Abstract:
Cooking grates and grills incorporating such cooking grates are provided. A representative cooking grate includes: a plurality of elongate elements of heat resistant material, the elements being V-shaped in transverse cross-section, each of the elements having a first lower edge, a second lower edge and a vertex, the first lower edge and the second lower edge being spaced from each other with the vertex being located therebetween, the vertex being operative as a cooking surface to support food during cooking on the cooking grate; corresponding adjacent lower edges of adjacent ones of the elements being oriented to define gaps therebetween such that a first of the gaps, defined by a first lower edge of a first element and a second lower edge of a second element, exhibits a width of between approximately 5% and approximately 18% of a distance between the first lower edge and the second lower edge of the first element.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This utility application claims the benefit of and priority to U.S. provisional application entitled, “Flame Arresting and Heat Radiating Cooking Grate,” having Ser. No. 61/061,018, filed Jun. 12, 2008, which is entirely incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     Technical Field 
     This disclosure relates to cooking grills. 
     Description of the Related Art 
     Outdoor cooking grills are popular for many reasons including enhanced food flavor and enjoyment of the outdoor cooking process. Gas-fired cooking grills are popular for home use and differ from traditional barbecue grills in that they rely upon a gas flame for heat energy, as opposed to the combustion of charcoal briquettes or the like. Conventional burner gas grills frequently utilize generally tubular burners having multiple combustion ports or orifices. In the past, the grills often employed an inert material, such as so-called “lava rocks” or ceramic tiles, to absorb drippings from food cooking on a grate positioned above the material and to radiate heat for providing a more even heat distribution. In other more recent embodiments of conventional burner grills, metal plates of suitable material are placed between the burner and the food to protect the burner, distribute the flow of convectively heated gas and air, and provide some radiation heating. Infrared burner gas grills provide a generally planar heat source where the combustion occurs at or near the surface of a ceramic or fiber element. The planar configuration of infrared burners reduces or eliminates the need for the inert material with respect to heat distribution. 
     In all these cases, the food support element referred to hereinafter as the cooking grate was a relatively open structure with more than 50% open area defined as the ratio of empty to solid material when looking down on the grate in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the grate. The purpose of this open area was to let hot gases of combustion pass to and around the food disposed on the grate leading to predominately convective heating and cooking of the food, although secondary heating by radiation from burners and plates, tiles, rocks and other hot objects below the grate do contribute to heating the food. 
     A perceived disadvantage with such grills as described is that food drippings, such as liquefied greases and oils, pass through the open spaces in the grate and come into contact with gas flames or hot surfaces during cooking causing flash flames or “flare-ups,” which can result in the charring of the food product being grilled. Although vaporization of the food drippings is desirable because the vapors enhance the flavor of food cooked on a grill, the flare-ups and flame contact frequently associated with the food drippings can be detrimental to the resulting quality of grilled food. 
     One attempted solution to the problem of flare-ups includes U.S. Pat. No. 5,355,780 to Campbell, which discloses a grate for a cooking grill that utilizes the spacing between the rails to prevent flames from passing through the spaces. This is shown as prior art in  FIG. 1 . Notably, grill  10  of  FIG. 1  includes a base  16 , a lid  14  (with handle  18  and hinges  20 ) and a cooking grate  12 , all of which are supported by a pedestal  22 . It should also be noted that tests of this device showed that high temperatures on the top surfaces of the grate bars led to grease fires. In addition, the grate was very heavy and expensive to manufacture due to the high weight density per square inch of the solid bars. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 6,114,666 to Best utilizes a ceramic infrared radiant energy emitter that is positioned above the heat source. The emitter blocks the flow of heated convective gas to the cooking grate, and re-radiates thermal energy that is absorbed from the burner below. However, in the form disclosed, grease fires can exist on the radiant emitter and pass through the grate, which has substantial open area, and contact the food. 
     EP Patent 1776028 to Best discloses the radiant emitter brought up into substantially close contact to the cooking grate where the cooking grate includes a series of vertical ribs. These vertical ribs form channels into which insufficient air is admitted in a downward direction from above against the thermal gradient established in the channel to allow combustion of grease drippings in the channel. Cooking is then achieved using only radiant heat from the emitter and the vertical ribs. A perceived limitation of this invention is that a special material or construction is required to prevent warping of the flat surface in close proximity to the vertical ribs. 
