Grills configured to cook food placed above the heat source are well known. Such a grill is disclosed in GB 2373713 and includes a series of gas jets embedded in a bed of clay litag. The heat from the burning gas rises upwards through the bed of clay litag and so cooks the food located above it. The bed acts to diffuse the heat and does not itself absorb much heat energy. However, known grills may have a bed of heat-absorbing material, for example, lava stones that are heated by the burning gas to a temperature at which the lava stones themselves emit sufficient heat radiation to contribute significantly to the cooking of the food, that is to say, this radiation, in addition to hot gases from the heat source filtering up through the lava stones, cooks the food.
As food cooks on the grill, material such as fat and meat juices drip onto the lava stones or clay litag and also onto the gas jets, which can easy become clogged by the falling material. The material will tend to collect in the bottom of the grill where the heat source is located. To maintain proper operation and hygiene, it is necessary to regularly clean the grill in order to avoid build-up of material and prevent the gas jets from becoming clogged. Over time, it may not be possible to remove all of the material and this may lead to uneven heating by gas jets and consequently uneven cooking of food occurs. Eventually, it may even become necessary to replace the gas jets.
JP10038229 discloses an oven that contains sidewalls enclosing a substantially closed internal space. Within the sidewalls, a rack is provided for holding the food being cooked and, underneath the food, a number of burners are provided to heat the air inside the oven. The burners produce a flame that slants downwardly and include an overhang to prevent juices from the food being cooked falling on the burner nozzles. The flames heat the air in the oven but are not used to heat a solid incandescent radiant body.
JP 20030 47563 discloses a closed oven for cooking food. Burners are provided in compartments adjacent to the sidewalls. The direction of the flames produced by the burners can be adjusted using air drawn in through side vents so that the flame can be made to point upwards or downwards; the object of altering the direction of the flames is to make the heating more even. The flames heat the air in the oven but are not used to heat a solid incandescent radiant body.
JP 2003 033281 discloses a closed oven containing a number of burners for heating the interior of the oven. One set of burners directs flames into the space underneath the food being cooked and is located under a shield so that, if juices drip from the food being cooked, they do not fall on the burner. The flames heat the air in the oven but are not used to heat a solid incandescent radiant body.
JP 2005 237465 discloses a closed oven having burners located above the food being cooked and a further set of burners extending through a side wall of the oven and directing flames to a space underneath the food being cooked. The flames heat the air in the oven but are not used to heat a solid incandescent radiant body.
JP 2000 217718 discloses a closed oven containing burners located adjacent to the side wall of the oven. These burners produce a horizontally extending flame directed to the space underneath the food being cooked and a vertically oriented flame for heating the space above the food. The flames heat the air in the oven but are not used to heat a solid incandescent radiant body.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,667,449 discloses a home grill or barbecue having a tray containing pumice rocks. A central burner is provided that produces flames that extend radially outwards from the burner in a horizontal direction. A domed-shaped ceramic deflector overlying the burner deflects the flames from the burner onto the pumice rocks, which will be heated so that they are incandescent. The food is located above the bed of pumice rocks and is cooked by radiant heat emitted by the incandescent pumice rocks.