Apparatus for cooking

Claim 1

APPARATUS FOR COOKING MEAT, VEGETABLES, AND OTHER FOOD ITEMS COMPRISING: ENCLOSURE MEANS HAVING WALLS DEFINING A CLOSED, UNVENTED COOKING CHAMBER ADAPTED TO BE HEATED FROM A SINGLE EXTERNAL HEAT SOURCE LOCATED IMMEDIATELY ADJACENT THE BOTTOM OF THE ENCLOSURE MEANS; SUPPORT MEANS FOR SUPPORTING FOOD ITEMS IN ELEVATED COOKING POSITION WITHIN SAID CHAMBER IN POSITION TO BE COOKED BY CONVECTION CURRENTS OF DRY AIR WITHIN SAID CHAMBER, SAID SUPPORTING MEANS CONSITUTING A WIRE RACK THAT IS OPEN ON ALL SIDES TO PERMIT THE FLOW OF CONVECTION CURRENTS ALL AROUND THE FOOD; AND A SHALLOW WATER PAN, POSITIONED WITHIN SAID CHAMBER BETWEEN SAID COOKING POSITIONAND THE BOTTOM OF SAID CHAMBER AND IN SPACED RELATION TO SAID COOKING POSITION AND THE BOTTOM OF SAID CHAMBER, FOR INTRODUCING A LIMITED AMOUNT OF MOISTURE INTO THE HEATED CIRCULATING AIR WITHIN SAID CHAMBER ONLY AFTER DRY COOKING HAS BEEN INITIATED, SAID WATER PAN BEING SUBSTANTIALLY SMALLER IN CIRCUMFERENCE THAN SAID ENCLOSURE TO PERMIT UNOBSTRUCTED FLOW OF CONVECTION CURRENTS THEREAROUND.