Cooking system, cooking device, and method for operating a cooking system

Abstract

In order to improve a cooking status detection and a comfort function, the invention relates to a cooking system (10a-b), in particular a hob-type cooking system, comprising an analysis environment (16a-b) which is designed to carry out a detection process (102a-b) in order to detect the cooking status of a food (18a-b), in particular the food temperature, on the basis of at least one food characteristic of the food (18a-b).

Description

[0001] Cooking system, cooking appliance and method for operating a cooking system

[0002] State of the art

[0003] The invention relates to a cooking system according to claim 1, a cooking appliance for a cooking system according to claim 12 and a method for operating a cooking system according to claim 13.

[0004] Cooking appliances, particularly ovens, with integrated meat probes for measuring meat temperature are already known from the prior art. A disadvantage of these meat probes is that they must be manually inserted into the meat to measure the meat temperature. Furthermore, wireless sensors for magnetically attaching to a cooking utensil, such as a pot, are also known for measuring the temperature of the cooking utensil and / or a food, such as the meat. The wireless sensor detects infrared radiation emitted by the food during operation.

[0005] The object of the invention is, in particular, to provide a generic device with improved properties regarding cooking status determination and convenience. This object is achieved according to the invention by the features of claims 1, 12, and 13, while advantageous embodiments and further developments of the invention can be found in the subclaims.

[0006] Advantages of the invention

[0007] The invention relates to a cooking system, in particular a cooking system, with an analysis environment which is intended to carry out a determination process for determining a cooking status of a food, in particular a food temperature, based on at least one food characteristic of the food.

[0008] Such a design can improve the cooking status determination of at least one food item, as well as operator and / or user comfort. An analysis environment eliminates the need for additional and particularly costly sensor units, such as temperature sensors and / or roasting skewers, for detecting and / or determining the cooking status of the food. Furthermore, the cooking status of the food item can be determined in a simple, fast, and / or cost-effective manner. Furthermore, effort can be reduced while still achieving a high level of reliability in determining the cooking status. This, in turn, can reduce costs and increase efficiency, for example, with regard to product and / or labor and / or manufacturing and / or cost and / or performance efficiency. Furthermore, an inexpensive and / or compact design of a cooking system can be provided.

[0009] The cooking system is intended for use and / or arrangement in a household, in particular a kitchen. The cooking system can be designed, for example, as an oven system, microwave system, steamer system, and / or grill system. The cooking system is preferably designed as a hob system and particularly preferably as an induction hob system. The cooking system can have a plurality of units and / or devices which can be used for preparing and / or processing and / or storing food. In particular, the cooking system has at least one food preparation area in which at least the food can be prepared, advantageously by a cooking process.

[0010] The cooking appliance system preferably comprises a cooking appliance. The cooking appliance can be designed, for example, as an oven, microwave, steamer and / or grill. The cooking appliance is preferably designed as a hob and particularly preferably as an induction hob. It is proposed that the cooking appliance have a heating unit for heating the food. The heating unit is advantageously an induction heating unit. In particular, the cooking appliance forms at least one subassembly of the cooking appliance system. However, it would also be conceivable for the cooking appliance system to consist of the cooking appliance, and specifically for the cooking appliance system to be designed as a cooking appliance, in particular only from the cooking appliance. In addition, the cooking system can, for example, have at least one extractor unit and / or at least one sensor unit and / or at least one cover unit and / or installation plate and / or worktop. In particular, the cooking appliance has the food preparation area.The cooking appliance can carry out the cooking process for preparation, specifically for cooking the food. If the cooking appliance is an oven, the food preparation area can be located inside a sleeve of the oven. Alternatively and / or additionally, if the cooking appliance is a hob, the food preparation area can be located on a hob support plate.

[0011] It would also be conceivable for the cooking system to comprise at least one piece of household furniture, in particular in which the cooking appliance could be located. The household furniture could, for example, be designed as a cabinet, in particular as a food storage cabinet and / or a spice rack. The household furniture could be part of the kitchen.

[0012] The food can be any cookable food, which in particular can be arranged in and / or on the cooking appliance and / or can be used and / or processed and / or prepared with the cooking appliance. For example, the food is vegetables, fruit, fish, or preferably meat. The food can be cooked, and indeed prepared, using a cooking utensil. In particular, the cooking utensil can be used to cook the food with the cooking appliance. For example, the cooking utensil can be arranged in the cooking appliance, in particular the oven, and / or can be placed on the cooking appliance, in particular the hob.

