GB2253555A

GB2253555A - Apparatus for cooking food in water, then oil

Info

Publication number: GB2253555A
Application number: GB9114850A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Peter Anthony Dyson
Original assignee: P A DYSON
Current assignee: P A DYSON
Priority date: 1991-02-16
Filing date: 1991-07-10
Publication date: 1992-09-16
Also published as: GB9114850D0; GB9103321D0

Abstract

A cooking apparatus 10 comprises a water boiling compartment 11 and an oil frying compartment 12. A turbo gas burner arrangement 13 is arranged to heat water in compartment 11 and a gas burner arrangement 14. arranged to heat oil in compartment 12. In use, food portions eg. chipped potatoes, to be cooked are placed in a stainless steel mesh basket 15, which is lowered into compartment 11, and the food is allowed to partially cook. After a suitable time period, basket 15 containing the food is lifted by a lifting mechanism and placed into compartment 12, where the food portion is then fried. After immersion in hot oil for a suitable time period, basket 15 containing the food is lifted from compartment 12 by the lifting mechanism and placed on a drain portion 16 to allow excess oil to drain from the food. In a second embodiment, a steam-cooking compartment (21, Fig. 2) replaces the water-boiling compartment 11. <IMAGE>

Description

COOKING APPARATUS It is widely believed that a diet containing large quantities of fat can lead to ill health in one form or another. For example fat is highly calorific and the eating of fatty foods can help to cause obesity. Also the excessive eating of certain kinds of fat has been shown to have a connection with conditions affecting the arteries.

Because of increased public awareness of this there has been a desire among many people to substantially reduce the quantity of fat in their diet.

Foods cooked by frying often contain very large quantities of fat or oil in relation to those cooked by other methods. Nevertheless, many kinds of fried food have traditionally been very popular, none more so than the chipped potato which, in common with other fried foods, is cooked by immersing it in hot fat or oil for several minutes. An unfortunate consequence is that the chipped potato absorbs large quantities of the fat or oil.

A problem therefore arises for the would be healthy eater, anxious to reduce the fat content of his or her diet. Chipped potatoes and other fried foods such as fried chicken and fried fish should be avoided because of their high fat content, yet complete abstention from this type of food may be a nuisance, particulary if the person concerned enjoys eating fried food.

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided cooking apparatus having a first region in which there is first cooking means operatively arranged to cook a portion of food in water and a second region in which there is second cooking means operatively arranged to cook the portion of food in oil.

Preferably first and second heating means are respectively arranged to provide heat to said first and second cooking means.

The first and second heating means may each comprise at least one gas burner.

At least one of the first and second heating means may comprise a turbo-charged gas burner.

Preferably, the first heating means comprises a turbo-charged gas burner.

Alternatively or additionally, at least one of said first and second heating means may comprise an electric heating element.

In a preferred arrangement there is provided transfer means operatively arranged to transfer the portion of food from one of said first or second cooking means to the other of said first or second cooking means.

Said transfer means may comprise a lifting mechanism operatively arranged to lift the portion of food from one of said first or second cooking means and to lower it into the other of said first or second cooking means.

Said lifting means may be automated.

There may be provided a drain portion operatively arranged to receive a portion of food to be drained.

Preferably there is provided a moveable container, for example a pan or basket, arranged, in use, to contain a portion the food to be cooked, said container being moveable between a first position in which the portion of food to be cooked is in contact with water in the first cooking means and a second position in which the portion of food to be cooked is in contact with oil in the second cooking means.

The container is preferably made of stainless steel.

Preferably the first and second cooking means are enclosed within a common housing.

A common hood preferably extends over the first and second cooking means.

The first cooking means may be such that the water is at least partly vaporised so that cooking takes place wholly or partly with steam.

Preferably the apparatus includes steam generation means.

Said steam generation means may be integral with said first cooking means or, more preferably, said first cooking means and said steam generation means may be discrete and may be operatively connected together.

