Patent Application
20140261005
The present disclosure relates to barbecue ovens, and more specifically to a firebox, draft system and method of operation that improves operator control of the combustion process and oven temperature.
Barbecue ovens are used to cook meat with the hot gases of a wood and/or charcoal fire. While most barbecue ovens are capable of producing excellent cooked meat, they suffer from a number of drawbacks, such as limited control of the combustion process and difficult control of oven temperature.
In accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, a barbecue oven is provided that includes a firebox, a cooking chamber, a passageway connecting the firebox to the cooking chamber, and a forced draft device configured to withdraw gases from the cooking chamber. The firebox comprises a vented charcoal tray disposed within a housing, an upper chamber above the charcoal tray, configured to hold wood and charcoal and comprising a vent configured to admit combustion air to the upper portion of the charcoal tray, and a lower chamber below the charcoal tray configured to collect ash. The cooking chamber is vented and configured to hold meat. The passageway connects the firebox to the cooking chamber and comprises an inlet configured to receive gases from the lower chamber of the firebox and an outlet configured to discharge gases into the cooking chamber. The forced draft device is thermostatically controlled and comprised in the vent in the cooking chamber, and when activated causes flow from atmosphere, through the vent in the upper chamber of the firebox to the upper portion of the charcoal tray, downward through the vent in the charcoal tray to the lower chamber of the firebox, through the passageway to the cooking chamber, and through the vent in the cooking chamber back to atmosphere. In this manner, the gases produced by the decomposition of wood and charcoal are thoroughly burned and oven temperature is controlled automatically.
Other systems, methods, features, and advantages of the present disclosure will be or become apparent to one with skill in the art upon examination of the following drawings and detailed description. It is intended that all such additional systems, methods, features, and advantages be included within this description, be within the scope of the present disclosure, and be protected by the accompanying claims.
Aspects of the disclosure can be better understood with reference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the present disclosure. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, and in which:
In the description that follows, like parts are marked throughout the specification and drawings with the same reference numerals, respectively. The drawing figures might not be to scale, and certain components can be shown in generalized or schematic form and identified by commercial designations in the interest of clarity and conciseness.
Passageway 400 connects firebox 200 to cooking chamber 300 and includes inlet 401 and outlet 402. Forced draft device 500 is disposed in cooking chamber vent 302 and generates a pressure differential that causes air to flow from the atmosphere surrounding barbecue oven 100, through vent 223 in firebox upper chamber 220 to the upper portion of charcoal tray 210, downward through vent 211 in charcoal tray 210 to firebox lower chamber 230, through passageway 400 to cooking chamber 300, and through vent 302 back to the atmosphere. This action thoroughly combusts the gases generated by pyrolyzing wood 221 as they pass through hot, oxygenated charcoal 222 and produces a light, sweet flavor profile on meat 301 or other foods that are placed within cooking chamber 300.
Forced draft device 500 can further include a thermostat controller having a user-selectable temperature set point, wherein a thermocouple is disposed within cooking chamber 300. In this exemplary embodiment, when the temperature measured in cooking chamber 300 using the thermocouple is lower than the user-selectable temperature set point, forced draft device 500 can be activated and can draw uncombusted wood smoke from firebox upper chamber 220 through vent 211 of charcoal tray 210, thus creating clean, fully combusted smoke that is subsequently drawn through passageway 400 and into cooking chamber 300. This process can continue until the temperature within cooking chamber 300 increases past the set point, at which point the thermostat can turn the forced draft device off.
In one exemplary embodiment, barbecue oven 100 can include one or more features from the apparatus disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,895,942, entitled “Barbecue Firebox and Method of Operation,” issued Mar. 1, 2011, which is hereby incorporated by reference for all purposes as if set forth herein in its entirety.
Although exemplary embodiments of a system and method of the present invention have been described in detail herein, those skilled in the art will also recognize that various substitutions and modifications can be made to the systems and methods without departing from the scope and spirit of the appended claims.
