A cooking appliance, as provided herein, may include a cabinet, a magnetron, an induction heating coil, and a one-way field filter. The cabinet may define a cooking chamber. The magnetron may be mounted within the cabinet in communication with the cooking chamber to direct a microwave thereto. The induction heating coil may be mounted within the cabinet to direct a magnetic field thereto. The one-way field filter may be disposed within the cabinet between the induction heating coil and the cooking chamber to restrict passage of the microwave therethrough while permitting the magnetic field. The one-way filter may include a lower layer and an upper layer. The lower layer may include a plurality of parallel conductive bands extending in a first direction. The upper layer may be disposed above the lower layer. The upper layer may include a plurality of parallel conductive bands extending in the second direction.

A defrosting system includes an RF signal source, two electrodes proximate to a cavity within which a load to be defrosted is positioned, a transmission path between the RF signal source and the electrodes, and an impedance matching network electrically coupled along the transmission path between the output of the RF signal source and the electrodes. The system also includes power detection circuitry coupled to the transmission path and configured to detect reflected signal power along the transmission path. A system controller is configured to modify, based on the reflected signal power, a value of a variable passive component of the impedance matching network to reduce the reflected signal power. The impedance matching network may be a single-ended network or a double-ended network.

A combined apparatus for heating, cooking, grilling and defrosting of foods of various kinds, depending on the type of foods to be treated from time to time and the duration of the foods treatment foreseen by each user of the same apparatus, where each hot treatment of foods may be effected either by heating or by microwaves only, or by heating and microwaves combined to each other. There are described in detail all the technical characteristics of the apparatus and the relative control circuits either for heating or for generating the microwaves. Advantages include use of a sole and single apparatus for hot treating the foods for providing for the heating, the cooking, the grilling and the defrosting of the same foods, instead of employing as it happens hitherto of single separated apparatuses for performing the same functions.

A method of cooking a cooking product using at least two different energy sources for cooking the cooking product, involves the following steps of selecting a cooking path by means of which the cooking product to be cooked is cooked, wherein the cooking path comprises a total energy to be introduced, which is to be introduced into the cooking product by the at least two different energy sources, and wherein the cooking path comprises a target temperature profile of a cooking product core; determining an actual temperature of the cooking product core during an ongoing cooking process; and regulating at least one of the two energy sources on the basis of the at least one target temperature profile of the core temperature and the actual temperature of the core temperature, taking the total energy to be introduced into account, such that the total energy to be introduced is maintained.

A radio-frequency (RF) heating system may include a removable drawer, which may be inserted under a fixed shelf of the RF heating system to form an enclosed cavity. The drawer may include conductive channels or side rails that may interface with the shelf of the defrosting system in order to electrically couple the drawer to the RF heating system. The drawer may include an electrode that is electrically coupled to ground or to a RF signal source when the drawer is inserted beneath the shelf. The shelf may include selectable electrodes of varying sizes. The RF heating system may use identification circuitry to recognize the type of drawer that has been inserted beneath the shelf. RF energy may be applied to the electrode of the drawer or the shelf to heat a load in the enclosed cavity.

A line for heating, drying, disinfecting, pasteurizing and/or sterilizing a substance with an apparatus that includes at least one, preferably a multitude, solid-state radio frequency source(s) and a further heat treatment apparatus. A method for heating, drying, disinfecting, pasteurizing and/or sterilizing a substance with an apparatus that includes at least a solid-state RF energy source microwave heating step and a further heat treatment step.

A modular cooking apparatus is disclosed. The modular cooking apparatus includes a housing having a first interchangeable cooking module, a second interchangeable cooking module, and a single power connection for receiving electrical power from a wall outlet. The first interchangeable cooking module contains a first oven, and the second interchangeable cooking module contains a second oven. The second oven is a different oven type from the first oven. The modular cooking apparatus also includes a controller within the housing for controlling the first and second ovens. The controller includes a memory for storing a list of food items to be cooked within the modular cooking apparatus and a corresponding oven type for each of the food items. The modular cooking apparatus further includes a control panel on the housing for displaying only the food items for which the first oven or the second oven is a corresponding oven type.

A cooking device for frying food in a microwave oven, the cooking device comprising a low pressure gas chamber; a plasma igniting means configured to ignite plasma within the low pressure gas chamber when supplied with microwave radiation; and a cooking enclosure formed of metal, the cooking enclosure defining a food-receiving region and being thermally coupled to the low pressure gas chamber.

A method of treating a meat-substance containing a bone structure. The bone marrow is coagulated with microwaves generated by a solid-state RF energy source. The microwave heating may be carried out prior to a heat treatment of the meat-substance and/or may be carried out after slaughtering and before the fresh slaughtered meat-substance is frozen.

A cooking apparatus that combines microwave based heating/cooking with either of blender/mixer grinder functionality and traditional cooking using open flame and/or induction cooking is disclosed. The cooking apparatus comprises a lid and at least one microwave producing device coupled to the lid. A lifting and lowering mechanism carries the lid and microwave producing device at a lower end for enabling vertically raising and lowering the lid along with the coupled microwave producing device. Upper end of lifting and lowering mechanism is slidably configured with a lower side of a chimney. Lid in lowered position gets operatively coupled with a container holding a food item. The container can be one for cooking food using conventional source of heat, or a container for preparatory operations such as blending, stirring, grinding and mixing. Coupling of the lid with the containers enables heating of the contents of the container through the microwaves generated by the at least one microwave producing device.