A cooking system includes a placement unit which has a food-holding element and a heating unit for heating the food-holding element. An induction unit provides in at least one operating state an amount of heating energy for inductively heating the food-holding element. The heating unit includes a heating element which is different from an induction heating element and is provided for heating the food-holding element.

A material cleaning device and a cooking appliance. The material cleaning device comprises: a cleaning chamber, an air inlet, a material inlet, and a water inlet being provided on the cleaning chamber, the air inlet, the material inlet, and the water inlet being respectively used for transporting air flows, a material to be cleaned, and water for cleaning the material to the cleaning chamber; and a stirring assembly provided in the cleaning chamber and being capable of rotating in the cleaning chamber under the action of the air streams, so as to stir the material and the water in the cleaning chamber. The material cleaning device drives the stirring assembly to rotate by means of air streams, so as to make the stirring assembly stir the material and the water in the cleaning chamber, thereby implementing automatic cleaning. The material cleaning device features a simple structure, and is easy to use.

A fill and drain tube apparatus may have a drain plate with drain plate holes therethrough and at least one support bracket coupled to its lower surface for suspending the drain plate over the bottom cooking surface of a cooking utensil. A user may place food on the drain plate to allow liquids to fall through the drain plate holes to the bottom cooking surface of the cooking utensil. A drain tube having drain holes near its bottom end may extend perpendicularly through an opening in the drain plate. A user may pour liquid through the drain tube and onto the bottom cooking surface without the liquid contacting the food. The liquid may flow through the drain holes. The user may also extract liquid from the cooking utensil through the drain tube, using a ladle, or the like, without removing the food or moving or tipping the cooking utensil.

A method of preparing soy milk using a blender and the blender includes heating beans and water in a predetermined proportion to a first predetermined temperature, cooking the beans at a second predetermined temperature such that the beans are well-cooked, and grinding the well-cooked beans. The method of preparing soy milk can solve the overflow problem that occurs in the preparation of the soy milk and provides delicious and nutritious soy milk.

A robotic systems for preparing meals having: a robotic arm with a controller and a motor drive unit, an end of arm tool; a plurality of ingredient holding and dispensing assemblies, each comprising a container for holding and dispensing the ingredients; a cooking receptacle to cook ingredients placed therein; dishes storing device; a tray adapted to receive ingredients from the dispenser and be releasably gripped by the gripper; a dish and food transfer area having at least one compartment, comprising an internal access door, an external access door and at least one surface adapted for placing a dish or food; a cleaning subsystem to clean the cooking receptacle and the tray. The end of arm tool is provided with a rotary drive adapted to releasably engaged the plurality of the containers for holding a ingredients so that the rotation of the rotary drive causes the dispenser to dispense the ingredient.

An over-the-range microwave appliance includes a pot filler water dispenser for dispensing water to a vessel situated on a cook top below the microwave. The microwave includes a pot filler housing adjacent a cooking cavity that creates a recess into which the pot filler is housed that is not visible from the front of the appliance. The pot filler includes a dispensing hose or conduit that is retractable or retractably mounted within the pot filler housing recess. The dispensing hose is biased into a stowed position and can be pulled against the bias to place the dispensing hose into a deployed condition, thereafter returning to its stowed position.

A temperature-regulating unit includes a base, a thermal element, a contactless sensing assembly, and a controller. The base is configured to support at least one of a pan or a food product. The thermal element is positioned to thermally regulate the at least one of the pan or the food product. The contactless sensing assembly is positioned to acquire sensor data regarding the at least one of the pan or the food product. The controller is configured to receive the sensor data from the contactless sensing assembly and adaptively control the thermal element based on the sensor data.

According to one example, a removable lid for a container of a vessel includes a valve configured to selectively allow air to vent out of a fluid retaining interior region of the container when the lid is positioned on the container. The valve includes an opening that extends entirely through a thickness of a portion of the lid, and a valve plug. The valve plug includes a valve top portion that extends vertically above a top surface of the portion of the lid, a valve bottom portion, and a valve central portion. The valve top portion is configured to be contracted, by a downward pressure, into a more vertically compact shape. The valve top portion is further configured to, absent the downward pressure, expand back upwards out of the more vertically compact shape.

A household PEF cooking device includes a cooking product container which can be filled with liquid and includes PEF electrodes which lie opposite one another and between which a cooking product can be introduced. A PEF signal generator applies PEF signals to the PEF electrodes, and a control device control the PEF signal generator. An IR sensor which measures contactlessly is disposed at a distance from the PEF electrodes and connected to the control device. A measuring dot of the IR sensor encompasses an outer face of an electrically conductive region of a wall of the cooking product container, which electrically conductive region can be contacted on an inner face by the liquid when the cooking product container is full.

A wireless power supply system for a cooking appliance includes a power transmission device and a power reception device. The power transmission device includes a transmission coil and a coil driving circuit coupled to the transmission coil and configured to drive the transmission coil to generate an alternating electromagnetic field and vary a resonance voltage of the transmission coil. The power reception device includes a reception coil matching the transmission coil and configured to sense the alternating electromagnetic field to generate a varying induction voltage signal that varies according to the varying resonance voltage and a communication and demodulation circuit configured to demodulate the varying induction voltage signal to output demodulated data.