Cooking device and cooking method for pre-cooking food

Abstract

A cooking appliance comprising:-a housing (10); means for acquiring the thickness of the food to be cooked; -a first type of cooking plate; -cooking means configured to perform at least one specific cooking procedure as a function of the thickness to be cooked; -at least one cooking plate of a second type, characterized in that: the at least one cooking plate of the second type comprises at least one hollow cavity (43); and-in order to cook food using the second type of cooking plate, the cooking means are configured to perform the same specific cooking procedure according to the thickness of the second food to be cooked corrected with the predetermined cavity depth.

Description

Field of the Invention

[0001] The present invention generally relates to cooking equipment. In particular, the present invention relates to equipment for cooking or grilling food such as meat, where the cooking is modified to achieve a pre-determined and encoded cooking level according to the user's taste. Generally, in the case of meat, it can be mentioned that meat can be cooked according to cooking levels such as "rare", "medium", "well-done", etc. Background Art

[0002] In the prior art, it is known to provide cooking equipment that can cook a first food according to a pre-determined cooking program and that takes into account the thickness of the food to adjust the cooking program, as shown, for example, in document EP2861110B1. On the other hand, such equipment cannot accommodate a second pre-cooked food without modifying the cooking program set for the first raw food, because otherwise, cooking such a second pre-cooked food would result in overcooking. Summary of the Invention

[0003] The object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art. In particular, firstly, to propose a cooking equipment that can cook both a first raw food at a pre-determined cooking level ("rare", "medium", "well-done", etc.) and a second pre-cooked food.

[0004] To this end, a first aspect of the present invention relates to a cooking equipment, which comprises:

[0005] - a housing configured to receive at least one cooking plate;

[0006] - means for obtaining the thickness of the food to be cooked;

[0007] - a first type of cooking plate, the first type of cooking plate being adapted to be mounted in the housing and configured to receive a first food to be cooked having a first initial cooking state;

[0008] - cooking means configured to execute at least one cooking program specific to the cooking of the first food, the cooking program being set to determine the cooking time and / or cooking power required to reach at least one cooking level of the first food among a plurality of pre-determined cooking levels according to the thickness of the first food;

[0009] - at least one second type of cooking plate, the second type of cooking plate being adapted to be mounted in the housing and configured to receive a second food to be cooked having a second initial cooking state higher than the first initial cooking state of the first food,

[0010] Characterized in that:

[0011] - The at least one second type cooking plate includes at least one hollow cavity for receiving the second food, the hollow cavity having a predetermined cavity depth; and

[0012] - To cook the second food using the second type cooking plate, the cooking device is configured to use the first type cooking plate to perform the same cooking program for cooking the first food specific to the first food, and determine the cooking time and / or cooking power required to reach at least one cooking level of the second food among the plurality of predetermined cooking levels according to the thickness of the second food to be cooked corrected by the predetermined cavity depth.

[0013] The cooking device according to the above embodiment includes two types of cooking plates. The first type cooking plate is used to cook the first food having a first initial cooking state (e.g., raw food), and the second type cooking plate is used to cook the second food having a second initial cooking state (e.g., pre-cooked food). In any case, the second initial cooking state is higher than the first initial cooking state, that is, the second food to be cooked is more cooked or pre-cooked than the first food. It can be noted that the difference between the first food and the second food lies only in their initial cooking states: the same type of food that is more or less cooked can be processed, such as raw sausage and cooked sausage. The cooking device of the device executes a cooking program considering the thickness of the food to be cooked, and using the first type cooking plate for the first food (e.g., raw food) and the second type cooking plate for the second food (pre-cooked food) allows cooking the first food or the second food at the same cooking level using the same cooking program. In fact, compared with the actual thickness of the second food, the cavity configured in the second type cooking plate allows reducing the thickness considered by the device, and this corrected thickness will automatically result in less cooking of the second food. Therefore, the device can receive and cook the pre-cooked food using the same cooking method and cooking program as the raw food. It is sufficient to replace the first type cooking plate with the second type cooking plate. Then, it can always be proposed to the user to cook the second food at a predetermined cooking level ("rare", "medium", "well-done", etc.) just as for the first food, and this uses the same cooking device and cooking program.

