Patent ID: 7872213

Claim:
An electric cooking appliance comprising: a base having an upper surface, a lower surface and a perimeter wall; an electrical heating element supported on said base; a removable food support member having a cooking surface and an opposed bottom surface supported by said upper surface of said base; and a plurality of handles extending from said base said plurality of handles each including a member providing a structure for a user to grab and thereby hold said base, said handle members being fixedly secured to said base in a non-pivotal manner, the plurality of handles being positioned to extend above said upper surface, and one of said plurality of non-pivoting handle members including a catch member movable relative to said handle for selectively engaging and disengaging said removable food support member, said catch member being operatively connected to an actuator disposed on the handle and engagable by a user, said actuator being linearly translatable relative to the handle to move the catch to the retracted position, wherein the engagement of said catch member with said removable food support member secures said food support member to said base to prevent removal of said food support member from said base and a released position wherein said food support member is removable from said base.