWN of Belle vue Villa, South Wimbledon,
in the County of Surrey, England, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of said
Invention for A PUDDING-BASIN to be as follows:-
A pudding-basin so constructed that:
(i) The pudding will not break, through sticking to the bottom of the basin-
as is the case with pudding-basins now generally in use.
(ii) The pudding may be effectively confined within the basin, and the water
excluded from the pudding by means of a peculiarly constructed lid.
(iii) The pudding may be readily turned-out of the basin.
(i) The reasons why the pudding sticks to the bottom of the basin, now
generally in use, are as follows:-
The rim round the bottom of the basin, lies on the bottom of the saucepan, in
such a manner as to confine the water, and the air, that is there-under-Steam is
produced, which, when it has acquired a high temperature, by its tension, raises
the basin, and escapes, tending to cause a vacuum, whereby the rim of the basin
is caused to fall again, and to cling to the bottom of the saucepan, before the
surrounding water can enter under the rim, to replace the steam that has escaped-
(because the water cannot get under the rim of the basin, while the steam is rushing
out from under it)-thus, that part of the saucepan becomes sometimes dry, and at
these times a very high temperature is reached, and the bottom of the pudding,
has all the moisture boiled out of it, burns, and clings to the bottom of the basin.
These effects are obviated, by making, arches, such as A, in the rim B, (whereby
the rim is converted into feet) or holes to give free egress for steam, and free access
for water.
(ii) A large proportion of the pudding, boiled in the basin now generally in use,
is impoverished, and rendered watery and tasteless, by losing the suet, or the
essence of the fruit, etc., which melts or mingles with the water,-traversing the
pudding-cloth, and is lost-Attempts are made to prevent this, by fixing an
inverted dinner-plate on the top of the basin, but this plate cannot be effectively
kept in position, because steain is produced by evaporation of the moisture con-
tained in the pudding-the steam eventually forces its way out, but to do 80, must
raise the plate from off its seat, the plate being then thrown out of position, the
ת

page_text: joint of paste, no matter how carefully made, is broken, the water gains access, the
suet and the essence of the fruit etc., are lost.
These effects are obviated by means of the lid C, which is seen to be of peculiar
construction, in as much as it is slightly depressed in the centre at c₁, and having a
flange, either rests upon, and within, the edge or brim of the basin, as at d, or,
upon a gallery, as at c,-the flange of the lid may be strengthened by a bead h.
Now, as the steam is generated within the pudding, it cannot, on account of the
depression in the centre of the lid, accumulate under it, but must make for the
brim, where, it will issue in small volumes, as a thin film-but every issue of
steam, tends to produce a vacuum-thus, the lid will never be appreciably dis-
placed, but will rather tend to cling tightly to the brim of the basin, and preserve
an effective joint, retaining the suet, and fruit essence, etc., and excluding the
water, to the utmost practicable extent.
(iii) The reasons why the pudding is difficult to turn-out of the basin, now
generally in use, are, that the grease, with which the basin has been greased, has
melted, and for the most part, amalgamated with the pudding,-the air that was
between the surface of the pudding and the 'walls of the basin, has been expanded
by the heat, and, having worked its way through the pudding, has gradually
escaped, and the moisture, that was on the surface of the pudding, has been
evaporated, by the heat of the walls of the basin in contact with it, and as this
moisture was evaporating, and the vapour escaping, it tended to produce minute
vacua, all over the surface,-the solids of the pudding tended to fill these vacua,-
and so, the surface of the pudding became as smoothe as the surface of the basin,-
because it came into absolute contact with it,-therefore it clings to it, and as there
is an absence of means for getting the pudding out of the basin, it is obviously, for
these reasons, difficult to turn-out.
This difficulty is obviated by the loose-bottom D, by means of which the pudding
is pressed out of the basin,-the joint, at f, is kept tight by the weight of pudding
which rests upon the whole of the loose-bottom D, it will however, (when the
tendency to produce vacua, above referred to, by evaporation of moisture on the
surface of the pudding, takes place) admit such small amount of moisture as is
necessary to largely counteract the evil effects above described.
A bead E, may be made round the rim B, so that, when the basin, (with the
pudding in it) is inverted, it may be lifted by the rin, whilst the loose-bottom is
being pressed against the pudding.
The crown of the arch A, at its inner end, should not be lower than the edge of
the loose-bottom D, but rather the reverse, so that steam, as generated, may pass
freely into, and escape through the arch, and not be trapped under the joint f,-the
same applies if holes in the rim be substituted for arches.
The lowest point of the loose-bottom D, should, of course, be in the centre, at g.
All the parts of the basin, lid, and loose-bottom, will of-course, require to be
greased on their interior surfaces, as usual.
If D be ground into its seat, the basin will serve as a jelly mould.

