Combination toaster and pizza oven

Abstract

A portable combination toaster and pizza oven is operable as a toaster when the cooking appliance is in a vertical orientation and as a pizza oven with a closeable door when the cooking appliance is in a horizontal orientation.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION[0001]This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16 / 754,114, filed Apr. 6, 2020, which itself claims benefit of 35 U.S.C. 371 based on co-pending International Patent Application No. PCT / CA2018 / 051252, filed Oct. 4, 2018, which itself claims priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62 / 569,057, filed on Oct. 6, 2017, the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference.FIELD[0002]This disclosure relates to the field of food cooking apparatus and heat storage members.INTRODUCTION[0003]A food cooking apparatus is a device that has a compartment to receive food for cooking, and that heats the food through one or more of conduction, convection, and radiation.SUMMARY[0004]In accordance with one aspect of this disclosure, there is provided a hot air oven or fryer having multiple cooking zones. For example, the cooking apparatus may have 2, 3, 4 or more cooking zones. The cooking zones may be formed by first...

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Benefits of technology

[0006]In accordance with another aspect, the cooking apparatus may be operated such that, during a cooking cycle, the cooking apparatus draws, e.g., at least 75%, 80%, 90%, 100% of the rated power of the cooking apparatus for at least 50%, 60%, 70%, 85%, 90%, 95% or 100% of the cooking time. This may be achieved by varying the power drawn by one or more of the energy consuming elements (e.g., fan, IR heating element, steamer). For example, to reduce the amount of IR radiation emitted, the power delivered to the fan may be increased to increase the rate of airflow. An increased flow of air over an IR heating element may be used to reduce the amount of IR radiation emitted by the IR heating element (as the temperature of the IR heating element is reduced) while still providing heat (e.g., in the form of forced convection). Alternately, or in addition, more energy may be provided to a steamer to increase the amount of moisture in a cooking volume. Accordingly different cooking regimes may be produced which draw the same or a similar amount of power. For example, at the start of a cooking cycle, more power may be provided to the IR heating element to brown the outside of food in the cooking volume. Once the food is sufficiently browned (which may be pre-programmed based on the duration of this first stage in the cooking cycle), a reduced amount of energy may be provided to the IR heating element and some or more energy may be provided to one or more of a steamer (to provide moisture in the cooking volume) and a fan to produce forced convection or increased forced convection in a cooking volume. Alternately, once the food is sufficiently browned (which may be pre-programmed based on the duration of this first stage in the cooking cycle), the energy provided to the IR heating element may be maintained at the same or a similar level and some or more energy may be provided to one or more of a steamer (to provide moisture in the cooking volume) and a fan to produce forced convection or increased forced convection in a cooking volume

[0011]In accordance with another aspect, an energy storage member may be provided. The energy storage member may store energy in the form of heat that is stored for later use. For example, a standard electrical outlet provides a set amount of current. This limits the energy (heat) that may be used to, e.g., cook food and therefore this limits the cooking time. Similarly, the amount of energy that may be provided to an electric kettle is limited and this limits the time required to bring water to a boil in an electric kettle. In accordance with this aspect, an energy storage member may draw electricity (e.g., by plugging the energy storage member into a household electrical outlet) and a heat sink (e.g., a block of metal such as aluminum) may be heated. The heat sink is insulated so as to store the heat for an extended amount of time. An appliance, such as a cooking apparatus (e.g., a cooking apparatus that may be plugged into a household electrical outlet and may be a countertop cooking apparatus as exemplified herein), an electric kettle, a pod coffee maker or a coffee maker may use the heat stored in the heat sink concurrently with heat produced using electricity drawn from a household electrical outlet. Accordingly, the cooking time may be reduced. For example, a cooking apparatus may draw heat from an energy storage member by flowing air through the heat sink to thereby heat or further heat the air. A kettle of coffee maker may flow water through the heat sink to heat or further heat water. It will be appreciated that the energy storage member may be built into an appliance or may be a standalone appliance. In the latter case, the energy storage member may be used with multiple different appliances.

[0014]In accordance with another aspect, a cooking apparatus is provided with a double walled construction over part or all of the exterior shell of the cooking apparatus. Cooling airflows through a space between the double walls, e.g., when the cooking apparatus is in use or when the temperature of, e.g., the outer surface exceeds a predetermined value. An advantage of this design is that it may maintain the exterior surface of part of all of the cooking apparatus at a lower temperature. Alternately, or in addition, insulation may be provided, e.g., adjacent the outer shell of part or all of the cooking apparatus or, if a double wall construction is used, in the space between the double walls. The use of insulation may limit heat loss. This enables more energy to be input to cook the food. If heat is lost through the walls of the cooking apparatus, then the lost heat must be replaced to maintain the temperature in the desired range. By using insulation, the energy that would have been used to replace the lost heat is used to provide more IR, steam or forced convection.

Problems solved by technology

This limits the energy (heat) that may be used to, e.g., cook food and therefore this limits the cooking time.

Similarly, the amount of energy that may be provided to an electric kettle is limited and this limits the time required to bring water to a boil in an electric kettle.

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