A selective heating device may include a chamber, at least one heating element, and a circuit. The at least one heating element may selectively heat a first portion of a target in the chamber at a first energy level for a first period of time. The at least one heating element may also selectively heat a second portion of the target at a second energy level for a second period of time, wherein the second energy level and/or the second period of time are different from the first energy level and/or the first period of time; or refrain from heating a third portion of the target; or a combination thereof. The circuit may receive a heating instruction and control the at least one heating element based on the heating instruction.

A microwave heating apparatus for heating a load by means of microwaves is provided. The microwave heating apparatus comprises a cavity arranged to receive a piece of food to be heated, a first microwave supply system configured to supply microwaves at the cavity bottom for energizing a browning function in the cavity, a second microwave supply system configured to supply microwaves into the cavity for exciting cavity modes and a control unit configured to control the first and second microwave supply systems based on a food category and/or a cooking program. The first supply system comprises at least one microwave source and at least one antenna arranged in a lower part of the cavity and the second microwave supply system comprises at least one microwave source and at least one feeding port arranged in an upper part of the cavity. The present invention is advantageous in that a microwave heating apparatus with an improved crisp function is provided.

An instrument for performing microwave-assisted reactions and an associated method are disclosed. The instrument typically includes (i) a microwave-radiation source, (ii) a cavity, (iii) a waveguide in microwave communication with the microwave-radiation source and the cavity, (iv) at least one reaction-vessel sensor for determining the number and/or type of reaction vessels positioned within the cavity, (v) an interface, and (vi) a computer controller. The computer controller is typically in communication with the interface, the microwave-radiation source, and the reaction-vessel sensor. The computer controller is typically capable of determining the output of the microwave-radiation source in response to the number and/or type of reaction vessels positioned within the cavity.

This disclosure relates to a microwave heating device and a method for operating a microwave heating device. The microwave heating device comprises at least two radiating portions that are adapted to radiate microwaves to the heating chamber and can be operated according to operational configurations that differ in frequency and/or in phase shift(s) between the radiated microwaves. A learning procedure can be executed in relation with at least one product positioned in the heating chamber. The learning procedure can be executed by changing frequency and phase shift(s) to sequentially operate the at least two radiating portions in a plurality of operational configurations, in such a way that, for each frequency, the at least two radiating portions are operated in a number of operational configurations that differ in phase shift(s) from one another. An energy efficiency can be calculated for each of said plurality of operational configurations and the obtained data are saved. A heating procedure may be executed after the learning procedure. In the heating procedure, the at least two radiating portions are operated according to at least one operational configuration that is selected on the basis of the data obtained in the learning procedure.

In accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure, a cooking apparatus includes a casing, a cooking chamber formed inside the casing, a duct member formed outside the cooking chamber to extend from a first plate of the cooking chamber to a second plate forming an upper surface of the cooking chamber, a heater installed inside the duct member, and a fan installed inside the duct member and configured to blow air in the duct member, wherein the cooking chamber is formed to cook food using high-temperature air discharged into the cooking chamber through a first outlet part formed at the second plate.

A method of sensing at least one load parameter of a closed chamber by a sensing device by means of electromagnetic radiation is described, in which measurements of at least one measured variable are used. A first measurement is carried out when there is a first spatial distribution of the electric field generated by the electromagnetic radiation. At least a second measurement is carried out when there is a second spatial distribution of the electric field generated by the electromagnetic radiation, which differs from the first spatial distribution of the electric field. The at least two measurements are evaluated with regard to the at least one measured variable by means of a mathematical operation and/or mathematical transformation to obtain at least one evaluation variable from the measurement results by means of which the load parameter is determined by applying a pattern recognition which includes the at least one evaluation variable as an input variable, and/or a mathematical model which comprises the at least one evaluation variable and at least one training parameter that has been ascertained based on previous tests. Furthermore, a sensing device is described. Furthermore, the invention relates to a method of training, to a computer program, and to a computer-readable data carrier.

In a method for treating food to be cooked in a household cooking appliance, a sensor measures a local distribution of a surface condition of the food to be cooked. A measure of deviation is calculated from the measured local distribution and multiple local power distributions that are known in advance in the region of the food to be cooked in correspondence with different sets of setting values of a unit for treating the food to be cooked. A unit for treating the food to be cooked is operated by using the set of setting values of the one of the power distributions for which the measure of deviation fulfills a predetermined criterion.

A heating apparatus that applies energy waves to an item located therein includes a main body including a cavity that houses the item, and an energy beam module that converts power from at least one power source into at least one energy beam, and emits the at least one energy beam to intersect with the item, which is directed to the item by at least one of a beam convertor or at least one wall of the cavity. At least one processor determines a plurality of power distributions of energy beams onto at least one surface of the item in respective different configurations of the energy beam module, determines at least one power distribution of the determined plurality of power distributions based on attributes of the item, and controls the energy beam module to perform heating of the item by emitting the energy beams to the item based on the determined at least one power distribution.

In a method for treating food in a food handling device with a parameter configuration a measured value distribution of a surface property of the food is determined after expiration of the period of time by means of a sensor. A pattern of change is calculated from a comparison of the p-th measured value distribution with a measured value distribution determined previously. An assessment value Bq which represents a difference between a deviation of a target distribution from the measured value distribution and a deviation of the target distribution from a prediction pattern is calculated for all patterns of change stored hitherto. The prediction pattern is formed by superimposing the measured value distribution with the respective pattern of change, and the parameter configuration is set for which the assessment value Bq meets at least one predetermined criterion.

A microwave treatment device comprises: a heating chamber that accommodates an object to be heated; a microwave generator that generates a microwave in a specified frequency band; an amplifier that amplifies the microwave; a feeding unit that supplies the amplified microwave to the heating chamber; a detector that detects a reflected microwave power; and a controller. The controller selects one of plural frequencies in the specified frequency band and causes the microwave generator to generate the microwave with the selected frequency. The controller causes the amplifier to change an output power of the microwave so that the microwave supplied to the heating chamber has one of plural output powers. The controller measures a reflected microwave frequency characteristic based on reflected microwave powers detected under each of a condition that the microwave has a first output power and a condition that the microwave has a second output power.