[jQuery] Is there a .new() ?

[jQuery] Is there a .new() ?

Hello,
When my form is submitted, I want to add a couple of hidden form fields to the DOM.  I know that I can accomplish the task like so:
$("#myForm").submit(function() {
   var str = "<input type='hidden' name='myname' id='myid' value='foo' />";
   $(this).append(str);
});
But that just doesn't "feel" right to me.  Is there a .new() method or something that would allow me to create the new element and then use the other methods (e.g. .new("input:hidden").attr("id").val("myid") ) before doing the .append() ?  I'm not finding anything in the docs, so I'm guessing there is not; justwanted to check.
Thanks,
Matt