USRE39828E1

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Info

Publication number: USRE39828E1
Application number: US10/347,543
Authority: US
Inventors: R. Craig Miller; Richard W. Naess
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1995-06-26
Filing date: 2003-01-16
Publication date: 2007-09-11
Anticipated expiration: 2015-06-26

Abstract

An improved convection/impingement oven for continuously cooking food. The oven has a wire link type belt which moves through an elongated cooking chamber. Hot air is blown on the upper surface of the food to be cooked. A separately controlled hot air source is blown on the lower surface of the food. Hot air impingement units are placed along the length of the oven and the cooking vapors are not recirculated but instead pass along the elongated cooking chamber and are exhausted at the end. Preferably a color development and sealing section has upper and lower burners which heat the food and the heat from these burners also pass the entire length of the cooking chamber before being exhausted. Also preferably steam or a water spray is used to regulate the humidity and this may be regulated in several different sections of the cooking chamber.

Description

This is a continuation Ser. No. 08/494,716 field on Jun. 26, 1995, U.S. Pat. No. 5,560,952.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

The field of the invention is cooking ovens and the invention relates more particularly to ovens of the type used to commercially bake, broil or otherwise cook meats, baked goods and other foods. With the increased use of frozen dinners, the moisture content in the meat contained in a frozen dinner has become more critical. Since microwave cooking tends to heat water, it is important that sufficient water be retained in the meat so that after it is microwaved it has the desired flavor and texture.

Many patents have been granted on continuous cooking ovens. For instance the Straub U.S. Pat. No. 3,604,336 shows a moving belt with upper and lower burners, a center exhaust duct is provided and no provision is made for moisture control of the finished product.

The Szabrak et al U.S. Pat. No. 3,721,178 also uses many burners along the length of the oven. The Nerthling U.S. Pat. No. 3,823,660 utilizes a continuous moving belt with radiant heaters above and below the food to be cooked. Burners are also used and the exhaust vent is positioned along one side of the entire length of the oven.

The Fagerstrom et al patent shows an electrical heating device over which air is passed after which it passes through channels above and below the product to be cooked. The cooking vapors are vented at points along the oven. The Caridis et al U.S. Pat. No. 3,947,241 shows a recirculating oven wherein a flame is fed into an upper chamber and then passes in a u-shaped path into the lower chamber where the product to be cooked is located. A certain amount of cooking vapors is exhausted at both ends of the oven.

A charmaker is shown in the Fetzer U.S. Pat. No. 4,026,201 which uses many rings which are heated and ride on the upper surface of the food product. The Baker et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,121,509 utilizes electric heating elements and recirculated air which passes through tubes at the end of the oven and flows against the upper and lower surface of the food to be cooked.

The Caridis et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,167,585 is similar in structure to U.S. Pat. No. 3,947,241 and is basically a recirculation system wherein water vapor is injected into the moving stream of process vapor to control the temperature and moisture content.

The Benson et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,297,942 shows a branding process utilizing an oversized screen with upper and lower burners, the heat from which it is exhausted from the branding unit. The Baker U.S. Pat. No. 4,936,286 is a small continuous broiler which has three side-by-side conveyors. The Leary et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,949,629 is a continuous cooking oven which has two very separate cooking zones, both zones utilize recirculation of the cooking vapors. Lastly, the Barkhau et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,991,497 cooks food in a closed bottom tray and utilizes air high velocity impingement nozzles to accomplish the cooking. The air is recirculated.

