Automatic cooking medium filtering systems and methods

A method for automatically filtering cooking medium in a cooking vessel, the method comprising the steps of:

• draining the cooking medium from a cooking vessel;
• filtering the cooking medium through a filter;
• supplying the cooking medium from a fill manifold to the cooking vessel with a supplying mechanism, wherein the fill manifold is disposed on a fluid communication path between the filter and the cooking vessel and comprises a first opening configured to permit cooking medium to enter the fill manifold, a second opening configured to permit cooking medium to exit the fill manifold to the cooking vessel, and a third opening connected to an expansion chamber having a first end adjacent the third opening;
• sensing a pressure of cooking medium supplied to the cooking vessel with a pressure sensor, wherein the pressure sensor is adjacent a second end of the expansion chamber and the expansion chamber is inclined such that the second end is disposed above the first end to preserve an air-charge for reducing build-up of deadhead pressure and prevent immersion of said pressure sensor in the cooking medium, the sensing step comprising:
• sensing the pressure of cooking medium at a first interval;
• sensing the pressure of cooking medium at a second interval;
• and
• determining a change in the pressure of cooking medium between the first interval and the second interval;
• controlling the supplying of filtered cooking medium based on the sensed pressure of the filtered cooking medium being supplied to the cooking vessel;
• wherein the step of controlling comprises halting said supplying step when sensing that the change in the pressure of cooking medium is a pressure drop that is greater than or equal to a predetermined pressure drop threshold.