First and second heating means may be arranged to provide heat to said second cooking means and said steam generation means respectively.

At least one, and preferably both, of said first and second heating means may comprise a gas burner. At least one, and preferably both of said first and second heating means may comprise a turbo-charged gas burner.

Said steam generation means and said first cooking means may be operatively connected by an inlet pipe having a first valve therein.

Said first cooking means may be provided with an outlet pipe having a second valve therein.

At least one, and preferably both, of said first and second valves may comprise solenoid valves.

There may be provided timer means arranged to automatically operate at least said first valve and preferably both said first valve and said second valve.

Said timer means may be arranged to open said first valve to allow steam to enter said first cooking means from said steam generation means for a predetermined time interval.

Said steam generation means may be provided with pressure-sensing means arranged to sense a pressure inside said steam generation means and to control said second heating means according to said pressure.

Said second cooking means may be provided with temperature- sensing means arranged to sense a temperature inside said second cooking means and to control said first heating means according to said temperature.

Said second cooking means may comprise a vessel arranged, in use, to contain oil to be heated, said vessel having a tapered portion located at the base thereof which tapered portion is arranged, in use, to be heated by said first heating means.

Said first heating means may comprises at least two burners located in the region of the base of said vessel, said burners being angularly disposed such that heat from a first burner is incident upon a first side of said tapered portion and heat from a second burner is incident upon a second side of said tapered portion.

There may be provided sets of said first and second burners.

Said steam generation means and/or said first cooking means may comprise releasably lockable lids. Said lids may be hinged.

Said steam generation means may be arranged to supply steam to a plurality of said first cooking means.

According to a third aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of cooking a portion of food, comprising the steps of generating steam, exposing the portion of food to the steam, and immersing the portion of food in hot oil.

The method may comprise exposing the portion of food to steam for a predetermined time interval.

By way of example, specific embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a part-sectional side view of a first embodiment of cooking apparatus; and Figure 2 is a part-sectional side view of a second embodiment of cooking apparatus.

Referring to Figure 1, a unitary cooking apparatus shown generally at 10 comprises a water-boiling compartment 11, which contains boiling water in use, and an oil-frying compartment 12, which contains hot oil in use. A turbo-charged gas burner arrangement 13 is arranged to heat water in the water-boiling compartment 11 and a gas burner arrangement 14 (having nozzles of the form disclosed in our United Kingdom Patent No. 2 063 452) is arranged to heat oil in the oil-frying compartment 12.

A stainless steel mesh basket 15, for holding portions of food to be cooked, is shown suspended in the water-boiling compartment 11.

A lifting mechanism (not shown) is arranged to lift the mesh basket 15 from its position in the water-boiling compartment 11 to a position in the oil-frying compartment 12. The dimensions and shape of each compartment 11 and 12 are chosen to receive the common basket 15.

In use, portions of food to be cooked (eg. chipped potatoes) are placed in the mesh basket 15 which is lowered into the water-boiling compartment 11. The chipped potatoes are allowed to become partly cooked by the boiling water.

After a suitable period of time has elapsed for the chipped potatoes to become partly cooked by the boiling water, the mesh basket 15 is lifted by the lifting mechanism (not shown) and placed into the oil-frying compartment 12 whereupon the chipped potatoes are fried.

Since the chipped potatoes are already partly cooked by the boiling water prior to immersion in the hot oil, the chipped potatoes need only be immersed in the hot oil for a relatively short period of time, ie. much less time than if they had been cooked in the oil from a completely uncooked state. Because they spend less time in the oil the chipped potatoes do not absorb as much oil as those cooked entirely by immersion in hot oil.

After immersion in the hot oil for a suitable length of time the mesh basket 15 containing the chipped potatoes is lifted from the oil-frying compartment 12 by the lifting mechanism (not shown), and is placed on the drain portion 16 to allow excess oil to drain from the chipped potatoes.

Steam duct 17 is provided to allow a safe outlet for steam from the water-boiling compartment and gas duct 18 is provided to permit the safe extraction of gas fumes.

