Patent ID: 8066427

Claim:
A food flipping and turning cooking apparatus comprising: a cooking container comprising an upper access opening and an inner, cooking surface, the cooking surface comprising a spherical cooking surface defining a center point, the cooking surface defining an open interior extending inwardly from the access opening; the cooking surface being a solid, liquid-containing surface; and a food flipping and turning spatula assembly comprising: a curved spatula pivotally mounted to the cooking container for moving along a circular path over the cooking surface and about a pivot axis between first and second positions, the spatula having a length; the curved spatula comprising a spatula body having an inner surface, an outer surface, and edges connecting the inner and outer surfaces, the outer surface comprising a spherical spatula surface contacting the spherical cooking surface; the spherical spatula surface and the spherical cooking surface being complementary shaped surfaces; the spatula body having a radial thickness, the outer surface having a circumferentially extending outer surface length and a transversely-extending outer surface width, the outer surface length being greater than the outer surface width, the outer surface width being substantially greater than the radial thickness; the curved spatula comprising a barrier member extending from the inner surface of the spatula body transverse to the circular path; the pivot axis passing through the center point and oriented generally parallel to the access opening; and a spatula driver operably coupled to the spatula to drive the spatula along the circular path between the first and second positions.