A cooking device with a water container
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Solution Overview
Problem
The sous-vide cooking method faces challenges in ensuring food safety due to potential bacterial growth from inadequate core temperature control and variability in cooking duration, leading to undercooking or overcooking issues.
Innovation Solution
A cooking device equipped with a level sensor to measure food volume, a control unit to determine cooking duration based on food type and volume, and a temperature sensor to maintain optimal water temperature, ensuring precise core temperature and volume measurements for consistent cooking results without user intervention.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the sous-vide cooking method is used with manual timing, then the cooking process is simple to operate, but the food may be undercooked or overcooked due to inability to determine exact cooking duration
Solution Approach 1:
The cooking device automatically determines cooking duration based on food volume measurement and type selection, eliminating the need for manual timing intervention. The system self-adjusts cooking parameters based on detected food characteristics, providing both ease of operation and precise control simultaneously.
Solution Approach 2:
The device incorporates sensors to detect food volume and continuously monitors cooking progress, using this feedback to automatically adjust and maintain optimal cooking duration and temperature. This closed-loop control ensures precise cooking results while keeping the operation simple for the user.
2Temperature
If low temperature cooking is used for sous-vide method, then the food becomes healthier and tastier, but bacterial growth risk increases if core temperature remains below certain value
Solution Approach 1:
The device incorporates temperature sensors that continuously monitor the core temperature of the food during cooking. This feedback mechanism ensures the food reaches and maintains the minimum safe core temperature (typically 70°C or higher for sufficient time) to eliminate bacterial pathogens, even while using low-temperature water bath cooking, thus resolving the contradiction between health benefits and food safety.
Solution Approach 2:
The system replaces manual temperature monitoring and judgment with automated electronic temperature sensing and control. The microcontroller processes temperature data and automatically adjusts heating to ensure food safety requirements are met, eliminating the need for user expertise in temperature control while maintaining safety.
3Device complexity
If the food volume is not accurately measured, then the cooking device is simpler in structure, but the cooking duration cannot be determined exactly leading to undercooking or overcooking
Solution Approach 1:
The device replaces complex manual measurement methods with an automated level sensor system that optically or electronically detects water level changes in the cooking chamber. This substitution provides precise food volume measurement through software calculation based on water displacement, maintaining relatively simple hardware while achieving accurate measurements.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses water as an intermediary medium to indirectly measure food volume. The level sensor detects water level changes caused by food placement, and the microcontroller calculates food volume from this data. This intermediary approach simplifies the measurement mechanism while maintaining precision.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The device prevents undercooking and overcooking by accurately determining cooking duration and maintaining optimal temperatures, ensuring healthier and tastier food preparation while simplifying the cooking process.
Implementation Method 1
the level determination means stays on the surface of water and follows the water surface level
Implementation Method 2
the change in the water level is detected as the sensing means in the level sensor and the level determination means interact
Implementation Method 3
The water temperature is kept at the cooking value suitable for the food type by controlling the heater by the control unit
Implementation Method 4
the temperature of the water inside the oven cavity is measured by the temperature sensor and transmitted to the control unit
Data Source
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AI summary
The present invention relates to a cooking device (1) that provides cooking by the sous-vide method realized by placing the foods in vacuum bags and cooking in heated water at low temperatures for a long period of time, comprising an oven cavity (2) enabling the vacuumed foods to be placed into the device (1), a level sensor (7) that detects the change in water level inside the oven cavity (2), and a control unit (6) that determines the food core temperature, the water temperature and the cooking steps required for the food to be cooked according to the type and amount of food.