[0014] According to one embodiment, the hollow cavity may have a shape substantially complementary to the shape of the second food.

[0015] According to one embodiment, the device for obtaining the thickness of the food to be cooked may be a device for measuring the thickness of the food to be cooked. For example, the device described in the document EP2861110B1 can be used.

[0016] According to one embodiment, the housing may include a base and a hinged lid, the base and the hinged lid each being arranged to receive a cooking plate, and wherein the first type of cooking plate may include a set of two first cooking plates, and the second type of cooking plate may include a set of two second cooking plates.

[0017] According to one embodiment, the set of two second cooking plates may include a second upper cooking plate having a cavity and a second lower cooking plate without a cavity, or may include a second upper cooking plate without a cavity and a second lower cooking plate having a cavity. This embodiment allows avoiding the accumulation of cooking juice on the lower plate. It can be noted that the lower plate is arranged to be mounted on the base of the device, and the upper plate is arranged to be mounted on the lid.

[0018] According to one embodiment, the cooking device may include a human-machine interface arranged to allow a user to select a predetermined cooking level from the plurality of predetermined cooking levels. A screen, a touch screen, buttons, etc. may be provided.

[0019] According to one embodiment, the cooking device may include means for detecting the type of plate received, and the human-machine interface may be configured to adjust or limit the plurality of predetermined cooking levels to be selected by the user according to the type of plate received by the device. In particular, if it is detected that a second type of cooking plate is installed and the second type of cooking plate is arranged to receive second pre-cooked food beyond a cooking level such as "underdone", that cooking level is not presented to the user.

[0020] According to one embodiment, the cooking means may include:

[0021] - a heating means, such as a resistor;

[0022] - a storage means arranged to store the at least one cooking program, the cooking program being set to define at least one heating time and / or heating power according to the type of food to be cooked and its thickness to reach a predetermined cooking level;

[0023] - a control means connected to the heating means and the storage means and arranged to control the cooking of the food to be cooked received in the cooking device.

[0024] According to one embodiment, the predetermined cavity depth may be set to compensate for at least 30% of the thickness of the second food to be cooked, preferably at least 50% of the thickness of the second food to be cooked, preferably at least 60% of the thickness of the second food to be cooked. This cavity depth allows the thickness considered by the device to be significantly reduced relative to the actual thickness of the second food, forcing the device to reduce cooking accordingly due to the initial cooking state of the pre-cooking.

[0025] According to one embodiment, the hollow cavity may include textures and / or protrusions and / or ribs.

[0026] A second aspect of the present invention relates to a method for cooking a second food to be cooked having a second initial cooking state higher than a first initial cooking state of a first food.

[0027] The method is implemented by a cooking device according to the first aspect of the present invention, and the cooking method includes the following steps:

[0028] - Installing the second type of cooking plate in the device, the second type of cooking plate including at least one hollow cavity having a predetermined cavity depth;

[0029] - Selecting a cooking program suitable for cooking the first food having the first cooking state;

[0030] - Preheating the cooking device;

[0031] - Placing the second food to be cooked in the hollow cavity;

[0032] - Obtaining the thickness of the second food to be cooked corrected by the predetermined cavity depth;

[0033] - Providing the thickness of the second food to be cooked corrected by the predetermined cavity depth to the cooking device;

[0034] - Executing the cooking program suitable for cooking the first food having the first initial cooking state to cook the second food;

[0035] - When the second food reaches the cooking level desired by the user, removing the second food from the cooking device. Description of the Drawings

[0036] Other features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent by reading the following detailed description of embodiments of the present invention given by way of non-limiting examples and illustrated in the drawings, in which:

[0037] Figure 1 A perspective view of a cooking device for cooking and grilling food is shown, the cooking device including a housing having a lid and a base, the lid and the housing each arranged to receive a cooking plate;

[0038] Figure 2 Shows Figure 1 a cross-section of the device in which the lid and the base each receive a first type of cooking plate;

[0039] Figure 3 Shows Figure 2The cross-section, where the lid and the base each receive a second type of cooking plate;

[0040] Figure 4 shows Figure 3 Detail VI of, to show the hollow cavity provided in the plate of the second type of cooking plate. Detailed implementation

[0041] First, a structural description of the cooking device shown in the figure is given, and secondly, a working description of the cooking device is provided.