Portions of food cooked using the above apparatus enjoy the benefit of having the texture and taste of food cooked by conventional frying whilst enjoying the additional benefit of having a reduced fat content.

The use of the turbo-charged burners 13 can be particulary important. Even if the water in compartment 11 is boiling initially, the temperature of the water can drop substantially if even a few chips are immersed in the water. The use of turbo-charged burners returns the water to boiling point in the shortest possible time, thus avoiding slow cooking times.

Water is used up at a significantly greater rate than oil, owing to absorption into the food and evaporation.

The apparatus may therefore be provided with means for replenishing the water.

The replenishing means may comprise a water inlet controlled by a level detector such as a ballcock.

Referring now to Figure 2, an alternative embodiment of cooking apparatus comprises a steam-generating compartment 20, a steam-cooking compartment 21 and an oilfrying compartment 22.

In use, the steam-generating compartment 20 generates steam by boiling water, the water being heated by means of turbo-charged gas burners 23. The burners 23 are controlled by a pressure switch 24 which switches off the gas burners 23 when a certain steam-pressure is reached inside the steam-generating -compartment 20. Similarly, when the pressure inside steam-generating compartments 20 falls below a pre-determined level, the pressure switch 24 turns on the turbo-charged gas burners 23 to raise the steam pressure. The purpose of the pressure switch 24 is to maintain, as near as possible, a constant predetermined steam pressure in the steam-generating compartment 20.

Pipe 25 and solenoid valve 26 link the steamgenerating compartment 20 with the steam-cooking compartment 21. Basket 27 is located inside the steamcooking compartment 21 and, in use, contains portions of food (not shown) to be cooked, eg. chipped potatoes.

Release vent 28 and solenoid valve 29 are provided to allow steam to escape from steam-cooking compartment 21 as and when this is required.

Oil-frying compartment 22 is provided adjacent the steam-cooking compartment 21 for immersion of the chipped potatoes (not shown) in oil 30, which oil 30 is, in use, heated by turbo-charged gas burners 31. A thermostat 32 controls the operation of gas burners 31, switching off the burners 31 when the oil 30 reaches a predetermined temperature and switching on the burners 31 when the oil 30 falls below a predetermined temperature. The oilfrying compartment comprises a tapering portion 22a located at the base of the compartment 22. The purpose of the tapering portion 22a is to permit heat from the burners 31 to set up convection currents in the hot oil 30 which result in the coolest oil being at location 30a in the centre of the compartment 22 at the base. In this way the coolest oil is kept from contact with the chipped potatoes (not shown) inserted in the compartment 22.

Furthermore, the tapered sides expose a large area to the heat from the burners and concentrate the cool oil nearest to the burners. It is important to be able to raise the oil temperature rapidly because of the cooling effect of any water remaining on the chipped potatoes after steaming.

The operation of the above-described cooking apparatus will now be described in more detail with reference to Figure 2.

In use, water in steam-generation compartment 20 is heated by burners 23, causing the water to boil and to generate steam in the compartment 20. The compartment 20 is provided with a lockable hinged lid 33 to seal the compartment 20 securely prior to steam-generation. The pressure switch 24 controls the burners 23 so as to try to maintain a substantially constant steam-pressure in the compartment 20.

Chipped potatoes (not shown) in basket 27 are placed in steam-cooking compartment 21. Hinged lid 34 is securely closed, solenoid valve 29 is closed and solenoid valve 26 is opened to allow steam from compartment 20 to enter compartment 21 through pipe 25 under pressure.

Pressurised steam then begins to cook the chipped potatoes in steam-cooking compartment 21. After a predetermined time interval a timing device (not shown) closes solenoid valve 26, thus ceasing the passage of pressurised steam from generation compartment 20 to cooking compartment 21, and opens solenoid valve 29, allowing steam to escape from compartment 21 through release vent 28. The hinged lid 34 may then be opened and the basket 27 of partially cooked chipped potatoes removed from compartment 21. The purpose of the timing device (not shown) is to increase the speed of the steam-cooking operation whilst ensuring that successive batches of chipped potatoes receive consistency of exposure to the steam.

