1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a combination kamado style insulated cooker combined with an outdoor fireplace.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Kamado style grills have been in usage for thousands of years. Kamado is a Japanese word for a traditional earthenware cooking vessel. Today Kamado cookers are widely known as ceramic or insulated grills. Typically these grill/smokers are made of ceramic shells, some a combination of metal and insulation and others use a variety of stone like material. The construction materials and good air control gives these grills excellent insulation, high heating efficiency, and the ability to hold very high and very low temperatures, making them very good for grilling and smoking. Kamado grill/cookers also have efficient air control dampers, usually at the bottom and at the top of the cookers.
Comparing traditional metal grills to Kamado grill/smokers, metal grills are usually not insulated and need to continually burn more fuel to maintain the desired cooking temperature. As more air is brought in to the metal cooker needed by the burner or burned fuel to maintain the desired heat level, a draft is created that carries out much of the moisture and juices of the cooked food.
Outdoor fireplace style cookers have also been in existence for thousands of years, where primarily food is cooked outside. Outdoor fireplaces have become a desired addition to many homes in recent years where the usage of the fireplace includes a place where friends and family can enjoy the warmth in front of a glowing fire. Combining comfort and warmth, the outdoor fireplace allows one to be outside more months of the year as a gathering spot. One is usually able to cook on the outdoor fireplace plus kids enjoy roasting hotdogs, marshmallows or other food items in the open flames.
Kamado grills usually burn charcoal but also customarily burn wood pellets and, on occasion, gas. Once the charcoal or other fuel is placed down in the lower section of the Kamado cooker it is not that easy to access, attend, add or remove the fuel, especially once the cooking grill is place on the Kamado cooker. There is usually no significant horizontal/lateral access to the lower fuel burning section of the Kamado cooker.
In U.S. Application No. 20050121018 the cooker has the ability to add a fireplace/fire pit to a grill/smoker assembly but the grill/smoker and the fireplace/fire pit components are not manufactured permanently combined. Also the grill/cooker is not an insulated Kamado style heat containing cooker.
There is a need for a manufactured combined Kamado style insulated grill/smoker and fireplace. The benefits of each could be enjoyed in use individually or the use of the Kamado grill cooker and the outdoor fireplace usage can be used simultaneously. The combination Kamado style cooker and fireplace could have cost and space savings to the user by not having to purchase two separate units plus the possibility of using same burning fuel in same time combination usages.
The present invention is a manufactured together Kamado style grill/smoker combined with a fireplace/cooker. The Kamado cooker and the fireplace is manufactured such that the function of each respective usage functions and qualities are maintained. The fireplace has two air sealable insulated door or doors on the front lower section of the Kamado style cooker. With the fireplace door(s) open burning sources and food can be added, attended to and removed. Food racks or fuel burning holders can be placed in the Lower section of the Kamado cooker/fireplace. When the door(s) are closed the Kamado cooker/fireplace becomes almost if not fully insulated with all the cooking functions and capabilities of a conventional Kamado cooker. The use of the open door(s) fireplace, either just enjoying the warmth and/or cooking in the fireplace, can be performed simultaneously with the use of the Kamado top grill/smoker but there may be some loss in fuel burning, air and heat control. The insulation qualities of the combination Kamado style cooker and fireplace allows the rear and sides of the combination cooker to be fairly close to flammable material, such as wood siding or wood deck, without heat build up on the close proximity flammable material, especially when the fireplace is used.
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