Abstract:
This invention relates to the field of portable ovens, specifically a portable oven designed to be placed in the ground to employ specific heating and cooking technologies. This portable invention includes several layers or components: a ground layer, or the cavity dug in the terrain, a fire layer, a stone layer or other heating element, a lower layer of packing material, the food layer, an upper layer of packing material, and the cap. The portability of the invention and interchangeability of the parts allow the user to easily create unique cuisine.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    This invention relates to the field of portable ovens, specifically a portable oven designed to be placed in the ground to employ specific heating and cooking technologies. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    Remains of ground ovens are known in the archeological record dating back 10,000 years in North America and 30,000 years globally. Scientists have studied forms of these ovens, such as the various pit structure, heating element technology, rock linings and various other elements. Notably, such differences in the historical record evidence a history of innovation relating to improving this ancient form of cooking food. 
         [0003]    Benefits of cooking food in a ground oven with a stone layer (as opposed to hot-coal heating and open-flame heating) include cooked food that contains more digestible calories due to rock-heating properties that promote fusion of heat and moisture; and easier-to-chew meat, protein-rich, and complex carbohydrate-rich cooked foods, especially in colder environments. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0004]    An idealized composite of a ground oven would consist of several layers: (1) a ground layer, or the cavity dug in the terrain, (2) a fire layer that has been reduced to ashes and/or embers, (3) a stone layer or other heating element, (4) a lower layer of packing material, (5) the food layer, (6) an upper layer of packing material, and (7) the earthen cap. 
         [0005]    Generally, a cooking apparatus would contain a heating element and a surface where the cooking of the food would occur. The ground oven contains additional aspects, such as the stone layer and packing layers, which allow the utilization of all of the properties of heat to contribute to cooking. These additional aspects of the ground oven enable the operator to control and adjust for the thermodynamic properties of heat, such as its intensity and its natural flow of heat from higher energy locations to lower energy locations. The ground oven is particularly useful in controlling for and adjusting for the natural dissipation of heat that ordinary above-ground ovens cannot. The use of stones, or any other object with high heat capacity or thermal mass, decreases the loss of heat due to convection and/or radiation. The water naturally in the ground and soil contributes another effect to the ground oven. As a result of the heating inside the ground oven, attributes of the surrounding soil, such as the surrounding minerals and ground water, flow into the ground oven. Some benefits of this effect include increased nutrients in the food, the ability to control and adapt the acidity and alkalinity of the food, and more efficient break down of proteins making the food more easily digestible. An additional benefit of ground ovens is the reduced risk of fire proliferation in a windy and/or dry environment due to the fact that the heating element is below ground and more easily containable than the above-ground heating element. Subterranean is intended to mean all of the following: completely underground, partially underground, and above the ground. 
         [0006]    The above-mentioned advantages of a traditional ground or heathen oven are incorporated into the present invention. An important advantage of this invention is that the oven is portable, as are all the advantages of the traditional ground oven. This invention is capable of being fixed in a particular location as well as being portable. In addition to the preferred embodiment described below, the present invention will be made in different sizes, allowing the user to select the oven which best suits his or her needs. The user of this invention may select any specific terrain that he or she desires to use to cook their food, and then select the exact location to place the invention in an appropriate sized pit. The user may choose to create their own heating element based on the natural surroundings, or attach a pre-made external heating element. The user may locate stones or any other local high-specific heat object to use as the stone layer. The user also has options to personalize which object to use as the food layer, or whether to use a food layer at all. An oven lid is provided in the invention to simulate the effect of the historical earthen cap. The many options available to the user regarding location, type of heating element, use of stone and packaging, as well as the ability of the user to pack up the portable invention and try a different terrain are valuable aspects of the present invention. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0007]    The foregoing and other features of the invention will become apparent from the following drawings and detailed description of the preferred embodiment of the invention. 
           [0008]      FIG. 1  is a front schematic view of the oven in use. 
           [0009]      FIG. 2  is a semi-exploded view of the base unit of the oven shown in  FIG. 1 . 
           [0010]      FIG. 3  is the top view of the cover of the oven shown in  FIG. 1 . 
           [0011]      FIG. 4  is the bottom view of the cover of the oven shown in  FIG. 1 , showing the integral griddle. 
           [0012]      FIG. 5  is the perspective view of the grill component. 
           [0013]      FIG. 6A  is a removable hinge pin of the oven shown in  FIG. 1 . 
           [0014]      FIG. 6B  is a fixed hinge pin of the oven shown in  FIG. 1 . 
           [0015]      FIG. 7  is the rotisserie skewer component of the oven shown in  FIG. 1 . 
           [0016]      FIG. 8  is a perspective view of the oven shown in  FIG. 1  with the cover shown in  FIG. 3  and  FIG. 4  in place. 
           [0017]      FIG. 9A  is a perspective view of the oven shown in  FIG. 1  with the grill component shown in  FIG. 5  at uppermost position. 
           [0018]      FIG. 9B  is a perspective view of the oven shown in  FIG. 1  with the grill component shown in  FIG. 5  at an alternate, inner position. 
