Foil roaster tent

Abstract

This invention relates to a disposable foil roaster tent having at least three walls, two of which are side walls and a third of which is a top wall. The perimeter of the side and top walls preferably is formed into a rolled-over bead. The disposable roaster tent is preferably constructed to be used with a roasting pans that has a retaining means on the rim of the pan such as a bead or in the case of a disposable foil pan, a rolled-over bead on the perimeter of the pan so that the roaster tent can be easily held on or easily removed from the pan.

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a disposable foil roaster tent which can be used for cooking relatively large items. More particularly the present invention relates to a one-piece disposable aluminum foil roaster tent for relatively large items such as turkeys, chickens and roasts, etc and having at least two side walls and a top wall.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] Foil roaster tents are generally used for roasting since they are efficient in quickly distributing heat. They are generally formed by the person who is going to cook the roast. The roast is placed in a roasting pan and the cook tears off a sheet of foil, such as aluminum foil, and places the torn foil over the roast. The cook tries to space at least a portion of the foil from the roast. The sides of the foil are crimped over the sides of the roasting pan. When the roast is to be basted, the foil must be uncrimped and then raised or removed to baste the roast. This sometimes makes it awkward to re-tent the roast. Also, at the end of the baking, foil needs to be removed to brown the roast. The crimped tent is also sometimes difficult to remove without taking the pan out of the stove.

[0003] Therefore, it would be desirable to have a foil roaster tent that has walls which allow the tent or at least a portion of the tent to be raised for basting and does not have to be removed so that the roast may brown.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0004] In accordance with the present invention, I provide a disposable foil roaster tent having at least three walls, two of which are side walls and a third of which is a top wall. The perimeter of the side and top walls preferably is formed into a rolled-over bead. The disposable roaster tent is preferably constructed to be used with disposable roasting pans that they have a retaining means on the rim of the pan such as a rolled-over bead on the perimeter of the pan so that the roaster tent can be easily held on the pan.

[0005] Another feature of the present invention is to provide the above one-piece disposable aluminum foil roaster tent having at least three walls such that when in use on a roasting pan there are two inclined side walls and a third wall being relatively flat and forming the top wall of the tent. The two tent side walls are integral with the top wall and are joined to the top wall by an indented joint. The perimeter ends of the walls have rolled-over beads to provide both retaining and smooth ends.

[0006] Suitable disposable roasting pans which can be used with my roaster tent are shown in my U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,878,656 and 6,293,458.

[0007] Further objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0008] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a disposable foil roaster tent according to my invention in use with a roasting pan.

[0009] FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the disposable foil roaster tent according to my invention.

[0010] FIG. 3 is a front plan view of the disposable foil roaster tent of FIG. 2.

[0011] FIG. 4 is an cross-sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 2.

[0012] FIG. 5 is an enlarged partial cross-sectional view taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0013] Referring to FIG. 1, there is illustrated my disposable foil roaster tent 10A on a roasting pan 10B. The roaster tent 10A and pan 10B are preferably both stamped from a single sheet of an inexpensive thin gauge metal such as aluminum foil. In FIG. 1, the roaster tent is placed on the roasting pan to illustrate its use. However in actual use there would be a roast such as a turkey or chicken placed in the roasting pan before the tent was placed on the pan.

[0014] The foil pan 10B has a bottom wall 11, and a continuous wall made up of two side walls 12 and 13, and two end walls 14 and 16. The pan has segmented tubular flutes 17 forming a portion of the side walls 12 and 13 and a portion of each of the end walls 14 and 16. The segmented tubular flutes 17, are preferably segmented tubes joined at their segmented ends. The side wall segmented tubes 17 preferably extend the width of the side walls and end walls. Although the segmented flutes are described as being segmented tubes, they may be of any shape having an indented and a protruding surface. An alternative would be a hollow segmented frustro-cone, or a segmented box shape.

[0015] Referring to FIGS. 2-4, the disposable foil roaster tent 10A is formed of a single sheet of aluminum foil which is stamped to provide three tent walls 18, 19 and 20. The walls each have there between two identical indented hinges 21 and 22.

