GB2313294A - Barbecue installations - Google Patents

Abstract

A barbecue installation 1 comprises a base 2 incorporating a firing unit fuelled by gas, propane, charcoal or wood, and an extractor hood 3 supported above the base 2 by vertical support rod 4. Mounted above the base 2 so as to be rotatable with respect thereto is a grill wheel 6 supporting a grill plate 8 and a hot plate 9 extending over a sector of the grill wheel 6. During cooking of an item of food carried by the grill wheel 6, the amount of heat applied to the food item can be accurately governed by the user by rotating the grill wheel 6 so that the food is moved away from or closer to the heat source. The barbecue installation 1 may also be provided with an oven, a wok spot, a saucepan area, a rotisserie 15 and fittings to enable the installation as a whole to be turned into a smoker.

Description

"Barbecue Installations" This invention relates to barbecue installations.

As is well known barbecues were originally conceived as simple outdoor cooking units for cooking of meat on a grill over an open fire using solid fuel, such as wood or charcoal. However the basic barbecue unit has been developed in a number of ways to permit greater control of the heat applied to the item of food to be cooked, and so as to enable cooking processes other than grilling to be applied. To this end barbecue units fuelled by gas or propane have been developed, as well as units having hinged lids which may be closed over the cooking area. Furthermore such barbecue units may be provided with shelves at different heights so that the amount of heat applied to an item of food can be varied by varying the distance of a shelf carrying the item of food from the firing unit. Sophisticated barbecue units have been developed for commercial use, such as for use in restaurants, either in an indoor location or in an outdoor location.

It is an object of the invention to provide a novel barbecue installation which provides particular advantages in domestic or commercial use.

According to the present invention there is provided a barbecue installation comprising a base incorporating a firing unit, and a horizontal grill member mounted above the firing unit so as to be rotatable with respect to the base about a vertical axis which is transversely offset relative to the firing unit with a view to enabling the amount of heat applied to an item of food to be cooked carried by the grill member to be varied by rotation ofthe grill member so as to vary the distance between the firing unit and the item of food to be cooked.

Because the amount of heat applied to an item of food can be varied simply by rotation ofthe grill member without having to vary the level of heat output by the firing unit, such a barbecue installation is particularly advantageous in use and enables rapid and convenient control of the cooking process, regardless of the fuel source used. The installation may be adapted for use with gas, propane, charcoal or wood, and is readily adapted to either indoor or outdoor commercial use if required. Furthermore the installation may be adapted to apply a variety of other cooking processes apart from straightforward grilling, and to this end may optionally include an oven, a hot plate, a wok spot, a saucepan area, a rotisserie and even means to enable the installation as a whole to be used for smoking.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention the grill member is substantially circular and is rotatable about a vertical axis extending through its centre.

Furthermore the circular grill member is preferably provided with a central hub, an outer annulus and a plurality of spokes extending between the central hub and the outer annulus. The outer annulus may be provided with a drip channel for collection of fat and cooking juices.

The grill member may also be provided with a hot plate extending over a portion of the cooking area of the grill member. The hot plate may be provided with a removable cover.

The grill member may also be provided with a peripheral rail adapted to be grasped by the user to rotate the grill member during a cooking operation.

The rotisserie unit may also be mounted above the grill member and may comprise two arms extending outwardly from a central hub portion for supporting a spit which is preferably rotatable by an electrical drive unit.

The base is also preferably substantially circular, being cylindrical about said vertical axis. In this case the firing unit will be transversely offset from the centre of the base. The base may also be provided with a peripheral rail.

Furthermore the base may include an oven unit having a door through which items to be cooked may be inserted into the oven unit. The oven unit may be adapted to be detached from the base unit to increase the area available for grilling.

The invention also provides a barbecue installation comprising a base incorporating a firing unit, a horizontal grill member mounted on the base above the firing unit for receiving items to be cooked by the heat from the firing unit, an elongate support member mounted on the base and extending vertically upwardly therefrom, and an extractor hood mounted on the support member above the grill member and provided for extraction of cooking fumes.

The extractor hood may include an extractor fan for assisting extraction of cooking fumes.

Alternatively or additionally the extractor hood may include a down lighting unit for lighting the cooking area.

In either aspect of the invention a detachable smoke screen or wind shield may be provided for screening the cooking area.

