Abstract:
An apparatus for barbecue cooking and smoking is described herein. Provided is a grill enclosure having a grill chamber and an adjustable vent to allow smoke to be released from the grill chamber. Additionally, an adjustable venting hood is coupled to the grill enclosure to channel and control smoke from the grill chamber. A smoker that is coupled to the venting hood receives the smoke channeled from the grill chamber. The smoker includes one or more racks connected to an axle capable of movement.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     The present application claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) to U.S. Provision Application No. 60/681,876, filed May 16, 2005. 
    
    
     FIELD 
     Embodiments of the invention relate to cooking devices, and more particularly to barbecues and smokers. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Barbeque cooking has been and continues to be a popular form of food preparation. Part of the allure of barbeque cooking is the exposure of the food to flame (direct or indirect), smoke created by any number of well-known techniques (e.g., wood, wood chips, wood pellets, or charcoal), and/or a combination thereof. Proper barbequing techniques, and in particular those predominantly or exclusively utilizing indirect heat or smoke, are often time consuming and may be enjoyed less frequently as a result despite the desired food outcome. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The following description includes discussion of various figures having illustrations given by way of example of implementations of embodiments of the invention. The drawings should be understood by way of example, and not by way of limitation. 
         FIGS. 1A and 1B  illustrate an external view of one embodiment of a barbeque and smoker. 
         FIG. 2  illustrates a conceptual view of one embodiment of a barbeque and smoker. 
         FIG. 3  illustrates a conceptual view of another embodiment of a barbeque and smoker. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Various embodiments of the barbeque and smoker described herein provide the ability to combine the direct heat and smoke of a barbeque grill with the indirect heating and smoking of a smoker. Furthermore, the combination of the barbeque grill and the smoker may be a mobile trailer shaped like a locomotive that simultaneously offers the flexibility of travel and aesthetic appeal. 
       FIGS. 1A and 1B  illustrate different perspectives of an external view of one embodiment of a barbeque and smoker. Generally speaking, the overall design of an embodiment includes a grill enclosure  110  (the body of the locomotive) and a smoker portion  120  (the cab of the locomotive). Both are mounted on a trailer  140  that can be, for example, towed by a car, truck, recreational vehicle, or any other type of vehicle that is capable of towing. Joining the grill enclosure  110  and the smoker portion  120  is a vent hood  130  that channels heat and smoke from the grill enclosure to the smoker portion. 
       FIG. 2  illustrates a conceptual view of one embodiment of a barbeque and smoker. In particular, the grill enclosure  110  may include an adjustable vent opening  150  that allows smoke and/or heat to be released from the interior, or grill chamber, of grill enclosure  110 . Adjustable vent  150  provides control of both heat and smoke for grill enclosure  110 , and subsequently, for smoker portion  120 . 
     In one embodiment, adjustable vent hood  130  may channel smoke and/or heat from grill enclosure  110  to smoker portion  120 . Adjustable vent hood  130  may function in combination with adjustable vent opening  150  to control smoke and/or heat for both grill enclosure  110  and smoker  120 . 
     In one embodiment, smoker portion  120  may include circular racks  124 - 126  arranged as, for example, a Lazy Susan. In one embodiment, the circular rack or racks (though illustrated with two racks, there may be one or many racks) rotate around an axle  122  and can be adjusted for height/position along axle  122 . In one embodiment, a motor is attached to the axle to cause the rotation. The ability to rotate the circular racks  124 - 126  and to adjust the height/position allows the user to control the amount of heat and smoke to which food items on the circular rack or racks is exposed. Further, the racks  124 - 126  may be rotated continuously around the axis to improve the uniformity with which the food items contained thereon are exposed to the indirect heat and smoke channeled through vent hood  130 . Further still, multiple racks with different heights/positions may be employed to simultaneously smoke food items that would benefit from, for example, the heat difference created by the separation of the racks, the height/position of the racks, or a combination thereof. 
     The opening of vent hood  130  can be fully opened or fully closed. Additionally, vent hood  130  may further be adjusted to be in a partially open position for which the vent opening is neither fully open nor fully closed. The adjustability of vent hood  130  between fully open, fully closed, and positions between allows the amount of heat and smoke entering smoker portion  120  from grill enclosure  110  through vent hood  130  to be adjusted to control the cooking environment within the smoker portion chamber. In one embodiment, the adjustability of vent hood  130  is controlled by vent door  160 . Vent door  160  is a wheel-shaped door that rotates between open and closed positions to control the flow of heat and smoke into smoker portion  120 .  FIG. 3  illustrates another embodiment including a sliding vent door  170  that may also be adjusted between open and closed positions. Additionally, adjustable vent  150  may also be adjusted between open and closed position by opening or closing an adjustable vent door (e.g. vent doors  160  and/or  170 ). 
     In one example embodiment of the invention, if food items on grill enclosure  110  require high heat, the opening of vent hood  130  may be only open a little so as to not overheat the smoker portion  120  chamber. The opening of vent hood  130  may be similarly adjusted to control the amount of smoke entering the smoker portion  120  depending on the environment of grill enclosure  110 . Further, the opening of vent hood  130  may be in situ adjusted to accommodate a uniform smoking session that spans multiple grilling sessions of varying heat and smoke production or to modify the smoking environment during the smoking session. 
     In one embodiment, the smoke produced by the grill enclosure that is channeled through vent hood  130  and into the smoker portion  120  contains not only smoke produced by the fuel source in the grill (e.g., wood products, charcoal, or a combination thereof) but also smoke produced, if any, by the grilled food items if there are any food items present. Grill enclosure  110  may produce heat and smoke in the absence of any food items therein should it be necessary to operate an embodiment exclusively as a smoker. 
     The grill enclosure  110  may further include vent(s)  150  to the outside to mitigate the amount of smoke and heat that is directed to the smoker portion and/or to better control the grilling environment. For example, the vent opening of vent hood  130  in the smoker portion may, for a particular application, be in a relatively closed position. With such an arrangement, the outside chamber vent  150  can be used to further help control the temperature, smoke, an overall environment within the grill enclosure. 
     An embodiment combining both the grill enclosure and the smoker portion further allows simultaneous grilling and smoking, or either cooking method independently. By combining the two cooking methods, a user is able to more efficiently utilize the fuel source, as well as his or her time, to create grilled and/or smoked food products. 
     As used herein, references to one or more “embodiments” are to be understood as describing a particular feature, structure, or characteristic included in at least one implementation of the invention. Thus, phrases such as “in one embodiment” or “in an alternate embodiment” appearing herein describe various embodiments and implementations of the invention, and do not necessarily all refer to the same embodiment. However, they are also not necessarily mutually exclusive. Descriptions of certain details and implementations follow, including a description of the figures, which may depict some or all of the embodiments described below, as well as discussing other potential embodiments or implementations of the inventive concepts presented herein. 
     Besides what is described herein, various modifications may be made to the disclosed embodiments and implementations of the invention without departing from their scope. Therefore, the illustrations and examples herein should be construed in an illustrative, and not a restrictive sense. The scope of the invention should be measured solely by reference to the claims that follow.