GB2470556A

GB2470556A - Food preparation aid

Info

Publication number: GB2470556A
Application number: GB0908978A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Hugh Heathcote Gilbert
Original assignee: HEATHCOTE GILBERT HUGH
Current assignee: HEATHCOTE GILBERT HUGH
Priority date: 2009-05-26
Filing date: 2009-05-26
Publication date: 2010-12-01
Also published as: GB0908978D0

Abstract

A food preparation aid comprises a container 5 housed below an aperture 4 in a kitchen work surface 12. The container collects meat juices, chopped vegetables or other edible matter and can be removed from its housing and transported in order to deposit its contents into another container. The aperture may be closed or partially closed by a chopping board, and the chopping board may also have an aperture. The food preparation aid may also include a carving board 1 with a sloping surface and channels 2 to collect meat juices and direct them through an aperture 3 that is located over the aperture 4. The carving board may include means such as pegs for lining up the apertures and/or a groove on its underside around the aperture to prevent liquid running back onto the board, and a stopper may be used to prevent juices flowing through the aperture. The chopping board may be partly located over the aperture 4 and partly located over a refuse bin located under the work surface such that waste material and chopped edible material can be readily collected in their respective containers.

Description

FOOD PREPERATION AID

This invention relates to a food preparation aid comprising a carving board with a sloping surface and channels to enable meat juices to drain through an aperture in the carving board and thence through a fixed co-located aperture in a kitchen work surface to a portable receptacle, a chopping board or chopping boards that can be used in conjunction with or instead of the aforementioned carving board utilising the same aforementioned portable receptacle as a receptacle for chopped vegetables or other matter, a further small removable chopping board which covers the aforementioned fixed aperture in the work surface when not in use and includes an aperture which doubles as a handle to remove the small chopping board and also as a means for putting sliced garlic or other matter into the portable receptacle below and a refuse receptacle located in a drawer below the work surface to enable waste material to be easily swept into it from either of the aforementioned chopping boards.

Carving meat on a carving board releases juices from the meat which need to be collected to prevent spillage and also ideally to be used in the cooking process such as in the manufacture of gravy. Carving boards are know that have channels to collect juices around the edges and shallow wells that are provided within the depth of the carving board. The aforementioned channels may be sloped to aid the free running of the juices. However due to the necessity of keeping the depth of the carving board to a minimum to avoid weight if the carving board is to be transportable the channels are rarely sloped enough to encourage the free running of juices and the well provided within the carving board is rarely deep enough to collect all the juices and furthermore as the carving board itself is generally level the juices remain under the meat until a certain depth of juices is reached which means a large part of the juices are not collected. Furthermore when it comes to using the collected juices the carving board has to be lifted, with or without its contents, to drain the juices that have collected in the collection well which is cumbersome, awkward and can result in spillage.

Chopping boards used for vegetables and other matter traditionally have to be lifted and carried to a cooking utensil to deposit the chopped produce in the cooking utensil. This is cumbersome, awkward and can result in spillage.

Furthermore the waste material has to be separated first from the chopped produce and disposed of which is normally done by gathering the material up by hand and taking it to a refuse bin, which can also result in spillage.

According to the present invention there is provided a carving board with a sloping surface and channels to enable meat juices to collect and drain through an aperture in the carving board and thence through a fixed co-located aperture in a kitchen work surface to a portable receptacle. This enables the meat juices created by carving meat on the carving board to be drained from the complete carving surface of the board due to its sloping surface. As the complete surface of the board is sloping it will vary in depth from one end to the other thus reducing weight and allowing a steep fall for the juices to run down assisting the process. The juices will be captured in edge channels and be channelled through an aperture in the carving board which is located over a fixed aperture in the work surface below by one or more protruding pegs or other means. The juices flow through the aperture in the carving board and thence through the fixed aperture in the work surface into a portable receptacle housed below the work surface which can be fabricated to any required size and be made easily large enough to collect all the meat juices. The aforementioned portable receptacle can be removed from its housing and thence be easily carried to a cooking utensil where the gathered juices can be deposited as desired. During the period that the portable receptacle is removed from its housing the aperture in the carving board can be temporarily blocked by a stopper or cork to prevent juices running through the aperture whilst the receptacle is absent. By this means juices can be easily captured and conveyed to a cooking utensil elsewhere without having to lift or otherwise move the carving board and with considerably reduced risk of spillage.

