Abstract:
The specification discloses a smoker oven for cooking and smoking food including a housing with an uppermost and lowermost cooking chamber. Hot, smoke laden air is produced and circulated inside the housing, and means are provided for directing the flow of circulating air horizontally through each chamber, passing the air through the uppermost and lowermost chambers in essentially opposite horizontal directions. Means for baffling and diffusing the airflow into each cooking chamber provide uniformly distributed horizontal airflow through each cooking member.

Description:
BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to cooking devices and more particularly relates to oven type cookers which utilize hot, smoke laden air to cook and flavor food. 
     Smoked foods are typicaly produced by slowly cooking food in a smoke laden environment. This has long been accomplished by means of a fire or smoker inside a substantially closed container. The fact that undercooked and overcooked food was often produced in the same batch has generally been tolerated. The uneven cooking problem stems from the fact that airflow patterns inside the cooking device have often been left to chance, or at best airflow management inside the device has been given a secondary role. 
     The present invention focuses on the uneven cooking problem and provides means for circulating, means for directing, and means for baffling the hot, smoke laden air inside the housing so that a uniform horizontal flow pattern contacts food disposed for cooking inside the cooking chambers. 
     In accordance with the present invention, a smoker oven for smoking and cooking food by passing heated, smoke laden air by the food is provided. A housing has at least uppermost and lowermost cooking chambers configured to form a vertical stack in the housing. Heating means are provided for heating the air inside the housing, and smoking means generate smoke inside the housing. Means are provided for circulating heated, smoke laden air within the housing. Also, means are provided for directing the flow of circulating heated, smoke laden air within the housing. Also, means are provided for directing the flow of circulating air horizontally through each cooking chamber, passing the air through the uppermost and lowermost chambers in essentially opposite horizontal directions. Means are also provided for baffling the flow of air into each cooking chamber so that airflow is uniformly distributed through each cooking chamber. 
     The advantages and further aspects of the present invention will be readily appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective front view of a smoker oven constructed in the preferred form, with a the front panel cut away exposing the firebox. 
     FIG. 2 is an expanded view of a wall portion of the oven. 
     FIG. 3 front view of the oven. 
     FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic side view of the cooker oven. 
     FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic frontal view of the cooker oven with the housing front cover cut away. 
     FIG. 6 is an expanded diagrammatic view of a fan and plenum also shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Referring now to the drawings in which like reference characters refer to like or similar parts throughout the several views, there is shown in FIG. 1 a smoker oven 1 embodying one form of the present invention. A housing 10 configured as the outer walls of a rectangular body encloses and partially defines an upper cooking chamber 20 and a lower cooking chamber 22. An upper drip pan 25 disposed horizontally in the housing 10 forms a rectangular partition between the upper cooking chamber 20 and the lower cooking chamber 22. A generally rectangular firebox 15 is positioned near the first end cover of the housing and is exposed in the drawing by the partial cut away. Preferably the firebox 15 is constructed of sheet metal and holds wood which generates smoke (represented by 19) when heated. Heat passes to the firebox 15 from the burner 6 through a heat tube 21. The heated, smoke laden air is circulated through the housing 10 by a fan means 30 positioned above the firebox 15 and attached to the housing 10. The airflow pattern, indicated in FIG. 1 by a arrow line 40, is generally upward from the firebox 15, horizontally through the upper cooking chamber 20 away from the firebox 15, arcuately downward from the upper cooking chamber 20 to the lower cooking chamber 22, and horizontally through the lower cooking chamber 22 toward the firebox 15. 
     Referring to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 the preferred housing design and underlying structure can be described. Tubular members 11A are welded to form a frame 11. The members are preferably filled with insulating material 11B. To the frame is attached the housing 10 comprising a front cover 10E, rear cover 10F, first end cover 10A, second end cover 10B, top cover 10D and a bottom cover 10C. Access doors 14 are mounted on the front cover 10E with hinges to provide access to the cooking chambers 20 and 22. Cleanout doors 12 in the front cover 10E allow access to clean away possible smoke precipitate accumulations. A firebox door 16 provides access to the firebox 15 through the front cover 10E. In the preferred design, a gas burner 6 occupies a cubical cavity shown in FIG. 4 at the right, rear, lower portion of the housing 10. An external vent 17 provided in the top cover 10D pipes excess smoke and pressure from inside the housing 10, thus minimizing smoke leakage through the access doors 14, cleanout doors 12, and firebox door 16. 
