BARBECUE BRICK

摘要

A portable gas barbecue has a layer consisting of a plurality of ceramic bricks located between the gas burners in the bottom of a casing of the barbecue and the upper food cooking zone. The bricks are thin relative to their width and length and are carried on the grill, which in known barbecues, is supported immediately above the burner flames for supporting a bed of lava rock. The bricks, which replace the lava rock, are disposed edge to edge, present a substantially continuous upper radiating surface, and each has a plurality of holes extending entirely through so that the combustion gases can flow upwardly through the layer and thereby achieve rapid heating of the bricks and avoid overheating of the combustion zone below the bricks. The fat and juice drippings from meat cooking above the bricks can run downwardly through the holes, but the burning of the drippings when exposed to the hot gases and flames, while providing some smoke to enhance flavour. can not result in a major flare-up. The combination of the combustion gases and the radiant heat from the top surface of the ceramic bricks provide good cooking condition, and because the bricks are thin, they occupy less room than lava rock so as to avoid hindering the use of a rotisserie in the cooking zone. The individual bricks are relatively inexpensive to produce and are durable as compared to other large castings or moldings which are known in the art. Moreover, the use of a plurality of small individual bricks allows ready replacement of a single brick, should one become broken, and also because of the versatility of a plurality of individual bricks, it is also possible to utilize the bricks in existing barbecues, regardless of their size or shape, to provide a satisfactory layer which at least substantially fills the space above the flames of the gas burners.