There is provided a method of converting a kitchen having one of the slide-in and the drop-in appliance electrically coupled to a range receptacle, to a kitchen having built-in appliances. The method includes removing the one of the slide-in and the drop-in appliance from the range receptacle. The method includes installing at least two kitchen appliances into at least one of preexisting countertops and cabinetry of the kitchen. Each of the kitchen appliances includes a range plug. The method includes providing a power strip apparatus comprising a range plug and a power strip having a plurality of range sockets electrically coupled to the range plug of the power strip apparatus. The method includes inserting the range plug of the power strip apparatus into the range receptacle and inserting the range plugs of the kitchen appliances into respective ones of the range sockets of the power strip.

A heating device for a hob has a flat carrier having a heating conductor side with heating conductors thereon and a switching device, the switching device having a movable switching contact and a mating contact associated therewith. The switching device has a switching arm movable in itself, said switching arm carries the switching contact and is electrically connected to an electric arm connecting means. The switching arm is fastened on the carrier and is formed from a bimetal strip. The mating contact is electrically connected to an electric mating connection means and fastened on the carrier. Switching arm, switching contact and mating contact are designed and arranged such that when a pre-defined switching temperature is exceeded, the switching contact and the mating contact are brought together, triggering a switching operation as a hot indicator for the hob, by the movement of the switching arm due to increasing heat.

An induction cooktop includes a ceramic cooking surface in connection with a housing. A plurality of inductors is disposed in the housing and each of the inductors is in communication with a controller. The controller is configured to selectively activate each of the inductors in response to an input received at the user interface identifying an active inductor of the plurality of inductors to activate. The controller is further configured to detect a presence of a pan proximate the active inductor in response to a detection signal and identify a small pan condition in response to a phase angle detected for the active inductor of the plurality of inductors.

Cooking devices, cooking systems, and sensor assemblies for use therewith are provided. In one embodiment, a cooking system is provided and includes a housing, at least one cooking container, and a sensor assembly. The housing can have a sensor port formed in an exterior surface thereof for operably coupling to a connector housing on a sensor assembly. The cooking system can further include a through-passage formed between the housing and the cooking container for receiving a cable extending from the connector housing on the sensor assembly to allow a probe coupled to a distal end of the cable to be positioned within the cooking container for measuring a temperature. In certain exemplary embodiments, the sensor port and connector housing can include features that prevent rotation of the connector housing relative to the sensor port.

A range has burner coil elements which have temperature switches as a portion of the replaceable coils. Upon reaching a predetermined temperatures, the switch opens and power through the burner element is secured. The burner elements are preferably open coil units. Lowering the temperature in a cooking utensil below common ignition temperatures while still allowing boiling is an objective of many embodiments.

A modular hob system includes a control device for controlling all components of the hob system.

The invention relates to a method for boil detection at a heating zone of an induction hob (1), the method comprising the steps of: —disabling (S110) a power control mechanism of the induction hob by setting the frequency of the AC-current provided to an induction coil of the induction hob to a fixed value; —measuring (S120) values of an electrical parameter provided within the induction hob (1); —interpolating (S130) the measured electrical parameter values by gathering a plurality of values of the electrical parameter within a time window and calculating the average value of said gathered plurality of values thereby obtaining interpolated electrical parameter values. —calculating (S140) a gradient measure indicative for the differential change of the interpolated electrical parameter values over time; —determining (S150) the boil point based on the calculated gradient measure.

A glass-ceramic cooking apparatus and a method relating to temperature limiting control of the glass heating area for preventing cooking oil ignition is disclosed. The apparatus comprises at least one glass surface, at least one heat source under the glass to create a heating area on the glass, one temperature sensor and one control unit for each heat source, wherein the sensor measures the temperature on the underside the glass heating area, and the control unit is electrically connected with the heat source, compares the measured glass temperature with predetermined upper and lower temperature limits that are based on a corresponding relationship between the heating area temperature and the cooking oil temperature within the cooking vessel, and then reduces or increases the output power of the heating source, so that the maximum temperature of the cooking oil in the cooking vessel can be limited in a range that is below the cooking oil ignition point while a minimum temperature can still be maintained for a desired cooking performance.

The present invention relates to a cooking hob (1) having a cooking surface (5) with at least two cooking zones (3a, 3b, 3c, 3d) on which cookware (21) is placeable. Each cooking zone (3a,5 3b, 3c, 3d) is individually configurable and/or adjustable according to a selection mode. The selection mode comprises at least a selection and/or configuration of a power level for the cooking zone (3a, 3b, 3c, 3d). According to the invention, a code word and/or an identifier is allocatable to each cooking zone (3a, 3b, 3c, 3d) for controlling and/or addressing a spe-cific one of the cooking zones (3a, 3b, 3c, 3d). Further, a method for a configuration and/or adjustment of a cooking zone (3a, 3b, 3c, 3d) arranged on a cooking hob (1) which comprises at least two cooking zones (3a, 3b, 3c, 3d) is disclosed. The cooking zone (3a, 3b, 3c, 3d) is selected and/or addressed by identification of the cooking zone (3a, 3b, 3c, 3d) with an allocated code word or identifier.

A hob has a hob plate for putting a pan having a remote communication device thereon and multiple heating devices under said hob plate, a hob controller and a main communication device having a transmitter and a receiver for communicating with the pan to measure a distance between itself and the remote communication device. Said main communication device belongs to the hob controller and is designed to use a Bluetooth communication protocol and to receive an individual identifier of the remote communication device and to store the latter in the hob controller. The hob and the main communication device are switched on and a pan having a remote communication device is put onto the hob plate, this being detected. The distance between the main communication device and the remote communication device of the pan is then measured, and the pan position of the pan on the hob is thus determined. This pan position is stored along with the individual identifier of the remote communication device in the hob controller.