In order that the invention may be more fully understood, a preferred barbecue installation in accordance with the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of the barbecue installation; Figure 2 is a diagrammatic plan view of a rotatable grill wheel of the installation; Figure 3 is a diagrammatic vertical sectional view of a lower part of the installation; Figures 4 and 5 are diagrammatic views, in plan and partially in vertical section, of a base ofthe installation showing the mounting of a vertical support member therein; and Figures 6 and 7 are diagrammatic views, in vertical section and from below, of a hood of the installation.

Referring to Figure 1 the barbecue installation 1 comprises a base 2 incorporating a firing unit (not shown in the figure) fuelled by gas, propane, charcoal or wood, and an extractor hood 3 supported above the base 2 by a vertical support rod 4. Mounted above the base 2 so as to be rotatable with respect thereto is a grill wheel 6 provided with a peripheral rail 7 and supporting a grill plate 8 and a hot plate 9 extending over a sector of the grill wheel 6. The base 2 has at least one door 10 providing access to at least one oven, as well as at least one door 11 providing access to the firing unit. The base 2 also has a plinth 13 of decreased diameter, and a peripheral rail 12 on which cooking utensils and the like may be hung.

Figure 1 also shows an optional rotisserie unit 15 which is detachably connectable by means of a central hub portion 16 to a central hub 17 of the wheel 6 so as to be rotatable therewith. The rotisserie unit 15 has two arms 18 and 19 extending outwardly from the central hub portion 16 and supporting a detachable spit 20 which is rotatable by an electrical drive unit 21.

Figure 2 shows a plan view of the rotatable grill wheel 6 and associated peripheral rail 7, with the form of the grill plate 8 and hot plate 9 being shown in more detail. As will be seen from this figure, the hot plate 9 is a solid plate extending over slightly less than a quarter ofthe area ofthe wheel 6, whereas the grill plate 8 comprises a series of V-section bars 22 which are welded between the central hub 17 and an outer drip channel portion 23 which itself extends radially inwardly of an outer peripheral wall 24 of the wheel 6 to which the rail 7 is attached. It will be appreciated that, although only two V-section bars 22 are shown in Figure 2, the complete grill plate 8 comprises a large number of such bars 22 spaced equidistantly about the central hub 17, except in the region where the hot plate 9 is located. The drip channel portion 23 defines an annular channel containing arc-shaped removable drip trays (not shown) for collecting fat and debris.

Figure 3 is a diametrical vertical section through the grill wheel 6, which is mounted above the base 2 by the central hub 1 7 being seated on a shoulder on the support rod 4, and further shows the mounting of a rock basket 30 within the upper portion ofthe base 2 for supporting a layer of volcanic lava rocks 31 (for heat retention) and comprising two semi-circular grill sections 32 welded between an inner collar 33 and an outer side wall 34 of the basket 30. At least one rectangular opening 35 is provided in the base 2 which may be fitted with a door as previously described and which provides access to the interior of the base 2 which is optionally provided with an oven. Preferably four such openings 35 are provided at equal intervals about the periphery of the base 2.

As shown in broken lines in Figure 3 the firing unit 37 is located within the base 2 so as to be transversely offset with respect to the vertical axis 38 of the installation so as to enable the distance between an item of food to be cooked on the grill wheel 6 and the firing unit 37 to be varied by rotation of the grill wheel 6 with a view to increasing or decreasing the amount of heat applied to the item of food.

Figures 4 and 5 show the manner in which the vertical support rod 4 is held within the base 2, and more particularly show the mounting of the support rod 4 by means of four upper struts 40 extending radially between the support rod 4 and an upper portion of the inside wall of the base 2 and four lower struts 41 extending between the support rod 4 and a lower portion of the inside wall of the base 2. Each of the upper and lower struts 40 and 41 is secured to the support rod 4 by screws 42 and to flanges 43 on the inside wall of the base 2 by screws 44 (as best seen in the cut-away portions on the right and left hand sides of Figure 5).