     U.S. patent application 20070125357 to R. Johnston, discloses a means by which a perforated plate is used to limit the flow of hot gas and air to the food which is located in close vertical proximity to the perforated plate by a series of vertical ribs. These vertical ribs function similarly to those in EP 1776028 in terms of reducing combustion of grease drippings in the channel, although the perforated holes limit the effectiveness of this feature by allowing some air to enter the channels from below. Cooking is carried out by a combination of convective heat through the perforated holes and radiant heat from the perforated plate and the heated vertical ribs. Flare ups that exist below the perforated plate following passage of reduced animal fats and grease to the hot surfaces below the plate are not able to pass through the small holes and, therefore, do not contact the food, although the heat generated by flares ups does make an overall contribution to cooking. However, this invention has perceived limitations in that the perforated plate is hard to clean and difficult to manufacture, and the grate includes two independent assemblies of substantial complexity. 
     Other devices, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,911,812, utilize fluid channels to direct the food drippings away from the hottest section of the cooking grill. Still other devices, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,314,870, utilize various forms of drip pans placed between the item being cooked and the heat source. In some cases, the above described devices require additional grill structural features for proper implementation. For example, the emitter of U.S. Pat. No. 6,114,666 require a support structure between the heat source and the cooking grate. Similarly, others of the devices reduce the flavor of the cooked food by completely eliminating or reducing the favorable impact of the food drippings. 
     SUMMARY 
     Cooking grates and grills incorporating such cooking grates are provided. In this regard, an exemplary embodiment of a cooking grate comprises: a plurality of elongate elements of heat resistant material, the elements being V-shaped in transverse cross-section, each of the elements having a first lower edge, a second lower edge and a vertex, the first lower edge and the second lower edge being spaced from each other with the vertex being located therebetween, the vertex being operative as a cooking surface to support food during cooking on the cooking grate; corresponding adjacent lower edges of adjacent ones of the elements being oriented to define gaps therebetween such that a first of the gaps, defined by a second lower edge of a first element and a first lower edge of a second element, exhibits a width of between approximately 5% and approximately 18% of a distance between the first lower edge and the second lower edge of the first element. 
     An exemplary embodiment of a cooking grill comprises: a base operative to house a heat source; a lid attached to the base; and a cooking grate supported by the base and positioned above the heat source; the cooking grate comprising: a plurality of elongate elements of heat resistant material, each of the elements having a first edge and a second edge with a cooking surface being formed between the first edge and the second edge of each element; corresponding adjacent edges of adjacent ones of the elements being oriented to define gaps therebetween such that a first of the gaps, defined by a second edge of a first element and a first edge of a second element, exhibits a width of between approximately 5% and approximately 18% of a distance between the first edge and the second edge of the first element. 
     Other systems, methods, features and/or advantages of this disclosure will be or may become apparent to one with skill in the art upon examination of the following drawings and detailed description. It is intended that all such additional systems, methods, features and/or advantages be included within this description and be within the scope of the present disclosure. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Many aspects of embodiments of the present disclosure can be better understood with reference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the present disclosure. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views. 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a prior art embodiment shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,355,780 to Campbell. 
         FIG. 2  is an isometric view of a prior art cooking grate. 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective view showing hamburgers being cooked on a prior art cooking grate with an open-grate configuration. 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective view showing hamburgers being cooked on an embodiment of a cooking grate with a closed-grate configuration. 
         FIG. 5  is an isometric section view of an embodiment of a cooking grate with a closed-grate configuration. 
         FIG. 6  is a cross-sectional end view of another embodiment of a cooking grate with a closed-grate configuration. 
         FIG. 7  is an isometric section view of another embodiment of a cooking grate with a closed-grate configuration. 
         FIG. 8  is an isometric section view of another embodiment of a cooking grate with a closed-grate configuration. 
         FIG. 9  is an isometric section view of another embodiment of a cooking grate with a closed-grate configuration. 
         FIG. 10  is a cross-sectional end view of another embodiment of a cooking grate with a closed-grate configuration. 
         FIG. 11  is Table 1A for a Standard Cast Iron Open Grate. 
         FIG. 12  is Table 1B for a standard Cast Iron Open Grate (Central Portion Only). 
         FIG. 13  is Table 2A for a Sample Closed-Configuration Grate. 
