A food preparation appliance includes a processing mechanism, a thermal element, a sensor positioned to acquire identifying data regarding identifying characteristics of a food product to be processed by the food preparation appliance, and a processing circuit. The processing circuit is configured to receive the identifying data from the sensor, identify a type of the food product based on the identifying data, and automatically set a predefined operating parameter of at least one of the processing mechanism and the thermal element to provide target processing of the food product based on the type and the identifying characteristics.

Several embodiments include a cooking appliance/instrument (e.g., oven). The cooking appliance/instrument can include a cooking chamber, a support tray adapted to hold food in the cooking chamber; and a heating system comprised of at least a heating element. The heating system is adapted to emit waves according to a particular configuration such that the emitted waves is substantially transparent or substantially opaque to the support tray and thus enabling the cooking instrument to select what to heat.

Devices and methods for RF heating of food, using techniques which allow uniformity and/or controlled non-uniformity.

Several embodiments include a cooking appliance/instrument (e.g., oven). The cooking appliance/instrument can include a cooking chamber, a support tray adapted to hold food in the cooking chamber; and a heating system comprised of at least a heating element. The heating system is adapted to emit waves according to a particular configuration such that the emitted waves is substantially transparent or substantially opaque to the support tray and thus enabling the cooking instrument to select what to heat.

Method and systems related to improved human-machine interfaces for electronic ovens are disclosed. Different methods for displaying information to the user are disclosed. Different methods for dividing segmentation and identification tasks between a user and a control system are disclosed. In one example, an electronic oven includes a touch display, a heating chamber for heating an item, a light sensor having a field of view of at least a portion of the heating chamber, and a microwave energy source coupled to the heating chamber. The oven also includes a computer-readable medium that stores instructions to display the portion of the heating chamber as an image on the touch display using information from the light sensor, and process a touch input on the image.

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.

This disclosure includes an electronic oven and an accompanying control system that avoid boiling or splattering in a heating chamber of the oven while an item is being heated in the chamber. A disclosed method which can be executed by the control system includes evaluating sensor data from a visible light sensor and sensor data from an infrared light sensor. The controller is communicatively coupled to the visible light sensor and the infrared light sensor. The method also comprises generating a splatter prediction in response to the evaluation of the sensor data from the visible light sensor and the sensor data from the infrared light sensor. The method also comprises decreasing a power level of the microwave energy source in response to the splatter prediction. The controller is also communicatively coupled to the microwave energy source.

A disclosed computer-implemented method for heating an item in a chamber of an electronic oven towards a target state includes heating the item with a set of applications of energy to the chamber while the electronic oven is in a respective set of configurations. The set of applications of energy and respective set of configurations define a respective set of variable distributions of energy in the chamber. The method also includes sensing sensor data that defines a respective set of responses by the item to the set of applications of energy. The method also includes generating a plan to heat the item in the chamber. The plan is generated by a control system of the electronic oven and uses the sensor data.

Provided are a heating unit, an imaging unit that captures an image of an interior of a heating chamber, a setting unit that sets heating control details, and a storage that registers the captured image and the set heating control details in association with each other. Further provided area plural-article determination unit that determines whether a plurality of types of foods are present, a similarity determination unit that determines a degree of similarity of a plurality of images, a control detail identification unit that identifies heating control details corresponding to a food included in a captured image in accordance with a determination result obtained by the similarity determination unit, and a controller. The controller presents heating control details indicating each food on a display unit in accordance with a number of the foods. This configuration can provide a heating cooker capable of facilitating heating control setting.

Several embodiments include a cooking appliance/instrument (e.g., oven). The cooking appliance/instrument can include a cooking chamber, a support tray adapted to hold food in the cooking chamber; and a heating system comprised of at least a heating element. The heating system is adapted to emit waves according to a particular configuration such that the emitted waves is substantially transparent or substantially opaque to the support tray and thus enabling the cooking instrument to select what to heat.