Abstract:
A broiler tool including at least one stand, such stand being adapted to seat on a broiler grill; a char station, the char station being supported by the at least one stand, and the char station being at a first level above the grill; and a shield, the shield being supported by the at least one stand, and the shield being at a second level above the grill and above the char station.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     None.  
       STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT  
       [0002]     Not Applicable.  
       APPENDIX  
       [0003]     Not Applicable.  
       BACKGROUND  
       [0004]     Although broiling meat is an old and well developed art, several problems in this art remain for the modern restaurateur offering fine dining. These include cooking several items, such as steaks, to order simultaneously in the same broiler. Cooks must manage multiple steaks in a broiler so that a particular steak may be prepared well done, without overcooking adjacent steaks that are ordered to be prepared medium or rare.  
         [0005]     Modern broilers are generally comprised of a downward facing horizontal flat surface comprised of perforated tiles. Above the tiles are infra red heating elements that create a space beneath the tiles that is heated, typically in the range of 1400-1600 degrees. Below this space is arranged an upward facing horizontal grill. The grill is entirely flat, usually backed by a short vertical wall to prevent steaks from slipping over the back end. The sides of the grill typically have narrow channels running forward to back. The entire grill is mounted on a drawer that a cook may slide in and out horizontally. Commercial grade grills are generally large enough to accommodate simultaneous cooking of anywhere from one to fifty steaks. The drawers are generally controllable so that they can be moved to selected heights. A typical mechanical control device is a lever with alternative resting slots. The cook&#39;s selection of one or another of the slots places the grill at one or another vertical distance from the heating tiles above it. Accordingly, the preparation of the steaks may be controlled in only two ways: by the distance of the top surface of the steak from the heating tiles; and by controlling the amount of time the steak is cooked.  
         [0006]     The problem of properly cooking a steak and improperly cooking adjacent steaks is complicated when a customer orders a steak to be prepared in a fashion known as “char” or “char rare.” This method of preparation requires very rapid cooking of at least one surface of a steak so that it becomes well done at the surface, while remaining rare, or even cool, in the middle. In order to properly repair a “char rare” steak, the steak must be placed very close to the heating elements. Within a typical modern broiler for a commercial restaurant as described, this distance would be on the order of an inch. The time required for properly charring a single side of a “char rare” steak is on the order of two minutes. Thus, within the generalized problem of properly cooking adjacent steaks to different preparation orders, there is the particular problem of cooking any steaks at all in a broiler simultaneously with a steak ordered “char rare,” without improperly also charring steaks that are not ordered “char rare.” Prior solutions to this dilemma have been simply to cook the “char rare” steak by itself. On a busy night when many orders need to be prepared, this solution delays the preparation of most steaks for many customers and leads to obvious work flow difficulties in the kitchen.  
         [0007]     There is a need in the art for a broiling tool with which a steak may be prepared “char rare” or “well done” without interrupting the simultaneous preparation of other steaks ordered to be prepared differently. Moreover, the action of withdrawing and reinserting the grill door into the broiler, especially when the broiler is being put in heavy use by a busy cook, requires that any tool being used to supplement the grill would be capable of a reasonable fixation or interlocking with the standard grill and drawer components to prevent unwanted movement of the tool dulling use of the grill drawer. There is a need to minimize the number of tools or items in a broiler cooking space. Finally, there is an ongoing need for economy and durability.  
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0008]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of the broiler tool of the present invention;  
         [0009]      FIG. 2  is a side view of the broiler tool;  
         [0010]      FIG. 3  is a top view of the broiler tool;  
         [0011]      FIG. 4  is a top view of the broiler tool showing an embodiment of the shield.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0012]     Referring to the accompanying drawings in which like reference numbers indicate like elements, broiler tool  10  is configured and dimensioned to be mounted in a broiler on the grill drawer and over the grill. The broiler tool  10  includes a char station  12  and a shield  14 .  
