A cooking mechanism and method of making a flat bread that does not require any flipping of the dough product and that which achieves an irregular temperature profile during the cooking process is described.

A method of controlling a cooking apparatus includes identifying an initial thickness of a food product on a lower heating plate of the cooking apparatus and calculating a difference between an initial gap value corresponding to the initial thickness of the food product and a predefined final gap value. The method includes controlling at least one of a pressure of at least one of an upper heating plate and a lower heating plate on the food product, a rate of descent of the upper heating plate toward the lower heating plate, and a rate of ascent of the lower heating plate toward the upper heating plate based on the calculated difference between the initial gap value and the predefined final gap value.

Provided is a cooking appliance comprising a first structure having a hot plate for cooking food, and a measuring device for measuring the thickness of the food arranged thereon and comprising a pivoting rocker connected to a pivotable shaft by a first end thereof, and a means for measuring the pivoting angle of the rocker in order to estimate the thickness of the food. The appliance comprises a second mobile structure which, when moved away from the first structure, generates a pivoting of said shaft in relation to the first structure, causing the pivoting of the rocker, and the measuring means interacts with the rocker towards a second end thereof.

An electric cooker comprising a lower housing; a lower die mounted on the lower housing; a hinge shaft; an upper housing pivotally mounted at a rear end via the hinge shaft to the lower housing to turn upward from the lower housing; an upper die mounted on the upper housing, a lower surface of the upper die being capable of being disposed on an upper surface of the lower die; an electric heater disposed in at least one of the lower housing and the upper housing and heating at least one of the lower die and the upper die from back to heat dough between the lower die and the upper die; and a hinge-shaft height adjusting unit changing a vertical position of the upper housing pivotally mounted via a hinge shaft by adjusting height of the hinge shaft.

A cooking apparatus (1) comprises a base (7) comprising a lower heater (2) defining a bottom cooking surface (4) where a foodstuff (F) to be cooked can be positioned; a cover (8) closable onto the base (7) and comprising an upper heater (3) defining a top cooking surface (5) and a lifting system (16) for moving the upper heater to and from the lower heater when the cover is closed onto the base; a database (103) storing a plurality of selectable cooking programs each including one or more cooking phases each associated with corresponding cooking parameters including a temperature of the upper heater and a distance (d) of the top cooking surface from the bottom cooking surface; and a controller (18) configured to control the operations of the lifting system and the upper heater based on the cooking parameters of a selected program.

A method of controlling a cooking apparatus includes identifying an initial thickness of a food product on a lower heating plate of the cooking apparatus and calculating a difference between an initial gap value corresponding to the initial thickness of the food product and a predefined final gap value. The method includes controlling at least one of a pressure of at least one of an upper heating plate and a lower heating plate on the food product, a rate of descent of the upper heating plate toward the lower heating plate, and a rate of ascent of the lower heating plate toward the upper heating plate based on the calculated difference between the initial gap value and the predefined final gap value.

A pancake cooking device with two opposable, generally circular, internally heated cooking plates having substantially smooth cooking surfaces that are cooperatively configured to be selectively placed in facing and spaced-apart relation to contact and cook flowable pancake batter disposed between the plates to form a generally circular pancake that, when removed from the device and oriented in a preferred serving position, has a substantially uniform thickness between substantially planar, top and bottom pancake surfaces, and a continuous, circumferentially extending, outwardly inclined and upwardly facing lip of substantially uniform height disposed around the perimeter of the top surface of the pancake. The pancake cooking device is desirably configured to cook each pancake in an inverted position with the circumferentially extending, outwardly inclined lip projecting downwardly and away from the top and bottom pancake surfaces when the cooked pancake is oriented in a preferred serving position.

A belt cooking apparatus (10) includes a lower frame structure (12) and an upper frame structure (14) in registry with the lower frame structure. A lower cooking conveyor belt (16) is supported by the lower frame structure (12) and correspondingly an upper conveyor belt (18) is supported by the upper frame structure (14). Heating element assemblies (20) are mounted on the lower frame structure (12) just below the lower cooking belt (16) as well as on the upper frame structure (14) just above the upper cooking belt (18). Food products are cooked while positioned between the upper and lower moving cooking conveyor belts (16) and (18) by heat generated by the heating element assemblies (20) while being advanced by the conveyor belts.

Devices and methods for automating the process of making flatbread, such as roti. In some embodiments, an apparatus includes a housing, an ingredient metering assembly, a mixing bowl assembly, a mixing actuator assembly, a cooking assembly, and an electronic assembly. The housing defines an interior volume and has several access openings with corresponding lids and/or covers. The ingredient metering assembly includes a flour container assembly, a flour delivery system, a water reservoir, and an oil reservoir. The mixing bowl assembly includes two bowls and a measurement system. The mixing actuator assembly includes a mixing mount, a mixing motor, a mixing paddle assembly, and a lower motor. The cooking assembly includes two platens and an actuator assembly. The electronic assembly includes a power source, a control module, and a LCD input/output screen. All components are integrated within the housing such that the apparatus is a consumer grade countertop appliance.

The present technology provides a device, such as an electric grill, that cooks food items on two or more sides. The electric grill includes upper and lower elements to create the sealed interior cooking environment. One of the elements of the electric grill includes a pressure plate that compresses the distance between the upper and lower thermal plate to create a sealed interior cooking environment and to engage the food item with both an upper and lower element. The pressure plate may be compressed by one or more spring-actuated cylinders or any other suitable mechanism. The compressed cooking area allows the cooking environment to contain any smoke generated from the cooking environment.