Cooking utensils

A cooking utensil comprising a container for ingredients to be cooked, said container including a base, side walls and an open top for entering and removing said ingredients, a vessel having a base and side walls enclosing the base and side walls of said container and including an electrical element for heating said container, a tubular shaft attached to the base of the container and protruding downwardly therefrom through said vessel, said container freely supported and rotatable within said vessel by means of said shaft, a mounting plate for supporting said vessel, a pair of bearings respectfully mounted in the base of said vessel and on the mounting plate, for rotatably holding said shaft in the mounting plate, said shaft passing through the mounting plate, an electric motor connectable to rotate said shaft and thereby to rotate said container about the axis thereof, said mounting plate forming a panel on the top of a housing and being held in said housing by a tilting mechanism enabling said plate, vessel and container to occupy an upright position suitable for entering ingredients into said container, a tipping position for expelling said ingredients, and selected intermediate inclined positions for stir-cooking, said tilting mechanism including a locking device for locking said plate, vessel and container in one of said positions;

• a second shaft mounted in bearings within said tubular shaft so as to be independently rotatable therein, said second shaft extending beyond said tubular shaft at either end into said housing and into said container, a seal positioned to seal the annular space between said shafts near the container end of said tubular shaft, said second shaft at its container end having an attachment device thereon adapted to receive one of a number of tools for performing different functional operations and at its other end being drivingly connectable to said motor, a selection control to connect said motor to one or the other of said shafts, a variable speed control for said motor whereby when said tubular shaft is being driven with said plate, vessel and container in an inclined position, the speed of rotation of said container can be selected for various mixtures of ingredients to be cooked whereby stirring but not centrifuging thereof will take place, and whereby when said second shaft is being driven, the speed of rotation thereof can be set sufficiently high for a selected one of said tools to be functionally operative, said motor, selection control and speed control being located in said housing.