Device which assists in heating and cooking the centre of foods

Abstract

A cooking or baking oven accessory 1, that is inserted vertically into the centre of a dish of food [fig4 1C], to assist in heat transfer for improved cooking. It is made up of at least four rectangul

Description

Field of the Invention The present invention relates to devices which are used to assist in the cooking of foods, and particularly the centre of foods. Background The use of chilled, freshly prepared and frozen foods for daily consumption including, but not exclusively referring to; lasagne, potato topped pies including shepherds and cottage pies, moussaka, pastry pies, soups, broths or similar foods is common. These often have to reach a core temperature of preferably 75 degrees Celsius to avoid potential issues including food poisoning and bacterial growth within. Many of these foods, if they are purchased, come in a foil or heat-resistant tray and may be cooked from a chilled or defrosted status by being placed in a hot oven with the temperature and timing periods for the cooking of the food followed by the user and taken from the packaging or if home cooked from a recipe book or reference. When home cooked, the foods are often cooked in a ceramic or heat-resistant glass cooking dish and are also placed in an oven for heating. These applications are also common for microwave cooking where certain foods which are deemed suitable for microwave cooking also use the trays they are supplied in, or are transferred in a home supplied dish or tray. When the cooking process is underway, food may often heat well from the outer edges of the food due to the heat from the oven or microwave having more direct and rapid heating ability to the outer edges of the food, leaving the centre cooler than the remainder of the food or even in some examples still cold. The user often will have to remove the food during the cooking process, which may mean removing it more than once, to stir or agitate the foods centre to aid cooking, this may not be possible with some foods as it disrupts the look of the food which they may want to present to a table of diners in its best form or may be messy in general. The removal of foods to stir or agitate the centre is aimed at dispersing the heat more evenly, for example a soup in a microwave or a lasagne but again this is time consuming and should be unnecessary. If the lasagne, for example, is in an oven, a great deal of the ovens heat is lost in the process of having to open the oven door and can further prolong the cooking process by losing the heat that the very food relies on to be cooked, potentially adding on cooking time. Therefore; a means to assist in the heating and cooking of foods in their centre is disclosed within this invention. The prior art therefore shows that there is a need for a way of assisting in the heating and cooking of the centre of foods. The present invention aims to provide a device which is inserted into the centre of food to heat it and cook it from the centre outward, while the usual cooking process of the food is underway, saving time and energy. Summary of the invention According to the present invention there is provided a device which is inserted into the centre of foods vertically, with its top preferably above the surface of the food, to assist in the heating and cooking of the centre of the food, saving time and energy. The device is comprised of at least four thin fins of equal length which are vertically elongated and disposed to form a four finned cross when viewed from above as the fins transversely cross each other in the centre, to generally form the device. The four fins are planar and may be rectangular and may each taper toward the lower portion of each fin, as shown in Figure 1 and other accompanying Figures. The device stands vertically and the fins aid its entry into any suitable soft foods by providing a cutting action as the device is pressed into the food, which is aided by the said tapering to the lower portion of each fin, the foods including, but not exclusively, lasagne, potato topped pies including shepherds and cottage pies, moussaka, pastry pies, soups, broths, pasta bakes. The device is inserted into the centre of the food, preferably with its top above the surface of the food to aid the devices insertion and removal, prior to it entering the oven or a microwave. This can be done by hand, as the food and the device are cold at this point but any later removal of the device will require it being gripped at the top by cooking tongues and lifted out of the hot food, after the foods removal from the oven. If being used in a microwave, a gas or electric oven or an air fryer, the device would be only made of a material which is suitable for use in these cooking environments but is also a suitable conductor of heat and does not contain any materials which breakdown during high heat temperatures to form toxic elements. The device may be made of, but not limited to, stainless steel, iron, or aluminium if used in an oven. For oven use, the device may optionally be completely coated in a non-stick coating to aid its release from hot foods. The device may be made of, but not limited to, ceramic porcelain and heat-resistant glass, for use in a microwave. The shape of the device is not limited to that shown and may undertake other forms including characters or novel shapes, but includes said fins and their aforementioned arrangement in all examples. The device may include a holding tab, which may be made of the same material as the device, at its top which may be used to lift it out of the hot foods using a pair of cooking tongues, as shown in the accompanying Figure 6. The device heats along with the remainder of the food as it stands in the centre and absorbs and