Although one would think that recirculation of cooking vapor would result in an efficient unit, this is not the case. Since ovens must be constructed in a manner so that they can be easily and completely cleaned, it is not practical to place an outer layer of insulation on the oven. Therefore, the large additional surface area that is required to bring about recirculation radiates more than the amount of heat saved in recirculation. Furthermore, for some products such as pork, the recirculation process results in an undesirable pink color in the meat even though it is completely cooked. Therefore, an oven which is more efficient in the use of heat would be highly desirable. Still further, it is useful to be able to cook various different types of food products requiring a wide range of controls for heat temperature and humidity.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is for an improved convection/impingement oven for continuously cooking food. The oven is of the type having a pervious, continuous, moving belt which has an upper product supporting surface referred to as a “food supporting belt” and a return belt portion. The food supporting belt has a lower surface which permits the passage of hot air or other vapors upwardly therethrough and the passage of fat or other drippings downwardly therethrough. The food passes from a product feed end to a product discharge end through a closed elongated cooking chamber which is enclosed by a top, two sides, and a bottom. The food supporting belt and the return belt both pass through this chamber. A burner blower is supplied with outside air and feeds air to at least one burner which feeds hot air to a first manifold which is at about atmospheric pressure and has an air intake which permits atmospheric air to enter from outside the oven. A second blower then takes the atmospheric pressure hot air and increases the pressure thereof for later feeding into a low pressure hot-air manifold and from there through air impingement nozzles onto the food to be cooked. A plurality of upper air impingement nozzles are positioned above the food supporting belt and these nozzles are fed from an upper air impingement manifold which in turn is supplied from the said low pressure hot air manifold. A plurality of lower air impingement nozzles are positioned below the lower surface of the food supporting belt, and this is fed from a lower air impingement manifold which in turn is fed by the low pressure hot air manifold. Means are provided for independently controlling the flow of hot air to the upper air impingement manifold and to the lower air impingement manifold. A cooking vapor vent having an inlet positioned adjacent the product discharge of the cooking chamber comprises the only outlet for the cooking vapors. The cooking vapors move along the cooking chamber and hot air is introduced along the length of the chamber thereby causing the hot air flow, concurrently with the food-supporting surface, to move at an ever increasing rate along the cooking over. Preferably the lower hot air impingement units and the upper hot air impingement units are fed by separate burners and blowers. Also preferably a color development and sealing unit is positioned at the product feed end of the cooking chamber and upper and lower burners are played upon the food to be cooked (and preferably a branding wheel) and the heat from these two burners is passed the entire length of the cooking chamber. The color development and sealing burners are adjustable so that the direction of the flame may made from horizontal to directly downwardly. It is also preferable that a plurality of steam nozzle assemblies are positioned along the cooking chamber, preferably between the impingement units. Also, preferably the steam nozzles are separated into several discreet groups which are independently controllable so that different zones of the oven can be of different humidity and/or temperature.

The present invention is also for a process of cooking food comprising the steps of placing an object to be cooked on the upper surface of a perforate moving belt. Next, a color development and sealing flame is aimed so that the heat therefrom passes into the entrance of an elongated cooking chamber. Steam may next be introduced above and below the object to be cooked and hot air is impinged on the upper and lower surface with the temperature and force of the impinging stream of hot air from the upper nozzles being independently controlled from that from the lower nozzles. The object to be cooked is passed through at least one set of upper and lower air impingement nozzles and upper and lower stream nozzles and the finally cooked product is removed at the product discharge end.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the improved convection/impingement cooking oven of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view taken along line2—2 of FIG.1.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross sectional view of the product feed end of the oven ofFIG. 1 including the color development and sealing assembly, a steam nozzle assembly, and a hot air impingement assembly.

FIG. 3A is an enlarged view taken along line3A of FIG.3.

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view taken alongline4—4 of FIG.3.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged cross sectional view of the product discharge end of the oven of FIG.1.

FIG. 6 is a cross sectional end view showing the oven ofFIG. 1 with the hood thereof raised.

FIG. 7 is a front view of the control panel of the cooking unit of FIG.1.

FIG. 8 is a diagrammatic view of the control panel of FIG.7.

