Cooking apparatus for comestibles immersed in heated oil

Claim 2

Apparatus for cooking comestibles immersed in heated cooking oil comprising a cabinet supporting an upwardly opening cooking pot for cooking oil and having a flue housing extending upwardly above and disposed rearwardly of said pot, said pot being defined by a bottom and front, rear and sidewalls, a pair of outlets for cooking oil communicating with the interior of said pot at spaced points adjacent one end of said pot, a pair of inlets for hot cooking oil opening into said pot through the end of said pot opposite said one end at laterally spaced points disposed above said bottom, a heating unit mounted below said bottom to permit combustion gases to pass over said unit and impinge on the lower portion of said cooking pot, conduit means connecting said heating unit to receive oil to be heated from said outlets and supply hot oil to said inlets, circulating pump means in said conduit means operable to propel oil between said outlets and said inlets, wall means spaced inwardly of the cabinet exterior and flue housing defining a combustion chamber and flue leading from said chamber through and spaced inwardly of the walls of said flue housing, said combustion chamber enclosing said heating unit and a substantial portion of the lower parts of said front, side and rear walls of the cooking pot, the walls means forming said combustion chamber extending downwardly to form a lower open end for said chamber within said cabinet, and a fuel burner mounted in said lower open end to direct combustion gases over said heating unit and impinge onto the bottom and lower portion of the front, side and rear walls of said cooking pot.

Claim 3

Apparatus for cooking comestibles as recited in claim 1 wherein said heating unit has parallel headers connected to the respective ends of each of a series of U-shaped tubes, said tubes being disposed immediately beneath said bottom of the cooking pot and arranged relative to one another to permit combustion gases to pass over and between said tubes and impinge on the lower portion of said cooking pot, and said conduit means connecting said outlets to one of said headers and said inlets to the other said headers.

Claim 4

Apparatus for cooking comestibles as recited in claim 2 wherein each of said U-shaped tubes is disposed with the plane of the U-shape inclined relative to the vertical and the U-shaped tubes are parallel to each other and extend generally horizontal.

Claim 5

Apparatus for cooking comestibles as recited in claim 1 further comprising a removable strainer basket to receive means to retain comestibles during cooking, said strainer basket having a configuration closely approximating the dimensions of said cooking pot, said strainer basket being constructed of imperforate sheet material with limited portions cut out and covered by perforate material, said basket having a pair of slotted openings, each extending down along the basket front wall and along the basket bottom to an aperture in the basket bottom perforate material overlying substantially the entire area of each of said slotted openings, said slotted openings being laterally spaced to be aligned with the laterally spaced pair of inlets when said basket is positioned in said pot.

Claim 6

Apparatus as recited in claim 4 wherein the upper end of each of said slotted openings has an oil deflector mounted thereabove on the inner surface of the basket front wall.

Claim 7

Apparatus for cooking comestibles immersed in heated cooking oil comprising an upstanding cabinet providing an upper work surface having a cooking pot recessed beneath and opening upwardly through said surface, outlet means for cooking oil leading from adjacent one end of said cooking pot, inlet means for cooking oil formed in the wall at the opposite end of said cooking pot disposed above the cooking pot bottom, a removable strainer basket to receive means to retain comestibles during cooking having a configuration closely approximating the dimensions of said cooking pot, said basket being constructed of imperforate sheet material with apertures formed in the sidewalls and bottom of the basket and perforate material secured across said apertures to retain the comestibles within the basket, said basket having a slotted opening therein extending down along the front wall to the basket bottom and along the basket bottom to open into said bottom aperture and perforate material overlying substantially the entire area of said slotted opening, said opening in said front wall being disposed to be aligned with the cooking pot inlet means when said basket is positioned in said pot, a heating unit connected in conduit means extending from said cooking oil outlet means and to said cooking oil inlet means, circulating pump means in said conduit means to propel flow of oil through said heating unit from said outlet means to said inlet means, a fuel burner mounted beneath said heating unit to direct combustion gases over said unit, and wall means spaced inwardly of the exterior of said cabinet defining a combustion chamber, said combustion chamber enclosing said heating unit and a substantial portion of lower end of said cooking pot and having an open lower end in which said fuel burner is mounted.

Claim 8

Apparatus for cooking comestibles immersed in heated cooking oil comprising an upstanding cabinet providing an upper work surface having a cooking pot recessed beneath and opening upwardly through said surface, outlet means for cooking oil leading from adjacent one end of said cooking pot, inlet means for cooking oil formed in the wall at the opposite end of said cooking pot disposed above the cooking pot bottom, a removable strainer basket to receive means to retain comestibles during cooking having a configuration closely approximating the dimensions of said cooking pot, said basket being constructed of imperforate sheet material with apertures formed in the sidewalls and bottom of the basket and perforate material secured across said apertures to retain the comestibles within the basket, said basket having a slotted opening therein extending down along the front wall to the basket bottom and along the basket bottom to open into said bottom aperture and perforate material overlying substantially the entire area of said slotted opening, said opening in said front wall being disposed to be aligned with the cooking pot inlet means when said basket is positioned in said pot, a heating unit connected in conduit means extending from said cooking oil outlet means and to said cooking oil inlet means, circulating pump means in said conduit means to propel flow of oil through said heating unit from said outlet means to said inlet means, a fuel burner mounted beneath said heating unit to direct combustion gases over said unit, and wall means spaced inwardly of the exterior of said cabinet defining a combustion chamber, said combustion chamber enclosing said heating unit and a substantial portion of lower end of said cooking pot and having an open lower end in which said fuel burner is mounted.

Claim 9

Apparatus for cooking comestibles as recited in claim 6 wherein said cabinet has a flue housing extending upwardly adjacent the rear of said cabinet, and wall means define a flue communicating with said combustion chamber at its lower end and extending upwardly through said flue housing spaced from the walls of said housing.

Claim 10

Apparatus for cooking comestibles as recited in claim 6 wherein said heating unit has first and second headers parallel to each other and a series of generally U-shaped oil conducting tubes having their opposite ends connected to the first and second headers respectively.

Claim 11

Apparatus as recited in claim 6 wherein the upper end of said slotted opening has an oil deflector mounted thereabove on the inner surface of the basket front wall.

Claim 12

Apparatus for cooking comestibles as recited in claim 6 wherein said outlet means comprises a pair of outlets communicating with the interior of said pot as spaced points on said bottom adjacent said rear wall, and said inlet means comprises a pair of inlets in said front wall at laterally spaced points above said bottom.

Claim 13

Apparatus for cooking comestibles as recited in claim 10 wherein said pair of outlets communicate through parallel pipes extending downwardly through said combustion chamber with a header, and said circulating pump means has its inlet connected to said header and its outlet connected to said heating unit.

Claim 14

Apparatus as recited in claim 6 wherein said perforate has a pair of said slotted openings laterally spaced to be aligned with the laterally spaced pairs of inlets.

Claim 15

Apparatus as recited in claim 6 wherein said perforate material overlying substantially the entire area of said slotted openings leaves an unobstructed hole at the upper end of said opening positioned to align with said inlet means when said basket is disposed in said cooking pot.

Claim 16

Apparatus as recited in claim 13 wherein an oil deflector is mounted on the inner surface of the basket front wall sloping downwardly above said unobstructed hole.