Food preparation system

A food preparation system, comprising:

• a food support platform configured to support food;
• a camera with a field of view directed to the food support platform;
• one or more heating units that are configured to heat food placed on the food support platform;
• and
• a food preparation control unit for controlling the camera and the one or more heating units, the food preparation control unit including one or more processors and memory storing instructions, the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors cause the processors to perform operations comprising:
• triggering image capturing of the camera to obtain one or more images of the food support platform while the food support platform supports a first food item;
• performing ingredient recognition for the first food item based on the one or more images of the food support platform, including:
• classifying a feature tensor of a respective image of the one or more images in a general classifier to identify one or more first-level food ingredient categories corresponding to the first food item;
• and
• classifying the feature tensor of the respective image in a respective detailed classifier corresponding to each of the one or more first-level food ingredient categories to identify a corresponding second-level food ingredient category corresponding to the first food item, wherein the second-level food ingredient category is a sub-category of said each first-level food ingredient category;
• and,
• adjusting the one or more heating units for heating the first food item in accordance with the ingredient recognition that has been performed.