FIG. 9 is an enlarged plan view of the impingement console unit of FIG.1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The improved convection/impingement oven of the present invention is shown inFIGS. 1 and 2 and indicated byreference character10.Oven10 has aproduct feed end11 and aproduct discharge end12. The food to be cooked is placed on a pervious, continuous, movingbelt13 which is fabricated from a plurality of linked rods, of steel or other construction known in the art. The unit is operated from acontrol counsel console14, andimpingement console15 contains the burners for feeding the air impingement unit. Details of the impingement console are shown in FIG.59.

A cross sectional view ofoven10 is shown inFIG. 2 where it can be seen that the upper part ofbelt13 moves from left to right as shown in FIG.2 and passes through an elongated cooking chamber which is shown more clearly inFIGS. 3 and 4, where it is indicated byreference character16. As the food to be cooked passes along the forward movingportion17 or thebelt13, ( the forward movingportion17 is called the “food supporting belt”) upper and lower air impingement nozzles such as those indicated inFIG. 2 by

reference characters

18 and19 pass hot air onto the upper and lower surface of the product to be cooked. Also, steam nozzles assemblies such as indicated-inFIG. 2 by

reference characters

62,70, and73 pass steam or water vapor into thecooking vapor21 which forms above and below the food to be cooked.

The essential feature of the present invention is the ability to separately control both the temperature and volume emitted from the upper and lower air impingement nozzles in the oven. As shown inFIG. 1, ablower assembly22 feeds air and fuel to aburner nozzle25.Burner nozzle25.Burner nozzle25 forms a flame which heats the air in the interior ofmanifold27. The interior ofmanifold27 is at about atmospheric pressure and draws air as needed throughconduit24 which is open to the exterior of the oven.Conduit24 does not draw any recirculated hot air fromvent83. Similarly, a blower assembly feeds air and fuel to aburner nozzle26.Burner nozzle26 forms a flame which heats the air inmanifold28. The hot air inmanifold28 is at about atmospheric pressure and draws air as needed through conduit241 which also is drawn from outside the oven. The hot air at atmospheric pressure inmanifold27 is fed to ablower assembly29 which increases its pressure to from one-half to ten psig. Asblower assembly29 requires more hot air, above that required to simply move thegasses exiting nozzle25, it is supplied by the airstream entering conduit24 so it never has a negative feed pressure.Blower assembly29 feeds the hot air into ahot air conduit31 from which it passes into the upperhot air manifold32 shown inFIGS. 3,5, and6.Blower assembly30 feeds hot air frommanifold28 to lower hot air conduit33 (which is directly belowconduit31 inFIG. 9) from which it passes into lowerhot air manifold34. Both theburner assembly22/23/25 and25/26 and the

blower assemblies

29 and30 may be independently controlled so that the temperature as well as the air pressure may be set to a preferred level for the product to be cooked.

Turning now toFIGS. 3 and 6, the lowerhot air manifold34 feeds hot air into right and left

hot air channels

38 and39 which feed a lower airimpingement nozzle assembly19. Air under a relatively low pressure (one-half to ten pounds per square inch gauge) passes outwardly through upwardly directed holes85 (seeFIG. 3A) in the plates of the nozzle and impinges upon the food to be cooked. Hot air also passes outwardly throughholes88 in anangled plate87 which directs hot air both downwardly and towardvent83 down the oven chamber. Similarly, holes innozzle assembly18, fed by

channels

35 and36, urge hot air downwardly and forwardly to impinge the food and to help urge the gas flow down the oven chamber to thevent83. This not only heats the food by conduction but also tends to remove any stagnant air and vapor layer which surrounds the food. Thus, the food is heated more efficiently and more quickly by the fact of the air impingement. It further carries with it the surrounding cooking vapor with its temperature and humidity so that the food is more quickly raised to the desired temperature. Since thefood supporting belt17 is largely open, the hot air passes readily through it and around all sides of the food to be cooked (which is indicated byreference character41 in FIG.6).