attracts the heat to its body; facilitated via the aforementioned fins, heating the device more rapidly during the cooking process due to the thinness and the material which the fins are made of, absorbing the heat from around it more readily. The heat from its body and fins therefore also radiates outward on a continual flow of heat and aids the cooking of the food from the centre. This helps the food to reach a suitable and safe temperature for its completed cooking and consumption by forcing an accelerated heating process, from the centre of the food which also increases the overall speed at which a food reaches the correct temperature. It has been shown that two frozen lasagne that were placed in an oven at a time of 17.15pm to soften, had the device inserted into the centre of one lasagne at 17.37 pm. At 17.54pm, when both lasagne were taken out of the oven the one lasagne with the device inserted recorded a temperature of 83 degrees Celsius, which is well above the recommended temperature of 75 degrees Celsius. The lasagne without the device inserted into its centre recorded a temperature of 66 degrees Celsius, and it did not reach the recommended minimum of 75 degrees Celsius. When this comparison was carried out using chilled lasagne the whole lasagne with the device inserted heated to 76 Celsius in 13 minutes. The device therefore has shown that it saves a significant amount of time and energy while aiding the food to cook correctly, where its centre may, under usual circumstances of cooking without said device, remain uncooked to the correct temperature, even after the full recommended duration of cooking has passed at the recommended and correct cooking temperature. Accelerated cooking times using the device may vary depending on the type of food that the device is inserted into. For example; more dense foods such as a pie with a pastry top, may have a device inserted into it through the pastry but the filling may be dense and this may create a slightly less accelerated cooking time, however, the size and weight of the pie, or any food, would also compensate and therefore a single person or single serving pie with a pastry top, which is often difficult to heat in its centre in a conventional gas or electric oven, will heat far more rapidly with the device inserted as the pie in question is smaller. Whereas, a larger pie with the device, for example a pie in a larger family size tray or dish may take longer but would still be more rapidly cooked in the centre and more evenly heated overall. In these instances where larger cooking trays or dishes are used, more than one device may be inserted with space between them and both centrally. In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practised and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilised as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Further, the purpose of the foregoing abstract is to enable the Patent Office and the public generally, and especially the scientists, engineers and practitioners in the art who are not familiar with patent or legal terms or phraseology, to determine quickly from a cursory inspection the nature and essence of the technical disclosure of the application. The abstract is neither intended to define the invention of the application, which is measured by the claims, nor is it intended to be limiting as to the scope of the invention in any way. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved device which assists in heating and cooking the centre of foods which has all the advantages of the prior art devices and none of the disadvantages. It is another object of the present invention to provide a new device which assists in heating and cooking the centre of foods which may be easily and efficiently manufactured and marketed. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a new and improved device which assists in heating and cooking the centre of foods which is of durable and reliable construction. An even further object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved device which assists in heating and cooking the centre of foods which is susceptible of a low cost of manufacture with regard to both materials and labour, and which accordingly is then susceptible of low prices of sale to the consuming public, thereby making such a product available to the buying public. Still yet another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved device which assists in heating and cooking the centre of foods which provides in the apparatuses and methods of the prior art some of the advantages thereof, while simultaneously overcoming some of the disadvantages normally associated therewith. These together with other objects of the invention, along with the various features of novelty which characterise the invention, are pointed out with particularity in the ciaims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses, reference should be had to the accompanying drawings and detailed descriptive matter in which there is illustrated preferred embodiments of the invention. Brief description of figures Figure 1 shows a dimensional view of the device which assists in heating and cooking the centre of foods. Figure 2 shows a side elevation view of the device which assists in heating and cooking the centre of foods. Figure 3 shows a plan view of the device which assists in heating and cooking the centre of foods. Figure 4 shows a side view of the device inserted into a food in a cooking dish. Figure 5 shows a plan view of the device inserted into a food in a cooking dish. Figure 6 shows a side view of the device having a handling tab, inserted into and standing in a liquid food, such as soup in a bowl. Figure 7 shows a plan view of the device inserted into and standing in a liquid food, such as