An electric deep cooker including a main body and cover adapted to fully enclose food therein that includes a plurality of main electric heating elements connected along the interior surfaces of the main body and cover and are adapted to uniformly heat and cook food through its entire outer surface from the outside in, and further includes an electric interior heating element attached to the cover and adapted to be placed within the food being cooked and thereby heat and cook the food from the inside out while the plurality of main heating elements heat and cook the food from the outside in, to thereby uniformly and properly heat and cook the food, and in a shorter amount of time, than prior art electric deep cookers, and without the need to rotate the food within the main body of the electric deep cooker.

A fryer includes a cooking chamber for holding a cooking medium and at least one heating element positioned within the cooking chamber. The fryer further includes a conveyor belt for selectively advancing food product through the cooking chamber. The conveyor belt includes first and second chains coupled together by a plurality of elongate members extending therebetween. The conveyor belt further includes a plurality of paddles coupled to the first and second chains and extending therebetween to define a plurality of compartments. Each of the plurality of paddles includes a screen, and each compartment is sized to receive at least a portion of the food product. The conveyor belt defines a continuous loop.

A sensor assembly for determining the level of oil in a filter pan is disclosed herein. The assembly includes a load cell for sensing the amount of oil in the filter pan. The filter pan is pivotable about an end of the pan within a frame for supporting cooking equipment. The load cell is attached on one end to the frame. The assembly also includes a lever pivotable about a fulcrum, such that the first end of the lever supports the other end of the oil filter pan, and the second end of the lever urges against the load cell.

A robotic kitchen assistant for frying includes a robotic arm, a fryer basket, and a robotic arm adapter assembly allowing the robotic arm to pick up and manipulate the fryer basket. The robotic arm adapter includes opposing gripping members to engage the fryer basket. A utensil adapter assembly is mounted to the handle of the fryer basket, and the opposing gripper members are actuated to capture a three-dimensional (3D) feature of the utensil adapter assembly. The robotic arm adapter assembly can include an agitator mechanism to shake the fryer basket or another utensil as desired. Related methods are also described.

A multifunctional and portable cooking implement includes a deep fryer module, a cooktop module and an oven-grill-griddle module, which may be configured between the deep fryer module and the cooktop module. The multifunctional and portable cooking implement provides a plurality of means to cook and warm food items in a compact form and may have legs that pivot about respective leg hinges to elevate the modules, above a ground surface. The exemplary multifunctional and portable cooking implement may have a length from a first end to a second end that is configured to fit within a truck bed and on a tailgate of a truck. A cover-countertop may be pivotably coupled to one or each end of the portable cooking implement to pivot open to provide countertop space for food preparation.

The present invention provides an automatic oil filtering fryer comprising: a frying oil container; an oil discharging pipe transferring used oil to the first oil filtering device; a first oil filtering device located below the frying oil container and filtering and grinding the used oil to form a first filtered oil; an oil transferring pipe transferring the first filtered oil up to a second oil filtering device by using a pump; the pump raising and transferring the first filtered oil upward to the second oil filtering device; the second oil filtering device located above the frying oil container and filtering the first filtered oil to form a second filtered oil; and an oil supplying pipe supplying the second filtered oil to the frying oil container.

This identification apparatus is for identifying the degree of degradation of oil and includes a sensor that detects a substance arising from oil contained in an oil tank and a controller that determines the degree of degradation of the oil based on information related to the substance detected by the sensor and the distance from the oil tank containing the oil to the sensor.

A characteristic of edible oil may be evaluated using a spectrometer. For example, optical reflectance data may be obtained from edible oil in situ in a frying apparatus housing the edible oil, the reflectance data corresponding to a specified range of infra-red wavelengths. A model profile corresponding to the characteristic being assessed may be obtained, such as from a repository housing a secured library of such profiles. The model profile may define a regression vector for use in transforming the reflectance data to generate a value corresponding to the characteristic being assessed. A criterion may be applied to the value to establish a simplified representation of the characteristic for presentation to a user for assessment of oil quality.

Provided is a cooking oil degradation degree determination device, etc., capable of accurately determining the degradation degree of fry oil, comprising: a fryer 2 that includes an oil vat 21 for storing frying oil Y therein and a color sample 23 for displaying gradual change in the color of the frying oil Y; a video camera 42 that captures an oil surface image of the frying oil Y; and a controller 5 that executes degradation degree determination processing of the frying oil Y, wherein the color sample 23 is arranged at a position included within an angle of view of the video camera 42 which is the same as an angle of view thereof for the oil surface image, and the controller 5 compares the color of the frying oil Y with colors displayed on the color sample 23, respectively, to determine the degradation degree of the frying oil Y.

Example embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to food preparation systems and associated automated gantry systems. An example automated food preparation system may include a housing that supports one or more baskets therein and a gantry system. The gantry system may include a retrieval arm and a drive system operably coupled with the retrieval arm. The drive system may cause movement of the retrieval arm in at least two directions relative to the housing. In operation, the retrieval arm may engage a basket and cause movement of the basket about the housing. In some instances, an ejection mechanism is provided that receives the basket from the retrieval arm and causes removal of the contents of the basket.