A griddle apparatus, includes a lower cooking plate and an upper cooking plate, where the upper cooking plate is mounted for movement relative to the lower cooking plate between a lower cooking position and an upper access position by a biasing arrangement that provides an upward force sufficient to move the upper cooking plate up to the upper access position once the upper cooking plate has been manually moved to a set raised location between the lower cooking position and the upper access position.

A method of controlling a cooking apparatus includes identifying an initial thickness of a food product on a lower heating plate of the cooking apparatus and calculating a difference between an initial gap value corresponding to the initial thickness of the food product and a predefined final gap value. The method includes controlling at least one of a pressure of at least one of an upper heating plate and a lower heating plate on the food product, a rate of descent of the upper heating plate toward the lower heating plate, and a rate of ascent of the lower heating plate toward the upper heating plate based on the calculated difference between the initial gap value and the predefined final gap value.

A system (1) of hot plates (2, 3) includes more than one hot plates (2, 3), a heating medium (4) which heats the hot plates (2, 3), and a cooking medium dispensing means (5). The hot plates (2, 3) have at least one of the plates as an upper plate (2) and at least one of another plate as a lower plate (3), wherein the upper plate (2) and the lower plate (3) are functionally coupled to press and heat a food item when the food item is placed between the plates (2, 3). The cooking medium dispensing unit/component/etc. (5) dispenses a predefined quantity of the cooking medium at least on an upper surface of the food item, or a lower surface of the food item.

Provided for is a waffle maker comprising a top plate bound by a top body and a bottom plate bound by a bottom body, a cavity bound by the top plate and the bottom plate, the cavity configured to accept a batter, and a reservoir bound by a top plate reservoir trench and a bottom plate reservoir trench. The waffle maker may further comprise a sliding crescent gate bound by a top plate inner rim and a bottom plate inner rim, where the top plate inner rim is configured to rise as the batter expands.

A grill is provided including a base structure. An upper platen assembly is connected to the base structure and includes an upper gritting plate. A lower platen assembly is connected to the base structure and includes a lower grilling plate. A plurality of leveling mechanisms is mounted to the base structure and arranged in contact with the lower grilling plate. The leveling mechanisms are configured to move the lower gritting plate relative to the upper grilling plate. At least one grease receptacle has an inboard sidewall and an outboard sidewall connected by a compartment configured to receive grease from a grilling surface of the lower plate. The inboard sidewall is mounted to the lower grilling plate at or below the grilling surface.

A device (1) for heating filled brioches preferably filled with ice-cream, comprising an upper subassembly (3) and a lower subassembly (4) linked by one or more joints or hinges (10). Each one of the subassemblies (3, 4) includes a heating plate (14) with a cavity (14a) intended to receive the filled brioche, or other similar product, in order to heat it, arranged so that in an operative position they overlap one another. Each heating plate (14) is positioned on top of a heat transfer plate (16) enclosed in a thermoinsulating layer (13), except for an opening to allow contact between the heating plate (14) and the heat transfer plate (16). The heating plates (14) are releasable from the subassembly (3, 4) on which they are arranged by means of one or more releasable fastening elements protruding from the heating plate (14) and inserted in one or more slots (3c, 4c) of either casing of the subassemblies (3, 4).

Described herein are assemblies, for example, cook top press assemblies for pressing food item on a stove, which cook top press assemblies may include: a first bracket coupled to the stove; a second bracket coupled to the stove; a cross bar having a first end coupled to the first bracket and a second end coupled to the second bracket; a cross sleeve slidably and rotatably coupled to the cross bar; a lateral bar having a first end coupled to the cross sleeve, wherein the lateral bar may be orthogonal to the cross bar; a lateral sleeve slidably coupled to the lateral bar, wherein the lateral sleeve may have a knob; a plate having a finger; a pin extending through the knob and the finger, wherein the finger may be pivotable on the pin; and a handle coupled to the plate.

A food preparation apparatus includes a cooker assembly, a food delivery mechanism, a food release mechanism, a food removal mechanism, and a food transport mechanism. The food delivery mechanism includes a first arm and a food vessel mounted to the first arm. The food vessel is configured to deposit a food item onto the cooker assembly. The food release mechanism includes a second arm that is movable between a first position spaced apart from the cooking station and a second position adjacent to a location at which the food vessel deposits the food item onto the cooking station. The food removal mechanism includes a third arm and a set of wipers. The food transport mechanism includes a spatula. The food removal mechanism and the food transport mechanism cooperate to remove the food item from the cooker assembly and transport the food item to a desired location.

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a multifunctional cooking oven comprises an oven cover, an oven body, a first heating device, a second heating device, an elastic device and a first control panel, wherein the oven cover is hinged with the oven body, the rotation angle between the oven cover and the oven body falls in between 0 degree and 180 degrees; the first heating device is arranged on the bottom surface of the oven cover, and the elastic device is arranged in the inner cavity of the oven body; the second heating device is arranged in the inner cavity of the oven body and connected with the elastic device, which drives the second heating device to go up and down; the multifunctional cooking oven also comprises a pot cover, which is buckled onto the pot body; in a word, the multifunctional cooking oven has multiple functions and thus possesses powerful practicability.

A stepless height-adjustable grill, an inclined rail is disposed on one side of a base body, and a corresponding connecting rod is provided with a slidable height fixing slider which is positioned on the inclined rail. The inclined rail is provided with a lock-up edge, while the height fixing slider is provided with a lock; when the height fixing slider is positioned on the inclined rail, the lock is interlocked with the lock-up edge by means of the spring force of a spring to position the height fixing slider on the inclined rail. The lock is provided with a release portion which overcomes the spring force of the spring to release the interlocking between the lock and the lock-up edge. The interlocking between the lock and the lock-up edge can be released by operating the release portion, and the upper cover component can be freely lifted by a handle.