Patent Application
20230232846
The present disclosure relates, in general, to smoking devices. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to a food smoking device for an oven that imparts flavor to food items being cooked within an oven cavity.
Typically, food smoking is a process of imparting flavor to food items by exposing the food items to smoke that is generated from burning or smoldering of commonly used fuel materials such as wood, charcoal, propane, and the like. For example, wood materials, such as wood from oak trees, maple trees, apple trees, plum trees, and the like, may be used as prevalent fuel materials to add flavor to the food items.
Known smoking devices are usually large in size and demand large space in an oven cavity. Smoke produced by such smoking devices are not controlled and hence produce smoke clouds inside the oven cavity, which creates discomfort to users accessing the oven cavity after a cooking cycle is completed. Such smoke clouds may take a while to get cleared from the oven cavity before the user can locate the food items.
U.S. Pat. No. 10,264,802 discloses a flavoring device associated with a cooking chamber of a cooking oven and a method of controlling the flavoring device. U.S. Pat. No. 8,304,697 discloses a smoker device that fits beneath a lower-most rack of the cooking oven. However, these devices do not disclose any feature to eliminate the smoke clouds within the oven cavity.
According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a food smoking device for an oven is disclosed. The food smoking device includes a housing defining an opening and removably disposed within the oven. The food smoking device further includes a heater disposed within the housing and a container removably disposed on the heater, where the container receives wood or coal pellets, and a lid thereof is perforated. The housing defines a smoke-collecting chamber therein. The smoke-collecting chamber receives, via the perforated lid of the container, smoke generated from heated wood or coal pellets. Further, the smoke-collecting chamber fluidly communicates with a cooking chamber of the oven via the opening of the housing and supplies the generated smoke into the cooking chamber. The food smoking device further includes a suction fan disposed within the housing to selectively extract smoke into the smoke-collecting chamber.
In an embodiment, the food smoking device further includes a pipe extending from a periphery of the opening in the housing. The pipe routes the smoke from the smoke-collecting chamber to the cooking chamber. In an embodiment, the heater is powered by an in-oven plug.
According to the present disclosure, advantageously, the smoke generated from the heated wood or coal pellets is collected in the smoke-collecting chamber and is supplied to the cooking chamber of the oven via the pipe. As such, a controlled flow of smoke from the smoke-collecting chamber to the cooking chamber may be achieved. Further, advantageously, the suction fan selectively extracts the smoke into the smoke-collecting chamber based on the cooking cycle. As such, based on completion of the cooking cycle, the suction fan is actuated to extract the smoke from the cooking chamber of the oven, thereby eliminating presence of smoke clouds within the cooking chamber, and enhancing user convenience.
These and other aspects and feature of non-limiting embodiments of the present disclosure will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon review of the following description of specific non-limiting embodiments of the disclosure in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
A better understanding of embodiments of the present disclosure (including alternatives and/or variations thereof) may be obtained with reference to the detailed description of the embodiments along with the following drawings, in which:
Reference will now be made in detail to specific embodiments or features, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, corresponding, or similar reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or corresponding parts. Moreover, references to various elements described herein, are made collectively or individually when there may be more than one element of the same type. However, such references are merely exemplary in nature. It may be noted that any reference to elements in the singular may also be construed to relate to the plural and vice-versa without limiting the scope of the disclosure to the exact number or type of such elements unless set forth explicitly in the appended claims.
Referring to
Referring to
In an aspect, the housing 202 defines an opening (not particularly indicated in
Preferably, the pipe 204 extends through the rack 116 in a vertical manner. For example, a gap defined between the ribs 118 of the rack 116 may direct the pipe 204 therethrough. In cases where the rack 116 defines small gap between the ribs 118 thereof, the rack 116 may define an aperture (not shown) to allow the pipe 204 to extend therethrough. Such aperture may help the user, for example, in aligning the food smoking device 124 within the cooking chamber 102. For example, the aperture may indicate to the user that the food smoking device 124 should be oriented in a manner such that the aperture is proximal to the access opening of the oven 100, so that the user may couple the pipe 204 to the housing 202 without having to insert hands further into the cooking chamber 102. In some embodiments, the rack 116 may define a slit to allow easy placement of the food smoking device 124 within the cooking chamber 102 in cases where the pipe 204 is integral to the housing 202. That is, with the single component configuration of the housing 202 and the pipe 204, the slit defined in the rack 116 may help align the pipe 204 with the rack 116 followed by a push of the food smoking device 124 into the cooking chamber 102, to achieve proper placement thereof. In some embodiments, inner surfaces of the housing 202 and the pipe 204 may be coated with a heat insulation material that is also fire resistant. In some embodiments, two or more pipes may be coupled to the housing 202.
