US Patent 8668949 Dutch oven cook station apparatus and method

A fire pan provides a table-top or ground-supported pan or tray to hold a source of heat such as charcoal, burning wood, gas burner, and so forth. The pan places the heat source away from a surface, thus not damaging lawns, tabletops, parking lots, sidewalks, or other supporting surfaces. The pan may support one or more Dutch ovens, thus providing a “fire pit” of modest size, foldable into a very small envelope. Handles are extendible away from the pan for handling or moving, even when hot coals are present. The legs below are curved to fold up along the contour of the bottom surface of the pan.