US-12622545-B2 - Oven cooking system, accessory device, and method thereof

Abstract

An oven member that may be positioned over a cooking station base with gas flame burners. The oven member includes an inner shell, an outer shell, and lower and upper stones. The inner shell includes a ridge and a ledge and positioned over the cooking station base. The lower stone is configured to be positioned adjacent the ridge of the inner shell and the upper stone is configured to be positioned adjacent the ledge of the inner shell so that the lower stone is positioned parallel relative to the upper stone to at least partially define a baking chamber between the lower and upper stones. The outer shell is sized to be positioned over the inner shell with a gap defined between the inner and outer shells, the outer shell including an oven door positionable over an access opening defined in the outer shell. The access opening is sized and configured to facilitate accessing food product in the baking chamber such that the access opening is accessed along a front side of the oven member. Further, the inner shell defines one or more exhaust ports positioned at a level below the upper stone to funnel heat directly from the baking chamber.

Inventors

• Jared M. Smith
• Gary E. Graham
• Christopher L. Hanks

Assignees

• NORTH ATLANTIC IMPORTS, LLC

Dates

Publication Date

20260512

Application Date

20220702

Claims (17)

1. 1 . A cooking system for baking a food product, the cooking system comprising: a base body extending to define an upper edge with one or more gas flame burners supported by the base body, the gas flame burners extending below the upper edge, the base body extending to define a front base side and a rear base side thereof; and an oven portion extending to define a front oven side, a rear oven side, and first and second oven sides, the front and rear oven sides corresponding with the front and rear base sides of the base body, the oven portion including an inner shell, an outer shell, a lower stone, and an upper stone, the inner shell including a ridge surface and a ledge surface such that the inner shell is sized and configured to be positioned at least partially above the base body, the lower stone sized to be positioned over the ridge surface and the upper stone sized to be positioned over the ledge surface so that the lower stone is positioned substantially parallel relative to the upper stone such that a baking chamber is defined therebetween, the outer shell sized to be positioned over the inner shell with a gap defined between the inner and outer shells, the outer shell configured to receive an oven door positionable over an access opening defined in the outer shell, the access opening sized and configured to facilitate accessing the food product in the baking chamber such that the access opening is accessed along the front oven side of the oven portion, the inner shell defining exhaust ports positioned below the upper stone to funnel heat directly from the baking chamber, the exhaust ports including tube structure, the tube structure extending from the exhaust ports and through the outer shell for exhausting heat from the oven portion externally at a level below the upper stone along the rear oven side of the oven portion, wherein the tube structure comprises a plurality of adjacent exhaust tubes that extend across the oven portion.
2. 2 . The cooking system of claim 1 , wherein the oven portion is removable from the base body such that the base body is sized and configured to support a griddle or the oven portion thereon.
3. 3 . The cooking system of claim 1 , wherein the inner shell defines grooves therein, the grooves being sized and configured to be positioned over the gas flame burners of the base body such that the oven portion is moveable from the base body.
4. 4 . The cooking system of claim 1 , wherein the oven door is removable from the oven portion with a door handle.
5. 5 . The cooking system of claim 1 , further comprising a heat distribution plate, the heat distribution plate positioned directly below the lower stone such that the heat distribution plate is spaced from the lower stone with a lower stone gap defined between the heat distribution plate and the lower stone.
6. 6 . The cooking system of claim 1 , wherein the outer shell defines vents along a lower periphery thereof and defines top side exhaust ports along a top side of the outer shell, the vents being sized and configured to draw external air into the gap between the inner and outer shells to move the external air within the gap toward the top side of the outer shell to move through the top side exhaust ports of the outer shell.
7. 7 . The cooking system of claim 1 , wherein the base body includes a heat shield placed on a lower side thereof to block heat produced by the one or more heating elements.
8. 8 . The cooking system of claim 1 , wherein, upon the heat being funneled through the tube structure, the heat moves through the gap without entering into the gap.