The food smoking device 124 further includes a heater 206 and a container 208 disposed within the housing 202. With such arrangement, the housing 202 defines a smoke-collecting chamber 210 therein. A volume remaining within the housing 202 after disposing the heater 206 and the container 208 therein may define the smoke-collecting chamber 210. As such, volume of the smoke-collecting chamber 210 may be determined based on size of the heater 206 and the container 208. With such construction, the pipe 204 fluidly connects the smoke-collecting chamber 210 and the cooking chamber 102 of the oven 100. As used herein, the term “fluidly connects” refers to a channel through which fluids, such as air and smoke, are allowed to flow between the smoke-collecting chamber 210 and the cooking chamber 102. In some embodiments, the housing 202 may include a door (not shown) that allows selective access to the hollow space therein. With aid of such door, the heater 206 and the container 208 may be removably disposed within the housing 202. In one embodiment, the heater 206 may be integral to the housing 202 and the container 208 may be selectively disposed on the heater 206 when the food smoking device 124 needs to be put in use. As used herein, the term “selectively disposed” refers to locating and positioning the container 208 within the housing 202 at user's convenience.
Advantageously, the food smoking device 124 further includes a suction fan 212 disposed within the housing 202. Preferably, the suction fan 212 is located proximal to the opening defined in the housing 202. Particularly, the suction fan 212 is positioned within the housing 202, such that operation of the suction fan 212 can suction air from the cooking chamber 102 into the smoke-collecting chamber 210. The suction fan 212 may be integral to the housing 202 and may be powered through a main electrical input (not shown) provided in the housing 202. Further, operation of the suction fan 212 may be controlled by a controller (not shown) of the oven 100 when the food smoking device 124 is operably disposed within the cooking chamber 102. As such, the suction fan 212 may not begin to operate soon after the oven 100 is powered on.
In operation, the heater 206 and the container 208 are suitably disposed within the housing 202 as described hereinabove. With the electrical supply, the heater 206 heats the wood or coal pellets 262 contained in the container 208, to generate smoke which escapes into the smoke-collecting chamber 210 through the holes 268 defined in the lid 264. Since the pipe 204 fluidly connects the smoke-collecting chamber 210 and the cooking chamber 102 of the oven 100, the generated smoke flows into the cooking chamber 102 to flavor the food “F” (see
To this end, the present disclosure provides the food smoking device 124 that help users to smoke or flavor foods in domestic ovens, thereby improving taste and shelf life of the food. With simple construction and minimal efforts required to perform the assembly, the food smoking device 124 simplifies food-smoking processes, thereby helping users to smoke the food inside a kitchen and eliminate a requirement for a garden barbecue apparatus or other professional units which demands space due to their size. Advantageously, owing to the presence of the suction fan 212, the food smoking device 124 is capable of preventing residual smoke, such as smoke clouds and odors, within the cooking chamber 102 upon completion of the cooking cycle set by the user. As such, the user may not witness the smoke clouds and may have a clear view of the cooking chamber 102 when the door of the oven 100 is actuated to the open position to access the food prepared within the oven 100, thereby enhancing the user's experience.
After the food-smoking process, the food smoking device 124 may be removed from the cooking chamber 102 and the wood or coal pellets 262 contained in the cavity 260 of the container 208 may be emptied into the trash. Since the wood chips and the coal pellets are commonly known materials and are not heated to very high temperatures, disposal of the same does not require special procedures to be followed. Owing to the size and minimum space requirement, the food smoking device 124 and the components thereof may be conveniently stored anywhere in a kitchen area. In some embodiments, the housing 202, the heater 206, the container 208, and the pipe 212 may be made up of similar heat-resistant materials, such as stainless steel, nickel-based alloys, other known alloys, or suitable combinations thereof. Heat resistance properties of such materials may allow restoration of the food smoking device 124 in the cooking chamber 102 without the need to cool down the oven 100 after completion of the cooking cycle.
The container 208 may be cleaned manually with a tissue or common paper products for cleaning (for example paper towels and napkins). Since the food smoking device 124 may only be soiled by particles of smoke, a requirement for frequent cleaning upon completion of each food-smoking process may be eliminated. Instead, the food smoking device 124 may be cleaned sporadically, when desired, with a light paper product. Alternatively, the components of the food smoking device 124 may be cleaned in a dishwasher.
While aspects of the present disclosure have been particularly shown and described with reference to the embodiments above, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various additional embodiments may be contemplated by the modification of the disclosed methods without departing from the spirit and scope of what is disclosed. Such embodiments should be understood to fall within the scope of the present disclosure as determined based upon the claims and any equivalents thereof.