As may be seen in Figures 6 and 7, the extractor hood 3 has a circular opening 50 at its top within which an extractor fan (not shown) may be fitted for assisting extraction of cooking fumes In addition the hood 3 is provided on its inside surface with a series of hooks (for supporting an all weather cover, if required), two or more halogen downlighting units (not shown) and conduits 52 for accommodating electrical leads for supplying the downlighting units and/or the extractor fan. The hood 3 is fixed to the top of the vertical support member 4 by cross-members 53. Optionally the support rod 4 is adjustable in length so as to vary the height of the hood 3 above the grill wheel 6. For example the support rod 4 may be hydraulically extendible so as to raise or lower the hood 3, and optionally also so as to raise or lower the grill wheel 6.

The grill wheel 6 ofthe above described installation is particularly advantageous as it allows the amount of heat applied to a particular food item to be accurately govemed by the user by rotating the grill wheel 6 so that the food is moved away from or closer to the heat source. It also provides the user with alternative methods of cooking apart from straightforward grilling, including an oven, hot plate, wok spot, saucepan area, rotisserie and the ability to turn the whole installation into a smoker. To this end the installation may incorporate a fully detachable smoke screen in the form of slightly radiused steel panels which can be held between the hood 3 and the base 2 by way oftop and bottom channels on the panels, in order to turn the installation into a full smoke unit. The screen can also be used as a wind shield if required. The cooking surface of the grill wheel 6 is cast in such a way that the user can either char grill food near to the outer area of the wheel, or can grill food normally closer to the centre of the wheel. Furthermore the casting is such that all the fat and juices flow into the easy to clean drip channel. The hot plate area may incorporate a removable cover to enable it to be used for stir frying. When the rotisserie is in use, there is still ample space for char grilling or grilling, as well as for full use of the hot plate and oven.

Claims (19)

1. A barbecue installation comprising a base incorporating a firing unit, and a horizontal grill member mounted above the firing unit so as to be rotatable with respect to the base about a vertical axis which is transversely offset relative to tile firing unit with a view to enabling the ainouiit of heat applied to an item of food to be cooked carried by the grill member lo be varied by rotation of the grill niember so as to vary the distance between the firing unit and the iteni of food to be cooked.

2. An installation according to claim 1, wherein tlie grill member is substantially circular and is rotatable about a vertical axis extending through its centre.

3. An installation accordiiig to claim 2 wlleleill the circular grill member is provided with a central hub, an outer annulus and a plurality of spokes extending between the central liub aiid ilie outer aiintilus

4. An installation according to clam 3. wliei-eiii tlie outer annulus is provided with a drip channel for collection of fat and cooking juices.

5. An installatioll according to any precediiig claim, wherein the grill member is provided with a hot plate extending over a portion oF the cooking area of the grill member.

6. An installation according to claim 5 wherein the hot plate is provided with a removable cover.

7. An installation according to any preceding claim, wherein the grill member is provided with a peripheral rail adapted to be grasped by the user to rolate tlle grill member during a cooking operation.

8. An installation according to any preceding claim, wherein a rotisserie unit is mounted above the grill member and conlprises two anus extending outwardly from a central hub portion for supporting a spit

9. An installation according to claim 8, wlleleill tlie spit is rotatable by an electrical drive unit

10. An installation accordiiig to ally preceding claim, 'vhereiii the base is substantially circular, being cylindrical about said vertical axis

II An installation according to daiiii 10, wherein the firing unit is transversely offset from the centre of tile base

12. An installation according to any preceding claim, wherein the base is provided with a peripheral rail.

13. An installation according to any precediiig claim, wherein the base includes an oven unit having a door through wliicli items to be cooked hay be inserted into tlie oven unit.

14. An installation according to claim 13, wherein the oveii unit is adapted to be detached 1ro110 the base unit to increase tlie arena available for grilling

15. A barbecue installation comprising a base incorporating a firing uiiil, a horizontal grill member mounted on tlie base above the firing unit for receiving items to be cooked by the heat from the firing unit, an elongate support member mounted on the base and extending veitically upwardly therefrom, and all extractor hood mounted on the support member above the grill member and provided for extraction of cooking fumes.

16. An installation according to claiin 15, wherein tlie extractor hood includes an extractor fan for assisting extraction of cooking fumes

17. An installation according to claim 15 or 1 6, wllerein tlie extractor hood includes a down lighting unit for lighting the cooking area

18. An installation accordillg to any preceding claiiii, having a detachable smoke screen or wind shield for screening the cooking area.

19. A barbecue installation substantially as hereiiibefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.