The surfaces of the cooking chamber are shown inFIG. 6 although thehood42 has been raised therefrom. The upper wall of the cooking chambers indicated byreference character43 and the left side wall by44 and the right side wall by45. The

base portions

46 and51 rest in the sealing

lips

47 and52 of thelower pan61 when the hood is lowered. The hood consisting of

walls

43,44 and45 are held on a cross member53 which is, in turn, held by two

vertical members

54 and55.

Members

54 and55 are supported by

rods

56 and57. The hood is raised and lowered by a chain hoist40 supported byframe50.

Rods

56 and57 telescope into

vertical members

54 and55 so that ashood42 is lowered, thebase58 thereof rests upon the frame to create adead air space60 above the upper surface and the side walls of the cooking chamber. The lower pan of the cooking chamber is indicated byreference character61 which provides a conventional slanted grease or other liquid removing floor. It is important that the air volume of the cooking chamber be relatively small so that only the air necessary for cooking need be heated and the outer surface of the cooking chamber be minimized to minimize radiation heat loss. Outer sides are, of course, provided along the entire length of the oven to further reduce heat loss.

Returning now toFIGS. 3 and 4, asteam nozzle assembly62 is shown in side view in FIG.3 and in front view ofFIG. 4. A

steam line

63 is controlled by asteam valve64 shown in FIG.2. This is independently controlled from

steam valves

65 and66 which provides the operator with additional temperature and moisture control. It is, of course, understood that the term “steam” is intended to include a spray of water mist which is quickly turned to steam in the high temperatures of the cooking chamber. Returning toFIG. 3

steam nozzle assembly

62 emits an upper stream ofsteam67 and a lower stream ofsteam68 throughnozzles20. Since the product to be cooked has just passed through a high temperature color development and sealing operation, the streams of

steam

67 and68 tend to extinguish and flareup that may occur. Also, it should be noted that the

streams

67 and68 are directed toward the discharge end12 of the oven which helps move thecooking vapor21 concurrently with respect to thefood supporting belt17. Aseparate steam line69 supplies asteam nozzle assembly70 which also has a pair of streams of

steam

71 and72.Steam nozzle assembly70 is controlled bysteam valve65 as are the other steam nozzle assemblies indicated byreference character70 in FIG.2.Steam nozzle assemblies73 shown inFIG. 2 are controlled bysteam valve66.

Turning now to the color development and sealing assembly, an upper color development and sealing burner74 (seeFIG. 3) is fed with high pressure air and gas to provide aflame75 which heats the upper surface offood41 to be cooked. This provides coloring and sealing to the food. Similarly, a lower color development andsealing burner76 has aflame77 which heats the lower surface offood product41. The heat from both the upper and

lower flames

75 and77 heat abranding wheel78 which is driven by achain link belt79 from a gear80 which also contacts the continuous movingbelt13.Branding wheel78 is floating so that it will rise if necessary.Branding wheel78 may also be permanently raised to eliminate any branding. The branding rods81 always move at the same speed as afood supporting belt17 to provide a neat brand on the upper surface offood product41. The lower side of thefood product41 is branded by the movingbelt13, althoughbelt13 may be cooled so eliminate branding if desired.

Burners

74 and76 may be aimed through a 90 degree arc. They may be aimed horizontally toward the cooking chamber or at any angle between horizontally to directly downwardly and upwardly respectively toward the movingbelt17. The choice of direction depends on the amount of coloring and sealing desired and the type of food being cooked. Thus theflames75 and/or77 may be aimed to directly impinge the surfaces of the food to be cooked, or they may merely heat the surfaces depending on how the

burners

74 and76 are aimed.

An important feature of the color development and sealing assembly is the aiming of the

flames

75 and77 toward the opening of the cooking chamber and the conveying of the heat from these flames into the cooking chamber. The portion of the cooking chamber which surrounds the branding rods is in a stair stepped shape indicated byreference character82. The hot air is moved inwardly into the cooking chamber and not exhausted in a separate vent. The hot air carries the entire length of the cooking chamber and is not vented until it passes out of thecooking vapor vent83 shown inFIGS. 1 and 2. Also the upper color development and sealing burner and the lower color development and sealing burner are independently controlled so that the proper amount of heat may be applied depending on the product being cooked.