[0016] A rolled-over bead 23 is formed on the perimeter of the wall 18. Rolled-over beads 24 are formed on the ends of the wall 19 and rolled-over bead 25 is formed on the perimeter of the wall 20. The rolled-over beads 23,24, and 25 are all substantially identical and have a diameter 26 which is generally between {fraction (1/16)} and {fraction (3/16)} inches and preferably about {fraction (5/64)} inches. The walls 18, 19, and 20 each have the same width 27 which is between 10 to 20 inches and is preferably about 12 to 18 inches. The length 28 of the walls 18 and 20 are generally 4 to 7 inches. The wall 19 also has a length 29 which is between 4 to 7 inches but is generally slightly longer than the length 28. This allows the tent to be folded so that it can be readily stored or placed on a sales shelf. That is, when not in use, wall 20 is folded down in the direction 31 so that the bottom surface of its rolled-over bead 25 abuts the bottom surface of rolled-over bead 24 on wall 19. Then the wall 18 is folded down in direction 32 so that the bottom surface of its rolled-over bead 23 abuts at least a portion of the top surface of rolled-over bead 25.

[0017] The indents 21 and 20 each has a depth 33 of from {fraction (3/32)} to {fraction (5/32)} inches and have a respective width 35 of {fraction (3/16)} to {fraction (5/16)} inches. The corners 34 of the wall 18 and the corners 36 of the wall 20 are rounded to prevent a sharp edge. In a preferred structure the beads on walls 18 and 20 do not abut with the beads on wall 19 but are spaced a predetermined distance from each other.

[0018] A preferred roaster tent that is normally used for a turkey or other large roast has an overall length 37 of 20 inches, with the length 28 of the walls 18 and 20 being 6⅝ inches and the length 29 of wall 19 being 6¾ inches. The width 27 is 12½ inches; the indent depth 33 being ⅛ inches; and the indent width 35 is ¼ inch.

[0019] When the roaster tent 10A is installed as shown and FIG. 1, rolled-over beads along the width of the wall 18 abuts the inside of rolled-over bead 39 on the pan's side 12, and the rolled-over bead along the width of wall 20 abuts the inside of the rolled-over bead 41 on the pan's side 13. To baste the turkey or other roast, one of the walls 18 and 20 can be easily raised and the turkey basted or the tent can be easily and temporarily removed from the pan so that the roast can be basted and after basting the tent can be replaced relatively easily. Likewise, my disposable foil tent easily allows the turkey or other roast to brown evenly without removing the tent.

[0020] Although FIG. 1 relates to utilizing a disposable aluminum foil pan 10A, my roaster tent can be utilized even with a non-disposable roasting pan i.e. stainless steel, cast iron etc. If the non-disposable pan has a rim and a holding means on the sides similar to that of pan 10A, then the end walls 18 and 20 of my roaster tent can be rested on the rim and abut the holding means. Otherwise the end walls of my roaster tent will be placed slightly into the pan so that the end walls can rest against the sides of the pan. FIG. 1 was for illustrative purposes only and the pan can be any structure which will allow for use of my roaster tent.

[0021] It will become apparent to those skilled in the art that changes and modifications may be made in the foregoing without departing from the spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A disposable foil roaster tent comprising:

two end walls and at least one center wall, said end walls having a width sized to fit within or on a roasting pan having spaced sides, and one end of each end wall abutting the roasting pan to form with the center wall the roaster tent over the roasting pan.

2. The disposable foil roaster tent of claim 1 wherein said roaster tent is made from a one-piece aluminum foil.

3. The one-piece disposable aluminum foil roaster tent of claim 2, wherein both end walls have a rolled-over bead surrounding the walls and the center wall has a rolled-over bead on each end thereof, said center wall is pivotally joined to each end wall.

4. The one-piece disposable interchangeable aluminum foil roaster tent of claim 3, wherein the pivotal joints are indents extending the width of the walls.

5. The one-piece disposable aluminum foil roaster tent of claim 4, wherein the width of the walls is 10 to 20 inches and the length of the walls is 4 to 10 inches.

6. The one-piece disposable aluminum foil roaster tent of claim 5 wherein indents have a depth of {fraction (1/16)} to {fraction (3/16)} inches and a width of ⅜ to ⅝ inches.