A heat-cooking apparatus according to the present invention includes a heating chamber for heating a food product, a steam generator for generating steam, and a steam channel provided in the heating chamber for guiding steam generated by the steam generator. The heat-cooking apparatus further includes a loading table for disposing a heat-target object, which is raised from a bottom surface of the heating chamber to create a predetermined gap, and a loading table opening portion provided on the loading table for guiding steam from the steam channel to the heat-target object. Steam generated by the steam generator passes through the steam channel and the loading table opening portion to heat the heat-target object. Therefore, without requiring a steamer, steam cooking can easily be performed.

Cooking is performed to serve tasty food by appropriately managing moisture of an object to be cooked without burning the surface thereof. A box-shaped housing, a cooking cavity for accommodating an object to be cooked, the cooking cavity being arranged within the housing, an upper-face heater and a lower-face heater arranged in the cooking cavity, a boiler arranged within the cooking cavity, a water tray formed outside the cooking cavity and into which a given amount of water that is entirely evaporated in a given steaming time is poured, a water guide passage within the housing, the water guide passage into which water is supplied from the water tray to the boiler; and a control unit for causing an operation to generate steam from the boiler to be performed for at least a steaming time from when cooking starts are provided.

The toaster oven of the present invention includes a housing having an internal heating compartment, an upper heating element and a lower heating element. The upper heating element and the lower heating element are independently controllable between zero power and full power in dependence upon a user-selected operating mode.

A cooking device is for cooking food on a support (e.g. in a basket) within a cooking chamber. A required cooking time is determined based only on the time-evolution of the cooking chamber temperature and a power of the heating device. A first, less accurate, estimate of the required cooking time is determined within a first period, e.g. 90 seconds, of the turning on of the heating device and a second, more accurate, estimate of the required cooking is determined later, but e.g. within five minutes of the turning on of the heating device.

A cooking system includes a housing having a hollow interior and food is receivable within said hollow interior. A heating element is associated with the housing and a support body supports food within the hollow interior. The support body includes a body having a plurality of diffuser ribs. A plurality of channels is formed between the plurality of diffuser rib and at least one of the plurality of diffuser ribs and the plurality of channels is operable to deflect a relatively downward flowing fluid relatively horizontally across said support body.

An apparatus including a housing; a plurality of prongs connected to the housing so that the prongs are movable with respect to the housing; and a device for holding a food; and wherein the plurality of prongs are configured to be moved from a position outside of the food to a position where the plurality of prongs are inserted into the food; and wherein the plurality of prongs are configured to insert a substance into the food. The substance may be a seasoning. The apparatus may include a device for cleaning the plurality of prongs through a vacuum process and/or a blower process; wherein the device has an input configured to connect to one of the plurality of prongs. The apparatus may include a cook food platform; a sandwich platform; a hot beverage platform; and a cold beverage platform.

A method for timer-based cooking can include: heating a cooking cavity to a cooking temperature, detecting an transition event, determining a food classification, determining a cooking time, tracking a food residence time within the cooking cavity, optionally notifying a user when the residence time satisfies the cooking time, and/or any other suitable element.

Disclosed herein is a cooking system for cooking food, the system including a housing defining a hollow chamber configured to receive a food container. The housing has an upper portion defining an opening to the hollow chamber. A lid is attachable about the upper portion of the housing and is configured to extend across the opening to the hollow chamber. At least one heating element is associated with at least one of said housing and said lid. The cooking system is operable in a plurality of modes including a pressure cooking mode and a convective cooking mode. In the pressure cooking mode, the cooking system is operable as a pressure cooker and in the convective cooking mode, the cooking system is operable as a convection cooker.

A connected oven, including a set of in-cavity sensors and a processor configured to automatically identify foodstuff within the cooking cavity, based on the sensor measurements; and automatically operate the heating element based on the foodstuff identity.

Disclosed herein is a cooking system for cooking food, the system including a housing having a hollow interior, a lid movable relative to the housing, at least one heating element associated with one of the housing and the lid, wherein the cooking system is operable in a plurality of modes including a conductive cooking mode and a convective cooking mode, wherein in the conductive cooking mode the cooking system is operable as a conductive cooker and in the convective cooking mode the cooking system is operable as a convection cooker.