CA2221082A1 - Device for cooking or grilling small pieces of food and method of use - Google Patents

Abstract

A device for grilling small pieces of food is described which is a basket (1) including a mesh. The device fits inside of conventional grills even when the lid of the grill is closed and can be easily removed for shaking and turning over of the small pieces of food without falling out. The basket optionally has a removable lid (4") that can be used independently of the device as a cooking surface. When the lid is in place, the entire device may be turned over. When the lid (4") is either off or in the up position, the food inside may be stirred or moved.

Description

~- CA 02221082 1997-11-14 . I
WO 96/36265 P~1IIJ~~ G~31S

DEVICE FOR CO~K . r;l~ OR ~T~TT.T.TNG S~AIL PIECES OF FOOD
AND ~ OD OF USE
The present application is a continuation-in-part of co-pending application Serial No. 08/442,931, filed on May 17, 1995, a continuation-in-part of 08/512,416, filed on August 8, 1995, and a continuation-in-part of 08/571,772, filed on December 13, 1995.
Backqround of the Invention Various attempts have been made to develop devices for cooking or grilling specialty food items, particularly for use with outdoor barbecue grills. For example, U.S. Patent No. 4,510,855 to Avner describes a secondary grilling apparatus which comprises a flat sheet of metal with rectangular openings which clips onto the bars of conventional barbecue grills. The sheet provides a secondary surface for grilling with smaller openings. However, the device cannot be easily taken out of the barbecue grill when hot and does not permit easy turning over of food items.
U.S. Patent No. 5,069,196 to Schlosser et al.
describes a pivoting ~ ~y rack which attaches to the perimeter of a barbecue grill and can be pivoted from the side attachment over the surface of the grill or off to the side for easy retrieval of cooked food items. The pivoting rack comprises a circular flat grill with a rail around the edge to prevent food from f~ ng off. The circular flat grill is similar to the main grill of the barbecue, but is held above the main grill by means of a pivot. The device suffers the same problems that a regular grill with longitll~;n~l bars in that small food items easily slip through. Also, the device cannot be easily lifted out of the grill and ~h~k~n to turn over food items.
U.S. Patent No. 2,846,941 to Goodwin discloses a barbecue basket which fully encases food items and is mounted on a spit, permitting one to easily turn cooking food items over for cooking on both sides. The device cannot be easily ~ ~ved from the grill because , ,. CA 02221082 1997-11-14 W096/36265 -2- PCT~596/02315 it is mounted on a spit. Also, the device would not be suitable for small food items because the longitudinal bars create lengthwise openings through which small food items would fall out.
Other devices include the PLATINUM GRILLING WOK~
(sold by Charcoal Champion) which comprises a square bottom with trapezoidal sides that flare outward from their attachment to the square bottom. The wok contains some small circular openings to allow circulation of heated air and smoke. However, the wok contains no lid that permits sh~k;ng of food items to easily turn them over. In addition, the limited number of openings does not allow full circulation of heated air and smoke which are important for achieving optimum grilling flavor.
Still another device is the BARBE~u~ ~.~TTT.TNG
GRID~ (sold by Charcoal Champion) which comprises a flat sheet with ~;~mon~-sh~re~ openings and an upturned edge on one side. The grid cannot be easily lifted off of the grill, nor can it permit sh~k;ng of food items to turn them over without their falling out. It is essentially one-sided.
Summary of the Invention It is an object of the present invention to provide a device for cooking or grilling small food items which permits optimum circulation of heated air and smoke to achieve full grilling/cooking flavor. The device is entirely independent from the grill requiring no att~hm~nt whatsoever. It is an object of the present invention to provide a device that can be easily ~ ,ved from the h~hecue grill, lifted out, and sh~ken to turn food items over without their falling out. These same functions may be achieved while cook;ng with the device on the grill grate by either removing the lid or lifting the lid and stirring, shifting or moving the food items inside the device with a cooking implement (such as tongs, spatula, fork, etc.).

