The Potato Ricer: A Perforated Cup and a Lever-Worked Follower

Such devices comprise "a perforated cup and a lever-worked follower, the latter serving to express the mashed or crushed vegetable or fruit through the perforations of the cup, while the cup holds the vegetable or fruit preliminarily and retains the refuse, such as skins and seeds." The pulp comes out "strained", and potatoes are "light, mealy, and of 'appetizing' appearance." Their improvements: the follower is connected to its lever-handle "by a single stem, and controlled by a spring and a stop, so as to enter the cup correctly"; the handle's fulcrum is fixed behind and above the cup, with the stem pivoted so the follower works "substantially parallel with the bottom of the cup"; and a removable jacket J directs the juice of berries downward "so as to be readily saved." The lever-handles A B and the stem D are malleable-iron castings, united by closing cast bearings over pivots and heading rivet-studs, "without other fastenings".

Boil two equal lots of floury potatoes until tender. Press one lot through the potato ricer and mash the other with a potato masher, working each for the same time. Compare texture, lumps and how much skin the ricer held back; weigh the skins. Hook the spring scale to the ricer's handle end and read the squeeze it takes with hot potato and again after it has cooled; cooled potato is firmer and needs more.

**Jacob Fitzgerald** of Newark and **William H. Silver** of New York, assignors to Silver & Co., filed US 371,882 on 29 June 1887; it is dated 18 October 1887. **Honest limits.** Hand force, lever ratio and hole sizes in the notebook are examples.