Food-protective apparatus for use in cooking and food-serving environments

Abstract

Related embodiments of self-supporting permanently-formed, or foldable and quick-setup, food-protective apparatus are disclosed, each for safely storing and protecting, serving and/or transporting food-products in or to one or more, food-preparation or food-serving settings. The apparatus include one or more openable and closeable openings or apertures each having a positionable door or covering that can quickly and easily be moved to an opened or closed position. The apparatus may optionally incorporate see-through ventilative screened or meshed material and may be made of a rigid or flexible insulative material. The Enclosure embodiments also include stackable and/or side-by-side quick alignment elements, optional one or more trays or shelves having one or more receptacles for retaining a heating or chilling material, or having receptacles for one or more garnishes, herbs, spices, enclosures having various shapes, and the option to make a barbeque with one or more integrally-incorporated food-protective enclosures.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION[0001]Portions of the subject matter of this non-provisional application rely on provisional application 60 / 964,034 filed on Aug. 9, 2007.FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0002]The present invention pertains to the field of food-related accessories or aids employable during the preparation, cooking and serving of food items in outdoor (or indoor) environments. More particularly, the invention pertains to a food-protective apparatus or enclosure, which is employable before, during and after one or more food items storable within and protected by the device have been prepared and / or cooked for consumption by others, for example, at a barbeque, picnic or cookout.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0003]Many people who have prepared and / or partaken of a meal outdoors have experienced the annoyance of flying or crawling insects contaminating, or other airborne matter or debris falling or blowing into their food as it is being prepared or into food that has already been...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0016]The food-protective apparatus preferably also includes one or more sides incorporating, or integrally formed with, a meshed, screened, perforated or apertured material, having a multitude of apertures or numerous openings, wherein the size of the openings are of a size small enough to prevent the passage of small flying or crawling insects. Alternatively, the one or more sides of the food-protective apparatus can be made with any one or more of the aforementioned material(s). For example, one or more sides of the apparatus can be comprised of a transparent (or translucent) material, which facilitates an easy viewing of any protected contents within the apparatus. In which case, the apparatus preferably includes one or more vents to limit steam or condensation from obscuring a view of the apparatus-protected contents through the transparent material.

[0017]As previously described, the present food-protective apparatus provides a positionable member, such as a door, hatch, lid or covering located on a side of the apparatus, which can be positioned by one or both hands of a user, to an opened or closed state. The member can be hinged to provide for a rotat

Problems solved by technology

Many people who have prepared and/or partaken of a meal outdoors have experienced the annoyance of flying or crawling insects contaminating, or other airborne matter or debris falling or blowing into their food as it is being prepared or into food that has already been prepared before it is served to others.

Insects flying around, landing on or flying into one's food is not only unsightly, it can also be quite unsanitary or in some cases can even be a cause of illnesses or disease.

However, this approach has been less than ideal in that such covers tend to expose the food from all sides once the cover is lifted.

Another area of concern in outdoor food preparation and food-cooking environments is the contamination of food due to the food not having been kept fresh during the food preparation process.

For example, chicken is a very popular type of food to prepare in outdoor cooking environments, nonetheless, chicken is quite prone to contamination from bacteria after only a short exposure to air temperatures typical of those environments.

However, the aforementioned conventional approaches do not provide f

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