           [0019]      FIG. 10  is a perspective view of the oven shown in  FIG. 1  with the cover shown in  FIG. 3  and  FIG. 4  inverted for utilization of integral griddle shown in  FIG. 4 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       [0020]      FIG. 1  is a front schematic view of the invention in the preferred embodiment. The preferred embodiment is not intended to limit the scope of the invention. The invention is placed into the terrain  11  and secured in said terrain with hinges  61  and  62 , which may be adjusted for depth by applying a certain force to drive hinges  61  and  62  deeper into terrain  11 .  FIG. 1  shows a heat source  12  that is used in the preferred embodiment, and may be adjusted by the user.  FIG. 1  shows the front view of the cooker body  2 , hinge supports  21 , and rotisserie supports  27  which are more fully described in  FIG. 2 .  FIG. 1  shows a grill  5 , which is more fully described in  FIG. 5 .  FIG. 1  also shows a rotisserie skewer  7 , a handle  71  for the rotisserie skewer, and a connector  72  for the rotisserie skewer, which are more fully described in  FIG. 7 . 
         [0021]      FIG. 2  is a semi-exploded view of the invention in the preferred embodiment. The cooker body is shown in a rectangular shape with four fixed hinges  21  on each corner of the body. On two opposite corners, fixed pins  61  are attached permanently to the body. On the other two corners, removable pins  62  can be added and removed to the fixed hinges  21 . The ability of the removable pins  62  to be taken out and replaced allow the user to adjust the grill  5 , and to take apart the cooker body for purposes such as cleaning and transportation. On the inside of the cooker body, which is visible in the exploded view are four indentations  25  at varying heights that allow a space to place the grill  5  inside the cooker body, again allowing flexibility for the user. Between the indentations  25  are holders  26  for the grill  5 . There are three holes  24  for each holder  26 , and there are three holders  26  at varying heights inside the cooker body. The uppermost holder  23  is at the top of the cooker body and extends slightly inside and outside the cooker body, relative to the three holders  26  located inside the cooker body. On two sides of the cooker body, there are handles  27  and  28  that are fixed to the cooker body. Handle  27  has a diamond-shaped perforation, and handle  28  has a circular perforation. Handle  27  has a latch on top which opens to allow the rotisserie skewer  7  to be placed inside handle  27 . In the preferred embodiment, the rotisserie skewer handle  71  and connector  72  will be placed in close proximity to handle  27 , while the opposite end of rotisserie skewer  7  will be in close proximity to handle  28 , as seen in  FIG. 1 . 
         [0022]      FIG. 3  shows the top view of cover  3  with two handles  32  on either side that the user may grasp to remove the cover. Located in the bottom right of the view in  FIG. 3  is a vent  31  that includes four perforations that the user may rotate to allow byproducts of cooking to escape the cooker body. Located on the top and bottom of cover  3  in the view of  FIG. 3  are three protruding studs  33  which allow the user to keep cover  3  in place by inserting studs  33  into holes  24 . 
         [0023]      FIG. 4  shows the bottom view of cover  3 , and also shows the griddle  4  and griddle ridge  41  that the user may use to cook food directly on the griddle to alter the cooking properties as opposed to using grill  5  to cook food. The griddle ridge  41  prevents byproducts of cooking from spilling over and contaminating the terrain  11  where the oven is located. 
         [0024]      FIG. 5  is a perspective view of the grill  5 , which has two handles  51  on each side for the user to remove the grill and place at one of the varying indentations  25  within the cooker body. The grill has three studs  52  pointing downward on each side which fit into the holes  24  in any of the four locations within the cooker body. 
         [0025]      FIG. 6A  is the removable pin  62  with a ring affixed to the pin to allow the user to remove the pin and disassemble the apparatus. The removable pin is designed to be driven into the terrain  11  above the heating element  12 . 
         [0026]      FIG. 6B  is a view of the fixed pin  61  which is affixed to two of the four corners of the cooker body, and is designed to be driven into the terrain  11  above the heating element  12 . 
         [0027]      FIG. 7  is the view of rotisserie skewer  7  which as the rotisserie skewer handle  71  connected by a connector  72 , which allows the user to crank the rotisserie skewer  7  in a circular motion to cook food over the heating apparatus at an even rate. As shown in  FIG. 2 , Handle  27  has a diamond-shaped perforation, and handle  28  has a circular perforation. Handle  27  has a latch on top which opens to allow the rotisserie skewer  7  to be placed inside handle  27 . In the preferred embodiment, the rotisserie skewer handle  71  and connector  72  will be placed in close proximity to handle  27 , while the opposite end of rotisserie skewer  7  will be in close proximity to handle  28 , as seen in  FIG. 1 . 
         [0028]      FIG. 8  is the perspective view of the invention with the cover  3  in place in the position as cover  3  is viewed in  FIG. 3 . In this perspective, the uppermost holder  23  at the top of the cooker body is visible as it extends slightly outside the cooker body relative to cover  3 . 
         [0029]      FIG. 9A  is the perspective view of the invention with grill  5  in place with studs  52  placed within holes  24  in uppermost holder  23  at the top of the cooker body. 
         [0030]      FIG. 9B  is the perspective view of the invention with grill  5  in place inside the cooker body  2  with studs  52  sitting inside holes  24  at one of the four indentations  25  and said grill  5  held in place by holder  26 . 
         [0031]      FIG. 10  is the perspective view of the invention with the cover  3  in place in the position as cover  3  is viewed in  FIG. 4 . In this perspective, the uppermost holder  23  at the top of the cooker body is visible as it extends slightly outside the cooker body relative to cover  3 . In this perspective, as in  FIG. 4 , the griddle  4  and griddle ridge  41  are visible.