There is disclosed a rack for supporting pieces of meat within oil in a deep fryer. The rack includes a structure and one or more meat supporting members supported by the structure. The meat supporting members extend along a longitudinal axis and are spaced apart from neighbouring elements of the rack by a minimal distance in a radial direction relative to the longitudinal axis. The minimal distance is selected such that, when mounted on a first one of the meat supporting members, each of the pieces of meat is free from contact with the neighbouring elements of the rack and/or free from contact with adjacent pieces of meat received on a second one of the meat supporting members.

A fryer unit includes a housing, and a fryer vat supported by the housing and defining a volume for receiving oil to be heated for cooking. An oil heating system includes at least one immersed electrical heating unit within the fryer vat for heating oil within the fryer vat. An overall height of the fryer unit is no more than twenty-five inches so as to be adapted for positioning upon an appliance base or countertop.

A smoke evacuating fryer, comprising a fryer body, an exhaust vent, a lid engaged on the fryer body, and a frying basket and a smoke evacuating and filtering apparatus provided within the fryer body An air intake gap is provided at a location where the lid and the fryer body are joined. The smoke evacuating and filtering apparatus is provided on the fryer body (1) and abuts against the frying basket. Air introduced into the air intake gap is passed over the frying basket, filtered by the smoke evacuating and filtering apparatus and then discharged via the exhaust vent.

Various devices, assemblies, components, systems, and methos are provided relating to a loading and/or unloading system. An example system may include at least one lifting portion and a movement portion. The lifting portion may be configured to move a basket in a plurality of directions to assist with loading/unloading at a plurality of stations. The movement portion may be configured to transport the lifting portion in the length direction.

Systems and methods for shaping food items are provided. The systems and methods can shape the food items into taco shapes. A system can include a basket, a tool, and an insert. The basket includes troughs and a handle. The tool includes guides that receive patties made of, for example, potatoes, meat, and/or other food items. The insert includes wedges sized and shaped to fit through the guides and into the troughs of the basket. The tool is assembled with the basket in use, and frozen patties are placed in the guides. The insert is assembled with the tool such that the wedges contact the patties. The assembly is placed in hot oil to cook the patties. As the patties cook and soften, the insert moves downward relative to the tool and basket, and the wedges urge the patties into the troughs and into a taco shape.

Disclosed is a method and apparatus regarding gaseous fueled fired outdoor cooking or frying devices such as deep fat fryers. More particularly, various embodiments relate to an improved method and apparatus that relates to an outdoor cooking or frying apparatus having a pivoting basket and lit configuration allowing the discharge of large food items such as a full sized turkey onto the lid for preparation immediately before serving the large food item. The lid has cooking, receiving and preparation configurations. The basket has cooking, draining and discharging configurations.

A stand alone container for housing dehydrated foodstuff and for use in a foodstuff machine has a continuous sidewall with first and second ends forming a storage area. A piston is complementarily positioned within the sidewall proximate the first end and is slidable with respect to the sidewall. The container contains dehydrated foodstuff located in the storage area and a removable cover positioned proximate the second end. The foodstuff machine includes a machine housing having an access opening for receiving the container having dehydrated foodstuff therein. A hydrating and positioning system moves from a loading position when the container is in the access opening to a hydrating position with the container second end above the first end and then to a transfer position where the first end is positioned above the second end. A liquid dispenser is positioned above the container when the container is in the hydrating position. The foodstuff machine has a transfer arm having an operative end for receiving the container and is movable from a first position that supports the container in the transfer position to an extrusion position where the container is located over a cooking station. A piston rod is operatively associated with the piston in the container and moves to force the piston toward the second end of the container to force hydrated foodstuff through the die to form uncooked strips which drop into the cooking station.

An outdoor food frying apparatus includes a frame having a pot support, a burner element supported upon the frame, and a pot that removably fits the frame. The pot has end walls, a rear wall, a front edge portion, and a bottom wall. A basket is pivotally attached to the pot rear wall with one or more hinges. The basket is correspondingly sized and shaped to fit the pot interior. The basket is movable about the hinge between cooking and food discharge positions. The lid is pivotally attached to the pot. The lid is movable between a cooking position wherein the lid covers the pot upper opening and food discharge position wherein the lid rotates at least 180 degrees from said cooking position, forming a tray for receiving food discharged from the basket. A steamer plate can optionally be connected to the basket at the basket rim and/or basket side walls.

A system and method for cooking a food item, such as poultry, includes heating cooking fluid in a cooking vessel to a temperature sufficient to cook poultry and placing the poultry on a substantially horizontal perforate plate, breast down, such that the poultry is at least partially immersed in the cooking fluid. The perforate plate prevents poultry skin from sticking to a support, such as a deep fry cooking basket. The immersed poultry is cooked for a selected cooking period and then removed, along with the perforate plate from the cooking fluid. The poultry is then removed from contact with the perforate plate.

The present invention relates to a device for deep frying food and, more particularly, relates to and discloses an oil/water tank deep frying device capable of safely operating at a wide range of water levels. The present invention provides an oil/water tank deep frying device comprising: an oil/water tank defining a space in which water and deep frying oil are held; cooling pipes formed inside the oil/water tank and consisting of a vertical pipe formed from the bottom surface of the oil/water tank in a vertical direction and a horizontal pipe formed passing through the side surfaces of the oil/water tank and connected to communicate with the vertical pipe; heating means formed above the cooling pipes within the oil/water tank; and a deep fryer basket supported in the oil/water tank and defining a space for holding items to be fried.