A cooking appliance includes a housing that defines a cavity therein, a door connected to the housing and configured to open and close the cavity, a microwave (MW) heating module configured to emit microwaves into the cavity, and an induction heating (IH) module configured to emit a magnetic field towards the cavity. The IH module includes a working coil that is configured to generate the magnetic field and a thin film that is disposed between the cavity and the working coil.

A cooking appliance including a cooking chamber configured to cook food therein and openable in a first direction, a shelf provided to be inserted into the cooking chamber in the first direction and on which food is placed, and a plurality of heaters configured to supply heat to the shelf and disposed at one side of the cooking chamber. Where the shelf includes a first area arranged at one side in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction and a second area arranged at another side in the second direction. The plurality of heaters includes a first heater disposed to correspond to the first area in a third direction perpendicular to the first and second areas and a second heater disposed to correspond to the second area in the third direction. The plurality of heaters configured to provide more heat to the first area than to the second area.

Cooktop assemblies and methods for operating cooktop assemblies are provided. A cooktop assembly includes a top panel for supporting a cooking vessel, the top panel comprising an upper surface and a lower surface, and a heating assembly disposed adjacent the lower surface, the heating assembly comprising a heating element. The cooktop assembly further includes a first temperature sensor configured to measure a first temperature between the heating assembly and the top panel, and a second temperature sensor configured to measure a second temperature of the top panel.

A cooking oven includes: (a) a cooking cavity; (b) a door to provide selective access to the cooking cavity; (c) a forward panel facing the door when the door takes a closed position, the forward panel comprising a latch cutout; (d) a latch assembly with a base portion that extends from rearward of the forward panel, through the latch cutout with a gap between the latch cutout and the base portion, and forward of the forward panel to couple to the door; and (e) a seal, such as that provided by a latch cover, that at least partially seals the gap to reduce air flow through the gap. During use of the cooking oven, a forward surface of the door forward of the gap exhibits a reduced temperature compared to if no such seal, such as that provided by the latch cover, was included.

An apparatus for cooking food products includes: a first heating plate adapted to support the food products; a second heating plate adapted to face the food products during a cooking operation; a first resistive heating element associated with the first heating plate and adapted to provide heat to the food products during the cooking operation; a second resistive heating element associated with the second heating plate and adapted to provide heat to the food products during the cooking operation, and at least one microwave generator element configured to selectively generate microwave radiation for haeting the food products during the cooking operation. At least a selected resistive heating element between the first resistive heating element and the second resistive heating element is joined to a surface of the associated heating plate so that it forms a single piece with the associated heating plate.

Disclosed herein is a conditioning system for nutritional substances. The conditioning system obtains information regarding the nutritional substance to be conditioned, the desired conditioning, and the desired properties, including nutritional content, of the conditioned nutritional substance, and dynamically controls the conditioning in response to this information optimize the organoleptic properties of the conditioned nutritional substance, while minimizing any detrimental changes to the nutritional content.

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 appliance including a cooking chamber configured to cook food therein and openable in a first direction, a shelf provided to be inserted into the cooking chamber in the first direction and having a cooking surface on which food is placed, a magnetron configured to generate high frequency waves to be supplied to the shelf, and a heat generating member configured to generate heat by the high frequency waves generated by the magnetron. Where the cooking surface includes a first area on one side and a second area on another side, the heat generating member includes a first heat generating portion configured to supply heat to the first area and a second heat generating portion disposed to correspond to the second area, and the first heat generating portion supplies more heat to the first area than the second heat generating portion supplies to the second area.

Disclosed herein is a conditioning system for nutritional substances. The conditioning system obtains information regarding the nutritional substance to be conditioned, the desired conditioning, and the desired properties, including nutritional content, of the conditioned nutritional substance, and dynamically controls the conditioning in response to this information optimize the organoleptic properties of the conditioned nutritional substance, while minimizing any detrimental changes to the nutritional content.

Cooktop assemblies and methods for operating cooktop assemblies are provided. A cooktop assembly includes a top panel for supporting a cooking vessel, the top panel comprising an upper surface and a lower surface, and a heating assembly disposed adjacent the lower surface, the heating assembly comprising a heating element. The cooktop assembly further includes a first temperature sensor configured to measure a first temperature between the heating assembly and the top panel, and a second temperature sensor configured to measure a second temperature of the top panel.