9. 9 . An accessory device for use with a cooking station and configured to bake a food product therein, the cooking station including a base body extending to define an upper edge with one or more gas flame burners supported by the base body and positioned below the upper edge, the accessory device comprising: an oven member extending to define a front side, a rear side, and first and second sides, the front and rear oven sides configured to correspond with front and rear base sides of the base body, the oven member including: an inner shell including a ridge surface and a ledge surface, the inner shell configured to be positioned at least partially above the base body, the inner shell defining exhaust ports therein; a lower stone and an upper stone, the lower stone configured to be positioned over the ridge surface of the inner shell and the upper stone configured to be supported on the ledge surface of the inner shell so that the lower stone is positioned substantially parallel relative to the upper stone such that a baking chamber is defined by the lower and upper stones and at least partially by the inner shell, the exhaust ports positioned in the inner shell at a level below the upper stone; and an outer shell sized to be positioned over the inner shell with a gap defined between the inner and outer shells, the outer shell including an oven door positionable over an access opening defined in the outer shell, the access opening sized and configured to facilitate accessing the food product in the baking chamber such that the access opening is accessed along the front side of the oven member, the outer shell including tubing extending from each one of the exhaust ports and through the outer shell to funnel heat directly from the baking chamber, the tubing configured to exhaust heat from the oven member externally at a level below the upper stone along the rear side of the oven member; wherein the tubing comprises a plurality of adjacent exhaust tubes that extend across the oven member.
10. 10 . The accessory device of claim 9 , wherein the oven door is removable from the outer shell.
11. 11 . The accessory device of claim 9 , further comprising a heat distribution plate, the heat distribution plate positioned directly below the lower stone such that the heat distribution plate is spaced from the lower stone with a lower stone gap defined between the heat distribution plate and the lower stone.
12. 12 . The accessory device of claim 9 , wherein the outer shell defines vents along a lower periphery thereof and defines top side exhaust ports along a top side of the outer shell, the vents being sized and configured to draw external air into the gap between the inner and outer shells to move the external air within the gap toward the top side of the outer shell to move through the top side exhaust ports of the outer shell.
13. 13 . The accessory device of claim 9 , wherein, upon the heat being funneled through the tubing, the heat moves through the gap without entering into the gap.
14. 14 . A method for controlling heat generated by a cooking station base, the cooking station base extending to define an upper edge with one or more gas flame burners supported by the cooking station base and positioned below the upper edge, the method comprising: providing an oven portion positioned above the cooking station base such that the oven portion includes an inner shell, an outer shell, a lower stone, and an upper stone, the inner shell defining a ridge surface and a ledge surface such that the lower stone is positioned over the ridge surface and the upper stone is positioned adjacent the ledge surface so that the upper stone is positioned substantially parallel relative to the lower stone to define a baking chamber therebetween, the outer shell positioned over the inner shell with a gap defined between the inner and outer shells, the outer shell being associated with a removable oven door such that the oven door is positionable over an access opening defined in the outer shell; heating the baking chamber with the one or more gas flame burners and with the access opening defined in the outer shell being closed-off with the removable oven door so that the heat from the one or more gas flame burners flows around a heat distribution plate positioned below the lower stone and so that the heat flows upward to heat the upper stone; and funneling the heat out of the baking chamber through tube structure extending from heat exhaust ports defined in the inner shell, wherein the heat exhaust ports are positioned at a level below the upper stone, and wherein the tube structure extends from the baking chamber, through the gap, and through the outer shell to exhaust the heat externally at a level below the upper stone and from a rear side of the oven portion, the tube structure comprising a plurality of adjacent exhaust tubes that extend across the oven portion.
15. 15 . The method according to claim 14 , further comprising removing the oven door from the oven portion with a door handle.
16. 16 . The method according to claim 14 , wherein the heating comprises minimizing the heating of the lower stone with the heat distribution plate being spaced from the lower stone with a lower stone gap defined between the heat distribution plate and the lower stone.
