This invention relates to cooking utensils, namely oven basters, and more particularly to an oven baster and a cleaning brush therefor.
A cooking utensil that is useful in the kitchen is the oven baster. Such a utensil is used to apply liquids to foods, typically meat or poultry, that are being baked or roasted in an oven. The liquid is applied periodically during cooking to prevent excessive drying of the food or to add flavorings. Typically, prior oven basters have included a tube of relatively large diameter having a tip portion of reduced diameter at one end and a compressible, self-expanding bulb at the other end. With the bulb compressed, the tip portion is placed in a reservoir of basting fluid. Pressure on the bulb is then released, allowing the bulb to self-expand and draw fluid into the tube. By positioning the tip portion over the food to be basted and again compressing the bulb, the fluid is expelled from the tube through the tip portion and onto the food.
The liquids that are typically dispensed using an oven baster often include solid particles or other substances that adhere to the interior surface of the basting tube, or that are large enough to become lodged in the tip portion of the tube. It is necessary to clean the interior of the tube after use. This can be accomplished by disassembling the tube and bulb and using a bottle-type brush to clean the interior of the basting tube. Such brushes, if sized for the relatively large diameter of the reservoir portion of the tube, are too large to fit within the smaller diameter tip portion. Either the tip portion must be cleaned with water and determent alone, or some other utensil of small diameter must be used to clean or dislodge matter from the tip portion, which is inconvenient at best.
It would be desirable to provide a cleaning brush for an oven baster that alleviates the difficulty of cleaning the small diameter tip portion portion of the basting tube.
Prior oven basters have employed tubes constructed of various materials, such as metal, glass and opaque or translucent plastic. Glass and metal are resistant to heat deformation. Glass also has the advantage of being transparent, which favors inspection and measurement of basting fluid within the tube, and also verifying cleanliness of the interior of the tube. Glass is quite easily broken during storage or use, however. Opaque or translucent plastic is resistant to breakage, but is not as heat resistant as glass and does not have the advantages of transparency.
It would be desirable to provide an oven baster having a tube that is transparent, resistant to breakage, and resistant to heat.
These and other advantages are provided by the present invention.
The present invention, according to one aspect, includes a baster having a tube with a tip portion and a reservoir portion. The tube is comprised of a substantially transparent polymeric material. A compressible bulb is in communication with the reservoir portion of the tube. The bulb is resiliently self-expandable to induce reduced air pressure in the tube relative to ambient air pressure.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a cleaning brush for a tube includes a handle having a proximate end and a distal end. A longitudinal shank extends distally from the distal end of the handle, and plurality of bristles extend substantially transversely from the shank. An elongate cleaning probe extends distally from the distal end of the handle.
According to yet another aspect of the present invention, a baster and cleaning brush set is provided. Included is a baster having a tube with a reservoir portion and a tip portion, and a compressible bulb in communication with the reservoir portion of the tube. The bulb is resiliently self-expandable to induce reduced air pressure in the tube relative to ambient air pressure. Also included is a cleaning brush for the tube having a handle with a proximate end and a distal end. A longitudinal shank extends distally from the distal end of the handle. A plurality of bristles extend substantially transversely from the shank. An elongate cleaning probe extends distally from the distal end of the handle.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following descriptions of a preferred embodiment, made with reference to the drawings.