a soup. Detailed description of figures A typical embodiment of the device which assists in heating and cooking the centre of food is shown in Figure 1. It comprises the device 1, which is inserted vertically into the centre of foods to assist in the heating and cooking of the centre of the food, saving time and energy. The device is comprised of at least four thin fins 2, 3, 4, 6, of equal length which are vertically elongated and disposed to form a four finned cross when they meet in the centre 5, viewed from above as the fins transversely cross each other to form the device. The four fins 2, 3, 4, 6 are planar and may be rectangular and may each taper toward the lower portion of each fin 7, as shown in Figure 1 and other accompanying Figures. The device stands vertically on the cross 8 formed at the bottom by the transversely disposed tapered lower portion of each fin 7. The fins 2, 3, 4, 6 and the tapered lower portion of each fin 7 aid the devices entry into any suitable soft foods by providing a cutting action as the device is pressed into the food, which is aided by the said tapering to the lower portion of each fin and the fins also provide a improved method of absorbing heat from the cooking device, be it an oven, air fryer or microwave and also an improved way of radiating that heat outward into the centre of the food in which the device is standing, following insertion. The top of the device is preferably protruding out of the surface of the food following insertion. The shape of the device is not limited to that shown and may undertake other forms including characters or novel shapes but includes said fins and their aforementioned arrangement. When viewed from the side the device 1A stands on the cross 8A at the bottom and this view shows fins 4A, 3A, 6A and the tapered lower portion of each fin 7A, being 4A and 6A in this Figure 2. The device viewed from above in Figure 3 shows fins 2B, 3B, 4B, 6B. The device 1C is inserted into the centre of the food 10 within the cooking vessel 11 (cooking dish or tray) prior to it entering the oven, air fryer or a microwave. This can be done by hand, as the food and the device are cold at this point but any later removal of the device will require it being gripped by cooking tongues and lifted out of the hot food, after the foods removal from the oven. If being used in a microwave, a gas or electric oven or an air fryer, the device would be only made of a material which is suitable for use in these cooking environments but which is also a suitable conductor of heat and does not contain any materials which breakdown during high heat temperatures to form toxic elements. The device may be made of, but not limited to, stainless steel, iron, or aluminium if used in an oven. For oven use, the device may optionally be completely coated in a non-stick coating to aid its release from hot foods. The device may be made of, but not limited to, ceramic porcelain and heat-resistant glass, for use in a microwave. The device may include a holding tab at its top which may be used to lift it out of the hot foods using a pair of cooking tongues, as shown in the accompanying Figure 6. The device 1C heats along with the remainder of the food 10 as it stands in the centre and absorbs and attracts the heat to its body; facilitated via the fins, heating the device more rapidly during the cooking process due to the thinness and the material which the fins are made of, absorbing the heat from around it more readily. The heat from its body and fins therefore also radiates outward 9 on a continual flow of heat and aids the cooking of the food 10 from the centre, as shown in Figure 4. This is further shown in Figure 5 as a plan view with the device 1D in the centre of the food 10D in the cooking vessel 11D with the heat radiating outward 9D cooking the food 10D from its centre. This helps the food 10D to reach a suitable and safe temperature for its completed cooking and consumption by forcing an accelerated heating process, from the centre of the food which also increased the overall speed at which a food reaches the correct temperature. Cooking times using the device may vary depending on the type of food that the device is inserted into. For example; more dense foods such as a pie with a pastry top, may have a device inserted into it through the pastry but the filling may be dense and this may create a slightly less accelerated centre cooking time, however, the size and weight of the pie, or any food, would also compensate and therefore a single person or single serving pie with a pastry top, which is often difficult to heat in its centre in a conventional gas or electric oven, will heat far more rapidly with the device inserted as the pie in question is smaller. Whereas, a larger pie with the device, for example a pie in a larger family size tray or dish may take longer. In these instances where larger cooking trays or dishes are used, more than one device may be inserted (not shown) with space between them and both centrally in the cooking vessel. Figure 6 shows the device 1E within a liquid food 10E such as a soup, for example only, in a cooking vessel which is a bowl 11E. The fins 3E and 4E are shown radiating heat from their surfaces and from the device IE into the food 10E, warming it from the centre, assisting the normal heating of the soup which is also taking place simultaneously. The device 1E will be very hot on completion of the heating of the food and a holding tab 12 may be optionally provided on the top of the device IE to enable the user to grip the holding tab 12 with cooking tongues 13 and safely lift the device from the soup, or any other food. Figure 7 shows a plan view of the device IF inserted into and standing in the liquid food 10F, such as a soup, within the bowl 11F.

