Incinerating Container for Grills to Reduce Flare-Ups and Charring
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Solution Overview
Problem
Commercial grills experience excessive flare-ups due to high heat and substantial fat content, leading to uneven cooking and charring of meat, which is exacerbated by continuous cooking and high meat quantities.
Innovation Solution
An incinerating container with apertures in its top surface is positioned above the heat source to receive and incinerate oils from melted fat, preventing flames from exiting and using infrared radiation for cooking, while being cooler than the interior to prevent flare-ups.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If high heat is used to decrease cooking time, then productivity is improved, but excessive flare-ups occur causing harmful effects on food quality
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the harmful combustion process from the cooking environment by providing a dedicated incinerating container that captures and burns dripping oils away from the food. The container is positioned to receive oils that drip from the cooking surface, preventing them from causing flare-ups on the food while maintaining high cooking temperatures.
Solution Approach 2:
The incinerating container serves as an intermediary element between the heat source and the food. It intercepts dripping oils before they can reach the food surface and causes harmful flare-ups, converting the harmful combustion into a controlled process within the container while allowing beneficial heat and smoke to reach the food.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If water or water spray is applied to extinguish flare-ups, then harmful effects are reduced, but cooking temperature decreases affecting productivity
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of extinguishing the combustion of dripping oils (which would stop the harmful effect but also lose useful heat), the patent converts this harmful combustion into a beneficial process by providing a dedicated incinerating container. The oils are burned in a controlled manner within the container, generating useful heat and smoke that contribute to cooking while preventing harmful flare-ups on the food.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If air supply is limited to control flare-ups, then harmful effects are reduced, but combustion efficiency decreases affecting heat generation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the combustion process into two distinct zones: the cooking area where food is exposed to controlled heat and smoke, and the incinerating container where dripping oils are burned. This segmentation allows adequate air supply for efficient combustion of oils in the container while preventing excessive flames from affecting the food cooking process.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution effectively reduces excessive charring and ensures even cooking by containing flames within the incinerating container, improving food quality and thermal efficiency, and reducing gas/fuel consumption in commercial settings.
Implementation Method 1
The top of the incinerating container emits infrared radiation for cooking, and is cooler than an interior of the incinerating container
Implementation Method 2
The oils are incinerated within the incinerating container. The apertures formed in the top allow hot oils to enter the incinerating container for combustion of the oils within the incinerating container
Data Source
AI summary
An incinerating container for grills and similar broilers. The incinerating container receives products of combustion from a gas burner or hot gases from an electric element or other heat source. Apertures in a top of the incinerating container receive oil into the incinerating container, such as oils from melted fat as food cooks. The oils are incinerated within the incinerating container. The apertures formed in the top allow hot oils to enter the incinerating container for combustion of the oils within the incinerating container, and are constructed to prevent flames from materially exiting the incinerating container.