A cooker includes a heating chamber configured to accommodate an object to be heated, a heater configured to heat the object to be heated accommodated in the heating chamber, heating controller (14) configured to control the heater for heating, an image capturing unit configured to capture an image inside the heating chamber, and mark detector (28) configured to detect a specific mark from the image captured by the image capturing unit. Heating controller (14) disallows or allows heating by the heater, based on a result of detection by mark detector (28).

A cooking apparatus for cooking ingredients packaged together in a package is provided. The cooking apparatus includes a cooking device and a barcode reader. The cooking device includes a housing defining a cooking room for accommodating the ingredients therein, a cooking unit for heating contents in the cooking room, and a control module electrically connected to the cooking unit for controlling operation of the cooking unit. The barcode reader is electrically connected to the control module, and scans a barcode on the package representing data related to information about the ingredients, decodes the barcode so as to obtain the data, and transmits the data to the control module that controls operation of the cooking unit based on the information.

Systems and methods include a cooking appliance comprising a heating element disposed within a cooking chamber and operable to selectively emit waves at any of a plurality of powers and/or peak wavelengths, a camera operable to capture an image of the cooking chamber, and a computing device operable to supply power to the heating element to vary the power and/or peak wavelength of the emitted waves and generate heat within the cooking chamber, and instruct the camera to capture the image when the heating element is emitting at a stabilized power and/or peak wavelength. The computing device is operable to generate an adjusted captured image by adjusting the captured image with respect to the stabilized power and/or peak wavelength. The computing device comprises feedback components operable to receive the adjusted captured image, extract features, and analyze the one or more features to determine an event, property, measurement and/or status.

A food preparation appliance includes a housing, a conveyor, a thermal element, a first sensor, a second sensor, and a third sensor. The housing defines an inlet, an outlet, and a processing zone between the inlet and the outlet. The conveyor is configured to move a food product from the inlet, through the processing zone, and to the outlet. The thermal element is positioned within the processing zone. The first sensor is positioned proximate the inlet of the housing and along a lateral side of the conveyor or along a first cantilever arm extending laterally across the conveyor. The second sensor is positioned within the processing zone. The third sensor is positioned proximate the outlet of the housing and along a lateral side of the conveyor or along a second cantilever arm extending laterally across the conveyor.

Systems and methods include a cooking appliance comprising a heating element disposed within a cooking chamber and operable to selectively emit waves at any of a plurality of powers and/or peak wavelengths, a camera operable to capture an image of the cooking chamber, and a computing device operable to supply power to the heating element to vary the power and/or peak wavelength of the emitted waves and generate heat within the cooking chamber, and instruct the camera to capture the image when the heating element is emitting at a stabilized power and/or peak wavelength. The computing device is operable to generate an adjusted captured image by adjusting the captured image with respect to the stabilized power and/or peak wavelength. The computing device comprises feedback components operable to receive the adjusted captured image, extract features, and analyze the one or more features to determine an event, property, measurement and/or status.

A system for automatically adapting operating parameters of a galley device on the basis of provided supply items for on-board catering for a vehicle, in particular an aircraft, includes a galley device that has an identification device that is designed to identify a supply item; and a control device for controlling the galley device, wherein the control device is designed to provide operating parameters for the identified supply item and to operate the galley device in accordance with the operating parameters.

A method comprises receiving a plurality of meals into an oven. The plurality of meals includes at least two different types of meals, each type of meal requiring a different respective cooking time. The method also includes running a separate timer for cooking each respective type of meal in the plurality of meals. A system can comprise an oven cooking compartment configured to receive a plurality of individually packaged meals. The system can also include a controller operatively connected to the oven, the controller including machine readable instructions configured to perform the method recited.

A heating power control system includes a storage that stores cooking information including a cooking process that is executed using a cooking appliance and is obtained from a server device, a receiver that receives detection information indicating an absence or a presence of a user of the cooking appliance, and a controller that determines whether or not the user is absent for a predetermined period of time based on the detection information, determines, based on the cooking information, whether or not the cooking process is a heating process when the user is determined to be absent for the predetermined period of time, determines, based on the cooking information, a control method of controlling heating power of the cooking appliance when the cooking process is determined to be a heating process, and controls the heating power of the cooking appliance by the control method.

Several embodiments include a cooking instrument. The cooking instrument can include a heating system. The heating system can include one or more heating elements capable of emitting wireless energy into the cooking chamber. The cooking instrument can also include a control system. The control system can executing a heating sequence to drive the heating system, detect, based on an output signal of a sensor, a trigger event, and configure the heating system in response to detecting the trigger event.

Apparatus and method for applying RF energy to determine a processing state of an object placed in a cavity, during processing of the object. The method includes applying RF energy to the object during the processing via at least one radiating element, receiving RF feedback from in or around the cavity, said RF feedback being indicative of a dielectric response of the cavity and/or the object to electromagnetic (EM) fields excited in the cavity, mathematically manipulating the RF feedback to obtain computed RF feedback, determining one or more processing states of the object based on a correlation between the computed RF feedback and the one or more processing states of the object, and monitoring the computed RF feedback during the applying to monitor the one or more processing states of the object.