Continuous cooking grill

A continuous cooking grill for cooking and conveying a food item therethrough comprising:

• an enclosure including a cover, said enclosure defining an entrance and an exit;
• a conveying mechanism for advancing the food item from said entrance to said exit;
• a heating element located above said conveying mechanism and intermediate said cover and said conveying mechanism for cooking the food item during movement along said conveying mechanism without any heating element being located below said conveying mechanism for preventing the generation of excessive smoke caused by said drippings falling onto a heated surface;
• and
• means associated with the conveying mechanism for inverting the food item during movement along the conveying mechanism,
• said enclosure including a bottom presenting a substantially open area located beneath said conveying mechanism for enabling drippings generated during cooking of the food item to drop downwardly, out of the grill.

A cooking grill for reduced smoke cooking of food items comprising:

• a food supporting grid
• a heating element positioned above the grid for cooking food items supported thereby without any heating element being located below said grid;
• and
• an enclosure having substantially upright sidewalls positioned in surrounding relationship to said grid and extending above and below said grid, a cover substantially spanning said sidewalls over said grid, means elevating said enclosure relative to a supporting surface, said sidewalls defining therebetween substantially open area located below said grid whereby drippings generated during cooking of said food items may drop directly therethrough without substantial contact with heated surface and pass out of said enclosure.