~, CA 02221082 1997-11-14 . I
wos6136265 PCT~S96/02315 The use of a lid with the device is optional.
With the lid on or off, spices, sauces, and flavorings may be added while cooking. Also, the grilling device of the present invention is designed to fit completely within standard barbecue grills so that the top of the grill can be closed while offering the Y;mnm amount of cooking surface area. Still another object of the present invention is to provide a light-weight grilling device that can be easily and cheaply manufactured from a single piece of starting material.
With these objects in mind, the present inventors discovered that a grilling device could be fashioned out of light-weight stainless steel mesh having square openings, which could easily be fabricated from a single flat piece of mesh by folding and which would satisfy the above objects. Due to the flexibility of the stainless steel mesh, the device can be shaped to fit the interiors of standard barbecue grills, permitting the lid of the grill to be completely shut while providing the ~-~;mllm surface area for cooking small pieces of food and m~Y;m;zing the aromatic effect of barbecue cooking or grilling. Since the device is independent from the grill on which it is used, food items may be prepared and placed inside the device at one location, carried and then cooked at the grill.
Once cooking is completed, the food items may be carried from the grill inside the device to another desired location.
~3rief DescriPtion of the Drawin~s Fig. 1 shows one embodiment of the present invention without a top.
Fig. 2 shows another embodiment similar to that of Fig. 1 with a top in the open position and side handles.
Fig. 3 shows the ~ho~;m~nt of Fig. 2 with the top in the closed position.
Fig. 4 shows a side view of the embodiment of Fig.
3.

- ~ ~. CA 022210X2 1997-11-14 wos6/3626s 4 PCT~S96/02315 Fig. 5 is a top view of another embodiment with two inwardly facing top edges and two outwardly facing top edges and square grasping handles at each corner and hand spaces between the two corner handles.
Fig. 6 is a top view of the lid for the embs~;~Gnt of Fig. 5.
Fig. 7 is a frontal cut-away view of the embs~; -nt of Fig. 5.
Fig. 8 is a side cut-away view of the embodiment of Fig. 5.
Fig. 9 shows the device of Figs. 5-8 prior to folding.
Fig. 10 shows a side view of another embodiment of the device according to the present invention comprising two halves.
Fig. 11 shows a side view of another embo~; - t of the device comprising c-shaped edges which lock a lid in place on top of the open basket of the device.
Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments In one embodiment, the present invention is directed to a device for grilling small pieces of food, wherein the device comprises a basket composed of mesh having square openings throughout the mesh and the basket has a base that matches the shape of the grill and four side walls which are high enough to retain small pieces of food when the device is sh~k~n to turn the small pieces of food over, wherein the mesh is made of a material suitable for cooking or grilling food that is welded, soldered, or woven. Preferably, the basket is shaped to fit within the interior of a grill when the lid of the grill is clo~ed. Optionally, the basket of the device is covered with a lid that may be fastened to the device or placed on top of the device.
Another embodiment of the present invention is a device for grilling small pieces of food as described in the above paragraph, wherein the device comprises a fully enclosed basket having a top, a bottom, and four side walls. One of the four side walls is pre~erably . CA 02221082 1997-11-14 wos6/3626s P~~ 02315 raised higher than the other three walls, so that the top of the device slopes downward from a point where the top is joined with the raised side wall to a point where the top is joined with at least one of the other three side walls. In this embodiment, a single cut is made through the side walls of the device, separating it into two halves, which may be used separately as two grilling devices or together in one grilling device as a top and bottom. This embo~ t is further advantageous because of the ease of production.
Another e ho~;m~nt of the present invention is a method of using the device to grill small pieces of food on a grill comprising placing the pieces of food in the ba~ket, placing the basket on the grill, closing the lid of the grill, removing the basket after the small pieces of food are cooked on one side, shaking the basket to turn the pieces of food over onto their uncooked sides, and placing the basket onto the grill until the small pieces of food are cooked. Optionally, the entire device may be turned upside down with the food r~m~;ning in the ba~ke. ,o ~urn the food over when a lid is in place.
Preferably, the device is used on a covered grill having a lid and the base of the device has a rectangular or circular shape which matches the ~ n~ions of the most c~ - ly sold outdoor barbecue grills. More preferred is a rectangular base measuring about ll ; n~h~S by about 16 ;n~h~s The_mesh can be made of any material suitable for cooking or grilling pieces of food that is welded, soldered or woven. Preferably, the mesh is stainless steel mesh or mild steel covered with a non-stick coating such as XYLONTM (manufactured by Whitford Manufacturing). The size of the square openings throughout the mesh is between 14 gauge and l9 gauge, or which measure between about 0.2 ; n~h~ across to about 0.8 in~hes across. The most preferred size of the square openings is about 0.5 in~hes across.

