Food stuffs are cooked at precise temperatures, which are optionally below 100° C., in a vessel that is evacuated to exclude air, in which low pressure steam replaces the air. When a sufficient quantity of air is excluded and replaced with water vapor, the temperature of vapor is accurately measured inside the vessel below the lid to control the temperatures within about 1° C. Air is preferably excluded via a controlled heated process for a relatively short period of time at high temperature to generate steam, the temperature is lowered to condense water vapor upon which the lid will sealingly engage the rim of the vessel, forming a partial vacuum in the cooking vessel.

Systems, methods, and articles to provide customized control of a cooking appliance, such as a sous vide cooker. A user provides a selection of one or more ending characteristics for a food product. A processor-based device determines one or more output food preparation parameters based on the user's selection of the one or more ending characteristics. Measurements of temperature, power delivery, or other characteristics may be obtained during cooking process. A cooking program controlling the cooking process may be revised or updated based at least in part on the obtained measurements or analysis of the measurements. Estimations or projections about the cooking process may be presented to a user via a user interface of the cooking appliance or a user interface of a computing device (e.g., smartphone) associated with the user.

The present invention is to provide a cooking apparatus to operate in an automated/robotic environment containing 3 major sub-units: air fryer hood, a rotating or a vibrating pot and an induction heating subunit. The air fryer hood of the air fryer subunit streams high velocity, heated air, circulating it in the cooking pot which is rotated, generating a stirring motion of the food ingredients contained in the said pot. The induction unit which is positioned under the rotating pot base may be used to heat the pot for frying and browning of the food products. The apparatus can be used as a stand alone or incorporated in robotic or automated food preparation systems. The apparatus provides controlled cooking regimes for various recipes and food product requirements and each of the sub-units of the apparatus is independently controlled.

A handheld electric milk frother including a handle and an immersing portion coupled with the handle. The immersing portion includes a cap and a rotatable frothing means coupled with the cap. The frothing means includes a substantially closed ring member formed by a first half ring member and a second half ring member joining with each other, with the first half ring member oriented horizontally and the second half ring member oriented obliquely relative to the first half ring member and extending downwardly from the first half ring member, so that an obtuse angle is formed between the first and second half ring members; and a plurality of coils wound on the substantially closed ring member. The cap has an upper part and the upper part has the largest cross section thereof larger than and sufficient to cover the largest cross section of the substantially closed ring member.

A cooking device according to one example embodiment includes a base having a top surface positioned to contact a cooking vessel configured to hold food during cooking. The base includes a heater having a ceramic substrate and an electrically resistive trace on an exterior surface of the ceramic substrate. The heater is positioned to supply heat generated by applying an electric current to the electrically resistive trace to the top surface of the base for heating the cooking vessel to heat food in the cooking vessel. In some embodiments, the electrically resistive trace includes an electrical resistor material thick film printed on the exterior surface of the ceramic substrate. In some embodiments, the electrically resistive trace is positioned on a top surface of the ceramic substrate that faces upward toward the top surface of the base.

A cooking appliance includes a base, a cover body pivotally mounted at the base, a pivot spring provided at a pivot connection member between the base and the cover body, and an attraction assembly including a first attraction member provided at the base and a second attraction member provided at the cover body. The first attraction member and the second attraction member are configured to attract each other to lock the cover body to the base.

An induction cooking system includes a first container that receives first contents and a second container sized to fit within the first container. The second container is composed of a ferromagnetic material such that the second container is heated in response to received electromagnetic radiation. An exterior surface of the second container is in contact with the first contents of the first container, and an interior surface of the second container is in contact with second contents placed within the second container.

Disclosed herein is a cooking system for cooking food, the cooking system being functional in a plurality of cooking modes. The cooking system includes a housing defining a hollow chamber configured to receive a food container. The housing has an upper portion defining an opening to the hollow chamber. The cooking system includes a first lid configuration for use in at least a first cooking mode, a second lid configuration for use in at least a second cooking mode. A first lid detection sensor is configured to detect a closed condition of said first lid configuration and a second lid detection sensor is configured to detect a closed condition of said second lid configuration.

A cooking system includes a housing having at least one internal compartment and a cooking container receivable within said at least one internal compartment. A cooking volume is defined within an interior of said cooking container. A bottom surface of said cooking container is angled upwardly. A heating element is associated with said at least one internal compartment.

A sous vide cooker having a housing, a bulkhead attached to the housing to form a first cavity, a heat sink attached to the bulkhead to form a second cavity, and a skirt attached to the bulkhead to form a third cavity below the heat sink. A TRIAC is physically attached in conductive thermal communication to the heat sink in the second cavity. The cooker also has a motor, an impeller located in the third cavity, a drive shaft extending through at least the heat sink and into the third cavity and operatively connecting the motor to the impeller, and a heating element located within the third cavity.