Claims
- 1. A cooking device for automatically cooking and rotating food products comprising:
- a cooking chamber defined by a plurality of inner walls of the cooking device for receiving food products to be cooked;
- heating means operatively associated with said cooking chamber for heating food products located in said cooking chamber;
- rotor means operatively connected to said cooking chamber for supporting and rotatably moving food products located within said cooking chamber;
- selection means operable by a user of the cooking device for selecting desired cooking parameters;
- storage means connected to said selection means for storing the user selected cooking parameters; and
- control means responsive to the user selected cooking parameters stored in said storage means for controlling the operation of said heating and rotor means to automatically cook the food products supported by said rotor means in said cooking chamber in accordance with the user selected cooking parameters,
- wherein the user selected cooking parameters comprise cooking time, cooking temperature, and alarm information for a selected food product.
- 2. The cooking device of claim 1 further comprising a rotor control switch capable of being manipulated to a plurality of positions by a user, where at least one of said positions enables the rotor control switch to override the control means control of the rotor means;
- said selection means are further operable to select one of the stored cooking cycles corresponding to a selected food product; and wherein said control means is capable of controlling the rotor and heater means to cook food products in accordance with the stored cooking cycles.
- 3. A cooking device for automatically cooking and rotating food products comprising:
- a cooking chamber defined by a plurality of inner walls of the cooking device for receiving food products to be cooked;
- heating means operatively associated with said cooking chamber for heating food products located in said cooking chamber;
- rotor means operatively connected to said cooking chamber for supporting and rotatably moving food products located within said cooking chamber;
- selection means operable by a user of the cooking device for selecting desired cooking parameters; and
- storage means connected to said selection means for storing the user selected cooking parameters;
- control means responsive to the user selected cooking parameters stored in said storage means for controlling the operation of said heating and rotor means to automatically cook the food products supported by said rotor means in said cooking chamber in accordance with the user selected cooking parameters,
- wherein the user selected cooking parameters define cooking cycles for a plurality of food products which are stored in said storage means, said selection means selects one of the stored cooking cycles corresponding to a selected food product, and said control means controls the rotor and heating means to cook the selected food product in accordance with the selected cooking cycle.
- 4. The cooking device of claim 3 wherein each of the cooking cycles comprises one or more different operational modes, where each mode is defined by time and temperature parameters.
- 5. The cooking device of claim 4 wherein the plurality of different operational modes comprise at least a sear mode, a cook mode or a hold mode, and further wherein said control means controls the rotor and heater means in each of the modes to sear, cook or hold the selected food product.
- 6. The cooking device of claims 1, 2, 3, or 4 further comprising:
- temperature sensing means for sensing the temperature within said cooking chamber;
- heat demand means for determining a demand for heat;
- comparison means for comparing the temperature sensed by said sensing means with a predetermined temperature; and
- circulation means for circulating a cooking medium within said cooking chamber,
- wherein said control means controls said circulation means when the cooking device is in one of a plurality of operational modes, to be operated:
- a) continuously when the temperature sensed by said sensing means is greater than the predetermined temperature or when the temperature sensed by said sensing means is less than the predetermined temperature and said heat demand means determines a need for heat, and
- b) in a pulsed manner with a predetermined pulse repetition rate when the temperature sensed by said sensing means is less than said predetermined temperature and said heat demand means does not determine a need for heat,
- wherein said cooking parameters comprise cooking alarm information.
- 7. A cooking device for automatically cooking and rotating food products comprising:
- a cooking chamber for receiving food products to be cooked;
- heating means for heating the food products located in said cooking chamber;
- rotor means for supporting and rotatably moving the food products located in said cooking chamber;
- selection means for selecting desired cooking parameters;
- storage means for storing the selected cooking parameters;
- control means for controlling the operation of said heating and rotor means to automatically cook said food products located in said cooking chamber in accordance with the stored cooking parameters.
- 8. A cooking device in accordance with claim 7 further comprising:
- circulation means for circulating a cooking medium within said cooking chamber;
- temperature sensing means for sensing the temperature within said cooking chamber;
- heat demands means for determining a need for heat; and
- comparison means for comparing the temperature sensed by said sensing means with a predetermined temperature,
- wherein said control means controls said circulation means when said cooking device is in one of a plurality of operational modes such that the circulation means is operated:
- a) continuously when the temperature sensed by said sensing means is greater than said predetermined temperature or when the temperature sensed by said sensing means is less than said predetermined temperature and the heat demand means determines a need for heat, and
- b) in a pulsed manner with a predetermined repetition rate when the temperature sensed by said sensing means is less than said predetermined temperature and the heat demand means does not determine a need for heat.
- 9. A cooking device in accordance with claim 8 further comprising means for setting the predetermined temperature at 250.degree. F.
- 10. A cooking device in accordance with claim 7 further comprising:
- sensing means for sensing interruption of a cooking operation, said storage means storing a first temperature corresponding to the temperature of the cooking chamber when said sensing means senses interruption of the cooking operation, said sensing means thereafter sensing when said interruption has ceased to exist, said storage means storing a second temperature corresponding to the temperature of the cooking chamber when said sensing means senses cessation of the interruption; and
- comparison means for comparing the first and second stored temperatures,
- wherein, after said sensing means senses cessation of the interruption of the cooking operation, said control means controls said heating and rotor means to continue the cooking operation if the difference between the first and second temperatures is less than a predetermined value.
- 11. A cooking device in accordance with claim 10 further comprising means for setting the predetermined value at 20.degree. F.
- 12. A cooking device in accordance with claim 7 wherein the cooking parameters define cooking cycles for a plurality of food products, said selection means comprises means for selecting one of the stored cooking cycles corresponding to a selected food product, and said control means controls the rotor and heating means to cook the selected food product in accordance with the selected cooking cycle.
- 13. A cooking device in accordance with claim 12 further including indicating means for indicating the selected cooking cycle.
Parent Case Info
This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 239,398, filed 9/1/88, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,968,515.
US Referenced Citations (2)
Number |
Name |
Date |
Kind |
3273489 |
Wilson |
Sep 1966 |
|
3827345 |
Willson |
Aug 1974 |
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Continuations (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
239398 |
Sep 1988 |
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