Abstract: An oven cavity, having an associated width defined by a lateral distance spanning side walls thereof, is provided with an oven rack that has a maximum lateral dimension which is substantially less than the width of the oven cavity and is directly supported by the oven cavity. In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the invention, the oven rack includes a platform portion, as well as first and second support portions. The first support portion is attached to a rear wall of the cavity and the second support portion is adapted to engage a runner provided on one of the side walls of the cavity, at least when the platform portion is weighted down by an item to be cooked. In the preferred embodiment, the first support portion projects rearwardly and upwardly from the platform portion and has an uppermost section provided with a pair of spaced retaining clips that are received within lanced tabs formed in the rear wall of the oven cavity.

Abstract: A variable volume oven that can be modified to adjust its volume according to the cooking load. The volume of the oven is able to be adjusted by providing a heating element that is vertically adjustable within the oven to a position that provides better convective and radiative heating to the cooking load.

Abstract: A power operated system for raising and lowering an oven rack but without opening the oven door is disclosed. The system comprises a plurality of conventional rectangular wire oven shelves in a spaced apart relationship. Each shelf is supported on a protuberance that has a threaded portion that rides up and down a threaded support bar. The support bar is turned by a continuous loop chain gear that derives it's direction from an electric motor. The electric motor is controlled by a remote located switch on the face of the oven. The support bars form a right-angle frame within the oven cavity and are oriented above a lowermost section of the oven which houses the electric motor and the journal bearings they are in.

Abstract: A removable shelf for a vacuum-drying cabinet is machanically expandable so that it comes into thermal contact under pressure over a large area with the heated walls of the cabinet interior. The shelf can be inserted into a supporting framework which can be freely positioned in the cabinet interior and can be removed for cleaning. A baffle plate on the supporting framework protects the material to be dried from strong air currents when the cabinet interior is evacuated.

Abstract: A microwave oven of a type equipped with a turntable inside its heating chamber has a set of multi-level supporting pieces attached to the corners of the heating chamber where space is usually wasted or alternatively on the walls of the heating chamber. These pieces serve to support a rack at a selected height above the turntable so that otherwise wasted space inside the heating chamber near its corners can be utilized and many items can be heated at the same time without overburdening the mechanism for operating the turntable.

Abstract: A self-storing meal rack for a microwave oven having an indexing mechanism for holding the rack in a lower or cooking or an upper storage position. The rack is rotated about a pivot between the cooking and storage position. Clearance is provided in the upper storage position so that the rack does not interfere with the polarization of excitation of the oven even though it is stored adjacent the upper wall of the oven cavity. In the lower or cooking position, the rack is spaced from the lower wall of the oven cavity a distance sufficient to permit food to be placed on the bottom wall of the oven cavity.

Abstract: A cooking pan supports a grill with means to control the elevation of the grill within the pan. While generally useful in cooking, the invention is especially suited to use in solar cookers.

Abstract: A fireplace support bracket having an upright, an adjustable slide having a greater inner effective diameter than the outer effective diameter of the upright, a locking surface extending down from the slide parallel to the upright, and a pin or aperture on the slide to receive a grate whose weight locks the locking surface against the upright in any selected position. The upright includes a pair of pins for mounting the bracket to the hinges of a fireplace.