17. 17 . The method according to claim 14 , further comprising venting external air through the gap with vents defined in the outer shell along a lower periphery of the outer shell and top side exhaust ports defined in the outer shell along a top side of the outer shell such that the external air is drawn through the vents and into the gap between the inner and outer shells to move upward to cool the outer shell and move toward the top side of the outer shell to move through the top side exhaust ports of the outer shell.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/218,308, filed Jul. 3, 2021, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates generally to outdoor type cooking stations and, more specifically, the present invention relates to baking oven type outdoor cooking stations. BACKGROUND Cooking pizza has become a popular food product which has evolved from the kitchen to the backyard or outdoor camping site. Pizza ovens come in different configurations such as wood-fired brick ovens, electric ovens and gas ovens such that pizza is cooked on either stone or a flat surface which has been heated by either a wood source, electric source or gas source. Most configurations require the pizza to be manually turned as it cooks due to the stone or regions in the oven not being heated evenly. This results in having to be very attentive to manually rotating the pizza within the oven while cooking the pizza. As a result, many pizza ovens provide automatic movement, such as a rotating cooking surface, within the pizza oven to control the baking process and to minimize the concern of unevenly cooking the pizza in the oven. However, dynamic parts within an oven are more susceptible to breaking-down over time. As such, it would be advantageous for a pizza oven to incorporate structure that minimizes the hot-spots and uneven cooking within a pizza oven without the need of an automatic rotating cooking surface. BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is directed to various embodiments of an oven type outdoor cooking system. In one embodiment, a cooking system for baking a food product is provided. The cooking system includes a base body and an oven portion. The base body extends to define an upper edge with one or more gas flame burners supported by the base body. The gas flame burners extend below the upper edge, the base body extending to define a front base side and a rear base side thereof. The oven portion extends to define a front oven side, a rear oven side, and first and second oven sides, the front and rear oven sides corresponding with the front and rear base sides of the base body. The oven portion includes an inner shell, an outer shell, a lower stone, and an upper stone. The inner shell includes a ridge surface and a ledge surface such that the inner shell is sized and configured to be positioned at least partially above the base body. The lower stone is sized to be positioned over the ridge surface and the upper stone is sized to be positioned over the ledge surface so that the lower stone is positioned substantially parallel relative to the upper stone such that a baking chamber is defined therebetween. The outer shell is sized to be positioned over the inner shell with a gap defined between the inner and outer shells. The outer shell includes an oven door positionable over an access opening defined in the outer shell, the access opening sized and configured to facilitate accessing the food product in the baking chamber such that the access opening is accessed along the front oven side of the oven portion. The inner shell defines one or more exhaust ports positioned below the upper stone to funnel heat directly from the baking chamber. In another embodiment, the oven portion is removable from the base body such that the base body is sized and configured to support a griddle or the oven portion thereon. In another embodiment, the inner shell defines grooves therein, the grooves being sized and configured to be positioned over the gas flame burners of the base body such that the oven portion is moveable from the base body. In another embodiment, the oven door is removable from the oven portion with a door handle. In still another embodiment, the one or more exhaust ports each include a tube extending between the inner shell and the outer shell of the oven portion so that heat from the baking chamber moves externally from the oven portion. In another embodiment, the cooking system includes a heat distribution plate, the heat distribution plate positioned directly below the lower stone such that the heat distribution plate is spaced from the lower stone with a lower stone gap defined between the heat distribution plate and the lower stone. In yet another embodiment, the outer shell defines vents along a lower periphery thereof and defines top side exhaust ports along a top side of the outer shell, the vents being sized and configured to draw external air into the gap between the inner and outer shells to move the external air within the gap toward the top side of the outer shell to move through the top side exhaust ports of the outer shell. In still another embodiment, the base body includes a heat shield placed on a lower side thereof to block heat produced by the one or more heating elements In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, an acces