Claims

1) A device which assists in heating and cooking the centre of foods, which is inserted vertically into the centre of foods to assist in the heating and cooking of the centre of the food, saving time and energy, comprising at least four thin fins which are planar, of equal length and are vertically elongated and disposed to form a four finned cross when they meet in the centre, and are rectangular and may each taper toward the lower portion of each fin, the device stands vertically on a cross formed at the bottom by the transversely disposed tapered lower portion of each fin and a holding tab may be provided at the top of the device for handling.2) A device which assists in heating and cooking the centre of foods as claimed in claim 1 wherein the device may have an optional non-stick coating.3) A device which assists in heating and cooking the centre of foods as claimed in claim 1 wherein the tapered lower portion of each fin aides the devices entry into any suitable soft foods by providing a cutting action as the device is pressed into the food, which is aided by the said tapering to the lower portion of each fin.4) A device which assists in heating and cooking the centre of foods as claimed in claim 3 wherein the fins also further provide an improved method of absorbing heat from the cooking device, be it an oven, air fryer or microwave.5) A device which assists in heating and cooking the centre of foods as claimed in claim 4 wherein said fins also further provide an improved way of radiating absorbed heat outward into the centre of the food in which the device is standing in following insertion.6) A device which assists in heating and cooking the centre of foods as claimed in claim 5 wherein, in use, the device is inserted vertically into the centre of the food within the cooking vessel (cooking dish or tray) prior to it entering the oven, air fryer or a microwave, this can be done by hand, as the food and the device are cold at this point.7) A device which assists in heating and cooking the centre of foods as claimed in claim 6 wherein the top of the device is preferably protruding out of the surface of the food after insertion.8) A device which assists in heating and cooking the centre of foods as claimed in claim 7 wherein if being used in a microwave, a gas oven, an electric oven or anair fryer, the device would be only made of a material which is suitable for use in these cooking environments but is also a suitable conductor of heat and does not contain any materials which breakdown during high heat temperatures to form toxic elements.9) A device which assists in heating and cooking the centre of foods as claimed in claim 8 wherein the device may be made of, but not limited to, stainless steel, iron, or aluminium if used in an oven or air fryer.10) A device which assists in heating and cooking the centre of foods as claimed in claim 9 wherein the device may be made of, but not limited to, ceramic porcelain and heat-resistant glass, for use in a microwave.11) A device which assists in heating and cooking the centre of foods as claimed in claim 1 wherein removal of the device will require it being gripped by cooking tongues and lifted out of the hot food, which may be facilitated by the holding tab.12) A device which assists in heating and cooking the centre of foods as claimed in claim 1 wherein, in use, the device heats along with the remainder of the food as it stands in the centre and absorbs and attracts the heat facilitated via the fins, heating the device more rapidly during the cooking process due to the thinness and the material from which the fins are made, absorbing the heat from around it more readily.13) A device which assists in heating and cooking the centre of foods as claimed in claim 12, wherein, in use, with the device in the centre of the food in the cooking vessel, with the heat radiating outward; the cooking of the food from its centre is accelerated and helps the food reach a suitable and recommended safe temperature of 75 degrees Celsius for its completed cooking and consumption.14) A device which assists in heating and cooking the centre of foods as claimed in claim 13 wherein the device also increases the overall speed at which a food reaches the correct temperature due to its heating from the centre of the food.15) A device which assists in heating and cooking the centre of foods as claimed in claim 14 wherein in instances where larger cooking trays or dishes are used, more than one device may be inserted with space between them and both disposed centrally in the cooking vessel.16) A device which assists in heating and cooking the centre of foods as claimed in claim 1 wherein the shape of the device is not limited to that shown and described and may undertake other forms including characters or novel shapes, but includes said fins and their aforementioned arrangement in all examples.

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