[0013] The analysis environment can be part of a control environment of the cooking system or be designed as such. In particular, the analysis environment differs from a sensor unit, such as a roasting spit or a meat probe, for measuring the cooking status of the food, in particular the food temperature. The analysis environment is provided to carry out the determination process for determining the cooking status of the food based on the food characteristic. In particular, the control environment is provided to start the determination process. In the determination process, the cooking status of the food, in particular the food temperature, is determined based on at least the food characteristic of the food. In the method for operating the cooking system, at least the determination process is carried out.

[0014] In particular, the control environment comprises a cooking appliance control unit. The cooking appliance control unit is advantageously part of the cooking appliance. At least in the operating state, the cooking appliance control unit can be provided to control and / or regulate the heating unit, in particular at least one heating element of the heating unit, for cooking the food. Furthermore, the cooking appliance control unit could be provided to control and / or regulate the heating unit, in particular at least the heating element of the heating unit, for heating the cooking utensil in which the food is arranged and / or can be arranged. If the cooking appliance is a hob, the cooking appliance control unit can be designed accordingly as a hob control unit.Alternatively and / or additionally, it would be conceivable that if the cooking appliance is an oven or a combination of oven and hob, the cooking appliance control unit is an oven control unit or a control unit for controlling and / or regulating the oven and the hob. A “control unit” should be understood to mean an electronic unit which is preferably at least partially integrated into a control and / or regulating unit of the hob and which is intended to control and / or regulate at least the heating unit. The control unit preferably comprises a computing unit and, in particular, in addition to the computing unit, a memory unit with a control and / or regulating program stored therein, which is intended to be executed by the computing unit.

[0015] The cooking appliance, in particular the hob, advantageously has a cooking appliance operator interface. The cooking appliance operator interface can be provided for input and / or output from and / or to the operator. The cooking appliance operator interface can interact with the cooking appliance control unit. For example, the cooking appliance operator interface can be used to turn the cooking appliance on and / or off and / or operate the heating unit. The operator can use the cooking appliance operator interface to control and / or regulate a heating power of the heating unit and / or a heating power density of the heating unit and / or a temperature of the heating unit and / or the cooking utensil for cooking the food.

[0016] It would be conceivable for the cooking appliance to at least partially incorporate the analysis environment. The determination process could possibly be carried out by the cooking appliance. The cooking appliance control unit could be configured to at least initiate the determination process to determine the cooking status of the food based on the food parameter.

[0017] If the cooking system comprises an external unit that at least partially contains the analysis environment, operator and / or user comfort, as well as efficiency, can be further increased. Furthermore, costs can be saved, and by means of an analysis environment that is at least partially arranged in the external unit, the external unit can be used to determine the cooking status of the food. This eliminates the need for additional and particularly costly sensor units, such as temperature sensors and / or roasting skewers, for detecting and / or determining the cooking status of the food. Furthermore, flexibility for an operator and / or user can be increased.

[0018] The external unit is preferably designed to communicate with the cooking appliance. The cooking appliance may have a communication interface for communicating with at least the external unit. Furthermore, the external unit may have a further communication interface for communicating with at least the cooking appliance. The communication interface and / or the further communication interface may be designed for wired and / or wireless communication. The communication interface and the further communication interface may communicate with each other, for example, via a UWB, LAN, WLAN, WPAN, infrared, NFC, ZigBee, and / or Bluetooth connection.

[0019] The control environment can comprise a control unit of the external unit. The control unit of the external unit can be provided to control and / or regulate the analysis environment and / or the further communication interface. The control unit of the external unit could be provided to at least start the determination process to determine the cooking status of the food based on the food parameter. It would also be conceivable for the control unit of the external unit to be able to control and / or regulate the heating of at least the food by the heating unit of the cooking appliance.

[0020] The external unit could be a terminal device, such as a computer, in particular a desktop computer, and / or a laptop and / or a convertible. In order to further increase flexibility and convenience with regard to operator and / or user comfort, it is proposed that the external unit be designed as a mobile device. In addition, existing, advantageously mobile external units, such as cell phones and / or tablets, can preferably be used at least to determine the cooking status of a food item. This, in turn, can reduce costs and provide a compact and / or inexpensive cooking system. The external unit designed as a mobile device could, for example, be a remote control. Advantageously, the mobile device is, for example, a cell phone and / or a tablet and / or a phablet and / or a personal digital assistant (PDA).The external unit is preferably a multimedia unit. In particular, the multimedia unit is a unit designed to provide information and / or content from digital media. The digital media, in particular electronically encoded media, could, for example, be at least one animation and / or audio and / or photograph and / or graphic and / or text and / or video.

[0021] Particularly preferably, a program and / or an app is installed on the external unit, which at least partially, advantageously completely, forms the analysis environment and is intended to determine at least the cooking status of the food. The program and / or app can be a program and / or app specifically designed and / or programmed to at least determine the cooking status, which can be installed on the external unit, in particular by the operator. It would also be conceivable for the program and / or app to already be pre-installed on the external unit, for example, at the factory.

