A grill or BBQ appliance that is generally intended for outdoor use has a pivoting hood disposed in hinged connection with a grill body, both of which are raised above a firebox that receives a food support grate. The hood may include a counterbalance mechanism to stably position the hood through a range of open positions. The hood may further include an opening or closing assist to assist a user in opening or closing the hood.

A grill or BBQ appliance that is generally intended for outdoor use has a pivoting hood disposed in hinged connection with a grill body, both of which are raised above a firebox that receives a food support grate. A downward facing IR burner may be housed in an upper portion of the grill above the food support grate.

A grill or BBQ appliance that is generally intended for outdoor use has a pivoting hood disposed in hinged connection with a grill body, both of which are raised above a firebox that receives a food support grate. The hood may include various double wall configurations or cavities configured to protect wiring or electrical components such as lights or sensors.

A radiant tray system may be positioned between a burner and a grate of a cooking device. The system may include ceramic tiles and a housing having generally planar walls configured to house the tiles therebetween. The walls receive and grasp tiles between corresponding tile slots through each of the walls and thereby stably position the tile within the tile slots. The walls may also include vent ports for promoting flow of combustion gases through the housing. The housing may be symmetrical with respect to a common reference plane disposed between the walls to support selectively invertable use of the housing. Inversion of the housing after use in one orientation allows drippings to be pyrolized during continued use in the inverted orientation. The pyrolized drippings are readily scrapped or brushed from the walls and tiles.

A grill or BBQ appliance that is generally intended for outdoor use has a pivoting hood disposed in hinged connection with a grill body, both of which are raised above a firebox that receives a food support grate. The hood may include overhanging lights configured to provide optimal lighting through a range of hood positions. The hood may also be counterbalanced to stably position the hood through a range of open positions.

A heating appliance generally includes a housing defining a food product compartment, and a rack configured to support a food product within the food product compartment. The heating appliance further includes a heating assembly disposed within the food product compartment. The heating assembly includes a heating element having a length, wherein the heating element is configured to have a temperature increase along the length during heating. The heating assembly further includes a heat distribution member disposed between the heating element and the rack, wherein the heat distribution member includes a pattern of apertures that tapers in accordance with the temperature increase of the heating element.

A counter top cooking appliance has an enclosure defining a cooking chamber arranged to receive a cooking pan. The cooking chamber includes a lower heating element arranged so that the cooking pan may be supported thereon to receive conductive heating there-from, and an upper heating element disposed above and spaced from the cooking pan to provide radiant heating to food there-within. The enclosure includes an upper portion including the upper heating element, and a lower portion including the lower heating element, and a hinge connecting the upper portion to the lower portion. The hinge enables the upper portion to rest atop the lower portion to define the cooking chamber, and alternatively enables the upper portion to be swung relative to the lower portion so that the upper and lower portions are in a parallel side-by-side relationship and both heating elements are arranged so that the cooking pan may be supported on either thereof to receive conductive heating there-from.

A dual cooking mode barbecue grill includes a grill body which defines an open top cooking chamber, a cooking shelf for supporting food to be cooked and located above the open top cooking chamber, and a rotatable cooking unit located inside the open top cooking chamber. The rotatable cooking unit has a first cooking mode and a second cooking mode. The first and second cooking modes are alternatively selected by rotating the rotatable cooking unit with respect to the grill body.

A heating appliance includes a housing defining a food product compartment having at least a front door and a rear wall opposite the front door. The heating appliance also includes a rack configured to support a food product within the food product compartment. The heating appliance also includes a heating assembly disposed within the food product compartment and an elongate heating device having a first length, and an angled heat distribution member having a second length disposed between the heating device and the rack. The heat distribution member includes a pattern of apertures and the heat distribution member is configured to prevent infrared radiation produced by the heating device from directly reaching the rear wall of the housing, except for infrared radiation that passes through the apertures of the heat distribution member.