Advanced cooking appliance

An appliance for cooking food, comprising:

• a heating unit including a heating element for generating heat to cook food placed upon the heating unit;
• a power source for supplying power to the heating element;
• a temperature sensor in thermal communication with the heating element for sensing heating element temperature and generating a signal representative thereof, and
• a programmable controller in communication with the temperature sensor for actively controlling the temperature of the heating element by controlling supply of power to the heating element from the power source based upon signals generated by the temperature sensor and a user defined cooking profile for the particular food being cooked;
• and
• input means allowing the user to input information representative of the cooking profile, said cooking profile including information representative of at least one desired temperature for cooking the food and a desired time interval during which the desired temperature is to be maintained.

A closed loop temperature control system for an appliance for cooking foods, comprising

• a heating element for generating heat to cook food;
• a power source supplying power to the heating element;
• a temperature sensor for sensing heating element temperature and generating a signal representative thereof, and
• a controller electrically connected to the temperature sensor and the power source for controlling power supplied to the heating element by the power source based upon signals generated by the temperature sensor, said controller being programmable to cook food in accordance with a predefined time and temperature cooking profile for a particular food to be cooked by which power is supplied to the heating element by the power source under control of the controller to maintain heating element temperature at a first desired temperature for a first predetermined time interval and at a second desired temperature for a second predetermined time interval.

A method of cooking foods comprising the steps of:

• placing a utensil in which food is contained on a heating unit having a heating element for generating heat to cook the food;
• supplying power to the heating element;
• sensing an instantaneous temperature of the heating element;
• and
• controlling power supplied to the heating element in response to the sensed temperature to maintain the heating element temperature at a predetermined first temperature for a predetermined first time interval and at a predetermined second temperature for a predetermined second time interval commencing after expiration of the first time interval.

A method of cooking foods comprising the steps of:

• placing a utensil in which food is contained on a heating unit having a heating element for generating heat to cook the food;
• turning on the heating unit to supplying power to the heating element;
• sensing an instantaneous temperature of the heating element;
• and
• controlling power supplied to the heating element in response to the sensed temperature to maintain the heating element temperature at a predetermined temperature by supplying a first peak voltage to the heating element to rapidly increase the heating element temperature during an initial time interval commencing when the appliance is turned on and supplying a second reduced voltage to the heating element having a voltage level less than a voltage level of the first peak voltage after expiration of the initial time interval.

An appliance for cooking food comprising:

• a heating unit including a heating element to which electrical power is supplied for generating heat used to cook food placed upon the heating unit;
• a power source supplying power to the heating element;
• and,
• a closed loop temperature control system controlling initial application of power to the heating unit so to achieve a rapid visual response from the heating element, and to thereafter regulate power to the heating element both to cook food at temperatures at an upper end of a range of cooking temperatures and to simmer food at a lower end of said range of temperatures, the system controlling operation of the heating unit as a function of the temperature produced by the heating element so to both properly cook food, and to prevent scorching of food being simmered.