Slow Cooker with Thermometer for Indicating a Temperature Condition of the Food in the Cooking Vessel

A slow cooker comprising:

• a cooking vessel having an outer surface and configured to hold one or more food items for slow cooking;
• a housing configured to receive said cooking vessel and having a bottom wall, a sidewall and an open top defined by a top rim;
• a heating element disposed within said housing for heating the food items within said cooking vessel;
• a control panel coupled to the sidewall of said housing, said control panel including at least a food temperature indicator and an on-off switch to selectively apply power to said heating element from a power source;
• a capillary thermometer positioned adjacent to one of the walls of said housing and operably coupled to said food temperature indicator, said capillary thermometer including a capillary fluid reservoir and a tube, said tube being in fluid communication with said capillary fluid reservoir and said food temperature indicator, said capillary fluid reservoir and said tube holding a fluid;
• and
• a lid configured to removably cover said cooking vessel;
• wherein said capillary fluid reservoir is in thermal communication with the outer surface of said cooking vessel when said cooking vessel is received within said housing, and wherein expansion and contraction of the fluid within the capillary fluid reservoir and said tube as the fluid reservoir is heated and cooled measures the temperature of the outer surface of the cooking vessel;
• and
• wherein said food temperature indicator is calibrated to display an adjusted temperature measured by the capillary thermometer to indicate at least an appropriate temperature of the food items within the cooking vessel.

A slow cooker comprising:

• a housing having a bottom wall, a sidewall, and an open top defined by a top rim;
• a control panel coupled to the sidewall of said housing, said control panel including at least an on-off switch and a food temperature display indicator;
• a heating element coupled to said housing and in electronic communication with said on-off switch;
• a capillary thermometer operably coupled to said food temperature display indicator and including a capillary fluid reservoir and a tube in fluid communication with both said capillary fluid reservoir and said food temperature display indicator;
• said capillary thermometer including a top cap, a bottom cap, and a spring member disposed therebetween, said top cap including a thermally conductive top wall positioned in thermal communication with said capillary fluid reservoir;
• a cooking vessel for holding and cooking a food item in said cooking vessel, said cooking vessel having a bottom wall, a sidewall, and a top rim and being configured to removably nest within said housing, wherein the bottom wall of said cooking vessel lies in thermal communication with the top wall of said top cap when said cooking vessel is nested within said housing thereby placing said capillary fluid reservoir in thermal communication with the bottom wall of said cooking vessel, said spring member biasing said top wall against the bottom wall of said cooking vessel;
• and
• a lid configured to removably cover said cooking vessel;
• said capillary fluid reservoir and said tube holding a fluid having a thermal coefficient of expansion for allowing said fluid to expand and contract during changes in temperature and wherein the expansion and contraction of said fluid acts on said food temperature display indicator to display a temperature, said food temperature display indicator being correlated to display a temperature representative of the temperature of the food items contained within the cooking vessel.

A method for displaying a temperature of a food item within a slow cooker comprising:

• placing a temperature sensing device within a slow cooker and in thermal communication with a cooking vessel associated with the slow cooker;
• measuring the temperature of an outside surface of said cooking vessel;
• correlating the temperature of the outside surface of said cooking vessel with the temperature of a food item within said cooking vessel;
• and
• displaying the correlated temperature of the food item on a food temperature indicator, said food temperature indicator being visible on an outside surface of the slow cooker.