GB2394887A

GB2394887A - Disposable grill tray

Info

Publication number: GB2394887A
Application number: GB0320591A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Daphne Stewart-Liberty; Aldine Cranley
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2002-09-04
Filing date: 2003-09-03
Publication date: 2004-05-12
Anticipated expiration: 2023-09-03
Also published as: IE20030633A1; GB2394887B; GB0320591D0

Abstract

A disposable grill tray 1 for cooking food comprises a metallic foil 2 having a plurality of apertures 8 formed therein to allow fat released from food during cooking to pass through the apertures. A tool 20 for forming a plurality of apertures 8 in a metallic foil 2, to produce a disposable grill tray 1 for cooking food, comprises a multi hole punch having a die plate 22 onto which a metallic foil is placed and a punch plate 24 having a plurality of punches 26 extending from the underside thereof.

Description

Disposable Grill Tray The present invention relates to a disposable grill

tray and, in particular, to a disposable grill tray for 5 cooking food in a grill, oven, stove or the like.

Conventional grill trays for cooking food in a grill generally comprise a metal grid for supporting the food, the grid being located in a tray which collects 10 any fat or the like released from the food during cooking. Such conventional grill trays can be difficult and time consuming to clean after use.

Various disposable grill trays have been proposed with 15 the aim of eliminating the need for cleaning after use.

One such known grill tray is described in GB2247611, which illustrates a disposable grill pan with a Buttered grill from which fat can run into an integral sump. GB2326331 discloses another disposable grill tray 20 comprising raised ridges or bars. GB2220838 shows a cooking tray having a series of ridges and grooves for draining the fat released during cooking.

However, such known disposable grill trays can be 25 difficult to use for certain foods, can lead to accumulation of fat in the region of the food and tend not to be cost effective to manufacture and package for distribution and sale.

30 The present invention has been made from a consideration of the disadvantages associated with known disposable grill trays and in order to provide an improved grill tray, which overcomes one or more of the

above-mentioned disadvantages. In particular, the invention aims to provide a disposable grill tray which is easy to use, which facilitates the removal of fat released during cooking and which is cost effective to 5 manufacture. The disposable grill tray of the invention is adapted to be used as a liner for a conventional grill pan thereby eliminating the need for cleaning the grill pan after use.

10 According to the invention there is provided a disposable grill tray for cooking food comprising a metallic foil having a plurality of apertures formed therein to allow fat released from food during cooking to pass through the apertures.

Preferably, the apertures are formed in a series or pattern and arranged in offset rows and columns.

Preferably, a peripheral margin is provided around the edge of the tray.

Preferably, an aperture is provided adjacent each corner of the tray. Preferably, thirty to sixty apertures are provided in the tray. Preferably, the metallic foil comprises a peripheral edge which can be 25 folded down over a rim of a base container.

Preferably, such apertures are formed by transverse slits in the foil making four triangular flaps in each aperture. Preferably, the flaps are pushed slightly 30 downwards to define the sides of an aperture.

Preferably, the apertures are substantially diamond or square shaped. Preferably, the angle between a slit and

the line taken through the centre of a flap is substantially 45 .

Preferably, the grill tray comprises a base container.

5 Preferably, the base container comprises an open topped box, preferably made from metallic foil, metal coated paper or the like, having expandable corners formed by creases in the box wall at the corner regions.

10 According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a tool for forming a plurality of apertures in a metallic foil to produce a disposable grill tray for cooking food, the tool comprising a multi hole punch having a die plate onto which a metallic foil is placed 15 and a punch plate having a plurality of punches extending from the underside thereof.

Preferably, the die plate comprises a plurality of depressions, each for receiving a corresponding end of 20 a punch. Preferably, each punch comprises a bar having a pointed end which presents four blade edges to the metallic foil.

Preferably, the tool comprises a stripper plate 25 supported above the die plate and attached to the punch plate by springs.

