Vented recycling oven with separate catalytic converter

Abstract

A recycling cooking oven for cooking food at least in part by hot air flow and providing a substantially closed but vented environment includes a cooking chamber for receiving a stream of hot air from an upstream thermal plenum via a plurality of openings in the cooking chamber, the cooking chamber cooking food therein at least partially with hot air from the plurality of openings and the cooking of such foods adding oxidizable components to the hot air. A blower circulates the stream of hot air in substantially a continuous travel path including the thermal plenum, the plurality of openings and the cooking chamber. A main catalytic converter is disposed in the continuous travel path for flamelessly oxidizing the oxidizable components leaving the cooking chamber. A vent communicating with ambient atmosphere and the main catalytic converter diverts an auxiliary vent stream of hot air from the main catalytic converter into the vent; and an auxiliary catalytic converter is disposed in the vent, downstream of the main catalytic converter, for flamelessly oxidizing oxidizable components in the hot air of the auxiliary vent stream passing through the vent, thereby to further remove oxidizable components from the hot air of the auxiliary vent stream and so release a relatively clean auxiliary vent stream of hot air from the vent into the ambient atmosphere.