[0022] "Intended" here and below means specifically programmed, designed, and / or equipped. The term "intended" for an object to perform a specific function means that the object fulfills and / or performs this specific function in at least one application and / or operating state.

[0023] It is further proposed that the analysis environment apply a machine learning algorithm during the determination process. This can further increase convenience, specifically user and / or operator comfort, and provide a particularly precise and, in particular, novel cooking status determination. Furthermore, by means of the machine learning algorithm, an advantageously precise and / or meaningful cooking status of the food can be determined by conclusively analyzing at least one food parameter. Furthermore, efficiency can be increased, specifically with regard to product and / or labor and / or cost and / or performance efficiency. During the determination process, the analysis environment can determine the cooking status of the food using the machine learning algorithm. The machine learning algorithm can be applied by the cooking appliance control unit and / or by the control unit of the external unit.It would also be conceivable for the control environment, in particular the analysis environment, to have an external server, which is configured differently from the external unit and the cooking appliance. The external server could apply the machine learning algorithm during the determination process. It would be conceivable for the cooking appliance control unit and / or the external unit to communicate with a server to determine the cooking status of the food during the determination process.

[0024] Advantageously, the server is part of a database environment and can be embodied at least partially as a private and / or public server, for example as a private and / or public server on the Internet. The external server can also be embodied as a server in a cloud, in particular a private and / or public cloud. Preferably, the database environment is embodied as a dedicated computer system or as at least part of a dedicated computer system. The external server can execute the determination process to determine the cooking status of the food based on at least the food parameter. The server can communicate with the cooking appliance and / or the external unit by means of the communication interface and / or the further communication interface. The external server could determine the cooking status of the food and transmit it to the external unit and / or the cooking appliance for further processing.Alternatively, the analysis environment can determine the cooking status of the food without any communication and / or interaction with the external server.

[0025] In particular, the machine learning algorithm is a machine learning algorithm known to those skilled in the art for determining the cooking status. In particular, the machine learning algorithm is based on machine learning and is an application of artificial intelligence (AI).

[0026] The machine learning algorithm can be pre-trained at the factory. To continuously optimize the determination of a cooking status during operation of a cooking system and / or adapt it to the needs of an operator, thus further increasing operator and / or user comfort and efficiency, it is proposed that the machine learning algorithm be self-learning. Furthermore, the process for determining the cooking status can be optimized. For example, new cooking statuses can be recognized and learned based on new and / or different food preparation and / or processing methods.

[0027] The machine learning algorithm can be trained during operation of the cooking system. The self-learning process could follow the symbolic approach, in which knowledge, both examples and induced rules, are explicitly represented. This could involve supervised or unsupervised learning. In supervised learning, the algorithm can learn a function from given pairs of inputs and outputs. During the learning process, a "teacher," such as the operator, could provide the correct function value for an input. In particular, the goal of supervised learning is that, after several calculation runs with different inputs and outputs, the algorithm is trained to make associations. It would be conceivable for the operator to inform the cooking appliance control unit via the cooking appliance operator interface whether and / or how well the determined cooking status corresponds to the actual cooking status of the food.Using feedback from the operator, the machine learning algorithm could further optimize and improve itself.

[0028] Furthermore, the machine learning algorithm based on a neural network could be self-learning. The external server could communicate with the neural network. Specifically, the machine learning algorithm would be a deep learning algorithm. The self-learning process could be carried out using a non-symbolic approach. With the non-symbolic approach, the neural network can be "trained" to behave in a predictable manner, but this does not provide insight into the learned solution paths, as the knowledge is implicitly represented.

[0029] In particular, the food parameter is a parameter that characterizes the food and / or describes at least one property of the food. Advantageously, the food parameter comprises an initial state of the food before cooking, in particular before the cooking process. Alternatively and / or additionally, the food parameter can comprise, in particular describe and / or characterize, an actual state of the food during the cooking process. The food parameter can, for example, comprise a temperature, in particular an initial temperature or an actual temperature, and / or a consistency, in particular an initial consistency or an actual consistency, and / or a type of food, for example fish, vegetables, fruit or meat, such as beef, chicken, pork, lamb or the like.It would also be conceivable for the food characteristic to represent a property of the food, such as frozen or thawed, or tough, hard, soft, solid, dry, oily, or the like. Furthermore, the food characteristic can include a value describing whether the operator added fat, such as oil, butter, margarine, or the like, to cook the food, thereby making the food oily and / or fatty. In particular, the food characteristic includes a value indicating how much fat, such as oil, butter, margarine, or the like, is / was added to the food.

[0030] In order to provide a particularly precise determination of the cooking status of a food and thus a high level of convenience, it is proposed that the food parameter includes a food geometry, such as a food shape, and / or food dimensions.