         FIG. 14  is Table 2B for a closed configuration Grate (Central Portion Only). 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Cooking grates and grills incorporating such cooking grates are provided that are configured for reducing flare-ups. In this regard, in some embodiments, the cooking grate incorporates elements with narrow gaps between the elements. By way of example, the gaps of some embodiments may be between 5% and 18% of the widths of the elements forming the gaps. In some of these embodiments, the elements can be configured as inverted V-shaped elements, with the vertices of the elements being used as the cooking surfaces for supporting the cooking food. 
     In the past, cooking grates of the substantially open type have made of stamped sheet metal in the form of inverted V-shaped elements with spaces in between. In these open-grate configurations, the spaces between the elements are of a similar magnitude as the width of the elements. An example of this is shown in  FIG. 2 , which is an isometric view of a prior art cooking grate  30 , with elements  32  and  34  being adjacent elements and a space or gap  33  being located therebetween. 
     In  FIG. 3 , another prior art cooking grate with an open-grate configuration is depicted. Specifically, grate  40  is being used to cook hamburgers (e.g., hamburger  42 ) with a significant degree of flare-ups being present (e.g., note flames  44 ). Note that the space between elements (e.g., space  47  between elements  46  and  48 ) is rather wide in comparison to the width of the elements themselves. 
     In order to create a simple but effective way of reducing the effects of flare-ups, creating more even heat across the cooking grate surface, and/or increasing the contribution of infrared heating in the cooking of the food, grate elements are brought into substantially close and defined proximity to each other. This produces a qualitatively different type of performance than achieved with the prior art designs in that the distance between the elements becomes so small, flame suppression characteristics are evident, such as depicted in  FIG. 4 . Specifically,  FIG. 4  is a perspective view showing hamburgers (e.g., hamburger  102 ) being cooked on an embodiment of a cooking grate ( 100 ) with a closed-grate configuration. Note the reduced spacing between elements. For example, elements  104  and  106  define a narrow space or gap  105 . 
     In addition, the relatively restricted air flow across the entire plan of the cooking grate tends to equalize the relatively uneven upward convective flow of gases produced by burners, such as conventional convective burners of the front-to-back tubular type or side-to-side type, for example. 
       FIG. 5  is an isometric section view of an embodiment of a cooking grate with a closed-grate configuration. As shown in  FIG. 5 , grate  110  includes a series of elongate cooking elements (e.g., elements  112 ,  114 ) that are arranged in a side-by-side orientation. Each of the elements is generally V-shaped (although inverted in use) when viewed in transverse cross-section. Specifically, as viewed in cross-section, each of the elements includes a pair of segments (generally linear in shape), each of which terminates in an edge. By way of example, element  116  includes segments  118 ,  120 . Segment  118  terminates in edge  119 , and segment  120  terminates in edge  121 . The edges of each element are parallel. 
     A vertex  122  is located at the intersection of the segments. In this embodiment, vertex  122  is curved. Various other shapes of segments and vertices can be used in other embodiments. 
     Gaps (e.g., gap  124 ) are formed between adjacent elements. As such, the gaps in the embodiment of  FIG. 5  are parallel gaps. Each of the gaps exhibits a width of between approximately 5% and approximately 18%, preferably between approximately 5% and 12%, of the width of a corresponding element. Notably, as used herein, the width of an element is the distance between the edges of the element. 
     The improvement in heat distribution gained by using a dosed-grate configuration, such as the embodiment of  FIG. 5 , instead of an open grate is shown by comparing tests with data reproduced in Tables 1A, 1B and 2A, 28 below, in which the data points in the tables geographically correspond to thermocouple positions. By way of example, temperature measured at the back left of the grate is 788° F., whereas temperature at the front right is 699° F. See  FIG. 11 . 
     As shown in Table 1A, the standard deviation of the population is 42.2, with an average temperature of 717° F. Also, due to the thermocouple locations on the periphery being close to the outside edges of the firebox, which is cooled by contact with ambient air, it is justifiable to measure the central portion of the grate separately. See  FIG. 12 . 
     Thus, by using only the data from the central portion of the grate, the standard deviation of the population is 39.5, with an average temperature of 711° F. 
     In contrast, an exemplary embodiment of a closed-configuration grate tested as shown in  FIG. 13 . 
     As shown in Table 2A, the standard deviation of the population is 45.6, with an average temperature of 704° F. Again, due to the thermocouple locations on the periphery being close to the outside edges of the firebox, which is cooled by contact with ambient air, it is justifiable to measure the central portion of the grate separately. See  FIG. 14 . 
     Thus, by using only the data from the central portion of the grate, the standard deviation of the population is 16.3, with an average temperature of 745° F. Notably, the standard deviation of the temperature of the central (cooking) portion of the tested closed-configuration grate is less than half of that for the open-configuration grate. 
     The temperature difference between the lower edge of the inverted V-shaped element of the embodiment of  FIG. 5  and the top of the vertex has also been measured and calculated using computational fluid dynamics tools. The measurements are shown in Table 3 below. 
     
