Patent Application
20060081236
The present invention relates generally to barbecue grills, and, more particularly, to an improved sideburner assembly.
Outdoor grills are popular for cooking a variety of foods, but often a complete meal includes foods that are not easily cooked on a grill. For example, a pot or pan containing sauce can be placed on the grill and heated by the burner underneath. However, the grill and burner elements are designed to cook food items in direct contact with the grill, and are not optimal for even and controlled heating of a pan placed on the grill. Many grills are designed to work most efficiently with the lid of the grill in a closed position, precluding the use of pots and pans under the closed lid. In addition, the handles on many pots and pans cannot withstand the sometimes extreme temperatures inside a barbecue grill.
Prior art grills have addressed this problem by providing a separate burner, with its own control, which is mounted to the side of the grill. Some sideburners use a conventional grill so that a pan may be placed above the burner. Other sideburners do not use a grill above the burner, and instead use a burner ring configured to support a pan like an indoor stove. In either case, cooking by direct contact with a grate on prior art grills can be performed on the main burners, but not with the prior art sideburners.
As different foods finish cooking on the grill at different times, it is also convenient to keep the finished foods warm. The main grill area is typically unsuitable for this, even when one of the burners is turned off, due to heat from adjacent burners. However, the conventional sideburner is also not optimal for warming. Even a low flame on the sideburner will cause the finished items to become overcooked. But without a flame heat dissipates quickly and the food items get cold.
Thus, a heretofore unaddressed need exists in the industry to address the aforementioned deficiencies and inadequacies.
An embodiment of a sideburner in accordance with the invention includes a burner pan, a base, and a burner element supported by the burner pan. The burner pan is typically rectangular, comprising a floor, upper sidewalls with a first dimension, lower sidewalls with a second dimension, and a substantially horizontal shelf. The second dimension is smaller than the first dimension. The shelf joins an upper portion of the lower sidewall to a lower portion of the upper sidewall. The base has a substantially flat top surface and a front surface. The top surface has a recessed opening located over the burner pan.
Another embodiment of a sideburner in accordance with the invention includes a burner pan, a base, a burner element supported by the burner pan, and a tray. The base has a substantially flat top surface and a front surface. The top surface has a recessed opening located over the burner pan. The tray is disposed on the top surface of the base and sized to cover the opening of the base. The tray comprises a rectilinear surface having a front corner and a back corner. The surface slopes from the front corner to the back corner. A depressed area is disposed on the back corner of the rectilinear surface at the lowest point of the slope to serve as a grease collection area.
Other features and/or advantages in addition to, or in lieu of, those presented above will be or may 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 features and/or advantages be included herein within the scope of the present invention.
The disclosed burner assembly 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 burner assembly. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views.
Pan 204 has a floor 208 and sides 209. Floor 208 supports burner element 203. Perforations 210 in the sides 209 of 601 allow air to enter the sideburner assembly 200 in the vicinity of the burner element 203. Perforations 210 can be of various sizes and shapes, such as holes, slits, etc. In this example embodiment, perforations 210 are located on all sides 209 of 204, but other variations in placement of perforations 210 are possible.
Gas is dispersed through a plurality of orifices (not shown) formed on the burner element 203. The exiting gas mixes with the air entering through perforations 210, and the resulting air-gas mixture is ignited by an ignitor (not shown). In an example embodiment, the venturi tube of burner element 203 extends into 204 through an aperture 211 in the floor 208, and burner element 203 is disposed above this aperture 211. Other embodiments are possible, for example, the venturi tube may enter through an aperture in one of the sides 209 of 204.
Sideburner assembly 200 allows several ways of cooking food. Tray 212 is sized larger than opening 206, so that it rests on top surface 205. When burner element 203 is ignited, food items can be cooked by placing the items directly on the tray 212, or a pan can be placed on tray 212. Pan 204 is made of a heat conducting material such as metal, which allows heat produced by burner element 203 to be reflected and captured within sideburner assembly 200. Cooking is thus more efficient with pan 204 than with burner element 203 and base 201 alone. The material and placement of pan 204 also allows it to conduct heat from the firebox 101 (see
The vertical depth of lid 202 is greater than on prior art sideburner lids, which are typically shallow. This deep design allows lid 202 to cover pots, pans, and foods of various sizes which cannot be accommodated by shallow prior art lids. Lid 202 has a handle 214, which in one embodiment is secured to lid 202 at one end of the handle but not at the other. In this embodiment, handle 214 is shaped so that it slopes away from lid 202 at the end not mounted to lid 202. This defines a gap between handle 214 and lid 202. The gap provides space for a hand to easily grip handle 214, and keeps the handle 214 cool. Another handle 213 mounted to base 201 allows the entire grill 100 to be easily moved. In a preferred embodiment, lid 202 has at least one hole or slot on its back surface, which provides ventilation.
Shelf 221 joins the lower portion of upper sidewall 219 with the upper portion of lower sidewall 220. The upper portion of the pan, defined by upper sidewall 219, has a diameter 222 which is different than the diameter 223 of the lower portion of the pan, defined by lower sidewall 220. The perforations 210 in lower sidewall 220 are thus located closer to burner element 203 than the perforations 210 in upper sidewall 219, allowing improved air circulation within pan 204 for efficient burning. Shelf 221 also allows a deep pan with a shallow base, such as a wok, to be used with sideburner assembly 200. The base of the wok rests on shelf 221, allowing the bottom of the pan to be closer to burner element 203, and reducing the overall height of the pan above the burner element 203.
In an example embodiment, a grate 224 is sized to fit on, and be supported by, shelf 221. Since this lower portion of pan 204 is closer to burner element 203 than is the upper portion, the grate 224 allows food items or pots/pans to be positioned closer to the flame for more efficient cooking. In a preferred embodiment, grate 224 has a non-stick coating such as Teflon(&.
FIGS. 5A-C show perspective views of several example embodiments of 204, each with a different arrangement of perforations 210. In the embodiment of 5A, the perforations 210 are substantially circular, and arranged on only one side of pan 204. This arrangement allows multiple configurations: the perforated side may be placed toward the firebox 101, where the perforations 210 improve heat conduction from the firebox; or the perforated side may be placed on the opposite side, where the perforations 210 provide improved ventilation and cooling. In the embodiment of 5B, each perforation 210 comprises a single slot running substantially parallel to the edges of 601, and three sides of pan 204 have a perforation 210. The larger slot increases air flow for greater heat conduction or ventilation. In the embodiment of 5C, the perforations 210 are substantially circular, and arranged on opposing sides of pan 204.
FIGS. 6A-D are front cutaway views of sideburner assembly 200 in use with types of different cookware, showing how sideburner assembly 200 can be used to perform various cooking and grilling tasks.
The foregoing description has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Obvious modifications or variations are possible in light of the above teachings. The embodiments discussed, however, were chosen and described to illustrate the principles of the invention and its practical application to thereby enable one of ordinary skill in the art to utilize the invention in various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. All such modifications and variation are within the scope of the invention as determined by the appended claims when interpreted in accordance with the breadth to which they are fairly and legally entitled.