The construction of the upper and lower impingement manifolds is a very important feature of the present invention.FIG. 3a shows the top of lower and upper air impingement manifolds19 and18 where it an be seen thatnozzle19 has anozzle plate84 with a plurality ofsmall holes85 which causes the air to move out in small discrete streams against the product to be cooked. There are no nozzles on theangled face86 but there are nozzles on theangled face87 which are indicated byreference character88. Similarly upperair impingement manifold18 has anozzle plate89 shown inFIG. 3 in side view which also has a plurality ofholes90. Anangled face91 also has a plurality ofholes92 but angledface93 has no holes. This causes the air to be urged downwardly and also at a approximately 45 degree angle in the direction of the discharge and to help move thecooking vapors21 along the oven. It is also evident inFIG. 3 that theupper surface43 ofcooking chamber16 is angled upwardly as indicated byreference character94 to accommodate the air impingement manifolds as well as the steam manifolds. This causes the internal volume of the cooking chamber to be minimized and helps to increase the velocity of thecooking vapor21 concurrently with thefood supporting belts17.

Also viewingFIG. 2 it is evident to see that with the multiple entries of hot air and steam the volume of cooking vapors increases along the chamber so that as the food becomes more cooked, thecooking vapor21 increases in velocity.

Further details of construction of the steam nozzle assembly is shown inFIG. 4 where it can be seen thatsteam line63 feeds avertical steam line95. This, in turn, feeds an upperhorizontal steam manifold96 and a lowerhorizontal steam manifold97. Each of these manifolds have a plurality ofindividual nozzles20 which urge the streams of steam in the direction shown for instance, inFIG. 3 indicated by

reference character

67 and68.

Another important feature of the present invention is the single pass operation where the only significant venting of cooking vapor is throughcooking vapor vent83 which includes adamper99 and an air blower, not shown, positioned upwardly fromdamper99. Air is thus drawn upwardly throughvent83 and is exhausted and is not recirculated.

As thefood41 passes along the cooking chamber, it tends to draw heat out of thecooking vapors21. Thus, although the temperature may be as high as 1000 to 1600 degrees Fahrenheit near the product feed end of the cooking chamber it decreases along the chamber. For example, it may drop to 800, 600, 400 and 300 degrees in some instances, along the chamber so that as the food warms, the cooking temperature difference between the product and thecooking vapors21 decreases. This characteristic optimizes the cooling operation and reduces the possibility of overcooking in a manner not possible in the typical over or a recirculating oven which remains at a relatively constant temperature.

Also shown inFIG. 5 is abelt cleaning loop100 which causes the belt to pass through atank101 filled withwater102. It has been found that the belt remains relatively clean during most cooling operations. If it is desired to add non-stick coatings to the belt, they can be added totank102.

Control panel

103 is shown inFIGS. 7 and 8. The cooking unit is provided with numerous means for controlling temperature, air flow, humidity, and belt speed. Appropriate monitoring units such as pressure sensing means, theremocouples and other sensors provide input to the control panel for facilitating the operation of the unit. The controls are more specifically set forth in FIG.8. Particular note is made of the wide variety of controls available on both the upper impingement unit and the lower impingement unit. The result is a highly versatile and yet efficient continuous convection/impingement cooking oven which is capable of placing the optimum temperature, time and humidity together with upper and lower air flow impingement on the food to be cooked so that the best possible product will result.

The present embodiments of this invention are thus to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive: the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description. All changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are intended to be embraced therein.