Furthermore according to the present invention there is provided a chopping board or chopping boards that can be used in conjunction with or instead of the aforementioned carving board utilising the same aforementioned portable receptacle as a receptacle for chopped vegetables or other matter. The chopping board is located so that it overlaps the aforementioned fixed aperture in the work surface and as chopped produce is created it is swept by hand over the edge of the chopping board and into the portable receptacle below. The portable receptacle can then simply be transported to a cooking utensil or elsewhere to deposit the chopped produce without risk of spillage and with no need to lift the relatively heavy chopping board. Furthermore a refuse or compost bin can be located in a drawer under the chopping board such that when pulled out the chopping board can be located so that one of its edges protrudes over the refuse or compost bin and the waste from the chopping process can simply be swept by hand directly into the refuse or compost bin with no need to gather and lift it by hand.

Furthermore according to the present invention a further small removable chopping board may be utilised which covers the aforementioned fixed aperture when not in use and includes an aperture which doubles as a handle to remove the small chopping board and also as a means for putting sliced garlic or other matter into the portable receptacle below. The small chopping board may be used on a day-to-day basis for cutting lemons or garlic for instance, which does not warrant the use of a large chopping board, and the chopped produce can simply be swept through the aforementioned aperture into the aforementioned portable receptacle below for transporting to a cooking utensil or elsewhere. When it is required to utilise the aforementioned fixed aperture in the work surface to collect meat juices from the aforementioned carving board or to collect chopped produce from the aforementioned chopping board then the small chopping board can be removed using the aperture in it is surface as a handle to assist removal.

A specific embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawing in which: -Figure 1 shows in section A a portable receptacle located below a fixed aperture in a kitchen work surface, closed by a small portable chopping board; Figure 2 shows in plan the small portable chopping board closing the fixed aperture in the kitchen work surface; Figure 3 shows in section a carving board located over the fixed aperture in the work surface; Figure 4 shows in perspective the carving board located over the fixed aperture in the work surface; Figure 5 shows in section a chopping board located over the fixed aperture in the work surface together with the refuse collector.

Referring to the drawings as shown in Figures 1 to 4, there is provided a carving board 1 with a sloping surface from which protrude metal spikes 21 in order to retain meat placed thereon and channels 2 to enable meat juices to collect and drain through an aperture 3 in the carving board 1 and thence through a fixed co-located aperture 4 in a kitchen work surface 12 to a portable receptacle 5. The portable receptacle 5 may be slid out from under the work surface 12 via the aperture 22. The aperture in the carving board 3 is located over a fixed aperture 4 in the work surface 12 by two protruding pegs 6 and surrounded on the underside by a drip channel 20 to prevent drips from running back under the carving board. During the period that the portable receptacle is removed from its housing via the aperture 22 the aperture 3 in the carving board can be temporarily blocked by a stopper 7 to prevent juices running through the aperture whilst the receptacle is absent, as shown in Fig 3. The portable receptacle 5 rests on a shelf 18 made of similar material to the work surface 12, such as granite, and is surrounded on three sides by waIls 19 of similar material to collect and allow easy cleaning of any drips or stray material that miss the receptacle.

As shown in Fig. 5 there is provided a chopping board 8 utilising the same portable receptacle 5 as a receptacle for chopped vegetables or other matter.

The chopping board 8 is located so that it overlaps the fixed aperture 4 in the work surface 12 and as chopped produce is created it is swept by hand over the edge of the chopping board 8 and into the portable receptacle 5 below.

