This invention relates to cooking vessels and in particular to cooking vessels for use with kettle-type barbecues.

Background Art

The barbecue has always been a particularly popular form of outdoor entertainment. In recent years this popularity has increased with the production of several different types of barbecue, including the so-called "kettle-type" barbecue.

This kettle-type of barbecue is usually made with a deep tray or base which holds the solid fuel e.g. briquettes, wood etc. or uses a gas burner or the like. A matching lid, substantially identical in size to the base, is then placed over the top of the base. In this way the food is cooked in a similar fashion to an ordinary kitchen oven, but with the characteristic barbecue flavour. These types of barbecues can be of any shape but the most common are square or circular in cross section.

One particular advantage of kettle-type barbecues is their ability, not only to cook sausages, chops etc., but to cook whole chickens, roast lamb etc due to the large volume of the kettle- ype barbecue and the large quantity of heated air in and around the products being barbecued. Similarly most barbecues have large cooking surfaces that are designed to evenly spread the heat generated over the cooking surface. It is difficult therefore to use these types of barbecues to cook food with a large amount of localised heat.

In an effort to ameliorate the disadvantages of the prior art it is proposed to provide a cooking attachment which offers a choice over the prior art and which at least in the preferred embodiments provides a cooking attachment which provides greater cooking space from the

barbecue and in particular takes advantage of the depth of kettle-type barbecues. Disclosure of Invention

In one aspect, therefore, the present invention comprises a cooking attachment for use with kettle-type barbecues, comprising a concave cooking surface, a support flange extending downwardly from an outer edge of the cooking surface, and at least one air passage means located on the attachment, said downwardly extending support flange having a bottom edge which is adapted to contact an upper edge of a base of said barbecue substantially along the entire perimeter of said upper edge.

In a preferred embodiment a horizontal flange extends outwardly from the outer edge of the cooking surface and is connected to the upper edge of the support flange.

In a further preferred embodiment, a plurality of air passage means are located on the horizontal flange. In another preferred embodiment, at least one variable air passage means is located on said horizontal flange for controlling the passage of heated air from below the cooking surface to above the cooking surface.

In another particularly preferred embodiment the cooking surface has a lower most point which is below the bottom edge of the support flange.

In a further preferred embodiment, an additional support spacer is placed between the bottom edge of the support flange and the upper edge of the barbecue base thereby spacing the cooking surface further from the barbecue base.

In a further preferred embodiment, the outer edge of the horizontal flange is circular and the downwardly extending support flange and the additional support spacer are cylindrical in shape.

in a further preferred embodiment, the outer edge of the horizontal flange is square in shape and the downwardly extending support flange and additional support spacer are square in cross section. This invention not only increases the cooking capacity of the particular barbecue with no need for additional fuel and no change to the original cooking surface but the contact between the lower edge of the support flange and the upper edge of the base seals the cooking attachment on the kettle barbecue thereby increasing the heat transmitted to the cooking surface by preventing heat and air from escaping from the sides of the barbecue.

Further, there are several other advantages arising from the present invention. Since the cooking surface of the invention is shielded from the original cooking surface of the barbecue, entirely different foods can be prepared in either cooking area. For example, chops, sausages etc. can be cooked on the lower surface and vegetables may be stir-fried on the top cooking surface. A chicken, roast etc. may be cooked on the lower surface with the upper surface being used to boil any vegetables. The combinations are, of course, endless.

With a variable air passage means being contained in the horizontal flange, the amount of heated air allowed to pass from the lower cooking area to the upper cooking area can be controlled. In this way the upper cooking area can be used as an independent kettle-type cooking area similar to the lower area. The inventive cooking attachment can also be positioned with the lower most portion of the cooking surface very close to the heating means, or it can be spaced with the lower most point of the cooking surface being a large distance from the heating means by use of the additional support spacer. In this way, the volume of

the various cooking areas in the barbecue can be adjusted according to the use to which the barbecue is put. For example, with the previously mentioned case of stir frying vegetables, the lower most point of the concave cooking surface would be placed very close to the heating means. If the additional support flange is used however, it is possible to cook a large roast or chicken etc. in the lower portion, while, as mentioned earlier, boiling vegetables in the upper cooking area. The downwardly extending support flange and spacer also shields the user or "cook" from smoke and heat and possible spattering from food cooking beneath the inventive cooking attachment.

The cooking attachment can be produced with any suitable material, for example stainless steel or the cooking surface and horizontal flange may be made of stainless steel with the downwardly extending support flange and additional support spacer being coated in a decorative manner e.g. vitrious enamel, so as to match the colour of the kettle-type barbecue on which it is used. Brief Description of Drawings

The present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein; Figs 1 and 2 are a partial plan and cross sectional view, respectively, of the cooking attachment according to the present invention.

Fig 3 is a partial sectional view of the additional support spacer. Figs 4 and 5 are a plan and cross sectional view, respectively, of a variable air passage means for use with the present invention, and

Figs 6A to 6C are exploded views of the various combinations of the inventive cooking attachment when used with the additional support spacer and a standard

kettle-type barbecue.