. CA 02221082 1997-11-14 w096/36265 -6- PCT/u~5~231s The mesh can optionally be nickel-plated, porcelain-coated, or coated with a non-stick coating suitable for grilling or cooking.
As used herein, ~small pieces of food" refers to those small pieces of food co~ke~ on grills which normally fall through the longitudinal bars of a conventional grill grate. In particular, these small pieces of food include sliced, chopped, unchopped, chunked, and whole vegetables, fruits, scallops, shrimp, and pieces of meat or fish.
Preferably, one or more divider walls can be placed inside the basket and att~ch~A to the base to create separate areas for placing different types of small food pieces. For example, all the vegetables can be placed on one side of a divider wall and all the chopped meat pieces can be placed on the other side of the divider wall.
For convenience, only Fig. 1 contains the mesh pattern drawn on all sides. Figs. 2-9 are in block style, showing only structural lines where edges or corners are formed. However, the devices shown in Figs. 2-9 are also formed of the mesh material shown in Fig. 1.
Fig. 1 shows a preferred embodiment of the present invention wherein one of the four side walls 3A
adjoining the cooking base 1 is raised higher than the other three side walls 3B, 3C and 3D.
As shown in Fig. 2, it is preferred to attach a lid 4 having two triangular overhang portions 6 by means of fasteners 5 to the raised side 3A. The fasteners may be any suitable fasteners that withstand the heat of cooking or grilling including alligator clips or metal rings. Also, Fig. 2 shows wire semi-circular handles 2 at~he~ to two of the sides 3C and 3D that adjoin the raised side 3A. Fig. 2 also shows a divider wall 7 placed inside the basket for separating different kinds of small food pieces.

. CA 0222l082 l997-ll-l4 Wos6/3626s 7 P~ 5~3l5 Fig. 3 illustrates the embodiment of Fig. 2 wherein the lid 4 is in the closed position. Due to the raised edge 3A, the lid slopes downward when closed to meet the top edge of the lower front side 3B. This embo~; ~nt is advantageous because it fits inside most rectangular-shaped outdoor grills wherein the lid of the grill slopes downward toward the front of the grill.
The ~ ntS shown in Figs. 1-4 can be manufa~L~ed from a single flat piece of mesh by -~;ng cuts in the piece of mesh according to desired ~;m~n~ions and folding the sides of the cut pieces upward and joining the corners with fasteners or by welding or other suitable means for joining pieces of mesh together. For example, starting from a single piece of mesh, the lid 4 can be cut out and the overhang portions 6 can be folded d~..L-~-rd. One or more divider walls 7 can be cut from the single starting piece of mesh and later attached into the - 20 interior of the basket. The basket is formed from the single piece of mesh by folding the pre-cut sides 3A, 3B, 3C, and 3D upward so that the edges of the sides meet each other. Thereafter, the adjoining edges may be fastened by suitable means for fastening pieces of mesh together such as closing rings, clips, solder or welding.
Figs. 5-8 relate to another preferred embo~; t of the present invention, which also can be manufactured from a single flat piece of mesh by making cuts in the piece of mesh according to desired ~ ions and folding the sides of the cut piece upward and joining the corners with fasteners or by welding or other suitable means for joining pieces of mesh together as discussed more fully below.
In the preferred embo~; m~nt of Fig. 5, there is an interior rectangular cooking base 1', two outwardly facing top edges 3' adjoining two side walls 5', two inwardly facing top edges 4' adjoining the other two ~ CA 02221082 1997-11-14 ., wos6/3626s 8 P~~ 6~0z3ls side walls 5", and four square grasping handles 2' at each corner of the base 1~. This embodiment is advantageous because the inwardly facing edges 4' help to retain the small pieces of food when the basket is moved while on the grill and or turned over onto its side, or 1l- ved from the cooking surface and sh~k~n to the turn the food pieces over. The outwardly facing edges 3' provide handles for easy grasping of the basket during shAk;ng, turning the device upside down with the lid on, and in removing the device from the grill.
Fig. 6 shows the lid for the device of Fig. 5.
The lid is a flat rectangular piece of mesh adapted to be placed on top of the opening in the device of Fig.
5. The lid can opt-o~lly be placed on top of the device and removed to permit stirring or moving of the contents within the basket. A180, the lid can be used for gathering cont~nts in the basket by turning the device upside down while the lid is on or used for cooking by turning the device upside down so that the lid becomes the cooking base or independently removing the lid and using it as a second cooking base. The lid may be fastened at the top edge at one or more of the sides 5' so that it can be opened and closed.
Fig. 7 shows the 5' side wall and corner handles 2' cut away from the rest of the device of Fig. 5.
Fig. 7 illustrates how the outwardly facing edge 3' meets the two corner handles 2'.
Fig_ 8 shows the 5" side wall and corner handles cut away from the rest of the device of Fig. 5. Fig. 8 illustrates how the inwardly facing edge 4' faces away from the corner handles 2' toward the inside of the basket.
Fig. 9 shows the device of Fig. 5 prior to folding of a piece of the mesh. The four ~Rh~ lines indicate the four places where the flat piece of mesh is internally pre-cut. All internal solid lines indicate the lines along which a fold must be made. First, the . ~ , w096/3626S g PCT/Uv,-'02~15 two 5' side walls which include the two outwardly facing 3' edges are folded up. Second, the other two 5" side walls which include the two inwardly facing 4' edges and the corner post portions 2' are folded up forming a basket. The inwardly facing 4' edges are folded to the inside of the basket. The outwardly facing 3' edges are folded to the outside of the basket. Lastly, the corner posts are formed by folding first at line A away from the basket, then at line B in a direction parallel to the adjoining side wall 5", then at line C and finally at line D. In this way, the four corners of the corner post 2' are made.
Fig lO shows a side view of a preferred ~mho~;m~nt of the present invention. The device comprises a raised rear wall 3A~ and a lower front wall 3B". Side wall 3D" is sloped to meet the angle of the top 4". The four side walls are joined to each other and joined to the top 4" and the bottom l". A single cut, shown in the Figure as the ~ he~ line 7", is made through the four side walls, separating the device into two halves, i.e., a top and a bottom half. The top and bottom halves may be used together as one grilling device or the top can be L~- ved and turned upside down for use as a separate grilling device.
Fig. ll shows a preferred ~ t of the device of Fig. 5, wherein the two top edges 3" have been curled over towards the inside of the basket to simultaneously create a roll-shaped gripping handle and locking_grooves which accept the edges of the lid of Fig. 6, which is shown as a ~he~ line in Fig. ll, and hold it in place on top of the basket. The lid of Fig.
6 can be ,~- ,ved by sliding it laterally out of the locking grooves. Since a roll-shaped gripping handle is formed by the curled top edges 3 n having a C-shaped cross section, there is no need for the square grasping handles 2' of the embo~; - t of Fig. 5.
It will be understood that various modifications in the invention as described herein may be made ~. ,. CA 02221082 1997-11-14 ~, w096/36265 lO P~l/u~5-,~2315 without departing from the spirit of the invention and from the scope of the claims which follow.

