Oh, patents! OXO® egg poacher

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

The OXO® egg poacher is a personal favorite – not the thief or bra(s)connier (en français) - just the humble cooking device.

Like no other egg poacher on the market, the hourglass-shaped design of the OXO® egg poacher is intended to poach eggs in direct contact with water, once the raw egg is cracked open. A poaching process that responds to certain disadvantages of the prior egg-poaching art where raw eggs are poached on contact with the cooking surface of various prior art poachers. The resulting OXO®- poached eggs are truly poached as they remain in direct contact with water during cooking. As a result,  OXO® poached eggs retain a much softer texture conferred on direct contact with cooking fluids, without disintegrating. The OXO® egg poacher is further made of collapsible, yolk-colored (Pantone 140864 TXP) silicone for easy stacking, cleaning and handling.

Recently patented, in May 2019, the OXO® egg poacher invention is disclosed in the US utility patent US10278412B2, titled Egg poacher. A patent assigned to Helen of Troy (Nasdaq: HELE), the global consumer products company that acquired OXO® in 2004.

The patent discloses a flexible single-piece, hourglass-shaped, body with an upper and lower portion, communicating via an aperture in between. The food item (i.e. a cracked raw egg), received in the upper funnel-shaped cup portion of the OXO® egg poacher then travels through the aperture to the lower simmering portion of the OXO® egg poacher, resting on the floor of the cooking vessel. The lower portion contains at least one or a plurality of openings, preventing the device from floating, as the openings enable the cooking fluid flow into the lower portion. The cooking fluid thus comes in direct contact with the raw egg, which has fallen through the aperture from the upper funnel-shaped cup to the lower simmering portion of the OXO® egg poacher, where the egg will be contained for cooking. 

  

The abstract of the invention is included below together with the patent Figures  2 and 9, respectively showing a top view of a preferred embodiment of the OXO® egg poacher and a part of the exemplary method of using the OXO® poacher. An image of the striking marketed OXO® egg poacher is also included above.

Figure 2 shows the OXO® egg poacher cooking device 100, comprising a body 102, an upper funnel-shaped portion 104, a lower portion 106 and an aperture 110  between 104 and 106 at the base 126 and 122 of the upper portion 104, enabling the raw egg to travel from the upper to the lower portions of the OXO® egg poacher. Figure 2 also shows the plurality of perforations 112 on the lower portion 106 of the OXO® egg poacher, through which the cooking fluid flows for poaching the egg in direct contact, and which also function to keep the cooking device submerged. Figure 2 further shows an engagement tab 132, allowing the user to grasp the egg poacher; the optimal fill line 172 of the cooking fluid for setting or slightly pre-cooking the raw egg; the peripheral support rim or lip 162 at the bottom of the lower portion 106 that will contact the floor of the cooking vessel. The inner wall 124, of the upper portion 104, extends to the base 122 and 126 of the funnel-shaped cup 104, surrounding the aperture 110, while the inner surface 136 of the inner wall 124 is described as smooth, enabling the raw egg to slide through the aperture 110.

Figure 9 specifically depicts the poaching egg 116, with its egg yolk 182 wrapped in the egg white 180, having fallen through the aperture 110, of sufficient diameter to keep the egg yolk wrapped, while slowing the descent of the egg into the simmering lower portion 106 of the egg poacher, thereby also preventing disintegration.  Figure 9 further depicts the water level 170 at the fill line 172 for slightly pre-cooking the raw egg; the supporting rim 162 at the base of the lower portion 106, in contact with the floor of the cooking vessel 160; the outer sidewall 120 of the upper portion, and the outer sidewall 140 of the lower portion, forming a single piece. The opening 128 of the upper funnel-shaped cup 104, and the opening 148 of the inverted lower portion 106, define approximately equal volumes for each portion (104 and 106) of the egg poacher.

A cooking device suitable for cooking an associated food item includes a body including an upper portion, a lower portion, and an aperture between the upper and lower portions. Each of the upper and lower portions is configured to receive the associated food item and the aperture adapted to allow the associated food item to travel from the upper portion to the lower portion. The lower portion has at least one opening arranged to allow an associated cooking fluid to flow into the lower portion allowing the lower portion in use to become at least partially submerged in the associated cooking fluid. [Abstract US10278412B2]

References

Helen of Troy (website)

https://www.helenoftroy.com/

OXO (website)

www.oxo.com
Pantone (website)

www.pantone.com