Sous vide feature in a microwave oven
AssigneeMidea Group Co., Ltd.
InventorsPaul R. Staun, GuoJun Zhang
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A microwave oven may include a temperature sensor to sense temperature in a cooking cavity, and a controller that can initiate a sous vide cooking cycle in response to user input after placement of a sous vide container (with a water bath and a food item to be cooked inside) into the cooking cavity, monitor a temperature of the water bath contained by the sous vide container during the cooking cycle using the temperature sensor, and control the microwave cooking element in response to the monitored temperature.
Claims16
A microwave oven, comprising:
- a housing including a cooking cavity;
- a magnetron disposed within the housing to generate cooking energy within the cooking cavity;
- a temperature sensor positioned to sense temperature within the cooking cavity of the housing;
- and
- a controller disposed in the housing and configured to:
- initiate a dedicated sous vide cooking cycle in response to user input and after placement of a sous vide container containing a water bath and a food item to be cooked into the cooking cavity;
- monitor a temperature of the water bath contained by the sous vide container during the dedicated sous vide cooking cycle using the temperature sensor;
- and
- control the magnetron in response to the monitored temperature to maintain a substantially constant temperature for the water bath during at least a portion of the dedicated sous vide cooking cycle;
- wherein controlling the magnetron in response to the monitored temperature includes maintaining a power output to the magnetron and adjusting the power output of the magnetron.
A microwave oven, comprising:
- a housing including a cooking cavity;
- a magnetron disposed within the housing to generate cooking energy within the cooking cavity;
- a temperature sensor positioned to wirelessly sense temperature within the cooking cavity of the housing;
- and
- a controller disposed in the housing and configured to:
- initiate a cooking cycle in response to user input and after placement of a sous vide container containing a water bath and a food item to be cooked into the cooking cavity;
- monitor a temperature of the water bath contained by the sous vide container during the cooking cycle using the temperature sensor;
- and
- control the magnetron in response to the monitored temperature to maintain a substantially constant temperature for the water bath during at least a portion of the cooking cycle;
- wherein controlling the magnetron in response to the monitored temperature includes maintaining a power output to the magnetron and adjusting the power output of the magnetron.
A container configured for use in sous vide cooking in a microwave oven, the container comprising:
- a body configured to contain a water bath;
- a lid configured to couple with an open top side of the body;
- an adjustable spacer including one or more springs disposed between the body and the lid, wherein the spacer is configured to retain a buoyant sous vide bag in a submerged position within the water bath contained by the body of the container.
A method of sous vide cooking in a microwave oven, wherein the microwave oven includes a housing including a cooking cavity, a magnetron disposed within the housing to generate cooking energy within the cooking cavity, and a controller disposed in the housing, the method comprising:
- initiating, by the controller, a cooking cycle in response to user input and after placement of a sous vide container containing a water bath and a food item in a biaxially-oriented polyethylene terephthalate bag to be cooked into the cooking cavity;
- monitoring, by a temperature sensor, a temperature of the water bath contained by the sous vide container during the cooking cycle;
- and
- controlling, by the controller, the magnetron in response to the monitored temperature to maintain a substantially constant temperature for the water bath during at least a portion of the cooking cycle
- wherein controlling the magnetron in response to the monitored temperature includes maintaining a power output to the magnetron and adjusting the power output of the magnetron.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.