       
         
               
               
               
             
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
             
           
               
                 TABLE 3 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 Location 
                 Measured temps. (° F.) 
                 Avg. 
               
               
                   
               
             
             
               
                   
               
             
          
           
               
                 Grate Top 
                 665 
                 549 
                 527 
                 513 
                 650 
                 527 
                 572 
               
               
                 Grate Btm 
                 814 
                 672 
                 684 
                 660 
                 798 
                 684 
                 719 
               
               
                 Difference 
                 149 
                 123 
                 157 
                 147 
                 148 
                 157 
                 147 
               
               
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
     Notably, the lower edges of the elements are heated substantially more than the vertices that contact the food. Therefore, the temperature of food contact can be at a level that sears but does not burn while the hotter lower edges can radiate to the food at close range with a higher temperature. 
     In order to define a grate that functions to the above description, we start by noting that the grate geometry is defined by an upper vertex and two lower edges that can form, in some embodiments, a simple inverted V-shape as shown in  FIG. 6 . In this regard,  FIG. 6  is a cross-sectional end view of another embodiment of a cooking grate with a closed-grate configuration, in which the distance A represents the width of an element and distance B represents width of a corresponding gap. As can be seen in the drawing figure, the lower edges of any two adjacent grate elements are disposed in substantially the same plane and thus the gaps between any two lower edges of any two adjacent grate elements are substantially in the same plane. 
     Other embodiments, which can provide the same or similar functions, can maintain the relationship between these three points while exhibiting a form other than a straight line connecting the points. For example, straight line geometry approaching the vertex can be replaced by a curved segment, such as depicted in the embodiment of  FIG. 7 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 7 , grate  150  includes a series of elongate cooking elements (e.g., elements  152 ,  154 ) that are arranged in a side-by-side orientation. Each of the elements is generally V-shaped (although inverted) when viewed in transverse cross-section. Specifically, as viewed in cross-section, each of the elements includes a pair of segments (generally linear in shape), each of which terminates in an edge. By way of example, element  156  includes segments  158 ,  160 , with a vertex  162  being located at the intersection of the segments. Segment  158  terminates in edge  159 , and segment  160  terminates in edge  161 . Notably, the portion of the element that incorporates the vertex is generally an inverted U-shaped portion; however, the overall V-shape of the element cross-section is maintained. 
     In the embodiment of  FIG. 7 , rails are included to maintain the relative positions of the elements. Although only one rail  166  is depicted in  FIG. 7 , this embodiment includes opposing rails, with the outer periphery of the grate being rectangular. 
     Another embodiment of a grate is depicted in  FIG. 8 . Although the embodiment of  FIG. 8  incorporates a similar element cross-section to that depicted in  FIG. 7 , grate  200  of  FIG. 8  exhibits a circular periphery. Clearly, various other shapes can be used in other embodiments. 
       FIG. 9  is an isometric section view of another embodiment of a cooking grate with a closed-grate configuration. In contrast to the previous embodiments, the embodiment of  FIG. 9  includes elements that are joined at the edges. Specifically, grate  220  includes a series of elements (e.g.,  222 ,  224 ), with a corresponding set of gaps being located between adjacent ones of the elements. Each set of gaps (e.g., set  226 ,  228 ) includes a linear arrangement of the gaps although other arrangements can be used in other embodiments. Note also that, in this embodiment, the spacing (e.g.,  230 ) between adjacent gaps (e.g.,  232 ,  234 ) of a particular set is slightly longer than the length of a gap. This too can vary among embodiments. 
     It is also possible to manufacture a grate of a closed-grate configuration from a single large stamping rather than multiple separate sections. In this case, the embodiment of  FIG. 9 , for example, could be formed by a series of slots pierced in line along the bottom vertex of the material that forms a continuous set of V-shaped corrugations. The choice of which approach to take will depend on judgment as to manufacturing cost and complexity, ease of cleaning and/or other factors not directly related to the performance characteristics mentioned above. 
       FIG. 10  is a cross-sectional end view of another embodiment of a cooking grate with a closed-grate configuration. As shown in  FIG. 10 , the relationship of B/A can be maintained with a design that includes a closed (or nearly so) cross-section. Note that, in contrast to previous embodiments that include elements with terminating lower edges, the edges (e.g., edges  250 ,  252 ) of an inverted V-shaped element (e.g., element  254 ) are spanned by a bottom wall (e.g., wall  256 ). This provides a hollow element. As noted hereinabove in the description of  FIG. 6 , the lower edges of any two adjacent grate elements are disposed in substantially the same plane and thus the gaps between any two lower edges of any two adjacent grate elements  254  are substantially in the same plane. 
     It should be noted that the embodiments shown are depicted as if made of sheet metal. However, various other materials can be used. Notably, any type of suitable heat resistant material such as, but not limited to, stainless steel, porcelain coated steel, titanium, cast iron, cast steel or other materials. Additionally or alternatively, the elements could be formed of solid material in contrast to relatively thin skinned embodiments (e.g.,  FIG. 10 ), without significantly altering the performance characteristics deriving from the fundamental geometry. 
     It should be emphasized that the above-described embodiments are merely possible examples of implementations set forth for a clear understanding of the principles of this disclosure. Many variations and modifications may be made to the above-described embodiments without departing substantially from the spirit and principles of the disclosure. All such modifications and variations are intended to be included herein within the scope of this disclosure and protected by the accompanying claims.