A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material that is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the reproduction of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.
This application claims priority to and hereby incorporates by reference in its entirety U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 63/158,257 entitled “GRIDDLE WITH SMOKE VENTS” filed on Mar. 8, 2021.
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
The present invention relates generally to outdoor cooking equipment. More particularly, this invention pertains to wood-fired pellet grills.
In recent years, wood fired pellet grills have been developed as a cooking platform. These grills include a motor, a blower, control logic, and a combustion housing. The combustion housing is configured to hold burning pellets of compressed wood. The motor and blower are operated by the control logic to provide a flow of fresh combustion air to the combustion housing to burn the wood pellets at a specific rate to maintain a desired cooking temperature. Thus, based on the flow rate of the fresh combustion air, a wood fired pellet grill can smoke food at a relatively low temperature and be adjusted to sear food at a relatively high temperature within a relatively short time period. Wood fired pellet grills also often include a grate to support cookware above the burning wood pellets.
Aspects of the invention provide a griddle designed to drop in place of (or on top of) a normal cooking grate of a pellet grill that maintains proper exhaust flow. In this way, aspects of the invention ensure stable operating temperatures and/or even cooking of food while imparting smoke flavors from burning wood pellets into the food. The griddle includes a cooking surface upon which to cook the food and a smoke trap to allow airflow through the griddle while directing smoke and exhaust gases either toward the food or away from the food, depending upon the orientation of the griddle in the housing relative to an exhaust path of the housing.
In one aspect, the griddle includes a cooking surface and a smoke trap. The cooking surface is configured to receive heat from heat source under the cooking surface and cook food supported by the cooking surface. The smoke trap extends upwardly from the cooking surface when the griddle is in an upright position. The smoke trap is configured to collect smoke from the heat source under the cooking surface and vent the collected smoke to above the cooking surface.
In another aspect, a pellet grill includes a housing, a hopper, a burn pot, a pellet transfer system, and a griddle. The hopper is configured to store solid fuel pellets therein. The burn pot is inside the housing and configured to burn solid fuel pellets from the hopper therein. The pellet transfer system is configured to move the pellets from the hopper to the burn pot. The griddle includes a cooking surface and a smoke trap. The cooking surface is configured to receive heat from a heat source, wherein the heat source is the burn pot which is under the griddle when the griddle is installed in the housing in an upright position. The cooking surface is further configured to support food and cook the food supported by the cooking surface. The smoke trap extends upwardly from the cooking surface when the griddle is in the upright position. The smoke trap is configured to collect smoke from the burn pot under the cooking surface and vent the collected smoke to above the cooking surface.
Reference will now be made in detail to optional embodiments of the invention, examples of which are illustrated in accompanying drawings. Whenever possible, the same reference numbers are used in the drawing and in the description referring to the same or like parts.
While the making and using of various embodiments of the present invention are discussed in detail below, it should be appreciated that the present invention provides many applicable inventive concepts that can be embodied in a wide variety of specific contexts. The specific embodiments discussed herein are merely illustrative of specific ways to make and use the invention and do not delimit the scope of the invention.
To facilitate the understanding of the embodiments described herein, a number of terms are defined below. The terms defined herein have meanings as commonly understood by a person of ordinary skill in the areas relevant to the present invention. Terms such as “a,” “an,” and “the” are not intended to refer to only a singular entity, but rather include the general class of which a specific example may be used for illustration. The terminology herein is used to describe specific embodiments of the invention, but their usage does not delimit the invention, except as set forth in the claims.
As described herein, an upright position is considered to be the position of apparatus components while in proper operation or in a natural resting position as described herein. The upright position of the griddle is in place of a cooking grate of a pellet grill, wherein the pellet grill is resting on a generally level surface as shown in, for example,
The phrase “in one embodiment,” as used herein does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment, although it may. Conditional language used herein, such as, among others, “can,” “might,” “may,” “e.g.,” and the like, unless specifically stated otherwise, or otherwise understood within the context as used, is generally intended to convey that certain embodiments include, while other embodiments do not include, certain features, elements and/or states. Thus, such conditional language is not generally intended to imply that features, elements and/or states are in any way required for one or more embodiments or that one or more embodiments necessarily include logic for deciding, with or without operator input or prompting, whether these features, elements and/or states are included or are to be performed in any particular embodiment.
Referring to
The smoke trap 103 is disposed at one end of the griddle. In one embodiment, the smoke trap 103 is at the rear end of the griddle (i.e., toward a back or hinge of the pellet grill housing 203). Referring especially to
In one embodiment, a pellet grill 100 includes a housing 203, a hopper 701, a burn pot 703, a pellet transfer system 705, and the griddle 101. The hopper 701 is configured to store solid fuel wood pellets 707 therein. The burn pot 703 is inside the housing 203, and the burn pot 703 is configured to burn the solid fuel pellet 707 from the hopper 701 therein. In one embodiment, the pellet grill 100 further includes a grease drain 711 or grease management system configured to remove oil and grease from the housing 203.
In one embodiment, the griddle 101 includes the cooking surface 105 and the smoke trap 103. The cooking surface 105 is configured to receive heat from the heat source, wherein the heat source is the burn pot 703 which is under the griddle 101 when the griddle 101 is installed in the housing 203 in an upright position. The cooking surface 105 is further configured to support food and cook the food supported by the cooking surface 105.