[0031] In particular, the food characteristic comprises a food structure. Advantageously, the food characteristic comprises a thickness and / or depth and / or width and / or length of the food.

[0032] Particularly preferably, the food parameter comprises a target end state of the food. In particular, the target end state is a state of the food after the cooking process preferred by the operator. Advantageously, the target end state comprises a target consistency of the food and / or a target temperature of the food and / or a target degree of cooking, such as well done, almost well done, medium done, medium, almost raw, rare, rare, almost bloody, pink, light pink, raw, or the like. In particular, the analysis environment is provided to determine the cooking status of the food based on the target end state and at least the food geometry and / or at least the food dimensions. Particularly preferably, the cooking status corresponds to the target end state, in particular during and / or after the cooking process.In particular, when determining the cooking status, especially during the cooking process, the analysis environment is intended to compare the actual cooking status of the food with the food parameter, preferably the target final state.

[0033] The cooking status may include a food temperature of the food. In particular, the cooking status includes a food temperature in a center of the food. Alternatively and / or additionally, the cooking status may include a consistency and / or degree of cooking of the food, such as well done, almost well done, medium, rare, rare, or the like. Particularly preferably, the operator can set and / or select the desired final state, for example, the desired temperature and / or the desired consistency and / or the desired degree of cooking or the like.

[0034] If the cooking system has a recording unit designed to record at least the food parameter in a recording process, convenience and efficiency can be further increased. Furthermore, cooking status determination can be optimized and a cooking process of a food can be advantageously improved. Furthermore, a cooking process can be adapted to the needs and / or wishes of an operator. Furthermore, at least an initial state of the food and / or a desired final state of the food can be recorded using a recording unit.

[0035] The detection unit can detect at least the food characteristic of the food in at least the food preparation area. In particular, when the food is located in the food preparation area, the detection unit detects at least the food characteristic. Advantageously, the detection unit is provided for detecting at least one property of the food, in particular one correlated with the food characteristic, for example an object color of the food. The detection unit could, for example, comprise an infrared sensor and / or a sensor for measuring the length and / or width and / or height of the food and / or a sensor for measuring objects, in particular food measurements, and / or a color sensor for detecting at least the food characteristic.

[0036] In a preferred embodiment of the invention, it is proposed that the detection unit comprise at least one operating element for an operator to input the food parameter. This can improve convenience and provide an operator with the option of manually and / or acoustically setting and / or selecting at least the food parameter.

[0037] The control element could be an acoustically and / or manually operable element. It would be conceivable for the control element to acoustically detect the food characteristic from the operator using a voice function. Preferably, the control element is provided for manual input of the food characteristic. The operator could select at least one food characteristic from a plurality of food characteristic parameters using the control element. The operator could select at least the food characteristic. Alternatively and / or additionally, the operator could set the food characteristic using the control element, for example, by typing and / or drawing it.

[0038] To further increase operator and / or user comfort, it is proposed that the detection unit include at least one optical sensor. This advantageously eliminates the need for manual input of a food parameter by an operator, thus reducing effort and increasing flexibility.

[0039] Alternatively, it would also be conceivable for the detection unit to comprise either the optical sensor or the operating element. Preferably, the detection unit comprises the optical sensor and at least the operating element. To further increase convenience and flexibility, the operator could independently decide and select whether the detection of at least the food parameter should be carried out using the optical sensor or the operating element.

[0040] The detection element can comprise a laser scanner, an infrared sensor, a CCD sensor, and / or advantageously a camera. The optical sensor is preferably designed as the camera. The detection unit, in particular the optical sensor and / or the control element, could be part of the cooking appliance and / or another unit of the cooking appliance system, such as the extractor unit. The optical sensor and / or the control element could be arranged in the extractor unit and / or the household furniture. It would be conceivable for the cooking appliance operator interface to comprise the control element.

[0041] It would be conceivable for the detection unit to be a unit that is advantageously operatively connected to the cooking appliance and / or the household furniture and / or another unit of the cooking system, such as the extractor unit, and preferably at least partially, in particular completely, integrated into the household furniture and / or the cooking appliance and / or the other unit of the cooking system, such as the extractor unit. Advantageously, the detection unit is a portable detection unit. For example, the detection unit could comprise a webcam or be designed as such.

[0042] If the external unit at least partially incorporates the recording unit, convenience, flexibility, and efficiency can be optimized. Furthermore, existing external units, such as mobile phones and / or tablets, can preferably be used to record at least one food parameter. This, in turn, can reduce costs and provide a compact and / or cost-effective cooking system.

