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US 10,041,277 B1Granted
Outdoor cooking apparatus
AssigneeMetal Fusion, Inc.
InventorsNorman R Bourgeois, Michael P. Bourgeois
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An improved outdoor cooking apparatus features a specially configured pot with multiple specially configured cooking inserts and burner frame that supports a burner element. One insert is a rack that can be used for cooking one or more whole poultry carcasses. Another insert is a perforated basket that can be used to hold items to be cooked. The pot has a lower tapered section that includes a tapering downwardly sidewall or walls meeting a smaller, generally rectangular bottom panel. The pot has an upper section with a larger transverse cross section than the pot bottom, preferably comprised of generally vertically oriented side all sections. The basket can be correspondingly shaped to the contour of the pot interior.
Claims18
An outdoor cooking apparatus comprising:
- a) a burner frame having upper and lower end portions, the lower end portion being configured to engage an underlying support surface and the frame providing a pot support;
- b) a burner element mounted on the frame;
- c) a pot that rests upon the pot support during cooking, the pot having a bottom panel of a first area, a plurality of sidewalls, an open top of a second area, an interior for holding a cooking fluid having a cooking fluid level, and a pot rim;
- d) first and second separate, selectively connectable components that are each sized and shaped to fit the pot interior, wherein the first and second components are selectively separable or connectable in first and second food supporting configurations, wherein in the first food supporting configuration the first and second components are connected and the first said component is positioned above and supported by the second component;
- e) wherein in the first food supporting configuration the first component includes a perforated portion for holding food elevated above the pot bottom panel above said cooking fluid level while allowing fluid flow through its perforations via gaseous fluid flow, said first component having a periphery;
- f) wherein the second component is a food holding component having first and second spaced apart upwardly facing U-shaped food holding concave members that are each sized and shaped to receive and hold a poultry article to be cooked in said second food supporting configuration, wherein the poultry article is in contact with the upwardly facing food holding concave members, wherein the concave members of the second food holding component are configured to support said poultry article in the second food supporting configuration below said fluid level when said second component is not a part of nor connected to the first component;
- g) the said U-shaped concave members of the second component, in the first food supporting configuration, having first and second pairs of arms with arm free ends that engage said periphery and hold the first component in an elevated position above the pot bottom panel and below the pot rim;
- h) wherein the second component has a lower end portion which is in contact with the bottom panel of the pot during both the first and second food supporting configurations;
- and
- i) wherein the said U-shaped concave members have upper free end portions that support the first component above the fluid level in the first food supporting configuration.
7 more elements
An outdoor cooking apparatus comprising:
- a) a burner frame having upper and lower end portions, the lower end portion being configured to engage an underlying support surface and the upper end portion providing a pot support;
- b) a burner element mounted on the frame;
- c) a pot that rests upon the pot support during cooking, the pot having a bottom panel, a plurality of sidewalls, an open top, an interior for holding a cooking medium having a liquid cooking medium surface, and a pot rim;
- d) a food holding insert having a base, a pair of spaced apart U-shaped concave poultry holders on said base and a plurality of hooks attached to the base which hooks can detachably connect the insert to the pot rim, and when detachably connected to the pot rim the plurality of hooks hold the food holding insert at a vertically elevated position relative to the bottom panel of the pot, and at the same time the elevated position is above the cooking medium, the food holding insert further having a plurality of detachably connectable components providing multiple food holding configurations;
- e) a first food holding configuration, wherein the pair of U-shaped spaced apart concave holders cradle a food item placed upon the concave holders, each concave holder including a pair of arms, each arm having a free end, and wherein the insert is in contact with the bottom panel of the pot;
- f) a perforated steamer plate having a periphery and that is connectable to the food holding insert at an elevated position that places the steamer plate above both the food holding insert and the liquid cooking medium surface;
- g) a second food holding configuration, wherein the perforated steamer plate is vertically supported by the free ends of the said concave holders at a vertically elevated position above the bottom panel of the pot, wherein the free ends of the arms of each concave holder connects to the perforated steamer plate at the said periphery;
- h) wherein in said second food holding configuration the perforated steamer plate is vertically elevated above the liquid cooking medium surface and below the pot rim, and the food holding insert is in contact with the bottom panel of the pot;
- i) a third food holding configuration, wherein the perforated steamer plate is not vertically supported by the concave holders, wherein a plurality of generally vertically extending food supports are detachably connected to the base, and each generally vertically extending food support is configured to hold a poultry item to be cooked in the cooking medium, and wherein the insert is in contact with the bottom panel of the pot;
- and
- j) a fourth food holding configuration, wherein the perforated steamer plate is not vertically supported by the concave holders and the plurality of generally vertically extending supports are not connected to the base, wherein a generally horizontally extending food holding support is detachably connected to the base, and which said generally horizontally extending food holding support horizontally holds a poultry item to be cooked in the cooking medium.
8 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.