The smoke trap 103 extends upwardly from the cooking surface 105 when the griddle 101 is in the upright position. The smoke trap 103 is configured to collect smoke from the burn pot 703 under the cooking surface 105 and vent the collected smoke to above the cooking surface 105. In one embodiment, the smoke trap 103 includes a 1st portion 301, the ridge 307, and a 2nd portion 303. The 1st portion extends upwardly from and defines an end of the cooking surface 105 when the griddle 101 is in the upright position. The ridge 307 is connected to the 1st portion 301 of the smoke trap 103. The 2nd portion 303 is connected to the ridge 307 and extends downwardly there from when the griddle 101 is in the upright position. In one embodiment, the ridge 307 spaces the 2nd portion 303 from the 1st portion 301. In one embodiment, the ridge 307 has at least one venting hole 305 therethrough. The venting hole 305 is configured to allow smoke trapped under the smoke trap 103 to rise up through said venting hole 305. In one embodiment, the 1st portion 301 and the 2nd portion 303 are generally flat, and the ridge 307 is formed by the 1st portion 301 meeting the 2nd portion 303 at an angle of between about 60 and 120 degrees. In one embodiment, the ridge 307 is curved and has a radius of curvature of between about 0.5 and 2 inches. In one embodiment, the 1st portion 301 includes at least a portion (e.g., a majority) of a venting hole 305 such that the at least one venting hole 305 is configured to direct smoke toward food supported by (i.e., on) the cooking surface 105 the smoke passes upward through the at least one venting hole 307.
In one embodiment, the griddle 101 further includes a pair of opposing walls or side walls 107, 109 defining and extending upwardly from opposing ends of the cooking surface 105 when the griddle 101 is in the upright position. The pair of opposing walls 107, 109 encloses opposing ends of the smoke trap 103. In one embodiment, the griddle 101 further includes a wall 111 defining and extending upwardly from an end of the cooking surface 105 opposite the smoke trap 103 when the griddle 101 is in the upright position. The wall 111 is connected to the pair of opposing side walls 107, 109 at the opposing ends of the cooking surface 105.
In one embodiment, each wall of the pair of opposing walls 107, 109 includes a handle 803 extending upwardly therefrom for lifting the griddle 101 from the housing 203 of the pellet grill 100 and placing the griddle 101 into the housing 203 of the pellet grill 100. In one embodiment, the cooking surface 105 includes an outflow 801. The outflow 801 is a hole through the cooking surface 105, and the outflow 801 is configured to drop excess oil and grease from food cooking on the cooking surface 105 to the grease drain or grease management system 711 of the pellet grill 100.
In operation, smoke from burning wood pellets 707 flows up from a combustion chamber (e.g., burn pot 703) of the pellet grill 100 and through the at least one venting hole 307. By venting this smoke and air to a top of the cooking chamber, a thermometer and control logic of the wood fired pellet grill 100 can accurately control a combustion rate of the wood pellets 707 to maintain a set temperature. Thus, the control logic maintains a desired operating temperature of the wood fired pellet grill 100 and a surface temperature of the griddle 101.
In one embodiment, the griddle 101 is oriented in the grill 100 to form a smoke path from the plurality of venting holes 307 to an exhaust 901 of the grill 100 that traverses food placed on the cooking surface 105. Thus, a relatively heavy smoke flavor is imparted to the food on the cooking surface 105. In some instances, as shown in
In one embodiment, the griddle defines outflow 801 to allow excess cooking liquids to flow into a grease management system or grease drain 711 of the pellet grill 100. In one embodiment, the first wall and the third wall each include handles 803 for a user to place the griddle 101 on the grill 100 and to remove the griddle 101 from the grill 100. Referring to
In one embodiment, the griddle 101 is formed of a single piece of metal. That is, the griddle 101 is cut or stamped as shown in
This written description uses examples to disclose the invention and also to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the invention, including making and using any devices or systems and performing any incorporated methods. The patentable scope of the invention is defined by the claims, and may include other examples that occur to those skilled in the art. Such other examples are intended to be within the scope of the claims if they have structural elements that do not differ from the literal language of the claims, or if they include equivalent structural elements with insubstantial differences from the literal languages of the claims.
It will be understood that the particular embodiments described herein are shown by way of illustration and not as limitations of the invention. The principal features of this invention may be employed in various embodiments without departing from the scope of the invention. Those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize numerous equivalents to the specific procedures described herein. Such equivalents are considered to be within the scope of this invention and are covered by the claims.
All of the compositions and/or methods disclosed and claimed herein may be made and/or executed without undue experimentation in light of the present disclosure. While the compositions and methods of this invention have been described in terms of the embodiments included herein, it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that variations may be applied to the compositions and/or methods and in the steps or in the sequence of steps of the method described herein without departing from the concept, spirit, and scope of the invention. All such similar substitutes and modifications apparent to those skilled in the art are deemed to be within the spirit, scope, and concept of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
Thus, although there have been described particular embodiments of the present invention of a new and useful GRIDDLE WITH SMOKE VENTS it is not intended that such references be construed as limitations upon the scope of this invention except as set forth in the following claims
Number | Date | Country | |
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63158257 | Mar 2021 | US |