Patent ID: 8789522

Claim:
A cooking apparatus comprising: a cooking cavity; a heat source located within the cooking cavity and configured to increase a temperature of the cooking cavity, wherein the heat source is a broiler element mounted to a top wall of the cooking cavity, and wherein the heat source extends along a longitudinal axis; a shield mounted directly below the heat source, the shield having a top surface and a bottom surface, the top surface facing a top wall of the cooking cavity and the bottom surface facing into an interior of the cooking cavity, wherein the shield further includes a first side edge and a second side edge opposite the first side edge, at least one of the first and second side edges defining a sinusoidal pattern extending along a horizontal plane oriented along the longitudinal axis; and wherein the sinusoidal pattern is configured to deflect heat from the heat source to different sections of the cooking cavity; and wherein the shield further includes opposing first and second end edges positioned between the first and second side edges, the first and second end edges having lengths of less than half a length of the first and second side edges.