Claims

1. A process for continuously cooking foodstuff while being able to provide excellent control of the properties of the cooked foodstuff, said process comprising the step of:

placing a foodstuff to be cooked on an upper surface of a perforate, moving belt;

heating at least one surface of the foodstuff to be cooked with a color development and sealing flame;

aiming said color development and sealing flame so that the heat therefrom passes into the entrance of an elongated cooking chamber surrounding said moving belt, said cooking chamber having a product feed and a product discharge;

passing said foodstuff to be cooked through a plurality of cooking phase assemblies for introducing hot air to produce cooking vapors and moving the cooking vapors concurrently along said elongated cooking chamber and said cooking vapors increasing in velocity along said cooking chamber as the foodstuff to be cooked moves from the product feed to the product discharge, the cooking phase assemblies being in communication with a heat source, the heat source being remote from the color development and sealing flame and the elongated oven;

venting said cooking vapors from said cooking chamber near the product discharge; and

removing the resulting cooked product from the moving belt.

2. A process for continuously cooking foodstuff while being able to provide excellent control of the properties of the cooked product, said process comprising the steps of:

placing an object to be cooked on an upper surface of a perforate, moving belt;

heating at least one surface of the object to be cooked with a color development and sealing flame;

introducing steam above and below said object to be cooked after said object has passed said color development and sealing flame;

impinging the lower surface of said object to be cooked with hot air from below said moving belt at a first temperature and velocity;

impinging the upper surface of said object to be cooked with hot air from above said moving belt at a second temperature and velocity, said introducing and said two impinging steps forming a cooking phase assembly for introducing hot air and each of said cooking phase assemblies producing cooking vapors, the cooking phase assemblies being in communication with a heat source, the heat source being remote from the color development and sealing flame and the elongated oven;

passing said object to be cooked through a plurality of said cooking phase assemblies while moving the cooking vapors concurrently along said elongated cooking chamber without and recirculation of the cooking vapors, and said cooking vapors increasing in velocity along said cooking chamber as the object to be cooked moves from the product feed to the product discharge;

removing the resulting cooked product from the moving belt.

3. The method ofclaim 1 wherein the cooking vapors are vented without recirculation.

4. A process for continuously cooking foodstuff while being able to provide excellent control of the properties of the cooked foodstuff, said process comprising the steps of:

placing a foodstuff to be cooked on an upper surface of a perforate, moving belt;

heating at least one surface of the foodstuff to be cooked with a color development and sealing flame;

passing said foodstuff to be cooked through a plurality of impingement nozzles for introducing hot air to produce cooking vapors and moving the cooking vapors concurrently along said elongated cooking chamber and said cooking vapors increasing in velocity along said cooking chamber as the foodstuff to be cooked moves from the product feed to the product discharge, the impingement nozzles receiving hot air from a heat source external to the elongated cooking chamber;

venting said cooking vapors from said cooking chamber near the product discharge; and

removing the resulting cooked product from the moving belt.

5. The method ofclaim 4 wherein the heat source comprises a burner fed with air and a combustible fuel.

6. The method ofclaim 5 wherein a burner blower is supplied with outside air and feeds air to at least one burner which feeds hot air to a first manifold that is about atmospheric pressure and has an air intake that permits atmospheric air to enter from outside the elongated cooking oven.

7. The method ofclaim 6 wherein a second blower increases the pressure of the hot air for feeding into a low-pressure, hot-air manifold associated with the impingement nozzles and from the impingement nozzles onto the foodstuff to be cooked.

8. The method ofclaim 4 wherein the elongated cooking oven further include a plurality of steam impingement nozzles in communication with a source for steam.

9. The method ofclaim 7 wherein the elongated cooking oven further includes a plurality of steam impingement nozzles in communication with a source for steam.

10. The method ofclaim 7 wherein the cooking vapors are vented without recirculation.

11. The method ofclaim 4 wherein the elongated cooking chamber has a detachable hood, which exposes the moving belt when detached.

