Smoke generation cooking system and methods

• US 10,674,866 B2
• Filed: 06/24/2016
• Issued: 06/09/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 10/23/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Traeger Pellet Grills, LLC
• Original Assignee: Traeger Pellet Grills, LLC
• Inventors: Colston, Michael
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Khai M
• Application Number:
  US15/114,744
• Publication Number:
  US 20180213970A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,446 Days
• CPC Class Codes: A23B 4/052 Smoke generators ; Smoking apparatus A23B4/056 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A23L 5/10 General methods of cooking foods, e.g. by roasting or frying
• CPC Class Codes: A23V 2002/00 Food compositions, function of food ingredients or processes for food or foodstuffs
• CPC Class Codes: A47J 36/00 Parts, details or accessories of cooking-vessels A47J27/00 - A47J33/00 take precedence insofar as these parts, details or accessories are restricted to a particular kind of cooking-vessel provided for in a single one of these groups
• CPC Class Codes: A47J 37/07 Roasting devices for outdoor use; Barbecues
• CPC Class Codes: F23N 5/265 using electronic means
• CPC Class Codes: F24B 1/024 for pulverulent fuels
• CPC Class Codes: F24B 1/028 with means for regulating combustion
• CPC Class Codes: F24B 1/20 Ranges
• CPC Class Codes: F24B 1/26 Stoves with additional provisions for cooking stoves with open-fires with additional provisions for cooking F24B1/182
• CPC Class Codes: Y02A 40/90 in food processing or handling, e.g. food conservation
• CPC Class Codes: Y02A 40/928 Cooking stoves using biomass

Abstract

Embodiments are directed to smoking food in an outdoor grill using a customized smoking routine. In one scenario, an electronic controller of an outdoor grill receives an input to initiate smoke generation according to a specified smoke generation pattern, including: adding a specified amount of combustible pellets to a combustion area within the outdoor grill, such that the combustible pellets begin to burn, measuring a current internal temperature of the outdoor grill and, if below a threshold value, adding a specified amount of additional combustible pellets to the combustion area sufficient to raise the temperature to another threshold value, allowing the internal temperature to cool a temperature below the first threshold value and, upon determining that the temperature of the outdoor grill has cooled below the first specified threshold value, adding additional combustible pellets to the combustion area sufficient to raise the temperature to at least the second threshold value.

Claims

1. A wood-pellet grill, comprising:

a combustion area;

a hopper for providing wood pellets to the combustion area; and

an electronic controller comprising;

at least one processor; and

at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions thereon that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the electronic controller to;

receive a direct communication from a remote cloud computing system, the direct communication including instructions that the wood-pellet grill is to initiate smoke generation according to a specified, customized smoke generation pattern created by a user, wherein the direct communication represents a prior user selection originally made through a mobile device;

analyze the customized smoke generation pattern to determine how many wood pellets need to be added to the combustion area by the hopper and when the wood pellets need to be added to the combustion area by the hopper in order to achieve the customized smoke generation pattern;

determine a current internal temperature of the wood-pellet grill; and

upon determining the current internal temperature of the wood-pellet grill, initiate the customized smoke generation pattern by;

adjusting, based on the determined current internal temperature, the determined amount of wood pellets to be added to the combustion area; and

causing the hopper to add the adjusted amount of wood pellets to the combustion area at a determined time.

2. The wood-pellet grill of claim 1, further comprising instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the electronic controller to:

continuously determine a current ambient temperature external to the wood-pellet grill; and

automatically adjust the customized smoke generation pattern according to changes in the determined current ambient temperature during the customized smoke generation pattern.

3. The wood-pellet grill of claim 1, wherein receiving a direct communication from the remote cloud computing system comprises receiving the direct communication via a wireless network to which the wood-pellet grill is communicably connected.

4. The wood-pellet grill of claim 3, further comprising instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the electronic controller to automatically initiate the customized smoke generation pattern in response to receiving the direct communication from the remote cloud computing system.

5. The wood-pellet grill of claim 1, wherein initiating the customized smoke generation pattern comprises displacing or supplementing an existing smoking pattern that is pre-programmed into the wood-pellet grill.