         [0013]     The grill is comprised of multiple parallel bars or rods  20  arranged in a horizontal bed. The depicted grill is flanked by channels  22 , which are narrow, aligned along the direction the drawer travels, and somewhat lower than the grill bed  20 . Steaks to be cooked are placed on the grill bed  20 . Accordingly, the grill bed  20  is a first cooking surface beneath the horizontal heating element above.  
         [0014]     The broiler tool  10  defines a second cooking surface, the char station  12 . It is anywhere from 2-4 inches above the grilling surface. When added to a standard thickness of a steak, which is on the order of 2½-3½ inches, in the type of restaurants using the broilers herein described, the char station is dimensioned at a sufficient height to place the top surface of a steak to be prepared char rare within an inch of the heating surface above it.  
         [0015]     The additional elevation of the char station  12  allows a single or small number of steaks to be prepared char rare, while a number of other steaks remain on the grill bed  20  for other preparations.  
         [0016]     It may also be the case that certain steaks are ordered rare. Any steak may be shielded from the heat, according to the cook&#39;s discretion, but a heat shield would be particularly useful for preparation of rare steaks. Accordingly, the shield  14  is dimensioned to be at a third elevation. The shield  14  is to be positioned above a cooking steak and between it and the horizontal heating element above. In this fashion the broiler tool  10  gives the cook additional control. The shield  14  blocks the heat radiating from the heating element above onto the steak, thereby slowing its cooking.  
         [0017]     Both the char station  12  and the shield  14 , as well as a transitional member  16  between them, are constructed of a perforated metal grid, grill, grating or other material suitable for withstanding heat, supporting a steak and also having perforations therein.  
         [0018]     The shield  14  is further comprised of an additional modification. In the disclosed embodiment, as is best seen in  FIG. 4 , the shield  14  is comprised of two metal grates, each made from a heavy perforated mesh. In the depicted embodiment, these grates are overlapping and offset from one another. The effect of connecting two grates in a layered fashion, one on top of another horizontally, and offsetting them is to increase the amount of metal shielding surface, and decrease the surface area of the perforations there-through. The metal intersections of one grate are located over the holes of the other grate, creating four small holes where a single grate would have one large hole. The depicted embodiment has been found to usefully correspond to the structural configuration and heat characteristics of standard commercial broilers.  
         [0019]     The broiler tool  10  is further comprised of legs  30  and  32 . The legs attach the char station  12  and shield  14  to support bars  34 . In the depicted embodiment, support bars  34  are dimensioned to fit within channels  22  of the grill drawer. Thus, the broiler tool  10  is stabilized against unwanted movement, while the legs  30  and  32  support the broiler tool  10  at the preconfigured elevations.  
         [0020]     The depicted embodiment of the broiler tool also includes a hook or stop  40 . This element is attached to the back of the broiler tool  10  and positioned to contact a back panel of the broiler drawer. Thus, the stop or hook  40  prevents unwanted forwards and backwards motion of the broiler tool  10  when the drawer is opened and shut.  
         [0021]     In the depicted embodiment, the legs  30  and  32  are slanted diagonally. This configuration places the lateral edges of the char station  12  and shield  14  inboard of the channels  22 . This configuration provides clearance for certain mechanical linkages found in some commercial grills, which may include travel bars, levers, and the like with bolts that project inwardly and would interfere with travel of the broiler tool were the offset legs not used.  
         [0022]     The shield is dimensioned at a height sufficient for a standard thickness of steak to be placed underneath it.  
         [0023]     In view of the foregoing, it will be seen that the several advantages of the invention are achieved and attained.  
         [0024]     The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and its practical application to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the invention in various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated.  
         [0025]     As various modifications could be made in the constructions and methods herein described and illustrated without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the foregoing description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative rather than limiting. Thus, the breadth and scope of the present invention should not be limited by any of the above-described exemplary embodiments, but should be defined only in accordance with the following claims appended hereto and their equivalents.