[0042] Structural description

[0043] Figure 1 Shows a cooking device including a housing 10 having a base 11, a lid 12 and feet 13. The cooking device also includes a hinge 15 such that the lid 12 is hinged relative to the base 11. The lid 12 includes a handle 14 to allow the user to open and close the lid 12. A screen 51 is provided on the handle 14 to form a human-machine interface. As will be described in more detail below, the cooking device includes cooking devices, which particularly include a control device 31 and a storage device 32.

[0044] Figure 2 shows Figure 1 The cross-section of the device, where the lid 12 and the base 11 each receive a first type of cooking plate 41, and the first type of cooking plate 41 forms a set of two first cooking plates having a first lower cooking plate 411 and a first upper cooking plate 412. It can be noted that both the first lower cooking plate 411 and the first upper cooking plate 412 are flat or planar and receive the first food to be cooked, such as raw sausage 100, therein. Figure 2 in.

[0045] Figure 2 It is also shown that the cooking device includes devices for obtaining the thickness of the food to be cooked, and these obtaining devices are formed by devices 20 for measuring the thickness of the food to be cooked, and these measuring devices 20 are generally composed of a basic scale 21 mounted on the lid 12 and a slider 22 mounted on the base 11. However, the installation can be reversed (the basic scale 21 mounted on the base 11 and the slider 22 mounted on the lid 12). Devices such as those described in document EP2861110B1 can also be used. It can be noted that, in Figure 2 the thickness to be cooked is E1, which basically corresponds to the diameter of the raw sausage 100.

[0046] The above cooking devices also include heating devices provided in the form of resistors 33 accommodated in the base 11 and the lid 12. Of course, a plurality of resistors or other devices for generating cooking heat can be provided.

[0047] Figure 3 showsFigure 2 a cross-section, wherein the lid 12 and the base 11 each receive a second type of cooking plate 42, and the second type of cooking plate 42 forms a second cooking plate group having a second lower cooking plate 421 and a second upper cooking plate 422. It can be noted that the second lower cooking plate 421 is flat or planar, and the second upper cooking plate 422 includes four hollow cavities 43, and these hollow cavities 43 receive second food to be cooked, such as pre-cooked sausage 200, as Figure 3 shown.

[0048] Figure 4 is shown Figure 3 Details at the second upper cooking plate 422 are shown. The hollow cavities 43 arranged in the second upper cooking plate 422 have a predetermined cavity depth P, such that the spacing between the second upper cooking plate 422 and the second lower cooking plate 421 is reduced as compared with the situation Figure 2 shown. It can be noted that, in Figure 3 , the thickness to be cooked measured by the measuring device 20 is E2, which substantially corresponds to the diameter of the pre-cooked sausage 200 corrected with the predetermined cavity depth P.

[0049] Working description

[0050] The cooking device here forms a barbecue device for cooking, for example, meat, and includes a human-machine interface (screen 51) to allow the user to select the type of food to be cooked (such as meat types like "beef ribs", "pork sausage", "merguez", etc.) and a cooking level among a plurality of predetermined cooking levels (such as "rare", "medium", "well-done", "juicy sausage", "well-done sausage", etc.).

[0051] The control device 31 itself is arranged to control the heating and cooking of the food, in particular to control the power supply to the resistor 33. For this purpose, the control device 31 is connected to the storage device 32, and these storage devices 32 store at least one cooking program, and the cooking program allows defining a heating mode to be applied to the food to be cooked according to the user's selection of the selected cooking level. Usually, the storage device can store a plurality of cooking programs each specific to a food type (such as "beef ribs", "pork sausage", "merguez", etc.). Usually, each cooking program can include a specific heating mode to reach a predetermined cooking level.

[0052] Each cooking program is defined to cook a type of food starting from an initial cooking state, usually raw food. Starting from this first initial cooking state, each cooking program includes or defines a heating mode for cooking the food to at least one predetermined cooking level that the user can select. The heating mode can include heating time instructions, heating power instructions, temperature instructions to be followed in the case where the device is equipped with a temperature sensor, etc.