[0043] The optical sensor is particularly preferably a camera of the external unit. By means of the optical sensor of the external unit, the food could be detected in the detection process, for example photographed and / or filmed, in order to record at least the food parameter. Preferably, the operating element is part of a display of the external unit. Preferably, the display is designed as a touch-sensitive display, preferably as a touch display. The display could be an OLED display, in particular an AMOLED display, or a display with, for example, at least one backlight, in particular an LC display. In particular, the display has a plurality of display elements, which could be designed, for example, as liquid crystal segments or LEDs, in particular OLEDs.Advantageously, the display elements comprise at least one self-luminous material, for example, an electroluminescent material, which, in particular, emits light itself in an operating state of the display, in particular at least in the operating state. The display elements preferably form a TFT matrix. Advantageously, the display has a TFT interface, in particular a thin-film transistor.

[0044] In particular, the display is provided for displaying at least one piece of information, advantageously at least the food characteristic. The display could also be used to show a multitude of food characteristics, from which the operator can select the food characteristic that best suits the food. The operator could set the food characteristic on the touch display, for example by typing it in and / or drawing it in. Preferably, the operator sets or selects the desired final state of the food during the recording process, in particular by means of the recording unit. In addition to recording at least the food characteristic, the recording unit can also be provided for recording a cooking parameter. The cooking parameter can, for example, include a cooking utensil temperature and / or a setting of the heating unit, at least for heating the food.

[0045] The cooking system advantageously has an output unit for outputting at least the food parameter and / or the cooking status of the food. The output unit could be an acoustic and / or optical output unit for acoustically and / or optically outputting at least the cooking status to the operator. The output unit can be part of the cooking appliance and / or the external unit. For example, the cooking status could be output to the operator via the cooking appliance operator interface. The cooking status is preferably output via the display, in particular the touch display, of the external unit. It would also be conceivable for the camera of the external unit to be provided, in particular using augmented reality (AR), to visualize the food and / or the cooking status of the food and / or the food parameter. In particular, the output unit outputs at least the cooking status in an output process.The method for operating the cooking system advantageously includes the dispensing process. Regarding the temporal progression of the method, the dispensing process advantageously takes place after the determination process.

[0046] If the analysis environment carries out the determination process on a recurring basis, particularly automatically, the cooking status determination can be further optimized, preferably made more precise, and thus in turn convenience and efficiency can be increased.

[0047] The analysis environment preferably determines the cooking status of the food during the cooking process. The detection unit preferably detects the food parameter of the food at least before the cooking process for cooking the food starts. It would also be conceivable for the determination unit to carry out the determination process repeatedly, in particular automatically, and advantageously during the cooking process. In particular, the control environment, preferably the cooking appliance control unit and / or the control unit of the external unit, carries out the detection process repeatedly, in particular automatically. In particular, the control environment is provided to start the detection process. Particularly preferably, the detection process, the determination process and the output process take place during the cooking process, in particular repeatedly.Preferably, the recording process and at least the determination process are repeated automatically until the cooking status corresponds to the desired final state of the food.

[0048] Furthermore, the invention relates to a method for operating a cooking system, in particular a cooking system, comprising a determination process in which a cooking status of the food, in particular a food temperature, is determined based on a food characteristic. Such an operating method can provide operation of a cooking system with improved properties in terms of convenience, in particular user and / or operating convenience, as well as optimized cooking status determination.

[0049] The method for operating the cooking system may comprise several method steps and / or sub-method steps. In particular, the method for operating the cooking system comprises, in addition to the determination process, at least the detection process and at least the output process.

[0050] The cooking system and / or the cooking appliance and / or the method should not be limited to the application and embodiment described above. In particular, the cooking system and / or the cooking appliance and / or the method may have a number of individual elements, components, units, and method steps that differs from the number stated herein to fulfill a function described herein. Furthermore, within the value ranges specified in this document, values ​​within the stated limits are also to be considered disclosed and can be used arbitrarily.

[0051] Drawings

[0052] Further advantages will become apparent from the following description of the drawings. The drawings illustrate two embodiments of the invention. The drawings, the description, and the claims contain numerous features in combination. Those skilled in the art will also conveniently consider the features individually and combine them into useful further combinations. They show:

[0053] Fig. 1 shows a cooking system with a cooking appliance, an external unit and a detection unit, wherein the external unit at least partially comprises the detection unit,

[0054] Fig. 2 shows a schematically illustrated method for operating the cooking system according to Figure 1 and

[0055] Fig. 3 shows a cooking system with a cooking appliance, an external unit and a detection unit in an alternative embodiment.

[0056] Description of the embodiments

[0057] The following figures are schematic representations and not to scale.

