Patent Application
20160227965
Outdoor barbecue cooking is a popular method of preparing food throughout the world. Barbecue grills come in myriad sizes, shapes, styles, and fuel sources. For example, grills can be round, square, rectangular, tall, short, fixed-in-place, cart mounted, portable, light, heavy, and so on. Similarly, grills can be fueled by burning wood, charcoal, LP (liquid propane), butane, and/or natural gas, electrical elements, etc.
Equally vast are the varieties of foods that can be and are cooked on barbecue grills. Meats, fish, poultry, vegetables, fruits, breads, as well as fully prepared dishes, such as casseroles, can all be prepared over hot coals, gas burners, and the like. The variety of cooking means and foods to cook are virtually endless, limited only by the skill and creativity of the chef.
A relatively recent addition to the line-up of foodstuffs suitable for grilling is pizza. Pizza, often called pizza pie, comes in a variety of forms; i.e., thin crust, thick crust, deep dish, and so on; and can also contain a wide variety of ingredients. In general; however, pizza comprises a base layer of bread-type, cracker, or doughy crust, a layer of sauce, e.g. tomato sauce, cheese, and from there, virtually any edible item that is used as a topping. When made and ready to be cooked, a pizza, in general, is relatively soft and flexible, thus requiring a hard, flat surface for cooking.
When cooked on a barbecue grill, a substantially solid, heat conducting base, termed a pizza stone, or like expedient, is used for supporting the pizza within the barbecue grill, where a typical support surface is a wire cooking grate. Whatever is used for the supporting base, it is normally a conductor of heat in order to facilitate cooking, sturdy enough to withstand the elevated temperatures associated with grilling, and possessing of a hard, flat, surface, so as to facilitate the placement and removal of the pizza when cooked.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US2011/0214662A1 to Contarino Jr. details an accessory that is used to convert a common barbecue grill, such as a kettle style grill, to an oven-type enclosure for grilling pizza and other foods that are not particularly suited to being cooked on a cooking grate, or being cooked on a barbecue grill itself.
The application teaches a cylindrical insert, round in the example so as to follow the shape of the kettle grill, open at the top and bottom, and designed to fit between the firebox and the hood or lid of the grill. The insert is of a gauge substantial enough to withstand the high temperature of grilling and to support the weight of the grill hood. A window is formed in the side of the insert and used for inserting and withdrawing foods cooked in the grill. A ceramic stone or like means is placed over the cooking grate to support the pizza or other foods. This application is incorporated by reference in its entirety.
While the conversion device performs well for its intended use, the present application teaches improvements that have been designed to further enhance the utility of the barbecue grill as a cooking device.
The present application teaches a locking insert and a modified cooking grate assembly for use with a grill according to the Contarino, Jr. application or with other barbecue grills. The insert is mounted on the firebox and receives and supports the insert with the window, the cooking grate, the cooking stone, and the grill hood. The cooking grate includes elongated handles and integral feet for supporting the grate on a stable surface upon its removal from the grill. The assembly may also be used with other conventional grills that do not use the insert with the window.
Various additional objects and advantages of the present locking insert and modified grate will become evident from the description hereinbelow, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
Referring now more specifically to the drawings, and to
In the Contarino, Jr. application, insert 20 with its window 22 is mounted on the firebowl 12, supported thereon by the upper rim 28 of the firebowl; or it is mounted inside the firebowl, supported by the original equipment cooking grate (not shown). The pizza stone 24 is mounted in the firebowl, either on the original equipment lugs (not shown) that normally support the cooking grate, or on the original grate itself.
As discussed in the Contarino, Jr. application, the cooking fuel, e.g. charcoal, is piled near the rear of the firebowl. The combination of the localized fuel, the shape of the kettle enclosure, and the vents in the firebowl and hood, generate a draft and thus, a tremendous amount of heat. Temperatures upwards of 600-700° F. and higher are common and necessary for successfully grilling pizza. However, the factors that generate the extreme heat also rapidly consume the fuel. In order to grill multiple pizzas, or other foods, it is necessary to replenish the fuel supply. In order to replenish the fuel in the Contarino, Jr. device, the hood, pizza stone, and cooking rack must be removed and replaced, individually, and in sequential order. This is, of course, complicated by the extreme temperatures.
To address this issue, the present Applicants have devised a novel solution. Referring again to
The locking insert 40 includes at least one, and in the embodiment shown, a plurality of C-shaped brackets 42. The lower ends of brackets 42 are secured to tabs 26 with screws, bolts 44 and nuts 46, (as shown in
Insert 40 also includes at least one, and in the embodiment shown, a plurality of slots 48, which are formed in the upper rim 50 of insert 40. In this embodiment, four such slots 48 are provided, generally opposite one another in the lengthwise, or side-to-side, direction of the firebowl. The horizontal supports 47 are configured such that the top surface of each support is disposed in substantially the same horizontal plane as the bottoms of the slots 48.
In the Contarino, Jr. device, the original equipment grill surface, i.e. a cooking grate, is discussed in paragraph 0031 as being mounted on supports 105, shown in FIG. 4B. The OE grill surface is not illustrated, but in grills of this type, the grill surface is supported in the interior of the firebowl and is completely covered by the grill hood. This arrangement facilitates the generally sealed environment of a kettle-type grill, which utilizes the restriction of influent oxygen to control flare-ups. Without a cooking surface in place, the supports 105 are used to mount the pizza stone, typically a heavy, round, ceramic or stone element on which the pizza is cooked.
In the present device, modified cooking grate 52 is provided, as shown in
When the grate is placed over the locking insert 40, the outer ends of bars 54 are received in the slots 48 in the upper rim of insert 40. This arrangement locks the grate in place against rotating, and also signals to the user that the grate is correctly seated with the handles 58 disposed outwardly of the firebowl. Localized portions of the food support rods are received on top of supports 47, further ensuring a stably mounted surface. In addition, at least one, and in this embodiment, a plurality of rods 56 are bent downwardly to form V-shaped supports 60, below the cooking grate 52. These supports 60 serve as feet to suspend the grate 52 over another supporting surface, as described more fully hereinbelow.
Referring again to
As discussed hereinabove, the design of the Contarino, Jr. device makes it effective for achieving the high temperatures required to successfully grill pizzas, but also requires that the fuel be replenished for grilling multiple pizzas or other foods due to the fact that the draft effect created by the deep firebowl, the vents in the firebowl and hood, and the open window in the insert 20, rapidly consumes fuel. Referring to
While discussed above with relation to the Contarino, Jr. application, the present locking insert and modified cooking grate assembly can also be used with virtually any grill type of virtually any shape, e.g. kettle-type grills, rectangular or square grills, hibachi-type grills, etc. As shown in
While an embodiment of a locking insert and modified cooking grate has been shown and described in detail herein, various additional changes and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.
