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US 4,636,949 AGranted
Method and apparatus for controlling cooking cycles in a cooking system
AssigneeAMF Incorporated
InventorCharles R. Longabaugh
Life of this patent
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AssigneeAMF Incorporated
InventorCharles R. Longabaugh
Estimating the term…
Method and apparatus for controlling the operation of a commercial deep-fryer cooker as used in preparing fried chicken or other food products. The controller (11), according to the invention, has been designed to control essentially all aspects of the cooking process and includes a number of features which enhance the flexibility of the system, allow it to be operated with greater efficiency and provide increased safeguards against accident or machine malfunction. Among the features provided by the invention is the capability of lengthening or shortening or changing the ending temperature of a cooking cycle without changing the overall cooking cycle. This permits fast changes to be made in a cooking cycle, even while it is in progress. The system also provides protection against a power failure by saving essential data relating to an interrupted cooking cycle so that the cycle can be resumed if the power is restored within a prescribed period of time. The system also provides for more efficient heat regulation, provides safeguards when cooking under pressure to significantly reduce the risk of accident, provides means for preventing cooking cycle programs from being entered improperly, and includes a variety of built-in diagnostic capabilities to ensure everything is working properly and to notify the operator of a malfunction.
A cooking system including cooking means for cooking a food product and control means for controlling the cooking of said food product by said cooking means, said control means including means for cooking said food product pursuant to a particular cooking cycle, said cooking cycle being defined by a plurality of time/temperature setpoints each of which specify that the cooking temperature be at a particular value at a particular time during the cooking cycle, characterized in that said control means (201) further includes means for inserting an alternate time/temperature set point into said cooking cycle for replacing the setpoints in said cooking cycle which have a time or a temperature value that is greater than that of said alternate setpoint.
A method for cooking a food product including the steps of providing a cooking cycle by which said food product is to be cooked, said cooking cycle including a plurality of time/temperature setpoints each of which specify that the cooking temperature be at a specified value at a specified time during said cooking cycle;
A method for cooking a food product including the steps of providing a cooking cycle program according to which said food product is to be cooked, said cooking cycle program being defined by a plurality of time/temperature setpoints, each of which specify that the cooking temperature be at a specified value at a specified time during the cooking cycle;
A cooking system including cooking means for cooking a food product and control means for establishing a cooking cycle for said food product by said cooking means, said control means including means for cooking said food product pursuant to a preprogrammed cooking cycle program, characterized in that said control means (11) includes means for changing said cooking cycle without modifying said preprogrammed cooking cycle program;
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.