page_text: I, DAVID HARRY SHUTTLEWORTH-BROWN of Belle vue Villa, South Wimbledon
in the County of Surrey, Engineer do hereby declare the nature of my invention
for A PUDDING-BASIN and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
First. The pudding will not break, through sticking to the bottom of the basin,
as with pudding-basins now generally in use.
2nd. The pudding may be effectively confined within the basin, and the water
excluded from the pudding by means of a peculiarly constructed lid.
3rd. The pudding may be readily turned out of the basin.
(i) The reasons why the pudding sticks to the bottom of the basin now generally
in use, are nearly as follows:-
The rim round the bottom of the basin lies on the bottom of the saucepan in
such a manner as to confine the water and the air, that is there-under. Steam is
produced, which, when it has acquired a high temperature, by its tension, raises
the basin, and escapes, tending to cause a vacuum, whereby the rim of the basin is
caused to fall again, and to cling to the bottom of the saucepan, before the
surrounding water can enter under the rim to replace the steam that has escaped
(because the water cannot get under the rim of the basin while the steam is
rushing out from under it)-thus, that part of the saucepan becomes sometimes
dry, and at these times a very high temperature is reached, and the bottom of the
pudding has all the moisture boiled out of it, burns, and clings to the bottom of
the basin-if there is no rim, the pudding is then burned by actual contact of part
of the basin containing it, with the bottom of the saucepan.
These effects are obviated by making arches, such as A (shewn in the Drawings
accompanying my Provisional Specification) in the rim B, (whereby the rim is
converted into feet, feet instead of a rim) or holes a, in the rim B to give free
egress for steam, and free access for water.
(ii) A large portion of the pudding, boiled in the basin now generally in use, is
impoverished, and rendered watery and tasteless, by losing the suet, or the essence
of the fruit etc., which melts or mingles with the water-traversing the pudding-
cloth, and is lost. Attempts are made to prevent this, by fixing an inverted
dinner-plate on the top of the basin, but this plate cannot be effectively kept in
position, because steam is produced by the evaporation of the moisture contained
in the pudding-the steam eventually forces its way out, but to do so, it must
either blow out the melted suet, the fruit-essence, or some of the pudding, or it must
raise the plate from off its seat, which is then thrown out of position, and the joint
of paste, no matter how carefully made is broken,-the water gains access to the
pudding, and some of the suet and the essence of the fruit etc., are lost.
These effects are obviated by means of the lid C, which is seen to be of peculiar
construction, in as much as it is slightly depressed in the centre at c₁, and having
a flange, either rests upon and within the edge or brim of the basin as at d, or
upon a gallery, as at e. The flange of the lid may be strengthened by a bead h.
Now as the steam is generated within the pudding, it cannot, on account of the
depression in the centre of the lid, accumulate under it, but must immediately

page_text: make for the brim, where it will issue in small volumes, as a thin film,—but
every issue of steam tends to produce a vacuum-thus the lid will never be
appreciably displaced, but will rather tend to cling tightly to the brim of the
basin, and preserve an effective joint,-retaining the suet, and fruit essence, etc.,
and excluding the water to the utmost practicable extent.
(iii) The reasons why the pudding is difficult to turn out of the basin now
generally in use, are that the grease, with which the basin has been greased, has
melted, and for the most part, been absorbed by the pudding-the air, that was
between the surface of the pudding and the walls of the basin, has been expanded
by the heat, and having worked its way through the pudding, has gradually
escaped, and the moisture that was on the surface of the pudding has been
evaporated by the beat of the walls of the basin, in contact with it, but as
this moisture was evaporating, and the vapour escaping, it tended to produce
minute vacua, all over the surface, the solids of the pudding tended to fill these
vacua, and so, the surface of the pudding became as smoothe as the surface of the
basin, because it came into absolute contact with it, therefore the pudding clings
to the basin, and as there is an absence of means for getting the pudding out of
the basin, it is obviously, for these reasons, difficult to turn it out.
This difficulty is obviated by means of the loose-bottom D, with which the
pudding is pressed out of the basin,-the joint at f, is kept tight by the weight of
the pudding, which rests upon the whole of the loose-bottom D,-it will, however,
(when the tendencies, above referred to, to produce vacua by the evaporation of
moisture, on the surface of the pudding, take place) admit such small amount of
moisture, as is sufficient to largely counteract the evil effects above described.
A bead E may be made round the rim B, so that when the basin (with the
pudding in it) is inverted, it may be lifted by the rim, whilst the loose-bottom is
being pressed against the pudding.
The crown of the arch A, at its inner end, should not be lower than the edge of
the loose-bottom D, but rather the, reverse, so that steam, as generated, may pass
freely into and escape through the arch, and not be trapped under the joint f,-
the same applies if feet be substituted for a rim, or if holes a, in the rim, be
substituted for arches.
The lowest point of the loose-bottom D, should of course be in the centre, at g.
All the parts of the basin, lid, and loose-bottom, will of course require to be
greased on their interior surfaces, as usual.
If D be ground into its seat, the basin will serve as a jelly-mould.
This pudding-basin can be made in any suitable material or metal.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that
what I claim is a pudding-basin having
1. A rim pierced by arches, or holes, or, having feet, as a substitute for such a
rim, constructed substantially as described..
2. A lid, depressed in the centre, constructed substantially as described.
3. A loose-bottom, constructed substantially as described.
4. A combination of the above named parts, constructed substantially as
described.