Cooks of all types frequently find themselves in the position of needing to pour a liquid from one of various different cooking vessels. Sometimes, this seemingly easy task can be dangerous. For example, some liquids, such as grease, may be quite hot. Accordingly, when the hot grease is poured from a frying pan, the grease may run down the side of the frying pan and spill against the person holding the frying pan, potentially causing serious injury. Errant spills may also cascade down the sides of cooking vessels and come into contact with open flames from a cook top, creating a very real fire hazard. Aside from concerns of injury to the user, pouring liquids from cooking vessels is rarely successful, from the standpoints of depositing all of the liquid into an intended receptacle or preventing messy spills.
Part of the problem associated with successfully pouring liquids from a cooking vessel centers on the shape of the lip of the vessel's sidewalk. Some vessels present rounded lips, which tend to cause liquids to adhere to the lip of the vessel and then cascade down the side of the vessel. The same is frequently true with cooking vessels having multi-facetted lips. The breadth of the cooking vessel opening also tends to cause problems, as the stream of fluid coming from the vessel broadens as the size and shape of the vessel opening increase.
Prior attempts at resolving these problems include forming cooking vessels with integrated spouts. However, such permanent spout features tend to prevent the proper fit of lids and get in the way when the cooking vessel is used for cooking. Other attempts have presented removable spouts for use with cooking vessels, however, such devices are typically cumbersome. More importantly, such devices typically prevent, an adequate seal between the spout and the cooking vessel, permitting liquid to leak between the structures. Loose fitting spouts may fall from the cooking vessel completely as the cooling vessel is tipped through extreme angles.
Even if these problems can be partially addressed, other concerns persist. For example, when a user is cooking and needs to pour liquid from a cooking vessel, the liquid is not alone in the cooking vessel. Solids, such as pasta, crumbled burger, vegetables and the like, are oftentimes cooked in the liquid. It is desirable to separate the liquids from the solids without loosing the solid pieces down a drain or into the liquid receptacle. Regardless of the shape of the cooking vessel, or the inclusion of a spout, the final amount of liquid and the solids can be difficult and time consuming to separate. More times than not, pieces of food are poured from the vessel with the last amount of liquid.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds