Abstract:
An electric grill  10  is disclosed as including a body  12  supporting a grill plate  26  for cooking food, a container  34  for contain smoking element  36,  and a heat source  18  for heating up the smoking element  36  in the container  34  for producing smoke for smoking the food cooked by the grill plate  26.

Description:
[0001]     This invention relates to an electric grill, and in particular such an electric grill capable of smoking the food when grilling.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     There are in existence a large variety of electric grills. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,970,858 to Toehm et al. discloses an electric grill having a grill plate with ribs for holding the foodstuffs from sliding downwardly across the cooking surface, a marinade cup for containing marinade, and indentations along a perimeter fence for receiving skewers. The contents of Toehm et al. are hereby incorporated herein for reference.  
         [0003]     Such conventional electric grills cannot perform smoking function during operation, especially if used indoor, as such will cause the indoor environment to be filled with smoke. In addition, the parts of the electric grill cannot be cleaned easily after use, because of the accumulation of grease.  
         [0004]     It is thus an object of the present invention to provide an electric grill in which the aforesaid shortcomings are mitigated, or at least to provide a useful alternative to the public.  
         [0005]     It is a further object of the present invention to provide an electric grill capable of smoking the food being grilled.  
         [0006]     It is a yet further object of the present invention to provide an electric grill in which the smoking function can be activated or deactivated easily.  
         [0007]     It is a still further object of the present invention to provide an electric grill which can be easily cleaned.  
         [0008]     Such and other objects of the present invention will become apparent in the ensuing discussion.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0009]     According to the present invention, there is provided an electric grill including a body member supporting a grill plate for cooking food; a container adapted to contain smoking element; and a first heating member adapted to heat up the smoking element in said container for producing smoke for smoking the food cooked by said grill plate. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0010]     A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:  
         [0011]      FIG. 1  is an exploded view of an electric grill according to the present invention; and  
         [0012]      FIG. 2  is a vertical cross-sectional view of the electric grill shown in  FIG. 1 . 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0013]     An exemplary electric grill according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , and generally designated as  10 . The electric grill  10  includes a body  12  for housing various electrical and electronic components, controllable by operation of a knob  11  and switches  13  of a control panel  14 . A grease catch  19  is detachably secured with the body  12  for catching grease generated during grilling.  
         [0014]     Contained in a top-open housing  15  in the body  12  is a fan  16 . The top of the housing  15  is closed by a removable non-woven fabric (not shown) capable of capturing oil. Positioned on the housing  15  is a heat source  18 , which may be an electric resistance heatable upon passing of electricity, or an infra-red heater adapted to emit infra-red radiation. An inner liner  20  is releasably engageable with a peripheral edge  22  of the body  12 . Provided in the grill  10  are two electric resistive wires  24 . The wires  24  may be caused to heat up upon passing of electricity, for heating a grill plate  26  positioned above the wires  24 . A metal lid  28  with a glass window is releasably engageable with the body  12  to cover the grill  10 . In particular, a cavity  30  is formed between the grill plate  26  and the lid  28  when the lid  28  is engaged with the body  12  of the grill  10 .  
         [0015]     The grill plate  26 , which is detachably placed on the inner liner  20 , has a central upwardly extending hollow portion  32  for detachably supporting a container  34  for containing such smoking elements as processed and synthesized wood chips, smoke pellets, and the like  36  which can give out smoke when heated, e.g. up to 200° C. to 250° C., for smoking the food. For regulating the amount of smoke given out by the wood chips or smoke pellets  36 , a perforated plate  38  is provided to releasably cover the top open end of the container  34 . In this grill  10 , the container  34 , and thus the wood chips or smoke pellets  36  contained in it, may be heated up by the heat source  18 . It should also be noted that on the peripheral surface of the portion  32  are a number of holes  40 , allowing air in the cavity  30  which is filled with smoke particles to pass through.  
         [0016]     During operation, the grill  10  may be used as a conventional grill with no smoking function, in which case the heat source  18  will not be activated, and only one or both of the electric resistive wires  24  will be activated to heat up the grill plate  26  for grilling food supported on the plate  26 .  
         [0017]     If smoking of the food is required, wood chips or smoke pellets  36  are put into the container  34  and the heat source  18  then activated for heating up the container  34  and the wood chips or smoke pellets  36  up to the required temperature for generating smoke. In order to prevent smoke from filling the indoor environment in which the grill  10  is used, the lid  28  is detachably engaged with the body  12  to cover the grill plate  26 . The fan  16  is then activated to generate air circulation in the grill  10 . In particular, when the fan  16  is activated, smoke-filled and grease-filled air is drawn from the cavity  30  between the lid  28  and the grill plate  26  through the holes  40  (in the direction indicated by the arrows A in  FIG. 2 ) into the interior of the body  12 . The air so drawn then passes through the removable non-woven fabric (not shown) so that the oil/grease carried by it is captured by the fabric. The air is then caused to flow back to the cavity  30  between the lid  28  and the grill plate  26  through side holes  42  in the body  12 , in the direction indicated by the arrows B in  FIG. 2 .  
         [0018]     Apart from being an electric resistance or an infra-red heater as discussed above, the heat source  18  may also be a halogen lamp of an operating voltage of 120V, 230V or 240V, depending on the voltage of the local municipal electricity supply, and with an operating power of 300 W-500 W, depending on the requirement of the manufacturers. An advantage of using a light source, e.g. a halogen lamp as discussed herein, as the heat source  18  is that heat can be supplied and withdrawn nearly instantly. Thus the smoking operation can be controlled more easily. As the operating temperature of a halogen lamp can be very high, it is advisable to provide a strong and heat-resistant casing. In this connection, an appropriate material for making such a casing may be a glass-ceramic material traded by SCHOTT Glas, of Germany, under their trade mark CERAN®. Such a material has a very high thermal stability and can withstand a temperature of up to 750° C. This material can transmit heat very efficiently with nearly no heat loss.  
         [0019]     It can be seen that, by way of the above-mentioned arrangement, smoke grilling of food can be performed indoor, without fear of filling the indoor environment with smoke. In addition, conventional non-smoke grilling and smoke grilling of food may be performed by a single apparatus, at the wish of the user. In particular, the smoking function can be easily activated and deactivated, simply by activating or deactivating the heat source  18 , e.g. by operating one of the buttons  13 . Furthermore, as the lid  28 , grill plate  26 , container  34 , plate  38  of the container  34  and the inner liner  20  are all releasably engaged with each other, and thus with the body  12  of the grill  10 , all these parts can be detached from the body  12  of the grill  10  for thorough cleaning. The remaining part of the grill  10  may also be more thoroughly cleaned than existing grills.  
         [0020]     It should be understood that the above only illustrates an example whereby the present invention may be carried out, and that various modifications and/or alterations may be made thereto without departing from the spirit of the invention.  
         [0021]     It should also be understood that various features of the invention which are, for brevity, described here in the context of a single embodiment, may also be provided separately or in any appropriate sub-combinations.