IMPROVEMENTS IN COOKING UTENSILS
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Morris Landou, of 25, Pudding Lane, in the City of
London, Cigar Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
COOKING UTENSILS."
Sealed the 22nd June 1858, and dated the 22nd December 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Morris Landou at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
22nd December 1857.
I, MORRIS LANDOU, of 25, Pudding Lane, in the City of London, Cigar
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN COOKING UTENSILS," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in the construction of an openwork cage, or a box
or case sufficient in size and shape to contain the article or articles to be
cooked; for instance, for eggs it should be of the shape of an egg, & pro-
vision should be made by means of a handle or otherwise for the said cage.
box, or case being secured to a stem or rod by binding screws, by hooks and
catches, or otherwise, so that this utensil may be readily put into and taken
out of the boiler, pot, saucepan, steamer, or cooking vessel, and so that several
or many such cages, boxes, or cases may be secured on the same stem in a
single group, or in several groups, one group above another, according to the
size and shape of the pot, saucepan, or steamer, &c., such stem to have a
hook for catching the top edge, or other means of securing the whole to the
same. Or the said cage, box, or case, or group or groups of cages, boxes, &c.,.
may be secured to a telescopic stem with .hanging hook, &c., which may be
raised or lowered as may be requisite. Or, instead of the stem aforesaid, a

page_text: hook or hanger may be used to secure the cage, &c., to the pot, steamer, &c.
Or, instead of a cage or box or case, or series of cages or boxes or cases,
each containing one article, I can have the utensil large enough to hold
several or many eggs, or small articles, and such cage, box, or caso need not
be fixed on any stem, but simply secured by the pressure of springs abutting
against the side of the cooking vessel. Or the cage, box, or case may be
suspended in the cooking vessel by a float of cork, or otherwise. The above
is a description of the nature of the Invention, the practical details of which
might probably be varied in use.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Morris Landou in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
22nd June 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, MORRIS
LANDOU, of Pudding Lane, in the City of London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excollent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twentieth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Morris Landou, Her especial licence that I, the said Morris
Landou, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as 1, the
said Morris Landou, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
thereafter during the term theroin expressed, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, aud vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN COOKING UTENSILS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Morris Landou, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly
describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great
Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the
date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, tho said Morris Landou, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say:

page_text: The nature of the said Invention, as before set forth in the Provisional
Specification left and recorded on application for the said Letters Patent,
consists in an openwork cage or a box or case sufficient in size and shape to
contain the article or articles to be cooked; for instance, for eggs it should.
correspond with the shape of an egg, and provision should be made by means
of a handle, or otherwise, the said cage, box, or case being secured to a steni
or stems, rod or rods, for the handle or handles, by binding screws, by hooks
and catches, or otherwise, so that this utensil may be readily put into and
taken out of the boiler or boiling pot, saucepan or steamer, and in some cases,
so that several or many such cases, boxes, or cages may be secured on the
same stem in a single group, or in several groups one above another,
according to the size and shape of the pot or steamer, such stem to be turned
over, or to have a hook for catching the top edge, or other means of securing
the whole to the same. Or the said cage, box, or case, cages, boxes, &c.,
may be secured to a telescopic stem with hanging hook, &c., which may be.
raised or lowered as may be requisite. Or, instead of the stem aforesaid, a.
hook or hanger may be used to secure the cages, &c., to the pot or steamer,
&c. Or the cage, box, or case may be suspended in the cooking vessel by a
float of cork, or otherwise. Or, instead of a cage or box or case, or series of.
cages or boxes or cases, cach containing one article, I can have the utensil
large enough to hold several or many eggs, or small articles, and such large
box or case need not be fixed on any stem, but simply secured by the pressure
of springs abutting against the sides of the pot or steamer, or otherwise.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention, I now proceed
to describe in what manner the same is to be performed, wherefore I shall
refer to the Drawings hereto annexed, as hereafter set forth.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
The Drawings shew the said improvements under several different arrange-
ments by different views, as follows:-
Fig. 1, view of a wirework cage or case for cooking an egg in, the same
being secured by soldering or otherwise to a stem with a fixed handle or hook,
having also an adjustable handle or hook; Fig. 2, side view of two openwork
cages or cases secured by screw and nut to one and the same stem; Fig. 3,
front view of the same; Fig. 4, partial back view, shewing how the stem is
secured to the cages or cases; Fig. 5, partial back view of other two open-
work cages or cases secured by screw and nut as aforesaid; Fig. 6, two open-
work cases or cages having a catch to allow same to be secured to other
cages or cases when arranged as shewn at Fig. 5; Fig. 7, view of a cage or