Claims (38)

What Is Claimed Is:

1. A device for cooking or grilling small pieces of food comprising a basket including a mesh made of a material suitable for cooking or grilling small pieces of food having openings throughout the mesh, said basket comprising a top, a bottom, a raised rear wall, a lower front wall, and two side walls, wherein the two side walls are joined to the front and rear walls and the top and bottom are joined to the side walls and to the front and rear walls, said basket being separated into a top half and a bottom half by a single cut through the front, rear and side walls.

2. The device as claimed in claim 1 wherein the top and bottom are rectangular.

3. The device as claimed in claim 2 wherein the mesh is stainless steel mesh having square openings that measure between about 0.2 and about 0.8 inches across.

4. The device as claimed in claim 3 wherein the mesh is covered with a non-stick coating suitable for cooking or grilling small pieces of food.

5. The device as claimed in claim 4 wherein the mesh is nickel-plated or porcelain-coated.

6. The device as claimed in claim 2 further comprising two semi-circular wire handles attached to the side walls for grasping of the device.

7. The device as claimed in claim 1 further comprising one or more divider walls attached to the bottom of the basket which separate different kinds of small food pieces.

8. A method of grilling small pieces of food on a grill having a lid with the device as claimed in claim 1 comprising placing the pieces of food in the basket, placing the basket on a grill with a lid, closing the lid of the grill to completely enclose the device within, shaking the basket of the device to turn the pieces of food over after one side of the pieces of food has been cooked, and removing the device from the grill when the small pieces of food are cooked.

9. The method as claimed in claim 8 wherein the top and bottom of the basket are rectangular.

10. The method as claimed in claim 8 wherein the mesh of the device is stainless steel mesh having square openings that measure between about 0.2 and about 0.8 inches across.

11. The method as claimed in claim 8 wherein the mesh is covered with a non-stick coating suitable for cooking or grilling small pieces of food.

12. The method as claimed in claim 8 wherein the mesh is nickel-plated or porcelain-coated.

13. The method as claimed in claim 8 wherein the device further comprises two semi-circular wire handles attached to the side walls for grasping of the device.

