GB2519174A

GB2519174A - Cooking device and method

Info

Publication number: GB2519174A
Application number: GB1318179.7A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Ian Andrews
Original assignee: DEE SET LOGISTICS Ltd
Current assignee: DEE SET LOGISTICS Ltd
Priority date: 2013-10-14
Filing date: 2013-10-14
Publication date: 2015-04-15
Also published as: GB201318179D0

Abstract

The invention relates to a cooking device suitable for poaching an egg. The device 10 may generally be the size and shape of a cup and is formed integrally from moulded silicone. The device may have a base 12, a sidewall 14 formed continuously with the base, and a rim 16 which may be turned over slightly. The device has a body portion which has at least one aperture to allow cooking fluid to enter the body. The base 12 and sidewall 14 may be provided with a number of perforations, or through-holes 18, to allow the ingress of water in use. Just below the rim 16 engagement means, may be a plurality of elongate slots 20 extending generally parallel to the rim 16 for withdrawing the device from a pan in use. As an alternative the engagement means may comprise loops, hooks or projections. The base 12 may have four moulded feet 22 to allow the device to stand on a supporting surface. Another aspect relates to a method to cook a food item.

Description

Cooking Device and Method The present invention relates to a cooking device and to a method of cooking, and is particularly, although not exclusively, concerned with a cooking device and method for the poaching of a food item, such as an egg.

Eggs, such as hen eggs, may be poached by cracking them from their shells and then simmering them gently in a pan of water. However, the white of the egg has a tendency to disperse in the water. Various techniques have been developed to address this problem, including the addition of vinegar to the water and/or the creation of a vortex in the pan. However the task of producing a perfectly poached egg, with a substantially intact, solidified white and a runny yolk, is felt by many to be difficult to master.

To assist kn the preparation of poached eggs, various devices have been proposed. Whilst they differ in appearance and construction, they typically comprise a cup-shaped receptacle that is designed to contain the egg so as to prevent it from ccntacting the water. The receptacle is either suspended in the water by engagement with a framework over the pan, or else is allowed to float freely in the pan.

Whilst such apparatus may prevent the dispersal of the white, the finished item is often overly firm, sometimes described as "rubbery" in texture, and is of a completely regular shape (ie that of the receptacle) To many minds this is not a true poached egg.

I

Embodiments of the present invention aim to provide apparatus and a method that address the disadvantages of

the prior art, at least to some extent.

The present invention is defined in the attached independent claims, to which reference should now be made.

Further, preferred features may be found in the sub-claims appended thereto.

According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a cooking device suitable for cooking a food item, the device comprising a body portion for receiving the food item, which body portion has at least one aperture or perforation arranged in use Lo allow cooking fluid La enter Lhc body, so that the body is arranged in use to become at least partly immersed in the cooking fluid.

The body portion may have at least one side wall and a base. The sidewall and base may comprise together a substantially continuous surface.

Preferably the sidewall and/or base are provided with a plurality of apertures or perforations arranged to allow cooking fluid to enter the body. The cooking fluid preferably comprises water and more preferably simmering water.

Tn a preferred arrangemenL the body is provided with a base supporL, which may comprises one or more feet, for supporting the device on the bottom of a cooking vessel in use.

The device may be provided with engagement means, preferably at an upper portion of the body, for grasping the device or for engagement with a utensil when the device is to be withdrawn from a cooking vessel in use. The engagement means may comprise one or more slots or loops.

Preferably the body and/or the base support and/or the engagement means ate formed integrally, more preferably of plastics material and more preferably of silicone.

According to another aspect, the invention provides a method of ccoking a food item, the method comprising causing the food iLein to be located in a cooking device wiLhin a cooking vessel containing cooking fluid, wherein the cooking device has a body portion for receiving the food item, which body portion has at least one aperture arranged in use to allow cooking fluid to enter the body, so that the body is arranged in use to become at least partly immersed in the cooking fluid.

The body portion may have at least one side wall and a base. The sidewall and base may comprise together a subsLantially continuous surface.

The method may comprise a method of cooking an egg, and more preferably a method of poaching an egg.

