Foods and beverages: apparatus – Cooking – With drip segregating – receiving or directing
Patent
1995-02-03
1997-07-22
Scherbel, David
Foods and beverages: apparatus
Cooking
With drip segregating, receiving or directing
99447, A47J 3707
Patent
active
056494777
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to outdoor cooking devices.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In recent times the use of outdoor cooking devices such as barbecues has become increasingly popular. However, one of the problems associated with cooking food on a barbecue is that fat and other drippings falling from the food to be cooked impact upon the heat source and have a tendency to ignite resulting in an uncontrolled flare up that can ruin the food to be cooked.
Another problem particularly associated with gas type barbecues that employ a heat absorbent material such as lava rock, is that the fats and other drippings falling from the food to be cooked collect on the lava rock where they are absorbed so that the lava rock then becomes unsightly. In use the accumulated fats and other drippings absorbed by the lava rock may ignite giving rise to a disproportionately large and unexpected flare-up and when not in use may give rise to stale odours that when the barbecue is first used again after a prolonged period may taint the food to be cooked.
Furthermore, although various devices have been proposed for collecting the fats and other drippings falling from the food to be cooked, because these drippings fall over a relatively large area the collecting receptacles have had a similarly large surface area and so have required considerable cleaning after use. Even so the collection of fats and other drippings for re-use has in the past only been associated with gas type barbecues as it has not been thought appropriate to attempt to recycle fats and other drippings that have come into contact with the charcoal or the other combustable media of traditional barbecues.
It is an object of the present invention to address these problems associated with the prior art.
According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided an outdoor cooking device comprising a heat source, means for supporting the food to be cooked above the heat source, a baffle interposed between the heat source and said food supporting means, the baffle being located and shaped so as to both prevent drippings from the food being cooked from falling on to said heat source and collect said drippings together above the heat source, a receptacle disposed below the heat source, and means to channel the drippings collected by the baffle to the receptacle without contacting the heat source.
Advantageously the receptacle may be disposable.
Advantageously the heat source may be arranged so as to extend over a predetermined area, said area including a void region comprising a substantially vertical hole through the heat source, said channelling means directing the drippings to the receptacle through said void region.
According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided an outdoor cooking device comprising a heat source arranged so as to extend over a predetermined area, said area including a void region comprising a substantially vertical hole through the heat source, means for supporting the food to be cooked above the heat source, a baffle interposed between the heat source and said food supporting means, the baffle being located and shaped so as to prevent drippings from the food being cooked from falling on to said heat source, and means to channel the drippings through said void region to a region beneath the heat source.
Advantageously a receptacle may be disposed below said void region. Preferably the receptacle may be disposable.
Advantageously the baffle may be formed integrally with said receptacle. In such an arrangement the baffle may be comprised of two or more components and the component which is formed integrally with the receptacle may be adapted so as to be disposable.
Advantageously the baffle may include an opening and be so shaped that drippings from the food being cooked falling on the baffle are directed toward the opening. Preferably an upper surface of the baffle in a region over which drippings are collected may be inclined upwardly away from said opening at an angle to the horizo
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Alexander Reginald L.
Scherbel David
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