An indoor smoker includes a cabinet including an exhaust duct, a smoking chamber, a firebox, and a bypass duct extending between the firebox and the exhaust duct. A damper is movable between a first position for closing the smoking chamber when a firebox temperature is outside a desired range and a second position for blocking the bypass duct when the firebox temperature is within the desired range. The damper thus regulates the flow of smoke such that only good smoke is directed into the smoking chamber, while bad smoke is routed directly to the exhaust duct.

An outdoor cooking assembly, has a smoker for smoking meat and a trailer having a frame, the frame having a mounting shaft, an angular side rail on one side of the mounting shaft and an angular side rail on the opposing side of the mounting shaft, the mounting shaft and the two angular side rails coupled to and integral with a support bar, the smoker rigidly and securely coupled to the frame.

An indoor smoker includes a smoking chamber, a fresh air supply duct, a firebox defining a smoldering chamber, and an exhaust duct. An air handler is operably coupled to the exhaust duct and is configured for urging a flow of fresh air and/or smoke through the smoking chamber and out the exhaust duct which contains a catalytic converter. A flow regulating device, such as a rotary valve, is rotated between angular positions to control the flows of air and smoke, e.g., to facilitate a smoking process, a cold smoking process, a pause in the smoking process, or process termination.

A cooking system includes a housing having a hollow interior, a heating element operable to heat to said hollow interior, a food support surface arranged within said hollow interior, and a combustible substrate module removably positionable in said housing. When positioned in the housing, the combustible substrate module is arranged in fluid communication with the hollow interior and the combustible substrate module is disposed remote of the food support surface.

A barbecue cooking apparatus is an apparatus used to cook food items by utilizing different barbecue smoking methods. The apparatus includes a barrel, a lid, a frame, a shelved cooking system, a venting system, a winch mechanism, a lip, and a firebox gasket. The barrel provides a thermal enclosure for cooking the food items. The lid serves to close the barrel and to support the shelved cooking system. The lip and the firebox gasket seal the lid on the barrel when closed. The shelved cooking system holds both the food items within the barrel during the cooking process and the fuel source utilized to generate the heat energy to cook the food items. The frame holds the winch mechanism offset from the barrel. The winch mechanism facilitates the retrieval of the shelved cooking system from the barrel as well as the reintroduction of the shelved cooking system into the barrel.

A barbecue cooking apparatus is an apparatus used to cook food items by utilizing different barbecue smoking methods. The apparatus includes a barrel, a lid, a frame, a shelved cooking system, a venting system, a winch mechanism, a lip, and a firebox gasket. The barrel provides a thermal enclosure for cooking the food items. The lid serves to close the barrel and to support the shelved cooking system. The lip and the firebox gasket seal the lid on the barrel when closed. The shelved cooking system holds both the food items within the barrel during the cooking process and the fuel source utilized to generate the heat energy to cook the food items. The frame holds the winch mechanism offset from the barrel. The winch mechanism facilitates the retrieval of the shelved cooking system from the barrel as well as the reintroduction of the shelved cooking system into the barrel.

A method of controlling the operation of a flavoring device (200; 400; 1000) associated with a cooking chamber (315; 515) of a cooking oven (100; 100) for treating food stored therein is proposed. The flavoring device (200; 400; 1000) comprises at least one casing (205; 1003; 1006), at least one air path (600; 700; 1061; 1064) traversing said casing (205; 1003; 1006) and fluidly connecting at least one air inlet opening (210; 1012b; 1036) of said casing (205; 1003; 1006) to at least one air outlet opening (270b, 270c; 1030b; 1045b) of said casing (205; 1003; 1006). The method comprises: a) providing one between a flavoring substance (610; 1063) and a smoking substance (710; 1066) in said at least one air path (600; 700; 1061; 1064); b) selecting (920) one between a flavoring process and a smoking process, and c) controlling (930-950, 960-970) a heating in said casing (205; 1003; 1006) according to the selected one between said flavoring process and said smoking process.

A smoker includes a smoke generator that is configured to provide a controllable method of producing smoke without creating a flame. The device includes a housing including a hopper for storing a smoking fuel within the interior of the housing. The hopper feeds the smoking fuel to a fuel conveyor that is partially within the housing and partially exterior of the housing. A motor is connected to the fuel conveyor so that operation of the motor causes the smoking fuel to move along the length of the fuel conveyor. As the smoking fuel moves along the fuel conveyor, it is heated to produce continuous smoke without producing a flame. The smoke generator is capable of controlling the quality and the quantity of the smoke produced by the smoke generator independently of the heat that is used to cook food within a cabinet of the smoker.

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 device for grilling food is disclosed. The device comprises a wood plank having a top surface for receiving the food and a bottom surface for placing on a heat source; and a plurality of through holes defined on the wood plank, each through hole penetrating the top surface and bottom surface. The plurality of through holes enable smoke generated by the heat source or the wood plank to directly smoke a bottom side of the food.