12. The method ofclaim 11 wherein the hood is substantially free of insulating material.

13. A process for continuously cooking foodstuff while being able to provide excellent control of the properties of the cooked product, said process comprising the steps of:

placing an object to be cooked on an upper surface of a perforate, moving belt;

heating at least one surface of the object to be cooked with a color development and sealing flame;

introducing steam above and below said object to be cooked after said object has passed said color development and sealing flame;

passing said object to be cooked through a plurality of impingement nozzles for impinging at least an upper or lower surface of the foodstuff while moving the resulting cooking vapors concurrently along said elongated cooking chamber without any recirculation of the cooking vapors, and said cooking vapors increasing in velocity along said cooking chamber as the object to be cooked moves from the product feed to the product discharge, the impingement nozzle assemblies receiving heat from a heat source external to the elongated cooking chamber;

removing the resulting cooked product from the moving belt.

14. A process for continuously cooking foodstuff while being able to provide excellent control of the properties of the cooked foodstuff, said process comprising the steps of:

passing said foodstuff to be cooked through a plurality of impingement nozzles for introducing heat to produce cooking vapors and moving the cooking vapors concurrently along said elongated cooking chamber and said cooking vapors increasing in velocity along said cooking chamber as the foodstuff to be cooked moves from the product feed to the product discharge, the impingement nozzles receiving hot air from a heat source comprising a burner fed with air and a combustible, the burner being external to the interior chamber of the elongated cooking chamber and in communication with the interior via at least one manifold;

removing the resulting cooked product from the moving belt.

15. The method ofclaim 14 wherein the cooking vapors are vented without recirculation.

16. The method ofclaim 14 wherein the elongated cooking chamber has a detachable hood that exposes the moving belt when detached.

17. The method ofclaim 16 wherein the hood is substantially free of insulating material.

18. The method ofclaim 14 wherein a manifold for communicating hot air to the impingement nozzles is disposed substantially below the moving belt.

19. The method ofclaim 18 wherein the manifold communicates with a plurality of impingement nozzles that impinge a foodstuff from above the moving belt.

20. The method ofclaim 18 wherein the manifold communicates with a plurality of impingement nozzles that impinge the foodstuff from below the moving belt.

21. The methodclaim 18 wherein a manifold for communicating hot air to the impingement nozzles is disposed substantially below the moving belt and the manifold communicates with impingement nozzles that impinge a foodstuff from above and below the moving belt.

22. The method ofclaim 14 wherein the heat source comprises a burner fed with air and a combustible fuel.

23. The method ofclaim 22 wherein a manifold for communicating hot air from the heat source to the impingement nozzles is disposed substantially below the moving belt and the manifold communicates with impingement nozzles that impinge a foodstuff from above and below the moving belt, and wherein the elongated cooking chamber has a detachable hood, which exposes the moving belt when detached.

24. The method ofclaim 23 wherein the hood is substantially free of insulating material.

25. A process for continuously cooking foodstuff while being able to provide excellent control of the properties of the cooked product, said process comprising the steps of:

passing said object to be cooked through a plurality of impingement nozzles for impinging at least an upper or lower surface of the foodstuff while moving the resulting cooking vapors concurrently along said elongated cooking chamber without any recirculation of the cooking vapors, and said cooking vapors increasing in velocity along said cooking chamber as the object to be cooked moves from the product feed to the product discharge, the impingement nozzle assemblies receiving heat from a source external to the interior of the elongated cooking chamber;

removing the resulting cooked product from the moving belt.

26. The method ofclaim 25 further comprising a burner blower is that supplied with outside air and feeds air to at least one burner which feeds hot air to a first manifold that is about at atmospheric pressure and has an air intake that permits atmospheric air to enter from outside the elongated cooking oven.

27. The method ofclaim 26 wherein a second blower increases the pressure of the hot air for feeding into a low-pressure, hot-air manifold associated with the impingement nozzle assemblies and from the impingement nozzles assemblies onto the foodstuff to be cooked.