Disclosed herein is a cooking apparatus capable of cooking a plurality of cooking materials using a heat transfer regulator having a plurality of regions in which a reflectance against heat generated by a heater is variable, and a controlling method thereof. In accordance with one aspect of the present disclosure, a cooking apparatus includes at least one heater and a heat transfer regulator provided to face the at least one heater and provided with a plurality of regions each having a different reflectance against heat generated by the at least one heater.

Methods for heat treating food products include controlling a temperature of a heating element to a maximum temperature correlated to a desired temperature for the food product. A sensed temperature of the heating element may be used to control the maximum temperature. An oven includes a heating element and a temperature sensor configured to sense the temperature of the heating element, and a controller that limits the temperature of the heating element based on output from the temperature sensor.

Systems and methods are provided to operate, by a processor coupled to memory, a steam heating mode including selective control of a bake heating element and two or more fans according to preset and timed duty cycles of a plurality of heating stages comprising preset requirements for transitions therebetween based on received input; and heat, based on the operation, one or more food items via steam.

A cook top includes an inputter configured to receive input of a user manipulation, and a cooker configured to heat a cooking device placed on the cook top. A communicator is configured to perform communication with a user terminal device and a range hood. A processor is configured to: control an operating state of the cooker according to the user manipulation, transmit a signal for controlling an operating state of the range hood to correspond to the operating state of the cooker to the range hood, and control the communicator to transmit state information of the cook top that includes information of the operating state of the cooker to the user terminal device.

A method of displaying a battery life for a warming cart battery is provided. The method includes the steps of detecting with a processor that a warming cart battery voltage is out of range of a predetermined threshold, determining with a processor an operation state of each of a plurality of periphery warming cart devices, and automatically setting a battery scale of a warming cart battery based on which of the plurality of periphery warming cart devices are in an active operation state.

A modular kitchen-connected indoor stationary solar cooking device (102) is disclosed. The solar cooking device (102) includes a housing (202), a thermal battery (204) disposed in the housing (202) and adapted to store thermal energy, and a first heater (206) disposed to be in contact with the thermal battery (204). The first heater (206) is coupled to a solar array (104) and adapted to receive solar energy for charging the thermal battery (204). The solar cooking device (102) includes a second heater (208) disposed to be in contact with the thermal battery (204). The second heater (208) is coupled to a mains supply and adapted to receive electrical supply for charging the thermal battery (204). The solar cooking device (102) includes a heat control assembly (210) disposed on a cooktop (802) and adapted to accommodate a cooking vessel. The heat control assembly (210) is adapted to rotate for controlling a heat supply for cooking in the cooking vessel.

A cooking appliance having a cooktop that is regulated by a fire prevention module is provided. In addition to its fire prevention and safety features, the fire prevention module includes a communication module that enables communication between the cooktop appliance and a remote device, such as a smartphone or tablet computer. Using this communication link, the fire prevention module can be used to expand the ability of a user to monitor and/or control operation of the cooktop appliance from a remote location. For example, using a software application on their smartphone, a user may monitor the temperature of a cooking utensil and initiate a particular cooking profile, or be notified when an unsafe cooking condition might be present and that the cooktop unit has been automatically deactivated to remedy the situation.

The present invention relates to an induction cooking hob (10) with a plurality of induction coils (16). The induction cooking hob (10) comprises a cooking surface (12) and a control unit. The cooking surface (12) includes a cover plate. The induction coils (16) are arranged side-by-side according to a predetermined scheme and below the cover plate. At least one induction coil (16) is marked by an identification symbol (18). The identification symbol (18) includes a first element (20) and a second element (22), wherein the first element (20) extends beyond the diameter of the corresponding induction coil (16) and the second element (22) marks the diameter of said induction coil (16).

Methods, systems and media are provided for hands-free operation of an appliance. For example, the appliance may detect input from a hands-free user, where the detected input is voice or gesticular. The appliance may compare the detected input to known inputs and retrieving the user's profile based on the detected input corresponding to a known input. Based upon retrieval of the user's profile, the appliance may output recognition of the user input and modify operation of a burner according to both the user input and the retrieved user profile. Based upon the detected input being unrecognized, the appliance may create a new user profile associated with the detected input and modify operation of a burner according to the detected input.

An oven appliance is provided with features for locking out a cooking chamber to boost the preheat performance of and thereby decrease the time required to preheat another cooking chamber of the oven appliance. A method for operating an oven appliance also is provided. The method includes features for locking out a cooking chamber to boost the preheat performance of and thereby decrease the time required to preheat another cooking chamber of the oven appliance.