A food item formation apparatus configured for producing a plurality of uniformly shaped and sized food items from a volume of food material, the apparatus comprising:
- a cutter providing an at least one substantially tubular cutter body, each of the at least one cutter body consisting of:
- a cutter sidewall extending substantially about a perimeter of said cutter body and terminating longitudinally at each of a first end and an opposing second end of said cutter body;
- the cutter sidewall defining a hollow cutout shape of said cutter body in cross-section, the cutout shape extending from the first end of said cutter body to the second end of said cutter body such that the cutter sidewall has a uniform inner diameter between the first end and the second end;
- the cutter sidewall further defining a first opening at the first end of said cutter body, and a second opening at the second end of said cutter body in fluid communication with the first opening, the first opening and second opening each oriented transverse to the cutter sidewall and having the cutout shape along with the same inner diameter as the cutter sidewall;
- a perimeter of the first opening providing a planar cutting edge configured for cutting through the volume of food material and forming within said cutter body the at least one food item having the cutout shape, the cutter sidewall configured for frictionally retaining the at least one food item within the at least one cutter body;
- and
- the second end of said cutter body providing a handle portion oriented substantially transverse to the cutter sidewall and radially extending outwardly, substantially about a perimeter of the second opening, the handle portion lying in the same plane as the second opening and positioned external to the second opening thereby leaving the second opening unobstructed;
- and
- an ejector providing an at least one elongate ejector body removably and slidably positioned within the second opening of the corresponding at least one cutter body, each of the at least one ejector body consisting of:
- an ejector sidewall extending substantially about a perimeter of said ejector body and terminating longitudinally at each of a first end and an opposing second end of said ejector body;
- the ejector sidewall defining an ejector shape of said ejector body in cross-section, the ejector shape extending from the first end of said ejector body to the second end of said ejector body, the ejector shape being the same as the cutout shape of the corresponding at least one cutter body;
- the first end of said ejector body providing an ejector surface oriented substantially transverse to the ejector sidewall and having the ejector shape;
- the second end of said ejector body providing an ejector base oriented substantially transverse to the ejector sidewall and radially extending outwardly, substantially about the perimeter of said ejector body for coming into abutting contact with the handle portion of the corresponding at least one cutter body when the first end of said ejector body is slidably moved a distance through said cutter body, the ejector base lying in the same plane as the second end of said ejector body;
- said ejector body configured for moving between one of a retracted position—wherein the ejector base is longitudinally spaced a distance apart from the handle portion of the corresponding at least one cutter body—and a forward position—wherein the ejector surface is longitudinally moved toward the first opening of the corresponding at least one cutter body until the ejector base comes into abutting contact with the handle portion of the corresponding at least one cutter body;
- said ejector body having a height such that, when said ejector body is in the forward position, the ejector surface lies in the same plane as the cutting edge of the corresponding at least one cutter body;
- and
- said ejector body further having a uniform outer diameter from the first end of said ejector body to the second end of said ejector body that is substantially equal to the inner diameter of each of the first opening, cutter sidewall and second opening of the corresponding at least one cutter body;
- wherein, the second opening is unobstructed such that the ejector body is capable of freely passing through the second opening during use of the apparatus;
- whereby, during use of the apparatus, with the at least one ejector body in the forward position relative to the corresponding at least one cutter body and the volume of food material positioned on a substantially flat surface, the apparatus is configured for allowing a user to grasp the apparatus and use a single hand to evenly press the cutting edge of the at least one cutter body into and through the volume of food material until the cutting edge of the at least one cutter body comes into contact with the surface on which the volume of food material is positioned, forming within the at least one cutter body the at least one food item having the cutout shape while simultaneously contacting the ejector surface and moving the at least one ejector body into the retracted position, lift the cutter body away from the volume of food material, and subsequently move the at least one ejector body back into the forward position by manually pressing the ejector base toward the handle portion of the corresponding at least one cutter body, causing the ejector surface to eject the food item from the first opening of the at least one cutter body.