Indirect heat cooking apparatus

Abstract

The present invention pertains to a portable apparatus that is placed into a covered outdoor grill that facilitates cooking food by indirect heat. The outdoor grill has a charcoal, electric, or gas heat source which provides the direct heat that is transformed into an indirect heat by a raised cooking grill with a heat shield that is selectively locatable between the food and the heat source.

1 . An indirect heat cooking apparatus for cooking food on an outdoor grill, comprising: 
 a cooking grill comprising a pair of side retaining members and a plurality of transverse rods, each rod affixed at each end thereof to one side retaining member;    a plurality of support legs, each support leg affixed at a top end thereof to the cooking grill; and    a pair of handles, each handle attached to opposing sides of the cooking grill;    whereby with the support legs resting on the outdoor grill, the support legs raise the cooking grill above the outdoor grill such that a heat shield may be slid under the cooking grill to shield the food thereon from direct heat from the outdoor grill.    
   
   
       2 . The indirect heat cooking apparatus of  1  further including a storage hook comprising a small rod attached at one end to an approximate center point of one of the cross members.  
   
   
       3 . The indirect heat cooking apparatus of  claim 1  wherein each rod of the cooking grill is generally equidistant from and generally parallel to each adjacent rod of the cooking grill.  
   
   
       4 . The indirect heat cooking apparatus of  claim 1  wherein each support leg is affixed at a top end thereof to one end of one of the side retaining members, each support leg fixed at a bottom end thereof to one end of a cross member.  
   
   
       5 . The indirect heat cooking apparatus of  claim 1  wherein the plurality of support legs is exactly three.  
   
   
       6 . The indirect heat cooking apparatus of  claim 4  wherein the plurality of support legs is exactly four.  
   
   
       7 . The indirect heat cooking apparatus of  claim 1  wherein each handle is a single rod affixed at each end thereof to a first end of a short parallel rod, a second end of each short parallel rod being formed into a loop, each loop rotatably attached to an outermost transverse rod of the cooking grill.  
   
   
       8 . The indirect heat cooking apparatus of  claim 1  further including a heat shield receptacle sized to slide under the cooking grill to shield the food thereon from direct heat from the outdoor grill and to act as a catch basin for dripping foodstuffs.  
   
   
       9 . The indirect heat cooking apparatus of  claim 1  wherein the heat shield receptacle comprises a bottom wall and a plurality of peripherally attached vertically extending side walls.  
   
   
       10 . The indirect heat cooking apparatus of  claim 1  further including a heat shield rack comprising a plurality of rods fixed at each end to one of the support legs, and a plurality of parallel members, each fixed at each end thereof to one of the plurality of rods, whereby a heat shield may be slid under the cooking grill and onto the heat shield rack to shield the food on the cooking grill from direct heat from the outdoor grill.  
   
   
       11 . The indirect heat cooking apparatus of  claim 1  wherein the height of each support leg is between 2 inch and 8 inches.  
   
   
       12 . The indirect heat cooking apparatus of  claim 1  wherein the height of each support leg is between 1 inch and 7 inches.  
   
   
       13 . The indirect heat cooking apparatus of  claim 4  wherein the combination of each support leg and cross member is wider than a gaps between cooking grid members of the outdoor grill, whereby the support legs cannot slip between the cooking grid members of the outdoor grill.