Dual-Chamber Sous Vide Container for Precise Multi-Item Temperature Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Sous vide cooking methods face challenges in maintaining precise water temperature control, leading to unpredictable cooking times and safety hazards, especially when cooking multiple items simultaneously, due to the limitations of conventional stovetop heating and immersion heaters.
Innovation Solution
A dual-chamber container system with a control unit that circulates a heat transfer liquid around the food item, allowing for precise temperature control and safe operation, using a fluid coupler assembly for efficient heat exchange and a vacuum pump for air removal, enabling simultaneous cooking of multiple items at different temperatures.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If conventional stovetop heating elements are used to heat water for sous vide cooking, then the equipment is readily available and simple to use, but the water temperature cannot be maintained within a precise narrow range and cooking times become unpredictable
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a feedback control system where a temperature sensor continuously monitors the water temperature in the reservoir and feeds this information back to the microprocessor. The microprocessor adjusts the heating element power accordingly to maintain the setpoint temperature, ensuring precise temperature control and predictable cooking times.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the conventional mechanical stovetop heating system with an electrically controlled heating element integrated into a microprocessor-controlled system. This substitution enables precise digital control of heating power and accurate temperature monitoring, eliminating the imprecision of manual stovetop control.
2Measurement precision
If immersion heaters with sufficient accuracy and capacity are used for sous vide cooking, then precise temperature control is achieved, but the equipment becomes large or expensive and uses control settings unfamiliar to chefs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent designs a multi-functional integrated unit that combines the reservoir, heating element, cooling fan, temperature sensor, and control interface into a single appliance. This integration eliminates the need for separate large immersion heaters and external temperature controllers, reducing overall equipment size and cost while maintaining precise temperature control.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a self-regulating system where the microprocessor automatically monitors temperature via the sensor and adjusts heating/cooling without user intervention. The system includes automatic safety features such as over-temperature protection and dry-running protection, eliminating the need for complex manual control settings and reducing operational complexity for the user.
3Productivity
If a large volume of water is used for immersion cooking to accommodate multiple items, then sufficient cooking capacity is achieved, but temperature control becomes more difficult and equipment space is consumed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a double-walled container design where the inner wall holds the food items and the outer wall contains the heat transfer fluid. This segmentation allows precise temperature control of a relatively small volume of fluid while maintaining the capacity to cook multiple items simultaneously in the inner chamber, as the food items are immersed through the flexible inner wall rather than requiring a large bulk water volume.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs a pump system that circulates the heat transfer fluid through channels in the container walls and around the food items. This hydraulic system enables efficient heat distribution throughout the cooking chamber, maintaining uniform temperature even when multiple items are being cooked, thereby preserving temperature stability while accommodating high cooking capacity.
4Ease of manufacture
If stovetop burners are used for heating water during sous vide cooking, then the equipment is simple and accessible, but the burners are unavailable for other cooking tasks and valuable kitchen space is tied up for hours
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a double-walled container design where the inner wall holds the food items and the outer wall contains the heat transfer fluid. This segmentation allows precise temperature control of a relatively small volume of fluid while maintaining the capacity to cook multiple items simultaneously in the inner chamber, as the food items are immersed through the flexible inner wall rather than requiring a large bulk water volume.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs a pump system that circulates the heat transfer fluid through channels in the container walls and around the food items. This hydraulic system enables efficient heat distribution throughout the cooking chamber, maintaining uniform temperature even when multiple items are being cooked, thereby preserving temperature stability while accommodating high cooking capacity.
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
This system ensures precise control over cooking temperature and time, reduces safety hazards by isolating hot surfaces, and allows for efficient use of kitchen space, while maintaining the nutritional benefits of sous vide cooking.
Implementation Method 1
a heating element for transferring thermal energy to the reservoir
Implementation Method 2
A pump may be provided for circulating liquid from the reservoir out through the fluid outflow port
Implementation Method 3
maintaining thermal contact between a food item being cooked and a heat transfer liquid
Implementation Method 4
A vacuum pump may be provided for removing air from the container
Data Source
AI summary
A cooking apparatus includes a dual-chamber container with an inner container for holding a food item to be cooked and an outer container for maintaining contact between a temperature-controlled heat transfer liquid and the inner container while the food is being cooked. The dual-chamber container includes an inlet fluid port and outflow fluid port which may be coupled directly to corresponding fluid port connectors on a temperature control unit, or an intervening fluid coupling assembly may convey heat transfer liquid between the control unit and the dual-chamber container. Some control units are adapted to simultaneously control cooking temperature for more than one dual-chamber container. Some dual-chamber containers have a flexible inner container that is separable from an outer container which may be a rigid container or a flexible container.