The invention will now be described further, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying 30 drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a disposable grill tray and base container according to an embodiment of the invention; 5 Fig. 2 is a partial plan view of the disposable grill tray of figure 1; Fig. 3 is an enlarged plan view of an aperture of the disposable grill tray of figure 1; Fig. 4 is a section through the line A-A of the aperture of figure 3; and Fig. 5 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a tool 15 suitable for producing the perforations in the disposable grill tray of figure 1.

Referring to figure 1, a disposable grill tray 1 of the invention comprises a metallic foil 2 having a 20 peripheral edge 4 which can be folded down over the rim of a base container 6. The tray 1 comprises a series of apertures 8 formed therein. The apertures 8 allow fat released from the food during cooking to be removed from the tray since the fat will drip through the 25 apertures into the underlying base container 6.

The base container 6 comprises an open topped box, typically made from metallic foil or metal coated paper or the like, having expandable corners 10 formed by 30 creases in the box wall at the corner regions.

Typically, the base container has walls in the region of lam to 2cm high.

Typically, the apertures are formed in a pattern which is conducive to such removal of fat and which has an aesthetic appearance. In the embodiment shown, the apertures 8 are arranged in offset rows and columns.

For example, on a rectangular foil tray with dimensions of about 260mm by 210mm, the centres of the apertures may be spaced about 26mm apart in the longitudinal direction and about 21mm apart in the horizontal 10 direction, the apertures in successive rows and columns being centrally offset relative to the preceding row or column. Typically, a peripheral margin 12 without apertures is 15 provided around the edge of the tray to give support and to ensure that the tray has sufficient structural strength and does not sag when food is placed thereon.

Similarly, the number, spacing and layout of the apertures is chosen for efficient fat removal yet to 20 ensure that the tray has sufficient structural strength for the required use. Preferably, an aperture is provided adjacent each corner of the tray. Preferably, thirty or forty to sixty apertures, more preferably thirty-four, forty-one, forty-two or forty-eight 25 apertures, are provided in the tray.

Referring to figure 2, the apertures 8 are formed by transverse slits 14 in the foil making four triangular flaps 16, 17, 18, 19 in each aperture.

Referring to figures 3 and 4, the flaps 16 are pushed slightly downwards to define the sides of the aperture 8. In the embodiment illustrated, the apertures are

substantially diamond shaped. Diamond shape or square shape apertures are generally easier to cut with a suitable punch. These shapes have been found to be conducive to fat removal from the tray and have an 5 aesthetic appearance.

The flaps in the apertures encourage the grease to go down through the apertures. In the specific dimensional example given above, the width d of the flaps, as shown 10 in figure 3, may be about 18mm thereby defining an aperture of 18mm by 18mm. Typically, the angle between a slit 14 and the line taken through the centre of a flap is 45 .

15 Typically, the tray 1 and base container 6 are separate for ease of packaging and can be easily assembled for use by adjusting the container walls by means of the flexible corners, locating the tray over the open top of the container and folding the peripheral edge of the 20 tray down over the rim of the container to secure the tray in position on the container.

The trays and base containers may be conveniently packaged and sold in sets of say five or ten to 25 facilitate and encourage disposal after use. Both the tray and container may be flat packed.

In use, the food to be cooked is placed on the tray and the tray attached to the container is placed in a 30 conventional grill pan, the latter then being placed in the grill. The tray acts as an effective liner for the grill pan thereby eliminating the need for cleaning the grill pan after use. During cooking, fat or grease

released from the food is channelled down through the apertures by the downwardly extending flaps and accumulated in the base container.

5 Thus, the fat is completely removed from the region of the food allowing healthier and fat reduced cooking.

After use, the tray and/or the tray and container may be disposed of thereby eliminating the need for washing the grill pan.

Typically, the tray and base container are dimensioned to sit conveniently into a conventional grill pan.

Thus, the invention provides a disposable grill tray 15 which is convenient and easy to use. The tray may be conveniently used, for example, in bed and breakfast establishments or at changeover periods in holiday accommodations. The tray is suitable for use in grills, ranges or ovens.

The tray of the invention also improves energy saving since a lower heat setting may be used. The tray provides effective cooking on three sides simultaneously due to heat reflected from the metallic 25 surface of the foil.