With regard to the drawings. Figs 1-6C show a cooking attachment which would be used with a circular kettle-type barbecue. It is envisaged however, that, as mentioned earlier, even though the cooking surface in this case is substantially hemispherical it, along with the horizontal flange, support flange and additional support spacer, may be of any shape according to the shape of the kettle-type barbecue or any other type of barbecue on which the cooking attachment, according to the present invention, is used. Industrial Applicability

Figs 1 and 2 show a particularly preferred embodiment of the present invention. The cooking attachment 10 comprises a substantially hemispherical cooking surface 11, a horizontal flange 12, extending outwardly from the upper edge of the cooking surface and a downwardly extending support flange 13 which support the cooking surface on the kettle-type barbecue. In this particular embodiment, the horizontal flange 12 is annular in shape and the support flange 13 is cylindrical.

Located, in this case on the horizontal flange, one air passage means 17 which allows hot air to leave the space below the cooking attachment 10 and allows oxygen to reach the heating means of the barbecue (not shown). As can also be noted from Fig 2, the lower most point 14 of the cooking surface 11 may extend below the lower edge of the support flange 13. This allows the cooking surface to be placed further into the kettle-type barbecue base and therefore closer to the heat source. The advantage of this being that the closer the cooking surface is to the heat source the higher will be its temperature.

Handles 15, 16 can also be joined to the cooking attachment, by any suitable method, in order to facilitate

removal of the cooking attachment from the barbecue.

Fig 3 is a partial sectional view of the additional support spacer 20 which, when placed under the cooking attachment, not only increases the volume of the lower cooking section but places the cooking surface 11 further from the heating fuel thereby reducing its temperature. The lower edge of the downwardly extending support flange 13 (see Fig 2) sits on edge 21. Lower edge 22 then rests upon the upper edge of the kettle-type barbecue. Figs 4 and 5 show one particular embodiment of a variable air passage means 30 which may be used in place of air passage means 17 (see Fig. 1). This variable air passage means 30 allows the user to control the amount of heated air leaving the lower cooking area to the upper cooking area. As is clear to persons skilled in the art, the air passage means 30 can vary the volume of air flowing upwards, through apertures 31, 32, formed in the horizontal flange 12, by rotating disc 33 to partially cover said apertures. In a fully open position, apertures 34, 35 of the disc match with apertures 31, 32 of the horizontal flange 12. In this case, rotation of the disc 33 by finger tab 36, through 90°, fully closes the air passage by blanking off apertures 31, 32. The disc 33 pivots around rivet 37.

It will be understood, therefore, that the heating of cooking surface 11 can be additionally adjusted via variable air passage means 30.

For example, if the user wishes to fry food in the cooking attachment this necessitates a high temperature of the cooking surface 11 with the temperature of the air above this cooking surface 11 not being particularly important. Clearly then the air passage means 30 would be in such a position so as to allow only a small amount of air to pass from the lower cooking area to the upper

cooking area, thereby increasing the heat of the air below the cooking surface 11. The air above the cooking surface can be lowered further, if need be, by simply removing the lid of the barbecue and allowing the air to escape to the atmosphere.

Conversely, if the food to be cooked in the cooking attachment requires all over cooking, at the one time, as in an oven, the air passage means 30 would be in such a position so that apertures 34, 35 of the disc 33 align with apertures 31, 32 of the horizontal flange 12. In this way, the air passage means 30 allows free movement of heated air from the lower cooking section to the upper cooking section thereby giving the all over cooking effect desired. Once again, the temperature of this transmitted air may be controlled, either by removing the lid or by adjusting a vent which is common in the lid for several kettle-type barbecues.

It should be noted however that the use of the variable air passage means 30 as opposed to air passage means 17 is not essential. Both air passage means 30 and 17 allow air to rise from the lower cooking area and allow oxygen, necessary for combustion, to reach the healing means of the barbecue.

Figs 6A to 6C show various forms in which the invention cooking attachment may be used. In Fig. 6A, both the cooking attachment 10 and additional support spacer 20 are used in conjunction with the kettle-type barbecue base 40 and lid 41. Similarly with regard to Fig. 6B, the cooking attachment 10 is used without the additional support spacer and Fig. 6C simply uses the cooking attachment 10 resting on the kettle-type barbecue base 40.

It should be noted, that not only do the variable air passage means 30 control the temperature above the cooking surface 11, but also below. Clearly, if heated air is

being allowed to the upper cooking surface, the temperature of the air in the lower cooking surface, will be lower.

It should also be noted, that the shape of the cooking surface allows any condensation from the lower cooking area, to condense on the lower surface of the cooking surface, thereby running down this lower surface to the lower most point and dropping into the middle of the barbecue and not down the sides of the barbecue as at present.

It will be recognised by person skilled in the art that numerous variations and modifications may be made to the invention as described above without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as broadly described.