page_text: openwork case for completely enclosing an egg, with a chain and cork float;
Fig. 8, plan view of Fig. 7.
(In Sheet 2) Fig. 9, side view of an openwork cage or case for an egg,
provided with a stem and with fect, so that the egg when cooked need not be
turned out into an egg cup for eating, but the utensil may be taken direct
from the cooking vessel and set upon the table and form an egg cup; Fig. 10,
three egg cages or cases conjoined, provided with a telescopic stem; Fig. 11,
an egg cage or case with hook or catch for hooking on to a suitable stem,
a number of these being capable of being fastened on to one stem; Fig. 12,
view of a stem with a penknife joint and clasp for keeping it straight;
Fig. 18, another view of same; Fig. 14, external view of a box or case of
sheet metal or other suitable material, to be used inside any suitable
cooking vessel, the same not being made expressly to fit any suitable cooking
vessel; Fig. 15, partial section of Fig. 14; Fig. 16, section of a valve
attached to the inner lid of the vessel shewn at Fig. 14, the said valve being
provided for the purpose of allowing the steam or fluid to escape when
necessary; Fig. 17, plan of same; Fig. 18 (side view), and Fig. 19 (plan)
of an openwork vessel or cage for containing several articles or a large article
to be used inserted in another vessel, but not made expressly to fit any
particularly vessel; the said vessel to be provided with a float of cork or other
suitable buoyant material; Fig. 20, vertical section of another box or case of
sheet metal to go inside a cooking vessel, this case being peculiarly formed as
regards the bottom thereof, as hereafter described. In all the said Figures
the same letters of reference are placed upon and denote parts of the same
character and description.
A denotes a cage or case for containing an egg, and B denotes a stem, to
which such cage or case or several such cages or cases is or are secured
in Fig. 1 by soldering or otherwise; the said stem B in this case having several
bent pieces of metal c or other suitable material soldered or otherwise affixed
thereto, the same forming catches under which the loop or eye d of the
inoveable hook or handle e can be placed, so as to temporarily secure the same
to the stem, such hook or handle being for the same purpose as the hook or
handle at top of the stem, that is, for hanging the whole utensil from the inside
of the pot or cooking vessel.
At Fig. 2 there is a moveable book with a loop F which can slide up and
down the stem B, which slide or loop is attached by soldering or otherwise to
the hook or handle g, a binding screw h. being employed to set and secure this
hook or handle in any desired position on the stem; or the parts g, f, h, may
be removed altogether by unscrewing; and having first unscrewed the stem B