[0053] When the user wants to cook a first raw food item, the cooking device should be set to Figure 2 the following configuration: The user installs a first type of cooking plate in the cooking device. The user selects the type of food to be cooked and the desired cooking level. Then, the user can start the cooking device to preheat the cooking device in the normal way, and then place the first food item to be cooked (here, raw sausage 100) between the first lower cooking plate 411 and the first upper cooking plate 412.

[0054] The device 20 for measuring the thickness to be cooked measures the thickness to be cooked E1 and sends this information to the control device 31. These control devices 31 then execute a cooking program specific to the first food item to be cooked in order to cook the first food to the selected predetermined cooking level according to the measured thickness to be cooked E1.

[0055] When the user wants to cook a second pre-cooked food item (i.e., of the same food type as the first, but with an initial cooking state higher than that of the first food), the cooking device must be set to Figure 3 the following configuration: The user installs a second type of cooking plate in the cooking device. The user selects the type of food to be cooked and the desired cooking level. Then, the user can start the cooking device to preheat the cooking device in the normal way, and then place the second food item to be cooked (here, pre-cooked sausage 200) between the second lower cooking plate 421 and the second upper cooking plate 422.

[0056] As described above, the second type of cooking plate (especially the second upper cooking plate 422) includes at least one hollow cavity 43 such that the second food item (pre-cooked sausage 200) is received in the hollow cavity 43, and as Figure 3 shown, the thickness to be cooked E2 is less than Figure 2 the thickness to be cooked E1.

[0057] Therefore, the device 20 for measuring the thickness to be cooked measures the thickness to be cooked E2 (i.e., the thickness of the second food item corrected or compensated with the predetermined cavity depth P) and sends this information to the control device 31. These control devices 31 can then execute a cooking program specific to the first food item to be cooked in order to cook the second food to the selected predetermined cooking level according to the measured thickness to be cooked E2.

[0058] It should be understood that, due to the thickness compensation provided by the hollow cavities in the second cooking plate set, it is also possible to implement a cooking program dedicated to a first food having a first initial cooking state (here, raw sausage 100) in order to cook a second food having a second initial cooking state (higher than the first initial cooking state, here, pre-cooked sausage 200) at the same final cooking level. In fact, the measured thickness E2 to be cooked is compensated by the predetermined cavity depth P, and when the cooking program corrects or adjusts the cooking time and / or cooking power according to this thickness to be cooked, the second food to be cooked will then undergo a shorter and / or less heated cooking cycle than the first food received by the first cooking plate set.

[0059] Therefore, it can be stipulated to reserve a cooking program for each type of food and provide a specific cooking plate set according to the initial cooking state of that type of food.

[0060] Industrial application

[0061] The cooking device according to the invention and its manufacture enable industrial application.

[0062] It should be understood that, without departing from the scope of the invention, various modifications and / or improvements obvious to those skilled in the art can be made to the different embodiments of the invention described in this specification.

[0063] In particular, it can be noted that the first cooking plate set includes two flat or planar plates, but of course, raised structures can be provided, for example, for marking the meat. The second cooking plate set can likewise include the same raised structures, but at least one of these plates includes a hollow cavity to correct or compensate (artificially reduce) the thickness measurement to be cooked relative to the first cooking plate set.

[0064] It can be noted that the second cooking plate set includes a single plate with a hollow cavity (here, the second upper cooking plate 422, but it could be the second lower cooking plate 421), but hollow cavities can be provided on both cooking plates of the two second cooking plate sets. Additionally, devices for draining cooking juices can be provided on the lower plates (both on the first lower cooking plate 411 and on the second lower cooking plate 421).

[0065] Alternatively and in any case, it can be noted that setting a flat lower plate allows to limit the accumulation of cooking juices in the recesses (both on the first lower cooking plate 411 and on the second lower cooking plate 421). Even if the first lower cooking plate 411 and the second lower cooking plate 421 are planar or flat, different structures can be provided to meet, for example, the needs of device identification or to ensure the correct simultaneous mounting of the first upper cooking plate 412 or the second upper cooking plate 422 respectively with the first lower cooking plate 411 and the second lower cooking plate 421. Alternatively, it can be provided to change only the first upper cooking plate 412 or the second upper cooking plate 422, setting a single lower plate common to both types of cooking plates.