For example, it has been found that bacon crisps very quickly using the tray of the invention and sausages only need to be turned once during cooking. There is 30 also less of a fire risk since the fat is contained within the base container.

Referring to figure 5, an embodiment of a tool 20 suitable for producing the perforations in the disposable grill tray of the invention comprises a multi hole punch having a die plate 22 onto which a 5 metallic foil 2 is placed.

An upper punch plate 24 comprises a series of, for example, forty-one or forty-eight punches 26 extending from the underside thereof. The punches 26 are arranged 10 to give the desired pattern of apertures in the foil 2.

The die plate 22 has a series of depressions 28 each for receiving a corresponding end of a punch 26.

Each punch 26 comprises a bar having a pointed end 15 which presents four blade edges to the metallic foil 2 thereby forming the cross slits 14 when actuated.

A central stripper plate 30 is supported above the die plate 22 by legs 32 adjacent the corners of the plates.

20 The stripper plate 30 is attached to the punch plate 24 by springs 34 located adjacent the corners of the plates. The punches 26 pass through corresponding apertures provided in the stripper plate 30.

25 A pair of handles 36 is provided on the upper surface of the punch plate 24 to facilitate pushing the punches into the die plate. In use, the tool 20 simultaneously punches a number of holes in the metallic foil 2, corresponding to the number of punches 26, for example 30 forty-one or forty-eight.

It will be appreciated that the present invention is not intended to be restricted to the details of the

above embodiment, which is described by way of example only. For example, it will be appreciated that the tray may 5 be any suitable shape or size and the number and pattern of apertures formed therein may be chosen as desired to provide efficient removal of fat and to give the tray a suitably aesthetic appearance. Thus, for example, the plurality of apertures may be arranged in 10 a concentric circular pattern. Similarly, any suitable shape or size base container may be used.

Claims

1. A disposable grill tray for cooking food comprising a metallic foil having a plurality of 5 apertures formed therein to allow fat released from food during cooking to pass through the apertures.

2. A disposable grill tray according to claim 1 10 wherein the apertures are formed in a series or pattern and arranged in offset rows and columns.

3. A disposable grill tray according to any preceding claim wherein a peripheral margin is 15 provided around the edge of the tray.

4. A disposable grill tray according to any preceding claim wherein an aperture is provided adjacent each corner of the tray.

5. A disposable grill tray according to any preceding claim wherein thirty to sixty apertures are provided in the tray.

25

6. A disposable grill tray according to any preceding claim wherein the metallic foil comprises a peripheral edge adapted to be folded down over a rim of a base container.

30

7. A disposable grill tray according to any preceding claim wherein such apertures are formed by transverse slits in the foil making four triangular flaps in each aperture.

8. A disposable grill tray according to claim 7 wherein the flaps are pushed slightly downwards to define the sides of an aperture.

9. A disposable grill tray according to any preceding claim wherein the apertures are substantially diamond or square shaped.

10 10. A disposable grill tray according to claim 7 or claim 8 wherein the angle between a slit and the line taken through the centre of a flap is substantially 45 .

15

11. A disposable grill tray according to any preceding claim wherein the grill tray comprises a base container.

12. A disposable grill tray according to claim 11 20 wherein the base container comprises an open topped box, preferably made from metallic foil or metal coated paper, having expandable corners formed by creases in the box wall at the corner regions.

13. A tool for forming a plurality of apertures in a metallic foil to produce a disposable grill tray for cooking food according to any preceding claim, the tool comprising a multi hole punch 30 having a die plate onto which a metallic foil is placed and a punch plate having a plurality of punches extending from the underside thereof.

14. A tool according to any preceding claim wherein the die plate comprises a plurality of depressions, each for receiving a corresponding end of a punch.

15. A tool according to any preceding claim wherein each punch comprises a bar having a pointed end which presents four blade edges to the metallic foil.

16. A tool according to any preceding claim wherein the tool comprises a stripper plate supported above the die plate and attached to the punch plate by springs.

17. A disposable grill tray or a tool substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.