Dual-Surface Frying Pan Shelf for Draining Oils and Holding Ingredients
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional frying pans require additional plates and increased cooking time due to the need for separate cooking and storage of ingredients, which can lead to overcooking and flavor alteration, and often result in excess lipid content in cooked foods.
Innovation Solution
A frying pan with a secondary sloped shelf above the primary cooking surface that allows for storage and easy transfer of ingredients, featuring a non-stick coating and liquid collection recesses to prevent liquids from re-entering the cooking surface, thereby minimizing lipid absorption and maintaining food quality.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If ingredients are cooked separately and stored on additional plates, then food quality is maintained, but cooking time increases and more dishes need to be cleaned
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the cooking surface and storage surface into a single integrated pan structure. The storage surface is built directly onto the pan body, allowing cooked ingredients to be transferred from the cooking surface to the storage surface without requiring separate plates or bowls. This merging eliminates the need for additional dishes while maintaining food quality and reducing cooking time.
Solution Approach 2:
The pan is designed with multi-functionality, serving both as a cooking vessel and a storage container. The storage surface can hold cooked ingredients, accommodate raw ingredients, or serve as a warming surface, replacing the need for multiple separate utensils and plates throughout the cooking process.
2Ease of operation
If a flat storage surface is used, then ingredients can be stored, but liquids drain onto the cooking surface and combine with food
Solution Approach 1:
The storage surface is designed with an asymmetric slope rather than a flat surface. The sloped configuration causes liquids to naturally drain away from the center toward the outer edge of the storage surface, preventing them from flowing back onto the cooking surface and combining with the food being prepared.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the storage surface have different functions created by the slope. The higher central area provides storage space for ingredients, while the lower peripheral area serves as a drainage zone that collects and contains liquids, preventing them from reaching the cooking surface.
3Reliability
If multiple plates are used for ingredient storage, then food quality is maintained, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the storage function into the pan structure itself by adding a storage surface that is integrated with the cooking surface. This eliminates the need for multiple separate plates, bowls, or trays, reducing device complexity while maintaining the ability to store and manage ingredients effectively throughout the cooking process.
4Reliability
If ingredients are removed from the pan for storage, then overcooking is prevented, but cooking efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The storage surface is positioned and designed to receive cooked ingredients immediately after they are removed from the cooking surface, without requiring transfer to separate plates. This preliminary preparation and immediate transfer capability maintains food quality by preventing overcooking while preserving cooking efficiency through continuous workflow.
Solution Approach 2:
By integrating the storage surface directly onto the pan, the patent enables seamless transition of ingredients from cooking to storage within the same vessel. This eliminates the need to move ingredients to and from separate plates, maintaining cooking efficiency while preventing overcooking through immediate storage capability.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The dual-surface design enables efficient storage and cooking of ingredients without additional plates, reducing cooking time and lipid content, while maintaining food quality and preventing unwanted liquid re-entry into the cooking surface.
Implementation Method 1
The outward pitch of the food storage shelf allows liquids such as fats and oils to drain away from the ingredients on the shelf
Implementation Method 2
Most often, a pan has a flat cooking surface (base) that rests on the stove burners surrounded by a side wall around the entire circumference that helps keep the food in the cooking area. One or more handles are usually incorporated into the pan, typically connected to the side wall providing a means to hold the pan and to move and position it.
Data Source
AI summary
An improved frying pan configured with two surfaces/levels, the first cooking surface used to cook foods and a second surface (a convenient shelf) used to hold/store foods having a slope or pitch towards the outer perimeter of the frying pan. The storage shelf allows the user to store ingredients on the pan itself without the need for additional holding plates. The outward pitch of the storage shelf along with its ridges allows liquids such as fats and oils to drain away from the ingredients and stop them from re-entering the lower cooking surface. Therefore liquids will not combine with the food in the lower cooking surface and will not combine with other food ingredients when they are cooked.