A sandwich press or food holder for use with a cooking appliance, such as a toaster or oven. Sidewalls of the press that define a space in which a food item is received can have one or more ridges that define a convex surface inside the cavity and a concave surface on an exterior of the sidewall. The concave surface can be positioned adjacent a heating element when the press is received in a cooking cavity of the appliance. One or more openings can be provided in the sidewall, e.g., to allow radiant energy to pass and/or steam to escape. A handle can permit two-handed manipulation of the press and can have a gripping portion that is offset from an area directly above the press.

A conveyorized contact toaster includes a toasting platen having a planar toasting surface and a belt assembly configured to interface with a food item to urge the food item against and along the planar toasting surface. The belt assembly includes a belt body having a first end portion, a second end portion, an inner surface, and an opposing outer surface. A first belt connector is coupled to the first end portion of the belt body, and a second belt connector is coupled to the second end portion of the belt body. The belt body is configurable in a loop configuration with the first end portion being positioned adjacent the second end portion, and the first belt connector detachably coupled to the second belt connector to maintain the belt body in the loop configuration.

A new and improved automated bun handling and toasting system and method are disclosed comprising a plurality of horizontally oriented bun storage tubes mounted upon a carousel, and an indexing system operatively connected to the carousel so as to rotate the carousel in a predetermined incremental manner and thereby dispose a particular one of the plurality of horizontally oriented bun storage tubes at a predetermined discharge position such that a bun can be discharged from the particular bun storage tube. The discharged bun has a vertical orientation, however, a bun separator separates the bun into its crown and heel bun segments which then attain horizontal orientations with the internal surface portions facing upwardly so as to pass through a toaster appliance so as to be toasted.

A conveyor toaster includes a toaster cabinet, an opening extending through the toaster cabinet and configured to receive a food product, and a conveyor assembly positioned in the toaster housing and associated with the feed opening. The conveyor assembly includes a conveyor belt configured to be operated by a drive motor to transport the food product past a heating element. The conveyor toaster further includes a an input sensor arranged proximate the opening and configured to detect the food product and a processor operably coupled to the input sensor and the conveyor assembly. The processor is configured to change between an operating condition with a first belt speed and an idle condition with a second belt speed based upon a signal from the input sensor.

A cooking system positionable on a support surface includes a housing having an internal cooking compartment and an opening formed in the housing for accessing said internal cooking compartment. At least one heating element is provided for heating said internal cooking compartment. The heating element is operable to heat the internal cooking compartment while the opening is at least partially exposed to an ambient environment to allow fluid transfer between the ambient environment and the internal cooking compartment. An output from said at least one heating element is variable across said internal cooking compartment during operation of the system.

A heat transfer device for thermal treatment of food items includes an enclosure defining an interior of the heat transfer device. A first and second driven conveyor systems are positioned within the enclosure. A first primary heater is arranged interior of the first chain conveyor belt. A first chain heater is arranged proximate to the first chain conveyor belt at a location of the first chain conveyor belt proximate to the opening. A second primary heater is arranged interior of the second chain conveyor belt. A second chain heater is arranged proximate to the second chain conveyor belt at a location of the second chain conveyor belt proximate to the opening.

A toaster appliance comprises a main platen and a pair of Calrod-type auxiliary heaters. A pair of heat reflectors are operatively associated with the Calrod-type auxiliary heaters so as to effectively reflect heat back into central interior spaces of the toaster appliance and for simultaneously preventing heat from escaping into outer interior spaces of the toaster appliance. In addition, dampers, automatically biased to their closed positions, are utilized at both the infeed and outfeed locations of the toaster appliance so as to effectively retain the heat within the interior of the toaster appliance and to effectively prevent the loss of such heat from within the interior of the toaster appliance as a result of such heat tending to otherwise escape from the interior of the toaster appliance.