After the basket 27 is removed from steam-cooking compartment 21 it is lowered into oil-frying compartment 22 containing pre-heated oil for the cooking of the chipped potatoes to be completed. When the basket 27 of chipped potatoes is initially lowered into oil-frying compartment 22 so that the chipped potatoes (not shown) become immersed in hot oil 30, the temperature of oil 30 will fall due to the chipped potatoes being at a lower temperature than the oil and the presence of water on the chipped potatoes. Thermostat 32 senses this fall in temperature and switches on burners 31. Because burners 31 are turbo-charged and because of the configuration of the compartment 22, they are able to heat the oil quickly to its operating temperature.Convection currents set up in the oil 30 cause cooler oil to fall to location 30a where it is not in contact with the chipped potatoes (not shown).

The presence of water on the chipped potatoes also causes the oil to froth up, hence the need to provide the cooking compartment with high sides 22a.

An advantage of the above-described apparatus is that the steam-generation compartment 20 can be kept full of steam under pressure, enabling the swift supply of pressurised steam to steam-cooking compartment 21 whenever necessary to partially cook the chipped potatoes. In addition, steam-generation compartment 20 may supply pressurised steam to more than one steam-cooking compartment 21.

The burners used may be turbo-charged and/or supercharged.

Other forms of heating may be used, including electric heating.

In common with the embodiment of cooking apparatus shown in Figure 1 and described above, this embodiment of cooking apparatus provides a means of deep-frying food which retains the taste and texture of fried food but with which the food, when cooked, has an oil content much lower than food cooked by conventional oil-frying.

The reader's attention is directed to all papers and documents which are filed concurrently with or previous to this specification and which are open to public inspection with this specification, and the contents of all such papers and documents are incorporated herein by reference.

All of the features disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), and/or all of the steps of any method or process so disclosed, may be combined in any combination, except combinations where at least some of such features and/or steps are mutually exclusive.

Each feature disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), may be replaced by alternative features serving the same, equivalent or similar purpose, unless expressly stated otherwise. Thus, unless expressly stated otherwise, each feature disclosed is one example only of a generic series of equivalent or similar features.

The invention is not restricted to the details of the foregoing embodiment(s). The invention extends to any novel one, or any novel combination, of the features disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), or to any novel one, or any novel combination, of the steps of any method or process so disclosed.

Claims

1. Cooking apparatus having a first region in which there is first cooking means operatively arranged to cook a portion of food in water and a second region in which there is second cooking means operatively arranged to cook the portion of food in oil.

2. Cooking apparatus according to claim 1 wherein first and second heating means are respectively arranged to provide heat to said first and second cooking means.

3. Cooking apparatus according to claim 2 wherein the first and second heating means each comprise at least one gas burner.

4. Cooking apparatus according to claim 2 or claim 3 wherein at least one of the first and second heating means comprises a turbo charged gas burner.

5. Cooking apparatus according to any of the claims 2 to 4 wherein the first heating means comprises a turbo charged gas burner.

6. Cooking apparatus according to any of the claims 2 to 5 wherein at least one of the first and second heating means comprises an electric heating element.

7. Cooking apparatus according to any of the claims 1 to 6 wherein there is provided transfer means operatively arranged to transfer the portion of food from one of said first or second cooking means to the other of said first or second cooking means.

8. Cooking apparatus according to claim 7 wherein said transfer means comprises a lifting mechanism operatively arranged to lift the portion of food from one of said first or second cooking means and to lower it into the other of said first or second cooking means.

9. Cooking apparatus according to claim 8 wherein said lifting mechanism is automated.

10. Cooking apparatus according to any of claims 1 to 9 wherein there is provided a drain portion operatively arranged to receive a portion of food to be drained.