[0066] The device shown includes a base 11 and a hinged lid 12, but any type of hinge or kinematics can generally be provided.

Claims

1. A cooking device, which comprises: - a housing (10) configured to accommodate at least one cooking plate; - a device for obtaining the thickness of the food to be cooked; - a first type of cooking plate (41), the first type of cooking plate (41) to be installed in the housing (10) and configured to accommodate a first food to be cooked in a first initial cooking state; - a cooking device configured to execute at least one cooking program specific to the cooking of the first food, the cooking program being set to determine the cooking time and / or cooking power required for the first food to reach at least one cooking level among a plurality of predetermined cooking levels according to the thickness of the first food; - at least one second type of cooking plate (42), the second type of cooking plate (42) to be installed in the housing (10) and configured to accommodate a second food to be cooked in a second initial cooking state higher than the first initial cooking state of the first food, characterized in that: - the at least one second type of cooking plate (42) includes at least one hollow cavity (43) for accommodating the second food, the hollow cavity (43) having a predetermined cavity depth (P); and - in order to cook the second food using the second type of cooking plate (42), the cooking device is configured to use the first type of cooking plate (41) to execute the same cooking program specific to the cooking of the first food, and determine the cooking time and / or cooking power required for the second food to reach at least one cooking level among the plurality of predetermined cooking levels according to the thickness of the second food to be cooked corrected by the predetermined cavity depth (P).

2. The cooking device according to claim 1, wherein, the hollow cavity (43) has a shape substantially complementary to the shape of the second food.

3. The cooking device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein, the device for obtaining the thickness of the food to be cooked is a device (20) for measuring the thickness of the food to be cooked.

4. The cooking device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein, the housing (10) includes a base (11) and a hinged lid (12), the base (11) and the hinged lid (12) are each arranged to accommodate a cooking plate, and wherein the first type of cooking plate (41) includes a set of two first cooking plates (411, 412), and wherein the second type of cooking plate (42) includes a set of two second cooking plates (421, 422).

5. The cooking device according to claim 4, wherein, the set of two second cooking plates (421, 422) includes a second upper cooking plate (422) having a cavity and a second lower cooking plate (421) without a cavity, or includes a second upper cooking plate (422) without a cavity and a second lower cooking plate (421) having a cavity.

6. The cooking device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, which includes a human-machine interface arranged to allow a user to select a predetermined cooking level from the plurality of predetermined cooking levels.

7. The cooking device according to claim 6, wherein, The device includes means for detecting the type of the inserted board, and wherein the human-machine interface is configured to adjust or limit the plurality of predetermined cooking levels to be selected by the user according to the type of the board inserted into the device.

8. The cooking device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein, the cooking means includes: - a heating means, such as a resistor (33); - a storage means (32) arranged to store the at least one cooking program, the cooking program being set to define at least one heating time and / or heating power according to the type and thickness of the food to be cooked to reach a predetermined cooking level; - a control means (31) connected to the heating means and the storage means and arranged to control the cooking of the food to be cooked inserted into the cooking device.

9. The cooking device according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein, the predetermined cavity depth (P) is set to compensate for at least 30% of the thickness of the second food to be cooked, preferably at least 50% of the thickness of the second food to be cooked, preferably at least 60% of the thickness of the second food to be cooked.

10. The cooking device according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein, the hollow cavity (43) includes textures and / or protrusions and / or ribs.

11. A method for cooking a second food to be cooked having a second initial cooking state higher than a first initial cooking state of a first food, the method being implemented by the cooking device according to any one of claims 1 to 10, and the cooking method comprises the following steps: - installing the second type of cooking board (42) in the device, the second type of cooking board (42) including at least one hollow cavity (43) having a predetermined cavity depth (P); - selecting a cooking program suitable for cooking the first food having the first cooking state; - preheating the cooking device; - placing the second food to be cooked in the hollow cavity (43); - obtaining the thickness of the second food to be cooked corrected by the predetermined cavity depth (P); - providing the thickness of the second food to be cooked corrected by the predetermined cavity depth (P) to the cooking means; - executing the cooking program suitable for cooking the first food having the first initial cooking state to cook the second food; - removing the second food from the cooking device when the second food has reached the cooking level desired by the user.

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