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 cutter body, each of the at least one cutter body comprising:
- 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;
- 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;
- a perimeter of the first opening providing a 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;
- an ejector providing an at least one elongate ejector body slidably positioned within the at least one cutter body, each of the at least one ejector body comprising:
- 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;
- and
- said ejector body configured for moving between one of a retracted position—wherein the ejector surface is longitudinally spaced a distance apart from the first opening 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 surface lies in substantially the same plane as the first opening of the corresponding at least one cutter body;
- and
- a tray providing a tray body comprising:
- an at least one elongate tray groove positioned on at least one outer surface of the tray body and extending along at least a portion of a length of the tray body;
- and
- the at least one tray groove having a groove shape that substantially matches an upper perimeter portion of the cutout shape of the cutter sidewall in cross-section which, in turn, substantially matches an upper sidewall, along with at least a portion of a left sidewall and an opposing right sidewall, of the at least one food item, such that the at least one tray groove supports the at least one food item therewithin in a substantially vertical orientation, with a lower sidewall of the at least one food item remaining uncontacted and unobstructed by the at least one tray groove;
- 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 press the cutting edge of the at least one cutter body into and through the volume of food material, 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 at least one cutter body away from the volume of food material, move the at least one cutter body overtop of the at least one tray groove of the tray, orient the least one cutter body so that the ejector surface of the at least one ejector body is oriented substantially transverse to the at least one tray groove with the lower sidewall of the at least one food item facing substantially away from the at least one tray groove, and subsequently move the at least one ejector body back into the forward position, causing the ejector surface to eject the food item from the first opening of the at least one cutter body and into the at least one tray groove in a substantially vertical orientation, with the upper sidewall, along with at least a portion of the left sidewall and right sidewall, of the at least one food item positioned in contact with the tray groove, such that the lower sidewall of the at least one food item remains substantially uncontacted and unobstructed by the tray groove, after which the user may insert a stick substantially perpendicularly into the lower sidewall of the at least one food item.