Cleaning device for cooking surface and method
View Patent ↗Cleaning devices for cooking surfaces and methods for their use. Such a cleaning device has an absorbent pad configured to absorb residual liquid food products such as a liquid cooking grease and/or oil, a heat shield attached to one side of the absorbent pad, and a foldable handle attached to an opposite side of the heat shield. The foldable handle includes a base portion secured to the heat shield and a gripping portion that is not secured to the heat shield so that the gripping portion can be folded away from the heat shield. The absorbent pad, handle, and heat shield are constructed from one or more heat and flame resistant materials.
1 . A cleaning device comprising:
an absorbent pad configured to absorb a residual liquid food product and withstand a temperature of greater than 230° C., wherein the absorbent pad comprises rayon fibers;
a heat shield serving as a thermal barrier to an entire upper surface of the absorbent pad, the heat shield having a first surface attached to the upper surface of the absorbent pad and a second surface opposite the first surface, the heat shield comprising a semi-rigid fibrous composition material that is heat insulative, withstands a temperature of greater than 230° C., and is impregnated and/or coated with a flame-retardant material so as to be flame resistant; and
a foldable handle including a gripping portion and a base portion, wherein the base portion is secured to the second surface of the heat shield, and the gripping portion is not secured to the heat shield to be able to fold away from the heat shield;
wherein the foldable handle has a storage position in which the gripping portion and the base portion are disposed against the second surface of the heat shield and a use position in which the base portion is disposed against the second surface of the heat shield and the gripping portion is angled away from the heat shield, and
wherein in the storage position, the handle covers the entire second surface of the heat shield.
2 . The cleaning device of claim 1 , wherein the absorbent pad includes a textured surface opposite the heat shield for scouring a cooking surface of a cookware.
3 . The cleaning device of claim 1 , wherein the absorbent pad consists of the rayon fibers.
4 . The cleaning device of claim 1 , wherein the absorbent pad comprises a blend of the rayon fibers and polyester fibers to have a polyester fiber content up to about 50% by weight.
5 . The cleaning device of claim 1 , wherein the absorbent pad comprises a non-woven fabric of the rayon fibers that form interstitial pores between the rayon fibers configured to absorb liquids.
6 . The cleaning device of claim 1 , wherein the heat shield comprises at least one of borax and ammonium sulfate as the flame-retardant material.
7 . The cleaning device of claim 6 , wherein the semi-rigid fibrous composition material of the heat shield is paper.
8 . The cleaning device of claim 1 , wherein the foldable handle is flame resistant and heat insulative and comprises at least one of borax and ammonium sulfate as a flame-retardant.
9 . The cleaning device of claim 8 , wherein the foldable handle comprises a semi-rigid fibrous composition material impregnated and/or coated with the flame-retardant.
10 . The cleaning device of claim 1 , wherein the foldable handle has the same outer peripheral shape as the heat shield.
11 . The cleaning device of claim 10 , wherein the absorbent pad has the same outer peripheral shape as the heat shield.
12 . The cleaning device of claim 11 , wherein each of the absorbent pad, the heat shield, and the foldable handle has a circular disc shape.
13 . The cleaning device of claim 12 , wherein each of the absorbent pad, the heat shield, and the foldable handle has the same outer diameter.
14 . The cleaning device of claim 1 , wherein the cleaning device has a polygonal shape.
15 . The cleaning device of claim 1 , wherein the cleaning device has an oval shape.
16 . A method of cleaning a cooking surface with the cleaning device of claim 1 , the method comprising:
placing the absorbent pad of the cleaning device in a residual liquid food product resulting from cooking;
absorbing, with the absorbent pad, a liquid portion of the residual liquid food product from the cooking surface, and
wiping the residual liquid food product from the cooking surface with the absorbent pad while grasping the gripping portion of the foldable handle.
17 . The method of claim 16 , further comprising folding the gripping portion of the foldable handle away from the heat shield for easier grasping before the wiping.
18 . The method of claim 16 , further comprising disposing the cleaning device after the absorbing and the wiping.
19 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the residual liquid food product is one or more of cooking greases and cooking oils.