As shown in Fig. 5 a refuse receptacle 9 is located in a drawer 13 supported by a support assembly 14 under the work surface 12 such that when the drawer 13 is pulled out using the handle 15 the chopping board 8 can be located so that one of its edges protrudes over the refuse receptacle 9 and the waste from the chopping process can simply be swept by hand directly into the refuse receptacle 9 with no need to gather and lift it by hand.

As shown in Fig. 1 and Fig 2 a further small removable chopping board 10 covers the fixed aperture 4 in the work surface when not in use and includes an aperture 11 which doubles as a handle to remove the small chopping board and also as a means for putting sliced garlic or other matter into the portable receptacle 5 below. The small chopping board may be used on a day-to-day basis for cutting lemons or garlic for instance which do not warrant the use of a large chopping board and the chopped produce can simply be swept through the aperture 11 into the portable receptacle 5 below for transporting to a cooking utensil or elsewhere. When it is required to utilise the fixed aperture 4 in the work surface to collect meat juices from the carving board 1 or to collect chopped produce from the chopping board 8 then the small chopping board 10 can be removed using the aperture 11 in it is surface as a handle to assist removal. The small chopping board 10 rests on metal rods 16 let into the work surface 12 and spanning the aperture 4. The metal rods 16 locate into grooves 17 on the underside of the small chopping board 10, as shown dotted in Fig 2.

Claims

CLAIMSA food preparation aid consisting of a portable container housed below a kitchen work surface with an aperture in the work surface above the portable container to enable juices from carved meats and or chopped vegetables or other edible matter to be deposited into the portable container such that the portable container can then be readily removed from its housing below the kitchen work surface and transported in order to deposit the contained juices or chopped vegetables or other matter into a cooking utensil or other container elsewhere.
2. A food preparation aid as claimed in Claim 1 such that the aperture in the kitchen work surface can be closed, or partially closed, by means of a portable chopping board.
3. A food preparation aid as claimed in Claim 2 such that the portable chopping board includes an aperture through which chopped matter can be deposited into the portable container below.
4. A food preparation aid as claimed in all preceding claims wherein is included a carving board with a sloping surface and channels to collect juices, gathered from meat carved thereon, and to channel them through an aperture provided within the carving board such that when the aperture in the carving board is located over the aperture in the kitchen work surface the gathered juices are encouraged to run through into the portable container housed below where they are collected.
5. A food preparation aid as claimed in Claim 4 wherein is included means for locating the aperture in the carving board over the aperture in the work surface.
6. A food preparation aid as claimed in Claim 4 wherein is included a peg or number of pegs mounted on the underside of the carving board to locate the aperture in the carving board over the aperture in the work surface.
7. A food preparation aid as claimed in Claims 5 and 6 wherein is included a groove on the underside of the carving board around the aperture to prevent drips of liquid running back under the carving board.
8. A food preparation aid as claimed in Claims 4 to 7 wherein is included a stopper that is able to be introduced into the aperture in the carving board to prevent juices flowing through the aperture.
9. A food preparation aid as claimed in all preceeding claims wherein the housing that the portable container resides in below the work surface consists of a shelf made of water resistant material and is surrounded on three sides by water resistant material, the fourth side being open to allow removal of the portable container.
10. A food preparation aid as claimed in all preceding claims including a chopping board which can be partly located over, or adjacent to, the aperture in the work surface to enable chopped vegetables or other edible matter prepared on the aforementioned chopping board to be easily swept through the aperture in the work surface into the portable container below.
II. A food preparation aid as claimed in all preceding claims including a refuse or compost bin located in a drawer under the work surface such that when the drawer is open a chopping board can be located so that it is partly over, or adjacent to, the aperture in the work surface and partly over, or adjacent to, the refuse or compost bin to allow waste material created using the chopping board to be easily swept into the refuse or compost bin from the chopping board and to allow chopped vegetables or other edible matter prepared on the chopping board to be easily swept from the chopping board through the aperture in the kitchen work surface into the portable container below without having to move the aforementioned chopping board.