GB2340930A - Solid fuel cooker - Google Patents

Abstract

A cooker comprises a plurality of metal panels fastened together to form a hollow parallelepiped shaped outer casing (12) having a horizontally disposed upper cooking platen (14), a drawer (16) for containing at least solid fuel, an ash catching tray disposed below said fuel containing tray and a slow oven drawer (22), all slidably mounted in said outer casing. An openable door (26) covers said drawers wherein said fuel containing drawer may be placed in one of a plurality of different positions within the outer casing. Holes (60) in the slow oven drawer (22) allow for air circulation, and each drawer in the cooker is provided with a handle (48).

Description

2340930 SOLID FUEL COOKER The present invention relates to food cookers

fuelled by solid fuel such as wood, charcoal or coal for example.

GB-A-1 188 478 describes a solid fuel multi-purpose stove. However, the fuel containing compartment is fixed within the stove so that its versatility in cooking different types of food in different ways is severely limited.

According to the present invention a cooker comprises a plurality of metal panels fastened together to form a hollow, generally parallelepiped shaped outer casing having: a generally horizontally disposed upper cooking platen; a drawer for containing at least solid fuel slidable in said outer casing; an ash catching tray S14dable in said outer casing disposed below said fuel -L containing tray; a slow oven drawer slidable in said 20 outer casing; and, an openable door to cover said drawers wherein said fuel containing drawer may be placed in one of a plurality of different positions within the outer casing.

The metal panels may be from pressed steel or cast iron and enamelled in known fashion if desired.

The outer casing panels of the cooker are preferably fastened together by means of fasteners such as nuts and bolts or self tapping screws in suitable co-operating flange portions of the outer casing panels thus making the cooker easily transportable and erectable for use in remote country areas for example.

1 At least the base of the fuel containing drawer is preferably provided with holes to allow access of air and also to allow ash to fall into the ash catching tray below. The fuel containing drawer may also be provided with one or more separator panels to allow the roasting of meat for example in a compartment of said drawer next to the burning fuel.

Normally in solid fuel cookers such as well known barbecue type cookers the ash, together with the burning fuel, is held in the tray immediately below the food being cooked and serves no useful additional purpose. In the cooker of the present invention, the hot ash which has fallen into the ash catching tray below the burning fuel is used as a heat source to enable slow cooking or heating of food in the slow cooking drawer below the ash catching tray. Thus, food which requires relatively high heat may be heated on the upper heating or cooking platen or in a compartment of the fuel drawer and food which requires relatively gentle heat may be cooked simultaneously. The ash catching tray is, of course, not provided with holes.

A separator plate may be inserted in between the bottom of the fuel containing drawer and the ash catching tray to retain the ash in the fuel drawer to limit the rate of fuel consumption and/or temperature if no food is to be heated in the slow oven.

The upper cooking platen on which cooking pots and pans may be placed may be of any suitable form and may comprise a flat platen on which meat for example may be cooked directly, or may also include hob portions having holes therein to let heat directly through to the bases 2 of pots and pans. Alternatively or in addition, the upper cooking platen may comprise a wire grid portion.

Preferably, the cooker according to the present invention is also provided with a lower drawer, slidable with respect to the outer casing, for use as a preheating and/or drying drawer for cutlery, crockery, pre-cooked food and the like.

All the drawers may be provided with holes or handles to enable removal thereof for cleaning or removal of the contents.

The internal surfaces of the side panels may be provided with rails on which the drawers may slide.

In the cooker of the present invention, the fuel/ roasting drawer may be placed in one of at least two different positions with the ash catching drawer below in each case according to how the cooker is being used for the particular type of food being cooked. In one mode of use the fuel drawer is placed in an upper position with the ash catching drawer below so as to cook food which is placed on the platen or grid at the top of the cooker or in pots on the platen. In a second mode of operation, the fuel drawer may be placed in a lower position with the ash catching drawer below and a slow-oven drawer above, the top of the cooker being covered with a blanking plate so as to contain heat within the cooker to cook food in the slow-oven drawer. In this second mode, the blanking plate itself becomes hot so as keep food warm in containers placed on it.

3 Preferably, the various drawers and spacing of the drawer runners are substantially constant so the drawers may be placed in any desired vertical arrangement.

In order that the present invention may be more fully understood, an example will now be described by way of illustration only with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:

Figure 1 shows a front elevation of a cooker according to the present invention; Figure 2 shows a perspective view of the outer casing of the cooker shown in Fig. 1; Figures 3A and 3B show a plan and perspective view of a combined fuel and roasting drawer of the cooker of Fig.1, respectively; Figure 4 shows a perspective view of a slow oven drawer and/or heating and/or warming drawer of the cooker shown in Fig. 1; Figure 5 shows a plan view of an upper heating platen of the cooker shown in Fig. 1; and Figure 6 which shows the cooker of the present invention being used in an alternative manner to that indicated in Figure 1.

