A basket for deep frying food items includes a bottom. Opposed side walls and opposed end walls extend from the bottom. om the bottom and extend between the opposed side walls, the opposed side walls and the opposed end walls forming a top opening into an open interior defined by the opposed side walls, the opposed end walls, and the bottom. A plurality of dividers extend upwards from the bottom between the opposed end walls. The plurality of dividers define a plurality of lanes. Each lane includes an equal cross-sectional area in a lateral dimension.

An automated food frying system includes a plurality of functional stations for dispensing a predetermined amount of raw food, transferring the raw food to a fry basket, frying the raw food, transferring the cooked food to a mixing bowl, mixing the cooked food with seasonings, transferring the cooked food to a receiving pan, and cleaning the mixing bowl. Related methods are described.

An electric deep cooker including a main body and cover adapted to fully enclose food therein that includes a plurality of main electric heating elements connected along the interior surfaces of the main body and cover and are adapted to uniformly heat and cook food through its entire outer surface from the outside in, and further includes an electric interior heating element attached to the cover and adapted to be placed within the food being cooked and thereby heat and cook the food from the inside out while the plurality of main heating elements heat and cook the food from the outside in, to thereby uniformly and properly heat and cook the food, and in a shorter amount of time, than prior art electric deep cookers, and without the need to rotate the food within the main body of the electric deep cooker.

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.

A hot air fryer cooking appliance includes a hot air blowing system, a vessel and a basket. The basket includes a manipulating handle having a bracket and the vessel including an upper edge and a receiving area for the handle. The bracket bears against the upper edge and the handle is housed in the receiving area when positioning the basket in the vessel. The basket includes on its outer and inner walls a first and a second assembly part, respectively. These assembly parts cooperate and ensure the lateral guiding of the basket when positioning the basket in the vessel until the handle reaches its position in its receiving area and the basket reaches a centered bearing position in the vessel, allowing the bottom of the basket to be kept away from the bottom of the vessel and to be laterally wedged in the vessel.

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide for a removeable tiered baskets having shelves that can be removed without tools. In some embodiments, the basket may comprise a frame having opposing first side wall and second side wall defining a space therebetween. The first side wall may define a first set of coupling slots and the second side wall may define a second set of coupling slots. The basket may comprise a plurality of shelves. The plurality of shelves may be vertically stackable between the first side wall and the second side wall, and may be pivotable between a substantially horizontal position and a substantially vertical position. Each shelf of the plurality of shelves may comprise coupling members extending through corresponding slots of the first set of coupling slots and the second set of coupling slots to provide for removing each shelf from within the frame without tools.

Example embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to food preparation systems and associated automated gantry systems. An example automated food preparation system may include a housing that supports one or more baskets therein and a gantry system. The gantry system may include a retrieval arm and a drive system operably coupled with the retrieval arm. The drive system may cause movement of the retrieval arm in at least two directions relative to the housing. In operation, the retrieval arm may engage a basket and cause movement of the basket about the housing. In some instances, an ejection mechanism is provided that receives the basket from the retrieval arm and causes removal of the contents of the basket.

A versatile kitchen appliance for electrically frying and simultaneously producing a plurality of plantain pieces, while manually shaping them into flat or basket-shaped fried, by exchanging removable trays, and pressing the plantain slices placed in a frying oil container, thereby creating fried, pressed plantain slices that are flat, or otherwise basket-shaped for further stuffing with other food fillings such as meat, seafood, cold meats, fruit.

Frying basket assembly having separated handle and air fryer are disclosed. Frying basket assembly includes handle including mounting portion and frying basket provided with mounting groove corresponding thereto, one of mounting portion and mounting groove is provided with hook, the other is provided with snapping position corresponding thereto, hook is connected with elastic member to make hook move towards direction of snapping position, and when handle is mounted on frying basket and reaches final position, hook is clamped into snapping position. Frying basket having separated handle and air fryer are further disclosed, including frying basket body and handle portion, wherein frying basket body and handle portion are detachably connected, and space capable of accommodating handle portion inside frying basket body exists, frying basket body is provided with mounting port, one end of handle portion is provided with mounting base, and mounting base fits and is embedded into mounting port.

A metering apparatus (1) for metering frozen piece goods, comprising a housing (10) which defines a refrigerated chamber (11), wherein a piece goods container (3), a first conveyor unit (4), and a weighing unit (5) are arranged in the refrigerated chamber (11), wherein piece goods can be transported from the piece goods container (3) via the first conveyor unit (4) to the weighing unit (5), wherein an airlock (13) is arranged below the weighing unit (5), through which piece goods can pass out of the refrigerated chamber (11).