A countertop cooking appliance is an apparatus that is used to manufacture food, particularly cheeses, with controlled heating, mixing, drainage, and pressure cycles. The apparatus is also configured to accept various cooking patterns for different foods based on different recipes. A perforated drainer is used to hold ingredients for mixing, completed cheese curds, and the finalized cheese product. A processing receptacle is a container that holds the perforated drainer and temporarily stores whey and process byproducts. A byproduct receptacle is a storage unit for whey and other liquid byproducts produced in the cheese development process. A fluid pump applies pressure to fluids collected in the processing receptacle, transferring them to the byproduct receptacle. A linear actuator provides mechanical power to one of several detachable food-interacting heads, which consequently chops, mixes, or otherwise agitates the contents of the perforated container.

An apparatus for agitating liquid foodstuff, comprising a whisk that includes a magnetic rotor of a brushless electromotor assembly, and a main body including a liquid foodstuff container in which the whisk is receivable such that it is rotatable around a rotation axis (L) thereof, and a stator of the electromotor assembly. The stator is configured to electromagnetically drive the rotor in rotation, and includes at least one magnetic sensor configured to provide a signal that reflects positional changes of the magnetic rotor relative to the magnetic sensor. The main body also includes a controller configured to detect an initial, manually effected rotational movement of the whisk around its rotation axis from the signal of the magnetic sensor, and, once such initial movement of the whisk is detected, to operate the apparatus independent of said initial, movement.

A system for simultaneously heating multiple elongated surgical viewing instruments comprises a heater with a slot and an insert received by the slot. The insert has multiple elongate cavities, each configured to receive the tip of a viewing instrument. A cover, configured to cover the heater with the insert in the slot thereof, provides a plurality of openings aligned with the cavities of the insert. In the preferred embodiment, the heater is reusable and the insert and cover are disposable. The insert and cover may be integrally joined into a single unit. The system may further include a stand upon which the heater is supported, one or more cavities to receive cleaning swabs to be heated, and/or a pad to heat a cleaning wipe or other article.

A kitchen appliance is disclosed for cooking a meat product. The kitchen appliance includes a heating element adapted to heat a medium for transferring heat to the meat product, a sensor for detecting loss of water from a contact surface of the meat product with the medium, and a controller conductively coupled to the sensor. The controller processes a sensor signal produced by the sensor, and generates a control signal indicative of the meat product reaching a defined cooking state in response to the processed sensor signal being indicative of a loss of water associated with the desired cooking state from the contact surface of the meat product.

A cooking vessel according to one example embodiment includes a food receptacle for holding food during cooking. The cooking vessel includes an inner shell and an outer shell. An outside surface of the inner shell forms the food receptacle. A portion of an inside surface of the inner shell is spaced from a portion of an inside surface of the outer shell forming a sealed volume between the inner shell and the outer shell. A heat pipe is positioned within the sealed volume between the inner shell and the outer shell for distributing heat through the sealed volume between the inner shell and the outer shell. Embodiments include those wherein each of the inner shell and the outer shell includes a respective bottom wall and a respective side wall.

The invention relates to a cooking apparatus for simultaneous cooking of a plurality of food items. The apparatus has a control unit (1) with a conductor (7) arranged to be connected to an electric energy supply and has switching means 10. According to the invention the control unit (1) is provided with a plurality of electrical connection means (2a, 2b, 2c, 2d). Each connection means (2a, 2b, 2c, 2d) is arranged to be connectable to a cooking pot (4a, 4b, 4c, 4d) for supply of electric energy to a respective cooking pot (4a, 4b, 4c, 4d). The control unit (1) is arranged to allow simultaneous supply of electric energy through the plurality of 1 connection means (2a, 2b, 2c, 2d). The invention also relates to a cooking pot (4a, 4b, 4c, 4d) with heating means (3a, 3b, 3c) to supply heat to a food item (5a, 5b, 5c, 5d). The cooking pot (4a, 4b, 4c, 4d) has an electric connection unit (9a, 9b, 9c, 9d). The connection unit (9a, 9b, 9c, 9d) is arranged to be connected to either one of a plurality of 20 connection means (2a, 2b, 2c, 2d) of a control unit (1). The invention also relates to a corresponding method for cooking.

A PEF cooking appliance includes a PEF generator, and a carrier configured to receive a storage container for food. The carrier includes at least two PEF electrodes spaced apart to enable insertion of the storage container there between. At least one the PEF electrodes is connected to the PEF generator. The carrier is embodied as a drawer with a top cover pivotably attached thereto The drawer includes a base, with one of the two PEF electrodes being integrated into the base of the drawer and another one of the two PEF electrodes being integrated into the cover of the drawer.

Packaged product (20) comprising a food product (24) to be cooked in a cooking device (10), the packaged product (20) comprising identification means (21) providing information to and readable by the cooking device (10) related to a plurality of steps to be applied for cooking the food product (24) according to a predetermined profile, such that, in particular the duration, the selection of the heating mode and the power level of each of the heating mode, optionally and additionally a cooling mode, are set for each one of these steps according to the type of product to be cooked. The heating mode for each step is selected amongst one or a combination of microwave heating, infrared heating, hot air convection or hot air impingement, the cooling mode being applied by one or a combination of sub-pressure cooling or air ventilation.

Disclosed is a food processing and cooking apparatus comprising: a container module having a rotary blade for crushing a food material contained in an inner space; a housing module formed by the coupling of an upper housing for supporting the container module and a lower housing coupled to the upper housing; and a power module mounted by a base bracket on the inner space of the housing module and transmitting power generated by the motor to a power-transmitting unit to rotate the rotating blade, wherein the container module is detachably mounted while preventing from being shaken by a mounting groove of the upper housing, the power module is configured such that vibration and noise are reduced by the anti-vibration member, and the food material is cooked using a heater provided in the container module or the housing module.

Embodiments include systems and methods for heating materials, including heating materials for cooking and soldering. A representative system and method for cooking food includes passing electric current through the food, sensing a characteristic of the food, and modulating the electric current in response to the characteristic of the food to achieve a selected internal temperature of the food. The system and method can include searing the food with hot oil or photons directed at the surface of the food. A representative system and method for heating a material includes modulating a plurality of semiconductor light sources to emit photons toward the material, measuring a temperature of the material, and modulating the plurality of semiconductor light sources in response to the temperature of the material. The material can include solder and the method can include heating solder in a reflow soldering process.