     The airflow system of the preferred embodiment of the cooker oven is illustrated in FIGS. 1, 4, 5 and 6. Hot, smoke laden air from the firebox 15 (represented by 19) is pulled upward by a fan means 30 and is pushed through a manifold 32, into a plenum 35, through a perforated chamber wall 36, along an arcuate deflector 38, and through a perforated baffle plate 42 back to the firebox area in a circuitous manner as indicated by arrows 40. 
     The plenum 35 is essentially a hollow sheet metal duct enclosed by the following surfaces: a portion of the top cover 10D; a portion of the front cover 10E; a portion of the rear cover 10F; a perforated chamber wall 36 which comprises a flat metal plate disposed vertically inside the housing at the first end (right in the drawings) of the upper cooking chamber 20, the chamber wall 36 being generally bounded by the top cover 10D, front cover 10E, rear cover 10F, and upper drip pan 25; and a plenum wall 34 with a generally flat upper portion which lies parallel to the perforated chamber wall 36 at a distance R from the chamber wall 36, and a rounded lower portion configured as an arc of a cylinder arcing upward along the first end of the upper drip pan 25 from the first end of the upper drip pan 25 to the generally flat upper portion of the plenum wall 34 about a radius R forming a concave face toward the perforated chamber wall 36. 
     The preferred manifold 32 includes a rectangular hollow tube disposed horizontally inside the plenum 35 parallel to the perforated chamber wall 36. The length of the maniflod 32 extends substantially from the front cover 10E to the rear cover 10F. The manifold is configured to receive air from the fan means 30 and distribute air along its length into the plenum 35 (see 40, FIG. 6). 
     Air inside the plenum 35 is pushed through holes in the perforated chamber wall 36. The holes operate to baffle and guide the hot, smoke laden air into a uniform horizontal flow pattern. Tray holders 24 are provided for disposing food horizontally inside the upper cooking chamber 20 and lower cooking chamber 22 so that multiple food pieces are uniformly cooked by the horizontal airflow. 
     An arcuate deflector 38, preferably a rectangular sheet metal plate, is disposed generally vertically within the housing 10 having a pronounced arcuate bend along its length when viewed from the front of the cooker oven as in FIG. 4. The bend in the length of the arcuate deflector 38 arches outwardly away from the cooking chambers toward the second housing end cover 10B forming a concave face toward the cooking chambers. When viewed from the second end of the housing 10, the arcuate deflector 38, when in place, should have dimensions approximating those of the second end cover so that the second end of the housing 10 is effectively sealed by the arcuate deflector 38. 
     Air passing through the upper cooking chamber 20 is directed along the arcuate deflector 38 toward and into the lower cooking chamber 22. As air enters the lower cooking chamber 22 it must pass through a perforated baffle plate 42 which is preferably a flat metal plate disposed vertically inside the housing 10 along and below the second end of the upper drip pan 25. The perforated baffle plate is generally bounded by the upper drip pan 25, bottom cover 10C, front cover 10E and rear cover 10F. The air passes through holes in the baffle plate 42 which are configured to baffle and guide the air through the lower cooking chamber 22 in a uniform horizontal flow pattern. 
     Additional components of the preferred cooker oven 1 shown in FIG. 1 include a bottom drip pan 28 disposed under the cooking chambers along the bottom cover 10C and a drain 26 positioned near the center of the bottom drip pan 28 and extending through the bottom cover 10C. The bottom drip pan 28 and drain 26 facilitate sanitary handling of drippings from the food being cooked. 
     Although a particular embodiment is disclosed herein, it is not intended to limit the scope of the invention and it is understood that the invention is capable of numberous modifications, rearrangements, or substitutions of parts without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.