Preferably the method comprises cooking the food item in a cooking device located in a vessel containing waLer as the cooking fluid, which water is preferably hot water, and more preferably simmering water.

In a preferred arrangement, the method comprises locating the food item in a cooking device which cooking device is provided with a base support, preferably comprising one or more feet, for supporting the device on the bottom of a cooking vessel in use.

The method may comprise withdrawing the cooking device from the cooking fluid when the food item is cooked, by engagement with a portion, preferably an upper portion, of the body, which upper portion is provided with engagement means, which may comprise one or more slots or loops! The method may comprise lubricating an inner surface of the cooking device prior to introducing a food item therein.

In a preferred arrangement, the method comprises locating the cooking device in a cooking vessel containing cooking fluid and then introducing the food item into the cooking device. More preferably, the method comprises allowing the cooking device to become at least partially immersed in cooking fluid, and preferably to rest upon a floor of the cooking vessel, prior to introducing the food item into the cooking device.

The method may comprise removing the food item from the cooking device once the food item is cooked, preferably by turning or sliding it out from the body.

The method preferably includes allowing the cooking fluid to drain from the cooking device through the at least one aperture prior tc removing the food item from the cooking device.

The invention may include any combination of the features or limitations referred to herein, except such a combination of features as are mutually exclusive, or mutually inconsistent.

A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described. By way of example only, with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings, in which: Figure 1 shows in side perspective view a cooking device according to one embodiment of the present invenLion; Figure 2 is a perspective view from below of the device of Figure 1; and Figure 3 is a schematic side view of the device of Figures 1 and 2 in use in a cooking method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Turning to Figures 1 and 2, there is shown generally at 10 a cooking device according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The device is suiLabla for poaching an egg, in accordance with a method such as will he described later by way of example.

The device 10 is generally the size and shape of a cup and is formed integrally from moulded silicone. The device has a base 12, a sidewall 14, formed continuously with the base1 and a rim 16 which is turned over slightly. The base 12 and sidewall 14 are provided with a number of perforations, or through-holes 18, to allow the ingress of water in use, as will be explained below. Just below the rim 16 engagement means, in this example a plurality of elongate slots 20, extend generally parallel to the rim 16 for withdrawing the device from a pan in use. As an alternative the engagement means may comprise loops, hooks or projections. The base 12 has four moulded feet 22 to allow the device to stand on a supporting surface.

A preferred method of using the device to poach an egg will now be described with reference particularly to Figure 3.

In a first sLop, waLer 24 in a pan 26 i.s heated to a gonLle boil and the device 10 is care fully placed upright in the pan. The water enters the device through Lhe holes 18 and the device quickly sinks -perhaps in 2-5 seconds -with its feet 22 coming to rest on the bottom of the pan 26 as is shown schematically in Figure 3. At this point, keeping the water in the pan simmering, the shell of an egg is cracked, taking care not to break the yolk. The egg is then gently slipped into the device which by now contains simmering water as the cooking -ie poaching -fluid. The egg is shown at 28.

The egg is allowed to cook for a predetermined time1 which may typically be 3-5 minutes for a hen's egg, depending upon whoLher a soft or hard yolk is required. The boles 18 are in this example of the order of 2-4mm in diameter.

Whilst this allows for easy ingress of water, the whiLe of the egg is largely contained by the device and does not leak out through the holes into the wider pan to any appreciable extent. This is at least partly because the white at the periphery of the egg quickly solidifies when in contact with the water, and once solidified it does not seep out through the holes 18. Optionally the holes are of different sizes and/ar shapes which may allow for the optimisation of the sinking of the device and/or retention of the egg white in the device.

After the predetermined cooking time the device is withdrawn from the pan either by grasping the rim or by engaging one or more of the slots with one or more utensils1 such as forks. The water drains readily through the holes and the cooked egg may than ho slid from the device onto a plate.

Optionally the interior surface ofthe device may be coated with a food grade lubricant, such as cooking oil or butter, prior to adding the egg. This may assist in the subsequent sliding out of the cooked egg from the device.

During cooking the water should be kept at a simmer and should not be allowed to boil vigorously, in case this causes the device to move around unduly, which may result in some loss of the egg white to the surrounding pan.

