Food preparation control system

Abstract

Systems, methods, and articles to provide customized control of a cooking appliance, such as a sous vide cooker. A user provides a selection of one or more ending characteristics for a food product. A processor-based device determines one or more output food preparation parameters based on the user's selection of the one or more ending characteristics. Measurements of temperature, power delivery, or other characteristics may be obtained during cooking process. A cooking program controlling the cooking process may be revised or updated based at least in part on the obtained measurements or analysis of the measurements. Estimations or projections about the cooking process may be presented to a user via a user interface of the cooking appliance or a user interface of one or more computing devices (e.g., smartphone, tablet computer) associated with the user.

Description

BACKGROUND[0001]Technical Field[0002]The present disclosure generally relates to food preparation, and in particular relates to providing food preparation control useful, for example, in sous vide cooking appliances.[0003]Description of the Related Art[0004]Cooking is the art of preparing food for consumption with the use of heat. There are numerous methods of cooking, most of which have been known for many years. These methods include baking, roasting, frying, grilling, barbecuing, smoking, boiling, steaming and braising, to name a few. Various methods use differing levels of heat and moisture and vary in cooking time. The particular method chosen normally affects the result because some foods are more appropriate to some methods than others are.[0005]Cooking recipes are a set of instructions that describes how to prepare or make a food product. Recipes may generally include various information about a food product such as the required ingredients to prepare the food product along ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0024]The at least one processor may: cause at least two food product selection prompts to be displayed by the user computing device, each of the at least two food product selection prompts associated with a different food product; and receive a selection of one of the at least two food products selection prompts. The at least one processor may, responsive to receiving the selection of one of the at least two food products selection prompts, cause at least one instructional image or instructional video associated with the selected food product to be displayed by the user computing device. The at least one processor may cause a notification to be displayed by the user computing device, the notification instructs a user to place the food product in a food receiving portion of the cooking appliance. The at least one processor may cause a notification to be displayed by the user computing device, the notification instructs a user to remove the food product from a food receiving portion of the cooking appliance. The at least one processor may cause at least one food preparation parameter to be displayed by the user computing device. The at least one processor may cause at least one of a temperature, a projected cooking time, or a projected cooking completion time to be displayed by the user computing device. The at least one processor may receive a selection of a temperature which relates to at least one of the gradations of the at least one first characteristic of the food product. The at least one processor may receive a selection of a temperature which is between a first temperature associated with a first gradation and a second temperature associated with a second gradation, the second gradation adjacent the first gradation with respect to a temperature scale. The at least one processor may: receive a selection of a desired cooking completion time indicative of a time by which a user desires the food product to be fully cooked; and cause a first notification to be displayed by the user computing device based at least in part on the received selection of the desired cooking completion time, the first notification instructs a user to turn on the cooking appliance. The at least one processor may cause a second notification to be displayed by the user computing device based at least in part on the received selection of the desired cooking completion time, the second notification instructs a user to place the food product in a food receiving portion of the cooking appliance. The at least one processor may cause at least one of a first set of at least two graphical prompts to be displayed by the user computing device, each of the graphical prompts in the first set of at least two graphical prompts depicting respective different textures, consistencies, or doneness for the food product. The at least one processor may receive a selection of one of the gradations by a processor-based food preparation guidance system over a data network, and causing a cooking program to be generated may include causing a cooking program to be generated by the food preparation guidance system. The at least one processor may cause at least one of a first set of images or videos to be displayed by the user computing device. The at least one processor may cause at least one of a first set of images or videos to be displayed by the user computing device, the first set of images or videos depicting a user interaction with the food product. The at least one processor may cause at least one of a first set of images or videos to be displayed by the user computing device, the first set of images or videos depicting at least one of: cutting the food product, breaking the food product into one or more pieces, stirring the food product, pouring the food product, or manipulating the food product. The at least one processor may: cause a cooking program to be generated at the food preparation guidance system; and send the generated cooking program from the food preparati

Problems solved by technology

Often it is difficult for a person cooking a food product to know precisely how to cook the food product

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