[0058] Figure 1 shows a cooking system 10a, which is embodied as a hob system. In this exemplary embodiment, the hob system is an induction hob system. Alternatively and / or additionally, the cooking system could also be embodied as an oven system, microwave system, steamer system, and / or grill system. The cooking system 10a has a cooking appliance 12a. The cooking appliance 12a is accordingly embodied as a hob. In this exemplary embodiment, the cooking appliance 10a embodied as a hob is an induction hob. Alternatively and / or additionally, a conventional hob with a resistance heating unit would also be conceivable.

[0059] The cooking system 10a comprises a support plate 80a for supporting at least one cooking utensil 36a. In this exemplary embodiment, the support plate 80a is designed as a hob plate and is part of the cooking appliance 12a designed as a hob. Alternatively and / or additionally, the support plate 80a could be designed, at least in section, as a worktop, specifically as a kitchen worktop. It would be conceivable for the cooking appliance 12a to be at least partially integrated into a piece of household furniture and / or to be arranged at least partially beneath the support plate 80a designed as a kitchen worktop (not shown). The support plate 80a forms a cooking surface for supporting at least the cooking utensil 36a. In this exemplary embodiment, the cooking utensil 36a is designed as a pan. At least one food item 18a can be arranged in the cooking utensil 36a for preparation, specifically for cooking. Figure 1 shows the food item 18a arranged in the cooking utensil 36a.Food 18a could, for example, be vegetables, fruit, or fish. In this case, food 18a is, for example, a piece of meat.

[0060] The cooking system 10a has an external unit 14a. In this example, the external unit 14a is embodied as a mobile device 34a. The external unit 14a could be a remote control and / or a cell phone and / or a laptop. In this exemplary embodiment, the external unit 14a is a tablet.

[0061] For control and / or regulation, the cooking system 10a has a control environment 70a. The cooking appliance 12a and / or the external unit 14a can at least partially have the control environment 70a. In the present case, the cooking appliance 12a has a cooking appliance control unit 74a. The cooking appliance control unit 74a is part of the control environment 70a. The cooking appliance control unit 74a is intended to control and / or regulate the cooking appliance 12a. The cooking appliance 12a has a heating unit 30a for heating at least the food item 18a. In the present case, the control environment 70a, specifically the cooking appliance control unit 74a, is intended to control and / or regulate at least the heating unit 30a. The cooking appliance 12a has a cooking appliance operator interface 72a. The cooking appliance operator interface 72a is provided for input and / or output from and / or to an operator (see Figure 1).

[0062] The external unit 14a has a control unit 76a. The control unit 76a of the external unit 14a is part of the control environment 70a. The control unit 76a is intended to control and / or regulate the external unit 14a. It would be conceivable that the heating of at least the food item 18a by the heating unit 30a could be controlled and / or regulated using the control unit 76a of the external unit 14a.

[0063] For communication between the cooking appliance 12a and at least the external unit 14a, the cooking appliance 12a has a communication interface 82a. In this case, the communication interface 82a is part of the cooking appliance operator interface 72a. Furthermore, the external unit 14a has a further communication interface 84a. In this case, the further communication interface 84a is part of the control unit 76a of the external unit 14a. The communication interface 82a and the further communication interface 84a are intended to communicate with each other, specifically by means of a wired and / or wireless connection, such as by means of a UWB, LAN, WLAN, WPAN, infrared, NFC, ZigBee, and / or Bluetooth connection.

[0064] The cooking system 10a is provided for carrying out a cooking process for cooking at least the food item 18a. To increase convenience and efficiency, the cooking system 10a has an analysis environment 16a, which is provided for carrying out a determination process 102a for determining a cooking status of the food item 18a, for example, a food temperature, based on at least one food characteristic of the food item 18a. The analysis environment 16a differs from a sensor unit, such as a roasting spit or a meat probe, for measuring the cooking status of the food item 18a. For example, the cooking status includes a food temperature of the food item 18a, advantageously a food temperature in a center of the food item 18a.Alternatively and / or additionally, the cooking status may include a consistency and / or degree of cooking of the food 18a, such as well done, almost well done, medium, rare, rare, or the like.

[0065] In the present case, the food parameter is a parameter that characterizes the food 18a and / or describes at least one property of the food 18a. The food parameter comprises an initial state of the food 18a before cooking, specifically before the cooking process. Alternatively and / or additionally, the food parameter can comprise, specifically describe and / or characterize, an actual state of the food 18a during the cooking process. The food parameter comprises, for example, a temperature, specifically an initial temperature or an actual temperature, and / or a consistency, specifically an initial consistency or an actual consistency, and / or a type of food 18a. In this exemplary embodiment, the type of food 18a is meat.It would also be conceivable for the food characteristic to comprise a property of the food 18a, such as frozen or thawed, tough, hard, soft, solid, dry, oily, or the like. Furthermore, the food characteristic may comprise a value describing whether the operator added fat, such as oil, butter, margarine, or the like, to cook the food 18a, thereby rendering the food 18a oily and / or fatty. In this case, the food characteristic comprises a food geometry and / or a food dimension. The food characteristic comprises a food structure, a thickness, depth, width, and / or length of the food 18a. Furthermore, the food characteristic may also comprise a desired end state of the food 18a. The desired end state is a state of the food 18a after the cooking process preferred by the operator.Ideally, the cooking status corresponds to the desired final state during and / or after the cooking process.