The egg may cook moro quickly if the pan is covered.

Whilst the example shown in Figure 3 is that of a cooking device resting on the bottom of a pan, the device could equally be used in a microwave cooking method, for example by standing the device in a bowl or other vessel suitable for microwave cooking, containing the cooking fluid.

Although the embodiment described above has discrete feet as its base support, this could instead be a ring, rib or plinth of an alternative design, whilst still providing the function of allowing the device to rest stably in a cooking vessel and spacing the food item from the base of the vesset so as to avoid the high localised temperatures that may exist there, particularly when the vessel is a pan used on a hob.

The above described apparatus and method allow for efficient poaching of an egg which results in the white of the egg remaining soft, as should be the case with a poached egg, in contrast with many prior poaching apparatus and meLhods in which the egg is kept away from Lbs water.

The device and method have been described above in relation to the poaching of an egg. It will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that the apparatus and method could also be applicable to the cooking of other food items. Similarly, whilst the cooking fluid in the example above is simmering water, it could be another fluid.

WhiJ.st endeavouring in the foregoing specification to draw attention to those features of the invention believed to be of particular importance, it should be understood that the applicant claims protection in respect of any patentable feature or combination of features referred to herein, and/or shown in the drawings, wheLher or not particular emphasis has been placed thereon.

S

Claims

CLAIMS1. A cooking device suitable for cooking a food item, the device comprising a body portion for receiving the food item, which body portion has at least one aperture or perforation arranged in use to a1]ow cooking fluid to enter the body, so that the body is arranged in use to become at least partly immersed in the cooking fluid.
2. A cooking device according to Claim 1, wherein the body portion has at least one side wall and a base.
3. A cooking device according to Claim 1 or 2, wherein the body portion is provided with a plurality of apertures or perforations arranged to allow cooking fluid to enter the body.
4. A cooking device according to any of Claims 1 to 3, wherein the body is provided with a base supporL for supporting the device on the bottom of a cooking vessel in use.
5. A cooking device according to Claim 4, wherein the base support comprises one or more feet.
6. A cooking device according any of the preceding claims, wherein the device is provided with erigagemenL means for grasping the device or for engagemenL with a utensil when the device is to be withdrawn from a cooking vessel in use.
7. A cooking device according to Claim 6, wherein the engagement means comprises one or more slots around an upper portion of the body.
8. A method of cooking a food item, the method comprising causing the food item to be located in a cooking device within a cooking vessel containing cooking fluid, wherein the cooking device has a body portion for receiving the food item, which body portion has at least one aperture arranged in use to allow cooking fluid to enter the body, so that the body is arranged in use to become at least partly immersed in the cooking fluid.
9. A method according to Claim 8, wherein [he moLhod comprises a method of cooking an egg.
10. A method according Lo Claim 8 or 9, wherein the nethod comprises cooking the food item in a cooking device located in a vessel containing hot water.
11. A method according to any of Claims 8 to 10, wherein the method comprises locating the food item in a cooking device which cooking device is provided with one or more feet for supporting the device on the bottom of a cooking vessel in use.
12. A method according to any of Claims 8 to 11, wherein the method comp.ri ses withdrawing the cooking device from the cooking fluid when the food item is cooked, by engagement with an upper portion of the body.
13. A method according to any of Claims 8 to 12, wherein the method comprises lubricating an inner surface of the cooking device prior to introducing a food item therein.
14. A method according to any of Claims 8 to 13, wherein the method comprises locating the cooking device in a cooking vessel containing cooking fluid and then inLroducirig the food item into the cooking dcv icc.
15. A method according to Claim 14, wherein the method comprises allowing Lhe cooking device to become at least partially immersed in cooking fluid, and to resL upon a floor of the cooking vessel, prior La inLroducing the food item into the cooking device.
16. A meLhcd according to any of Claims 8 to 15, wherein the method comprises removing the food iLem from the cooking device once the food item is cooked, by sliding it out from the body,
17. A method according to any of Claims 8 to 16, wherein the method comprises includes allowing the cooking fluid to drain from the cooking device through the at least one aperture prior.