Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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This inventlon relates to cookery imple~ents and
particularly although not exclusively ~o cooker~ implements
suitable for use in cooking food in a frying pan or on a hot plate
~ueh as a barbecue hotplate.
The eooking of sausa~es on a hotplate or otherwise, sueh
as when barbecuing sausages, requires the skins of the sausages to
be pierced. This enables the juices, fats and gases to eseape
without spllttlng of the sausage s~ins. This plerclng of the
sausage sklns has been achieved usually by stabbing of the
sausages with a table fo~k or the like. In this operation, the
user's hand may be moved to a positlon generally directly over the
sausages for carrylng out a downward stabbing movement and this
ean result in the user's hand being burnt or spattered wlth hot
fat or the like. Alternatively, if the user attempts to pierce
the sausage skins by a stabbing motion ~rom the side to avoid
placing the hand directly above the cooking area, the sauæages
will~move or can be dislodged ~rom their desired position
It is an object of the present inventlon to provide a
cookery lmplement that can be used in a way ~hat overcomes ~he
above described disadvantages.
~ Accordiny to the present invention there is provided a
cookery implement comprising a handle having a predetermined
width, a ~ubstantially flat blade lying in a predetermlned plane
and having a iirst end and a second end def~ning a longitudinal
~g axis for said blade, said blade includ~n~ first and second side
edges extending substantially along said longitudinal axis, a
connecting portion for connecting sald handle to said ~irst end o~
said blade r said connecting portion extendin~ angularly upwards
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and away from said first end o~ said blade out of said
pradetermined pl~n~ so ~hat sald handle is off~e~ from saicl blade,
said blade extending from said connecking portion substantially
along said longitudinal axis and having a width tran~verse to said
longitudinal axis which i6 Bu~stantially greater than said
predet~rmined width of sald handle, a first cutting ed~e formed
along 6aid f1rst side edge of said blade, a second cutting edge
formed along said second end of saicl blader and a plurality of
spaced prongs provided at said second side edge of said blade,
said plurality of spaced prongs being located in spaced
relationshlp from said first and second ends o~ ~aid blade so that
at least a portion o~ æaid second siAe edge extends on both sides
of said plurality o~ spaced prongs, each of said plurality of
prongs extending generally transversely to said second side edge
and being generally contained within the prede$ermined plane of
said blade and having a narrow tip at its extremity which cloe~ not
project substantially beyond said second side edge of said blade.
Thls arrangement o~ features will enable sausages or other food to
-be pierced, aerated or punctured hy the puncturing means but
without the u~er's hand needing ~o be placed directly above the
food heing cooked or without the risk of disloclging and moving the
~food across the foGd preparation area, whether that area be a
hotplate, grill, frying pan or the like.
A preferred e~bodi~ent according to ~he present
inventlon will be part1cularly desaribed with reerence to the
accompanying drawings, however it is ~o be appreciated tha~ the
partlcularity o~ the accompanying drawings cloes not limit the
scope of the present invention. In the drawings~
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Figure 1 ls a top plan view of a cookery implemen~
according to a preferred embodiment of the present inventionV and
Figure 2 is a slde elevatlonal view of tha cookery
implement of Figure 1.
The cookery implement in the drawings includes a handle
10 for being grasped by the user of the implement. A food contac~
portion 11 is connected to the handle 10 and is for conta~ting
food being cooked. The food contact portion 11 ha~ a ~ood con~act
end 12 remo~e from ~he handle 10 and a plurality o~ puncturing
means 13 near the food contact end 12. The puncturing means 13
have pointed tips 14 direted transverse to the general line from
the handle 10 to the food contact end 12 so a~ to enable
puncturing or pierciny of ~ood on a food preparation surface hy
:~ movement of the food contact end into contact with the food, the
movement being in a direction generally transverse to the line
from the handle 10 to the food contact end 12.
The handle lO of the impleme~t may be of any convenient
construction and material. The handle shown is of generally
conventional form and for that purpose can be made of a
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heat in~ulating material and it is generally elongated in
the direction from the ~andle lQ tv the food contact end 12.
A hole 15 through the outer end of the ~andle 10 is provided
for the implement to ~e hung fxom fsr storage purposes.