Referring now to the drawings and where the same features are denoted by common reference numerals. A cooker according to the present invention is denoted generally at 10 in Fig. 1. The cooker comprises an outer casing 12 of enamelled pressed steel; an upper heating platen 14; a 4 fuel containing and roasting drawer 16; an ash separator plate 18; an ash catching tray 20; a slow-oven drawer 22; a lower heating and/or storage drawer 24; and, a door 26. The outer casing 12 comprises two side panels 30 having drawer slider rails 32 attached to the inner surfaces thereof, a rear panel 34, a base 36 and, top and bottom front joining panels 38. The door 26 is hingedly attached to one of the side panels 30. The panels of the outer casing are held together by nuts and bolts or screws (not shown) passing through co-operating flange portions (not shown)- on the panels. The fuel containing drawer 16 shown in Figs. 3A and 3B is optionally provided with a separator panel 40 which slides into position in channels 42 in the drawer sides and forms two compartments 44, 46 for receiving fuel (not shown) and a joint of meat (not shown), respectively. The drawer front is provided with a handle 48 (as are all the drawers). The base 50 of the drawer 16 has holes 52 to allow circulation of air to assist fuel burning and to allow ash from the compartment 44 to fall into the ash catching tray when the ash separating plate 18 is not in position. The drawer 16 may alternatively have a second separator panel 40 (not shown) thus forming three compartments; two outer fuel compartments and a central roasting compartment. Fig. 4 shows a slow oven drawer and/or a lower warming/storage drawer 22, 24 and is provided with holes 60 to allow warm air circulation. The ash catching tray 20 is similar to the drawers 22, 24 but generally shallower and does not have holes in its base in order to prevent ash from falling onto the food in the slow oven and warming drawers 22, 24. The upper heating platen 14 has a surrounding flange 70 to allow the platen to drop over the top of the outer casing 12 for retention and location purposes and has, in the embodiment shown, four hob portions 72 to receive pots and pans 74. The separator plate 18 may be kept in position to prevent ash from falling from the fuel compartment 44 in order to slow down the rate of fuel consumption and/or burning of the fuel and to limit the temperature in the roasting compartment 46. In the arrangement shown in Figure 1, the fuel/roasting drawer 16 is at the top of the cooker with the ash catching drawer directly below. In this way food is cooked on top of the cooker on the platen 14.

The cooker shell 12 may also be provided with an extension 90 of the back panel 34 and a shelf 92 on which to rest pots and pans for example. The back panel 34 and extension 90 may, of course, be formed integrally.

Figure 6 shows an alternative arrangement of drawers to that shown in Figure 1. In this arrangement, the fuel/roasting drawer 16 is placed below the slow-oven drawer 22 which is placed in the upper position in the cooker shell 12 and the ash catching drawer 20 is below the fuel/ roasting drawer as usual. In order to conserve heat, a blanking plate 80 comprising a sheet of metal for example is placed on the top of the shell 12 which serves to redirect heat (indicated by arrows 82) into the slowoven drawer 22. It is worth mentioning that in this arrangement, the cooker also serves as a very effective heater for a room in which it is used. The fuel/roasting drawer 16 may also be placed in a still lower position, say in the position occupied by the ash 30 catching drawer 20 in Figure 6 with the drawer 20 in place of drawer 24. In this way the heating effect on the food being cooked is lessened if the slow-oven is still at the top position as shown in Figure 6 of the cooker. Thus, greater control over cooking may be obtained35 6

Claims (13)

1. A cooker, the cooker comprising a plurality of metal panels fastened together to form a hollow, generally parallelepiped shaped outer casing having.. a generally horizontally disposed upper cooking platen; a drawer for containing at least solid fuel slidable in said outer casing; an ash catching tray slidable in said outer casing disposed below said fuel containing tray; a slow oven drawer slidable in said outer casing; and, an openable door to cover said drawers wherein said fuel containing drawer may be placed in one of a plurality of different positions within the outer casing.

2. A cooker according to claim 1 wherein the metal panels are made from steel or cast iron and optionally enamelled.

3. A cooker according to either claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the outer casing panels are fastened together by means of fasteners such as nuts and bolts or screws in co-operating flange portions of the outer casing panels.

4. A cooker according to any one preceding claim wherein at least the base of the fuel containing drawer is provided with holes.

5. A cooker according to any one preceding claim wherein the fuel containing drawer is provided with one or two separator panels to allow the provision of a cooking compartment in said fuel drawer.

6. A cooker according to any one preceding claim wherein the hot ash which falls into the ash catching 7 drawer below the burning fuel is used as a heat source to enable slow cooking or heating of food in the slow cooking drawer below the ash catching drawer.

7. A cooker according to any one preceding claim wherein the upper cooking platen comprises at least one of: a flat platen area; a griddle area; hob portions having holes therein to let direct heat through to the bases of pots and pans; and, a grid portion.

8. A cooker according to any one preceding claim further including a lower drawer, below the slow heating oven drawer, slidable with respect to the outer casing, for use as a preheating and/or drying drawer for cutlery, 15 crockery, pre-cooked food and the like.

9. A cooker according to any one preceding claim wherein the internal surfaces of the side panels are provided with rails on which the drawers slide.

10. A cooker according to any one preceding claim having a solid separator plate disposed between the fuel containing drawer and the ash catching tray.

11. A cooker according to any one preceding claim wherein at least some of the constituent drawers of the cooker are of substantially the same dimensions.

12. A cooker according to claim 11 wherein the slider rails have substantially the same spacing.

13. A cooker substantially as hereinbefore described with respect to the accompanying description and drawings.