Patent ID: 8272320

Claim:
A waste heat recovery system for broilers, ovens, and toasters, comprising: a cooking chamber having an upper portion, a lower portion, and a middle portion having a cooking platform on which to cook food product; at least two air plenums disposed in said upper portion of said cooking chamber, each of said at least two air plenums having an interior volume in fluid communication with a source of pressurized air and having a plurality of air outlets for producing a focused body of moving and guided forced air; each of said at least two air plenums comprises a box having a top side wall, a right side wall, a left side wall, and a bottom side wall; a heating element or burner disposed proximate said bottom side wall of each of said at least two air plenums, such that said focused body of moving and guided forced air guides and directs heat away from said heating element or burner and toward food product being cooked; and heat exchange pipes disposed above each of said heating element or burner proximate to or integrated into each of said top side wall of said box; wherein each of said at least two air plenums includes at least two wings disposed on said bottom side wall of said box, each wing running generally longitudinally along the length of said air plenum and having an air trough with a plurality of air outlets disposed in the bottom of said trough; wherein said wings angle inwardly toward the center of said cooking chamber; wherein said heating element or burner is positioned between said wings and proximate said bottom side wall of said box, such that said heating element or burner provides radiant heating during cooking and forced air released through said air outlets forms curtains that contain and guide the heat provided by said heating element or burner.