The food contact portion 11 of the implement in the
illustrated emhodment is in the general form of a spatula
blade 16 made for example o~ relatively stiff ~ut resilient
sheet metal. That ist the food contact portion 11 is in the
general 150rm of a flat plate so that thé plate can be slid
under the food ~eing prepared, such as on a hotplate, enab}ing
the food tD be manipulated such as being turned over or
readily removed from the food preparation area after cooking.
The spatula ~lade 16 is shown as generally rectangular in
configur~tion and have opposite side edges 17,18 extending
generally parallel to the line from the ~andle 10 to the
food contact end 12, and an end edge lq defining the food
contact end 12. Side ed~e 18 and the end edge 19 are
be~elled to facilitate insertion of the spatula blade 16
beneath food being prepared and also to enable selective
slicing or cutting of portion~ of food being coo~ed, such as
cuttin~ of sinewy or gristle portions of meat which can
cause the meat to curl upwardly and lift from the hotplate.
The spatula blade 16 may ~e connected to the handle
lO in any convenient manner. In the illustrated example
thexe is proYided a connecting portion 20 located between
the handle lQ and the spatula blade 16 in the form of an
~xtensio~ of the ~lat spatula blade 16. Alternatively the
connecting portion 20 may be in the form of a shank of'a rod-
like foxm (not illustratedl. The connecting portion 2Q is
angled to the spatula blade 16 and to the handle 10 to enable
the~blade 15 to he placed flat against the cooking ~urface
without the user's hand contacting the surface. That is,
with tha spatula ~lade 16 ~lat again~t a horizont~l surface
(see Pigure 2~, the connecting portio~ 20 extends upwardly
and rearwardly from the rear edge 21 of the spatula blade 16 t
the implemsnt handle L0 extendin~ xearwardly from the
connectins portion upper end 22 generally alon~ a line at a
shallo~er angle to the hDrizontal than the general line of
the connectin~ porti~n 2Q~ I~ thi~ way the handle 10 can
be ~ra~ped ill one hand ~ ~ user and the spatula ~lade 16 can
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~e laid flat ~ainst ~ horizontal surface without ~he user's
knuckles contact~ng the surface.
The plurality o~ puncturing means 13 comprise a
plurality of prongs 23 at or near the ~ood contact end 12.
In the illustrated case where the ood contact portion 11 is
a flat spatula hlade 16, the prongs 23 are also falt and lie
in the general plane of the spatula ~lade :L6. Con~eniently
the food puncturing prongs 23 are forme~ from the flat plate
of the spatula blade 16 at side edge 17 of the spatula ~lade
16 and preferably at or, as shown, near the end edge I9 of the
spatula blade 16. That îs, the prongs 23 ars located at or
near the end of the side edge 17 of the spatula blade fuxthest
from the implement ~andle 10. Locating tha prongs 23 a
short distance ~rom the end edgP 1~. leaves a short portion 24
of the side ed~e L7 at the front to protect the prong tip
nearest the ~ront edge 1~ from damage. ~l~he prongs 23 as
mentioned previously are generally flat along their length,
the outermost extremities de~ining the pointed tips 14 for
piercing or puncturing the food. The spacing between adjacent
prongs 23 prefera~ly ena~les ready cleaning of ~ood particles
that may adhere to the spatula ~lade 16 between the
punctur~ng prongs 23.
It will ~e seen that the cookery implement according
to the preferred em~odiment of the present invention as
descri~ed herein and as illustrated can be used quite
conventionally as a spatula or food lifter and scraper for
hotplates. However the provision of puncturing prongs,23 at
t~e front side ed~e of the ~lade 16 ena~les the implemQnt to
be turned through ~.Q so that the plane of the spatula blade
16 is generally vertical and food such as sausages on a
~arbecue hotplate to ~e pierced or punctured by means of the
pointed tips 23. During t~is operation the user need not
locat~ the hand holdin~ the handl~ 10 over the cooking area,
n~r will the sausa~es ~e disIodged and moved horizo~tally
across the cooking surface.
It will be appreciated that modifications to the
in~ention can ~e readily made without departing fxom the
5cope of the invent?ve concept. F~r example, the plurality
of puncturing means may be pxovided on a ~ood contact portion
in the gen~ral form o~ a ~ork. In this way the ork prongs
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would A5 in conventional ~ork~ extend ~enerally along the line
from the handle to the food contact end, while the puncturing
prongs would e~tending transverse to that line~
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