6. A wood-pellet grill, comprising:

a combustion area;

a hopper for providing wood pellets to the combustion area; and

an electronic controller comprising;

at least one processor; and

at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions thereon that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the electronic controller to;

in response to receiving a direct communication from a cloud computing system with instructions to initiate a customized smoke generation pattern, analyze the customized smoke generation pattern to determine how many wood pellets need to be added to the combustion area by the hopper and when the wood pellets need to be added to the combustion area by the hopper in order to achieve the customized smoke generation pattern;

determine a current internal temperature of the wood-pellet grill and a current ambient temperature external to the wood-pellet grill; and

initiate the customized smoke generation pattern by;

adjusting, based on both the determined current internal temperature and the determined current ambient temperature, the determined amount of wood pellets to be added to the combustion area; and

causing the hopper to add the adjusted amount of wood pellets to the combustion area at a determined time.

7. The wood-pellet grill of claim 6, wherein receiving the direct communication comprises receiving the direct communication from the cloud computing system wherein the direct communication comprises instructions that originated from a remote device.

8. The wood-pellet grill of claim 7, wherein receiving the direct communication from the cloud computing system comprises receiving the direct communication via a wireless network to which the wood-pellet grill is communicably connected.

9. The wood-pellet grill of claim 7, wherein the direct communication comprises instruction that originated from a handheld mobile device.

10. The wood-pellet grill of claim 7, further comprising a digital thermometer for measuring current internal temperature of the wood-pellet grill, wherein the digital thermometer is in wireless communication with the electronic controller of the wood-pellet grill and in wireless communication with the remote device via the cloud computing system.

11. The wood-pellet grill of claim 6, wherein the customized smoke generation pattern comprises a user-customized smoke generation pattern.

12. The wood-pellet grill of claim 6, further comprising instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the electronic controller to:

continuously determine the current ambient temperature external to the wood-pellet grill; and

automatically adjust the customized smoke generation pattern according to changes in the determined current ambient temperature during the customized smoke generation pattern.

13. The wood-pellet grill of claim 6, further comprising instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the electronic controller to display a graphical user interface on a display of the wood-pellet grill, the graphical user interface comprises a plurality of selectable elements representing wood-pellet functions.

14. A wood-pellet grill, comprising:

a combustion area;

a hopper for providing wood pellets to the combustion area;

a digital thermometer for measuring an internal temperature of the wood-pellet grill; and

an electronic controller in communication with the digital thermometer, the electronic controller comprising;

a display;

at least one processor; and

at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions thereon that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the electronic controller to;

receive a communication from a remote device via a direct connection with a cloud computing system, the communication including instructions for the wood-pellet grill to initiate a specified, customized smoke generation pattern;

analyze the customized smoke generation pattern to determine an amount of wood pellets that needs to be added to the combustion area by the hopper and when the amount of wood pellets need to be added to the combustion area by the hopper in order to achieve the customized smoke generation pattern;

determine a current internal temperature of the wood-pellet grill based on a measurement of the digital thermometer; and

initiate the customized smoke generation pattern by;

adjusting, based on the determined current internal temperature, the determined amount of wood pellets to be added to the combustion area; and

causing the hopper to add the adjusted amount of wood pellets to the combustion area at a determined time.

15. The wood-pellet grill of claim 14, further comprising instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the electronic controller to:

continuously determine a current ambient temperature external to the wood-pellet grill based on measurement of an external thermometer; and

automatically adjust the customized smoke generation pattern according to changes in the determined current ambient temperature during the customized smoke generation pattern.

16. The wood-pellet grill of claim 14, wherein receiving the communication from the remote device comprises receiving the communication via a wireless network to which the wood-pellet grill is communicably connected and through which the wood-pellet grill is direct connected to cloud computing system.

17. The wood-pellet grill of claim 14, wherein receiving the communication from the remote device via a direct connection with a cloud computing system comprises receiving the communication from a handheld mobile device via a direct connection with a cloud computing system.

18. The wood-pellet grill of claim 17, wherein the digital thermometer is in wireless communication with the handheld mobile device via a direct connection with a cloud computing system.

19. The wood-pellet grill of claim 14, wherein the customized smoke generation pattern comprises a user-customized smoke generation pattern.

20. The wood-pellet grill of claim 14, further comprising instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the electronic controller to display a graphical user interface on a display of the wood-pellet grill, the graphical user interface comprises a plurality of selectable elements representing wood-pellet functions.