Disclosed is a smoke tube combustion chamber that combusts fuel such as wood pellets to provide heat and smoke flavor to the food being cooked. The smoke tube may include two portions that rotate about one another to receive fuel, dispose of excess fuel or fuel waste, and combust the fuel, depending on the positions of the two portions. A flow path may communicate with the smoke tube to provide the necessary air flow to circulate the smoke and heat created by the smoke tube during use. The smoke tube may be a primary or secondary heat source within the appliance.

A cooking appliance including a cooking chamber for cooking food items, the cooking chamber having a base, at least one wall and a door. A smoke generator is provided in the cooking chamber, the smoke generator made up of a smoke generation compartment in the base, a wall or the door of the cooking chamber and an igniter in, or installable in, the compartment. A fluid injector may be provided to inject a combustion-enhancing fluid such as air into the compartment. Combustible material, such as wood chips, is added to the compartment, covered by a vented compartment lid and then an automated process ignites the wood chips and feeds combustion-enhancing fluid to the compartment to maintain combustion and generation of smoke for smoking the food items.

A food smoker oven with a front section and a rear section. The rear section is a drawer that contains smoldering organic material. The front section includes a rotisserie for holding the food being prepared. A gas burner separates the front section and the rear section. The gas burner provides a curtain of combustion gasses between the smoker drawer and the rotisserie rod that mixes with the smoke from the smoldering organic material. The food on the rotisserie is forward of the burner so that the burner does not provide heat directly underneath the food.

A cooking device may include a cooking chamber. A first gas-powered heat source may include one or more burners disposed in the cooking chamber. A second solid fuel burning heat source may include a burn pot disposed in the cooking chamber, and the burn pot may be spaced below the burners of the first heat source in a vertically stacked configuration. A drawer may be movable between an open position and a closed position relative to the cooking chamber. The drawer may include a drip tray that is disposed between the burners of the first heat source and the burn pot of the second heat source when the drawer is in the closed position. The drawer may allow the drip tray to be at least partially removed from between the burners of the first heat source and the burn pot of the second heat source when the drawer is in the open position.

A cooking device may include a cooking chamber and a drip tray may be disposed within the cooking chamber. The drip tray may include one or more portions such as a first portion, a second portion, a third portion, and a fourth portion. The first portion and the second portion may be disposed in an angled configuration, such as a V-shaped configuration. In addition, the third portion and the fourth portion may be disposed in an angled configuration, such as a V-shaped configuration. The second portion and the third portion may be disposed in an angled configuration, such as an inverted V-shaped configuration. The drip tray may be sized and configured to control at least a portion of a flow of thermal energy within the cooking device.

An indoor smoker includes a smoking chamber and an air handler for drawing a flow of smoke from the smoking chamber through an exhaust duct. A catalytic converter is positioned in the exhaust duct and includes a catalytic element and catalytic heater for heating the catalytic element to a temperature suitable for regulating emissions from the flow of smoke. A temperature sensor is used to monitor the temperature of the catalytic element, and smoke generation is stopped when the catalyst temperature drops below a temperature threshold or drops at a rate that exceeds a threshold rate, which may be indicative of a failure of the catalyst heater or air handler.

A firepot for a grilling device comprises one or more walls at least partially forming an outer boundary of the firepot. The firepot is structurally configured to hold at least partially ignited solid fuel. The firepot also comprises a floor defining, at least in part, a lower end of the firepot. The floor comprises one or more holes extending through the floor. Additionally, a portion of the one or more walls form a solid fuel delivery opening that comprises a solid fuel portal through which solid fuel is deliverable to an interior of the firepot. A heating element mount is positioned to hold a heating element within the interior of the firepot.

The disclosed embodiments provide a temperature controlled charcoal grill and smoker that enables users to better control the cooking and smoking temperature relative to previous solutions. In some embodiments, for example, a user may place a divider in the interior of a fuel basket to coarsely adjust the amount and type of solid fuel used to heat a food-cooking enclosure of the temperature controlled charcoal grill and smoker. In addition, the user can also position a heat deflector tent above one or more heat transfer openings in a grease tray to further adjust the cooking and smoking temperature. Further still, the user can provide even finer control (including closed-loop control) over the cooking and smoking temperature using a controller that controls the speed of a fan that directs combustion air into the fuel basket.

An apparatus is provided for curing and more specifically for cold smoking meat or seafood with a blend of filtered smoke from an organic smoking material such as softwoods such as pine or tropical palms such as coconut wood or such as mixed wood sawdust from a sawmill, that are not traditionally used for smoking seafood or meat due to the harsh flavor imparted by their smoke, and unfiltered smoke from a second organic smoking material such as hardwood smoke, or other pleasant flavor-imparting smoke. The blending of filtered smoke from a first organic smoking material such as coniferous softwood, tropical palm wood or mixed sawdust from a sawmill with unfiltered pleasant flavor-imparting smoke from the second organic smoking material reduces the cost of the smoking and curing process and allows versatility in application in terms of preservative properties and flavor imparted to the cured meat or seafood.

A smoker device for an outdoor cooking unit comprises a top, a back, two sides, and a hinged front door, all of which are substantially solid, and together forming an interior chamber with an open bottom. The smoker device rests on a grilling surface of a cooking unit. A perforated chimney box is fixably mounted inside the interior chamber, with a removable chip box positioned at the bottom of the chimney box, and a hinged hatch at the top. Removable food racks and a vessel for liquids may also be present inside the interior chamber. An adjustable air damper allows air exchange between the interior chamber and ambient air. The device allows an existing outdoor cooking unit to convert to a multi-rack vertical smoker.