11. Cooking apparatus according to any of claims 1 to 10 wherein there is provided a moveable container arranged in use to contain a portion of the food to be cooked, said container being moveable between a first position in which the portion of food to be cooked is in contact with water in the first cooking means and a second position in which the portion of food to be cooked is contact with oil in the second cooking means.

12. Cooking apparatus according to claim 11 wherein the container is made of stainless steel.

13. Cooking apparatus according to any of the claims 1 to 12 wherein the first and second cooking means are enclosed within a common housing.

14. Cooking apparatus according to any of the claims 1 to 13 wherein a common hood extends over the first and second cooking means.

15. Cooking apparatus according to any of the claims 1 to 14 wherein the first cooking means is such that the water is at least partly vaporised so that cooking takes place wholly or partly with steam.

16. Cooking apparatus according to any of claims 1 to 15 wherein the apparatus includes steam generation means.

17. Cooking apparatus according to claim 16 wherein said steam generation means are integral with said first cooking means.

18. Cooking apparatus according to claim 16 or claim 17 wherein said first cooking means and said steam generation means are discreet and are operatively connected together.

19. Cooking apparatus according to claim 2 and any of claims 16 to 18 wherein said first and second heating means are arranged to provide heat to said second cooking means and said steam generation means respectively.

20. Cooking apparatus according to any of claims 16 to 19 wherein said steam generation means and said first cooking means are operatively connected by an inlet pipe having a first valve therein.

21. Cooking apparatus according to claim 20 wherein said first valve comprises a solenoid valve.

22. Cooking apparatus according to any of claims 1 to 21 wherein said first cooking means are provided with an outlet pipe having a second valve therein.

23. Cooking apparatus according to claim 22 wherein said second valve comprises a solenoid valve.

24. Cooking apparatus according to claim 20 or 21 wherein there are provided timer means arranged to automatically operate said first valve.

25. Cooking apparatus according to claim 24, and claim 22 or claim 23 wherein the timer means are arranged to automatically operate said first valve and said second valve.

26. Cooking apparatus according to claim 24 or claim 25 wherein said timer means are arranged to open said first valve to allow steam to enter said first cooking means from said steam generation means for a pre-determined time interval.

27. Cooking apparatus according to claim 2 and any of claims 16 to 20 wherein said steam generation means are provided with pressure sensing means arranged to sense a pressure inside said steam generation means and to control said second heating means according to said pressure.

28. Cooking apparatus according to claim 2 and any of claims 3 to 27 wherein said second cooking means are provided with temperature sensing means arranged to sense a temperature inside said second cooking means and to control said first heating means according to said temperature.

29. Cooking apparatus according to claim 2 and any of claims 3 to 28 wherein said second cooking means comprise a vessel arranged, in use, to contain oil to be heated, said vessel having a tapered portion located at the base thereof which tapered portion is arranged, in use, to be heated by said first heating means.

30. Cooking apparatus according to claim 29 wherein said first heating means comprise at least two burners located in the region of the base of said vessel, said burners being angularly disposed such that heat from a first burner is incident upon a first side of said tapered portion and heat from a second burner is incident upon a second side of said tapered portion.

31. Cooking apparatus according to claim 30 wherein there are provided sets of said first and second burners.

32. Cooking apparatus according to any of claims 16 to 20 wherein said steam generation means comprise a releasably lockable lid.

33. Cooking apparatus according to any of claims 1 to 32 wherein said first cooking means comprise a releasably lockable lid.

34. Cooking apparatus according to claim 32 or claim 33 wherein said lids are hinged.

35. Cooking apparatus according to any of claims 16 to 20 wherein said steam generation means are arranged to supply steam to a plurality of said first cooking means.

37. Cooking apparatus substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

38. A method of cooking a portion of food, comprising the steps of generating steam, exposing the portion of food to the steam, and immersing the portion of food in hot oil.

39. A method according to claim 38 comprising exposing the portion of food to steam for a pre-determined time interval.

40. A method substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.