page_text: these parts may be substituted for it, so as to suit a shallow pot or vessel or
otherwise, the binding screw h being inserted through the orifice or * * into
the egg cage on the stem at k, the said stem in this case being secured to the
cage or case (A), as shewn at Fig. 4, by a socket piece i, with two projecting
pieces j,j, through which screws pass, fastened by nuts, as shewn, a set screw
K passing through the socket and stem, keeping all in position, the two.
egg cages being also secured side by side by a screw and nut. At Fig. 5
a similar socket is secured by a set screw m, and on the back of this socket
is another socket n into which the book of another cage or of combined cages
(as at Fig. 6) may be placed, and secured by set screw passing through the
orifice therein provided, the stem having likewise a sliding loop O with a hook
or handle for catching the side of the saucepan, pot, &c., the stem having at
top another orifice for securing hook, &c., by set screw belonging to this hook
or bandle.
Fig. 6, two combined cages for hooking on to the socket h aforesaid
or otherwise; these have also a slide loop under the catch, so as to slide
on the stem.
(In Sheet 2) at Fig. 9, an egg cage is shewn provided with a stem A** and
feet, the stem being similar to those already described.
At Fig. 10 the stem marked A* is made telescopic, with a binding screw *,
which can bind against any of the parts or tubes of the stem; three egg cages
are soldered or otherwise secured to it. The top of the stem has a hook or
handle, as has the other stems, and on this hook is a wooden roller or handle,
so that if the hook gets hot the same may be more readily handled. ** denote
a projecting rim or stop on the thinnest tube or rod of the stem, the same
being for the purpose of pushing all the other rods, which are so regulated in
length that they will go so far down into the bottom tube as to allow the binding
screw to bind against the thinnest tube or rod only, and thus keep them from
rising.
At Fig. 11 is shewn an egg cage or case without any stem, but provided with
a catch 9 whereby it may be hung on to any other cage; and a group or
groups of such cages may be secured upon one and the same stem, as herein-
before set forth and described.
At Figs. 12 and 13 the stem is shewn as made in two parts jointed
together at r, and having likewise a slide to be pushed over the joint when
it is desired to stiffen and steady the stem for use.
At Figs. 14 and 15, L denotes a box or case of unperforated metal or other
suitable material, with a lid M and a handle N, which is attached to a ring of
metal encircling the case, with wire legs depending therefrom and kept steady

page_text: by another ring Q. This box or caso is provided with suitable catches
and appliances of any known kind to keep the top lid on when in use. There
is also an inside lid R inserted in the inside of this case, and provided with a
valve S, which can be opened by pushing on one side when it is thought
necessary to provide an aperture for the escape of the steam or fluid generated
during cooking. This valve is shewn in detail at Figs. 16 and 17, where
T denotes the parts of the inner lid; U, the valve, which is a simple disc
eccentrically secured by the pin or screw V, on which it turns to the right or
to the left, the turning one way opening, and the other way shutting the same;
W, the handle of the valve; and X, the catch.
Figs. 18 and 19 shew an openwork cage for holding a number of articles or
a large article to be cooked, as before described; this is provided with a
moveable top or cover across it, with a hinged part at each end thereof which
is turned down, and then a stud or projection y on the top rin of the cage is
passed through the band a, and a hook on the said band is secured in an eye
in the said stud, thus holding the whole firmly together when required. The
red lines shew the springs to secure this utensil in the pot by the same abutting
against the inside thereof. Instead of such a cage as described, it might be
a simple basket without a cover, and there might be divisions to separate eggs
or articles, and instead of a simple stem, there might be a stem with rings into
which cages or cases might be put; and the egg cages might each have
an inner cage or case secured therein or placed therein, so that the egg
or shell may be put in or lifted out without touching the egg or shell, which
might be done by the handle thereof, the whole being formed similar to
a ladle.
At Fig. 20 is an arrangement of cooking utensil somewhat similar to that
shewn at Figs. 14 and 15, but in this instance the bottom is formed with a
conical part Z, Z, ascending into the utensil, the top of which conical part is
perforated so as to allow the steam to enter into the utensil when used in a
steamer; or when desired, the conical part may be covered by a suitable lid.
The top lid of this utensil is to be binged and secured by catches or otherwise,
and to have a proper valve to allow the escape of the steam.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I have only to add that I wish it to be
understood that I do not limit myself to the precise details set forth and
described, as, although I have shewn parts arranged in a certain order and
manner by way of illustration, yet the same may be varied without departing
from the essential character of the Invention which 1 claim, as set forth and
described in the outset (marked 1) of this my Specification; and I more

page_text: especially claim the cages, boxes, or cases when provided with regulating
stems, or handles, or hooks, or chains and floats, and also boxes, cages, or
cases such as illustrated by Figs. 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, or any immaterial
variation of the arrangements there shewn.
In witness whereof, I, the said Morris Landou, have hereunto set my
hand and scal, this Twenty-second day of June, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
Signed and sealed in my presence,
F. W. CAMPIN, Patent Agent,
156, Strand.
M. LANDOU. (L.S.)