Microwave oven and method of controlling thereof

A method of controlling a microwave oven including a body having a cooking cavity and a machine room, a heating element to heat food, a cooling fan installed in the machine room which draws atmospheric air into the cooking cavity while cooling the heating element installed in the machine room, an air outlet unit to discharge air from the cooking cavity, and a humidity sensor to sense a cooking atmosphere of the cooking cavity, the method comprising:

• receiving input information of the food to be cooked;
• controlling a rotational speed of the cooling fan in accordance with conditions of the food determined using the input information;
• and
• operating the cooling fan at the controlled rotational speed and cooking the food.

A computer readable medium encoded with processing instructions for implementing a method of controlling a microwave oven to cook food performed by a computer, the method comprising:

• receiving input information of the food to be cooked;
• determining a rotational speed of the cooling fan in accordance with conditions of the food determined using the input information;
• and
• controlling a heating element to cook the food while controlling the cooling fan to rotate at the determined rotational speed.

A control unit for use in an oven having a cooking cavity in which food is to be cooked, comprising:

• an input terminal which receives input information of the food to be cooked;
• a determining unit which determines conditions of the food in response to the input information;
• and
• an air circulation unit that controls air circulated within a cooking cavity in which the food is to be cooked according to the determined condition of the food.

A microwave oven to cook food, comprising:

• a body including a cooking cavity and a machine room;
• a heating element to cook the food and which is installed in the machine room;
• a cooling fan installed in the machine room which draws atmospheric air into the cooking cavity;
• an air outlet unit including a main-outlet and a sub-outlet to discharge air from the cooking cavity;
• a humidity sensor disposed in the sub-outlet to sense a cooking atmosphere of the cooking cavity;
• and
• a control unit which controls said cooling fan to vary a rotational speed of said cooling fan over a cooking period to improve a sensing performance.

A method of cooking food in a microwave oven including a body having a cooking cavity and a machine room, a heating element to heat food, a cooling fan installed in the machine room which draws atmospheric air into the cooking cavity, an air outlet unit having a main-outlet and a sub-outlet to discharge air from the cooking cavity, a humidity sensor disposed in the sub-outlet to sense a cooking atmosphere of the cooking cavity, and a control unit which controls the cooling fan to vary a rotational speed of the cooling fan, the method comprising:

• placing the food in the cooking cavity of the microwave oven;
• cooking the food using the heating element;
• drawing the atmospheric air into the cooking cavity using the cooling fan;
• discharging the air from the cooking cavity using the air outlet unit;
• sensing the cooking atmosphere of the cooking cavity using the humidity sensor;
• and
• varying the rotational speed of the cooling fan using the control unit over a predetermined cooking period.