Electric rotisserie

Abstract

A cooking apparatus is provided in which a cooking cavity is defined by a front wall, a back wall, two opposing sidewalls, a ceiling, and a floor, a substrate for supporting a food item, substantially enclosed by the cavity, a plurality of heating elements located proximal to the ceiling of the cavity, a dividing member in which a first portion is disposed from the back wall of the cavity, a second portion is disposed from the ceiling of the cavity, wherein the first portion and second portion define a plenum that extends from an area proximal to the bottom of the back wall to an area proximal to the top of the front wall; and a void is located in the second portion intermediate of the plurality of heating elements and the substrate; and at least one air handling unit located on the top portion of the cavity.

The embodiment in which an exclusive property right or privilege is claimed is described as follows: 
     
         1 . A cooking apparatus, said apparatus comprising:
 a. a cooking cavity, wherein the cavity is defined by a front wall, a back wall that opposes the front wall, two opposing side walls, a ceiling, and a floor that opposes the ceiling;   b. a substrate for supporting a food item, the substrate substantially enclosed by the cavity;   c. a plurality of heating elements located proximal to the ceiling of the cavity;   d. a dividing member, said dividing member comprising:
 i. a first portion spatially disposed from the back wall of the cavity; 
 ii. a second portion spatially disposed from the ceiling of the cavity, wherein the first portion and second portion are continuous and define a plenum that extends from an area proximal to the bottom of the back wall to an area proximal to the top of the front wall; and 
 iii. a void region located in the second portion, wherein the void region is intermediate the plurality of heating elements and the substrate; and 
   e. at least one air handling unit located on the top portion of the cavity proximal to the back portion.   
     
     
         2 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of heating elements are tubular heaters. 
     
     
         3 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein the tubular heaters are made from Incoloy. 
     
     
         4 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein the tubular heaters have a Watt density of between 20 and 35 W/m 2  at the outside diameter of the pipe. 
     
     
         5 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the cooking apparatus has a pass-through design such that the front wall is a door and the back wall is a second door. 
     
     
         6 . The apparatus of  claim 5 , wherein the first portion of the dividing member is removably attached to the second door. 
     
     
         7 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising a baffle depending from the ceiling and proximal to the front wall. 
     
     
         8 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the void region exposes about 20% to about 80% of the heating elements. 
     
     
         9 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the void region is covered by an infrared transparent material. 
     
     
         10 . The apparatus of  claim 9 , wherein the infrared transparent material is selected from the group consisting of ceramic, Pyrex®, and TEC glass. 
     
     
         11 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the substrate for supporting a food item is a spit assembly. 
     
     
         12 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one air handling unit is at least one centrifugal fan. 
     
     
         13 . The apparatus of  claim 12 , wherein there are two centrifugal fans. 
     
     
         14 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the front wall is also a door. 
     
     
         15 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the plenum has an air intake proximal to the bottom of the back wall and an air outlet proximal to the top of the front wall. 
     
     
         16 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the dividing member further comprises a transition region between the first portion and the second portion, wherein the transition region joins the first portion and the second portion and wherein the transition region and first portion form a first angle and the transition region and second region form a second angle. 
     
     
         17 . The apparatus of  claim 16 , wherein the first angle and the second angle are both between 130° and 140°. 
     
     
         18 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the void region is covered by retractable panels. 
     
     
         19 . The apparatus of  claim 18 , wherein the retractable panels have angled leading edges. 
     
     
         20 . A cooking apparatus, said apparatus comprising:
 a. a cooking cavity, wherein the cavity is defined by a front wall, a back wall that opposes the front wall, two opposing side walls, a ceiling, and a floor that opposes the ceiling;   b. a substrate for supporting a food item, the substrate substantially enclosed by the cavity;   c. a plurality of heating elements located proximal to the back wall of the cavity;   d. a dividing member, said dividing member comprising:
 i. a first portion spatially disposed from the back wall of the cavity; 
 ii. a second portion spatially disposed from the ceiling of the cavity, wherein the first portion and second portion are continuous and define a plenum that extends from an area proximal to the bottom of the back wall to an area proximal to the top of the front wall; and 
 iii. a window region located in the first portion, wherein the window region is intermediate the plurality of heating elements and the substrate; and 
   e. at least one air handling unit located on the top portion of the cavity proximal to the back portion.