Cooking apparatus

A cooking apparatus comprising:

• a pair of plates in between which a food item is to be cooked, at least one of the plates having a heating element for cooking the food item;
• a user interface for selecting a cooking preference;
• a measurement sensor for measuring a distance between the pair of plates when the food item lies between the pair of plates;
• a weight sensor for measuring weight of the food item;
• and
• a control system for receiving at least one signal from the measurement and weight sensors to determine a cooking profile for cooking the food item to the cooking preference and to calculate a total amount of energy required to cook the food item according to the cooking profile and an amount of energy to be transferred per unit time to the food item, and to control power supply to the heating element based on the calculated amount of energy transferred per unit time to the food item,
• wherein the control system calculates the amount of energy (q) transferred to the food item per unit time based on the thickness and weight of the food item, and wherein the amount of energy (q) transferred to the food item per unit time is calculated using the following equation, wherein ΔT1 is a temperature difference between a first plate (Tplate 1) and a food item temperature (Tfood item temp) per unit time and ΔT2 is a temperature difference between a second plate (Tplate 2) and the food item temperature (Tfood item temp) per unit time and Rth is a thermal resistance of the food item:
• q=ΔT1Rth+ΔT2Rth, wherein ΔT=Tplate 1/2−Tfood item temp
• and, wherein the thermal resistance of the food item is calculated based on a surface area of the food item in contact with the pair of plates, a thickness of the food item and a thermal conductivity of the food item.

A control system for a cooking apparatus, the cooking apparatus comprising a pair of plates, at least one of the plates having a heating element for cooking a food item, a measurement sensor for measuring a distance between the pair of plates when the food item lies between the pair of plates, and a weight sensor for measuring a weight of the food item, wherein the control system is configured to:

• receive data from a user interface to select a cooking preference;
• receive a signal from the measurement sensor to calculate the distance between the pair of plates;
• receive a signal from the weight sensor to determine a weight of the food item;
• determine a cooking profile to cook the food item according to the cooking preference, where the cooking profile is determined based on at least one signal from the measuring sensor and the weight sensor;
• calculate a total amount of energy required to cook the food item according to the cooking profile based on the signal from the weight sensor;
• calculate an amount of energy per unit time to be transferred to the food item per unit time based on the signal from the measuring sensor;
• switch on the heating element;
• and
• control the heating element based on the cooking profile.