[0066] Furthermore, the cooking system 10a has a detection unit 20a, which is intended to detect at least the food parameter in a detection process 100a. Before the determination process 102a is discussed in detail, the detection process 100a will first be described. Reference is made to Figure 2, which shows a method for operating the cooking system 10a. The method for operating the cooking system 10a can comprise several method steps. In the present case, the method comprises the determination process 102a and at least the detection process 100a. With regard to the temporal progression of the method, the detection process 100a takes place before the determination process 102a.

[0067] The detection of at least the food characteristic by means of the detection unit 20a can be carried out in different ways. In the present exemplary embodiment, the detection unit 20a has at least one operating element 26a for the operator to enter the food characteristic. Using the operating element 26a, the operator can set and / or select at least the food characteristic. Figure 1 illustrates that in the present case the external unit 14a at least partially comprises the detection unit 20a. In this exemplary embodiment, a display 88a of the external unit 14a comprises the operating element 26a or is designed as such. The display 88a is designed as a touch display. The operator can set and / or select at least the food characteristic via the display 88a, specifically the operating element 26a.

[0068] Figure 1 shows how the operator sets the food parameter, specifically, for example, a geometry and / or size of the food 18a, for the food 18a in the form of meat, using the operating element 26a. In this case, the operator sets, for example, a dimension of the food 18a. Additionally and / or alternatively, it would also be conceivable for the operator to set and / or select further properties of the food 18a that are part of the food parameter. Furthermore, in the recording process 100a, specifically, in this case, using the operating element 26a, the operator sets and / or selects the desired final state of the food 18a (not shown).

[0069] Additionally and / or alternatively, it would also be conceivable for the cooking appliance 12a to at least partially comprise the detection unit 20a. For example, the cooking appliance operator interface 72a could comprise the operating element 26a. The operator could at least set and / or select the food parameter using the cooking appliance operator interface 72a. Furthermore, it would also be conceivable for another unit of the cooking system 10a, such as an extractor unit of the cooking system 10a, to at least partially comprise the detection unit 20a (not shown).

[0070] After detecting at least the food characteristic, the control environment 70a, specifically the cooking appliance control unit 74a and / or the control unit 76a of the external unit 14a, is provided to start the determination process 102a. The control environment 70a transmits the food characteristic to the analysis environment 16a. The analysis environment 16a is provided to apply a machine learning algorithm in the determination process 102a. Using the machine learning algorithm, the cooking status of the food 18a is determined in the determination process 102a based on the food characteristic.

[0071] It would be conceivable for the analysis environment 16a in the determination process 102a to access an external server and use the external server to determine the cooking status of the food item 18a. The machine learning algorithm may be applied by the external server. The machine learning algorithm could be stored in the external server 18a. Furthermore, it would alternatively and / or additionally also be conceivable for the cooking appliance 102a to at least partially comprise the analysis environment and carry out the determination process 102a. The machine learning algorithm could be stored in the cooking appliance 12a. In the present embodiment, the external unit at least partially comprises the analysis environment and carries out the determination process 102a. The machine learning algorithm is stored in the external unit 14a and is applied in the determination process 102a to determine the cooking status. In this case, the machine learning algorithm is self-learning.For example, the machine learning algorithm based on a neural network can be self-learning.

[0072] According to Figure 2, it can be seen that with regard to a temporal progression of the method for operating the cooking system 10a, an output process 104a takes place after the determination process 102a.

[0073] The cooking system 10a has an output unit 86a. The output unit 86a is an acoustic and / or optical output unit 86a for outputting at least the cooking status of the food item 18a to the operator. In the present case, the output unit 86a is also provided for outputting the food parameter to the operator. The output unit 86a can be part of the cooking appliance 12a. For example, the cooking appliance operator interface 72a can at least partially comprise the output unit 86a. In this exemplary embodiment, the external unit 14a at least partially comprises the output unit 86a. In the present case, the output takes place via at least the display 88a of the external unit 14a.