14. The method as claimed in claim 8 wherein the device further comprises one or more divider walls attached to the bottom of the basket which separate different kinds of small food items.

15. The method as claimed in claim 8 wherein the top half is used independently as a second grilling or cooking surface.

16. A device for cooking or grilling small pieces of food comprising a basket including a mesh made of a material suitable for cooking or grilling small pieces of food having openings throughout the mesh, said basket having a base and four adjoining side walls, wherein two opposite side walls each have an inwardly facing top edge to retain small pieces of food when the device is shaken or moved to turn the small pieces of food over and the other two opposite side walls each have an outwardly facing top edge to serve as handles for moving the basket.

17. The device as claimed in claim 16 wherein the base is rectangular thereby forming a cube-shaped basket with an opening on one side.

18. The device as claimed in claim 17 wherein the mesh is stainless steel mesh having square openings that measure between about 0.2 and about 0.8 inches across.

19. The device as claimed in claim 18 wherein the mesh is covered with a non-stick coating suitable for cooking or grilling small pieces of food.

20. The device as claimed in claim 19 wherein the mesh is nickel-plated or porcelain-coated.

21. The device as claimed in claim 17 further comprising a lid that may be placed on top of the device, said lid consisting essentially of a flat rectangular piece of said mesh.

22. The device as claimed in claim 17 further comprising four grasping handles having a square cross-section wherein each of the four grasping handles is attached to a corner of the basket providing handling spaces between the corners.

23. The device as claimed in claim 22 wherein the basket is made from a single flat piece of stainless steel mesh which has been pre-cut and folded along edges according to predetermined dimensions to form the basket.

24. A method of grilling small pieces of food on a grill having a top with the device as claimed in claim 16 comprising placing the pieces of food in the basket, placing the basket on a grill with a top, closing the top of the grill to completely enclose the device within, opening the top after a first cooking period during which one side of the pieces of food has been cooked, shaking the basket of the device to turn the pieces of food over after one side of the pieces of food has been cooked, closing the top for a time sufficient to finish cooking the pieces of food, opening the top, and removing the device from the grill when the small pieces of food are cooked.

25. The method as claimed in claim 24 wherein the base of the basket of the device is rectangular thereby forming a cube-shaped basket with an opening on one side.

26. The method as claimed in claim 25 wherein the mesh of the device is stainless steel mesh having square openings that measure between about 0.2 and about 0.8 inches across.

27. The method as claimed in claim 24 wherein the mesh is covered with a non-stick coating suitable for cooking or grilling small pieces of food.

28. The method as claimed in claim 24 wherein the mesh is nickel-plated or porcelain-coated.

29. The method as claimed in claim 24 wherein the device further comprises a lid that may be placed on top of the device, said lid consisting essentially of a flat rectangular piece of said mesh.

30. The method as claimed in claim 24 wherein the device further comprises four grasping handles having a square cross-section wherein each of the four grasping handles is attached to a corner of the basket providing handling spaces between the corners.

31. The method as claimed in claim 24 wherein the basket is made from a single flat piece of stainless steel mesh which has been pre-cut and folded along edges according to predetermined dimensions to form the basket.

32. The method as claimed in claim 29 wherein the lid is used independently as a second cooking or grilling surface.

33. A device for cooking or grilling small pieces of food comprising (a) a basket including a mesh made of a material suitable for cooking or grilling small pieces of food having openings throughout the mesh, said basket having a rectangular base joined to four side walls to retain small pieces of food when the device is shaken or moved to turn the small pieces of food over, said basket also having two inwardly facing top edges on opposite sides of the basket and two other top edges on opposite sides of the basket which are curled inward into a C-shaped cross section to form grooves, and (b) a lid consisting of a flat rectangular piece of said mesh having edges that fit into the grooves formed by the C-shaped cross section of the curled top edges.

34. The device as claimed in claim 33 wherein the basket is made from a single flat piece of stainless steel mesh which has been pre-cut and folded along edges according to predetermined dimensions to form the basket and the lid.

35. The device as claimed in claim 33 further comprising one or more divider walls attached to the base of the basket which separate different kinds of small food pieces.

36. The device as claimed in claim 33 wherein the mesh is stainless steel mesh having square openings that measure between about 0.2 and about 0.8 inches across.

37. The device as claimed in claim 36 wherein the mesh is covered with a non-stick coating suitable for cooking or grilling small pieces of food.

38. The device as claimed in claim 37 wherein the mesh is nickel-plated or porcelain-coated.