[0074] To increase convenience and optimize cooking status determination, the analysis environment 16a preferably performs the determination process 102a automatically, on a recurring basis. In this exemplary embodiment, at least the determination process 102a takes place during the cooking process. It would also be conceivable for the detection unit 20a to perform the detection process 100a automatically, on a recurring basis, specifically during the cooking process. The control environment 70a is provided to control and / or regulate the detection unit 20a and to start the detection process 100a automatically, on a recurring basis. In this exemplary embodiment, the detection process 100a, the determination process 102a, and the output process 104a can be performed during the cooking process.Preferably, in particular, the detection process 100a and / or at least the determination process 102a are repeated automatically until the cooking status corresponds to the desired final state of the food item 18a. According to Figure 2, in particular, the detection process 100a and the determination process 102a and at least the dispensing process 104a are repeated automatically until the cooking status corresponds to the desired final state of the food item 18a. Figure 3 shows a further embodiment of the invention. The following descriptions are essentially limited to the differences between the embodiments; with regard to identical components, features, and functions, reference can be made to the description of the embodiment in Figures 1 to 2.To distinguish the embodiments, the letter a in the reference numerals of the embodiment in Figures 1 to 2 is replaced by the letter b in the reference numerals of the embodiment in Figure 3. With regard to components with the same designation, in particular with regard to components with the same reference numerals, reference can in principle also be made to the drawings and / or the description of the embodiment a in Figures 1 to 2.

[0075] Figure 3 shows a cooking appliance system 10b in an alternative embodiment. The cooking appliance system 10b has an external unit 14b and a cooking appliance 12b. Furthermore, the cooking system 10b has a detection unit 20b. The detection unit 20b in the present exemplary embodiment differs from the detection unit 20a of exemplary embodiment a in that the detection unit 20b here comprises at least one optical sensor 28b. The optical sensor 28b is provided for detecting at least the food parameter. The optical sensor 28b is here designed separately from the external unit 14b and the cooking appliance 12b. Alternatively, however, the optical sensor 28b could also be part of the external unit 14b and / or the cooking appliance 12b. The optical sensor 28b could possibly be designed as a camera of the external unit 14b.

[0076] Reference symbol

[0077] 10 Cooking system

[0078] 12 Cooking appliance

[0079] 14 External Unit

[0080] 16 Analysis environment

[0081] 18 Food

[0082] 20 recording units

[0083] 26 Control element

[0084] 28 Optical sensor

[0085] 30 heating unit

[0086] 34 mobile device

[0087] 36 cooking utensils

[0088] 70 Control environment

[0089] 72 Cooking appliance operator interface

[0090] 74 Cooking appliance control unit

[0091] 76 Control unit

[0092] 80 mounting plate

[0093] 82 Communication interface

[0094] 84 Communication interface

[0095] 86 Output unit

[0096] 88 Display

[0097] 100 Capture process

[0098] 102 Investigation process

[0099] 104 Output process

Claims

Claims 1. Cooking system (10a-b), in particular a cooking system, comprising an analysis environment (16a-b) which is designed to carry out a determination process (102a-b) to determine a cooking status of a foodstuff (18a-b), in particular a foodstuff temperature, based on at least one foodstuff characteristic of the foodstuff (18a-b).

2. Cooking system (10a-b) according to claim 1, characterized in that the analysis environment (16a-b) applies a machine learning algorithm in the determination process (102a-b).

3. Cooking system (10a-b) according to claim 2, characterized in that the machine learning algorithm is self-learning.

4. Cooking system (10a-b) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the food characteristic comprises a food geometry and / or food dimension.

5. Cooking system (10a-b) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized by a detection unit (20a-b) which is provided to detect at least the food characteristic in a detection process (100a-b).

6. Cooking system (10a-b) according to claim 5, characterized in that the detection unit (20a-b) comprises at least one control element (26a) for input of the food characteristic by an operator.

7. Cooking system (10a-b) according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that the detection unit (20a-b) comprises at least one optical sensor (28b).

8. Cooking system (10a-b) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the analysis environment (16a-b) performs the determination process (102a-b) repeatedly over time.

9. Cooking system (10a-b) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized by an external unit (14a-b) which at least partially comprises the analysis environment (16a-b).

10. Cooking system (10a-b) according to claim 9, characterized in that the external unit (14a-b) is designed as a mobile device (34a-b).

11. Cooking system (10a-b) at least according to claims 5 and 9, characterized in that the external unit (14a-b) at least partially comprises the detection unit (20a-b).

12. Cooking appliance (12a-b), in particular a cooktop, for a cooking system (10a-b) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the cooking appliance (12a-b) has a heating unit (30a-b) for heating at least the food (18a-b).

13. Method for operating a cooking system (10a-b), in particular a cooking system, in particular according to one of claims 1 to 11, comprising a determination process (102a-b) in which, based on a food characteristic of a food (18a-b), a cooking status of the food (18a-b), in particular a food temperature, is determined.

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