Patent Application
20250120539
Disclosed herein are smoke and herb flavoring generators for cooking appliances.
Cooking appliances may include various cooking modes or cycles for specific food types, such as bake, roast, pizza, cookie, toast, popcorn, and bagel. Further, as meat and fish consumption is steadily increasing, smoking and additional flavoring options by way of separate appliances (e.g., smokers, etc.) are often desired.
A cooking appliance may include a cabinet defining a cavity having a plurality of walls for receiving food to be cooked, wherein at least one of the plurality of walls defines a receptacle; a drawer assembly for housing flavor items configured to add flavor to the food, the drawer assembly configured to be received by the receptacle; and a heating element configured to heat the flavor items to release the flavor to the food.
An oven for controlling a heating process may include a cabinet defining a cavity having a plurality of walls for receiving food to be cooked, wherein at least one of the plurality of walls defines a receptacle; a drawer assembly configured to be received by the receptacle for housing flavor items configured to add flavor to the food; a heating element configured to heat the flavor items to release the flavor to the food; a temperature sensor arranged in thermal contact with the drawer and configured to detect a drawer temperatures; and a processor, programmed to receive the drawer temperature from the temperature sensor and at least one user selection via a user interface, and control the heating element based on at least one of the drawer temperature and the user selection.
The embodiments of the present disclosure are pointed out with particularity in the appended claims. However, other features of the various embodiments will become more apparent and will be best understood by referring to the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
As required, detailed embodiments of the present disclosure are disclosed herein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the disclosure that may be embodied in various and alternative forms. The figures are not necessarily to scale; some features may be exaggerated or minimized to show details of particular components. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present disclosure.
Cooking meals is a part of daily life for many people. People generally prioritize taste, nutrition, cost, and ease of preparation when planning their meals. Further, as meat and fish consumption is steadily increasing, individuals are opting to buy taste-specific appliances such as smokers to achieve additional flavoring options. However, such appliances require additional space, some necessitating outdoor use. Additionally, these appliances may be larger, as well as expensive. Other smaller appliances, such as heat guns, torches, etc., may be used to flavor food via dedicated attachments. However, these appliances often require hand holding of the appliance on the food to be flavored.
Disclosed herein is a drawer assembly for a cooking appliance such as an oven. Such assembly may allow users to enjoy the functionality of a smoking appliance, within the comfort of their homes and without the need for a dedicated appliance. The assembly also allows for the possibility of combining smoking processes with other more traditional cooking processes such as roasting, forced convection, etc. Thus, it may now be possible for users to obtain combination flavors that are traditionally not possible with separate cooking and smoking appliances.
The drawer assembly may be housed in a dedicated opening in the back wall of the oven cavity. In one example, the drawer assembly may be near or close to a heating element. The drawer assembly may have small holes on one or more sides in order to facilitate oxygenation and circulation of the smoke. This may be further facilitated via airflow generated by an oven fan, typically mounted concentrically to the ring element. In another embodiment, the drawer assembly may have different amounts and sizes of holes in order to optimize and customize smoke circulation inside the oven cavity.
The drawer assembly may be easily removable to clean and refill. The drawer assembly may be configured to hold wood chips, for example, and may include a handle on a front face to facilitate inserting and removing of the drawer assembly from the receptacle in the oven wall.
The oven 100 may form a cabinet 104 and define a cavity 102 having a cavity top 106, cavity bottom 108, cavity back 110, and side walls 112. A door assembly 120 may be hinged at a front of the cavity bottom 108 to permit access to the cavity 102. The door assembly 120 may include a window and a handle, and may hermetically seal the cavity when the door is in a closed position. It should be noted that this is an example, and ovens 100 with different types of doors may be used. For instance, a door may be hinged at a side instead of the bottom. A door sensor may be arranged on the door or the cavity 102 to detect an open and closed position of the door of the door assembly 120.
The cavity 102 may be configured to receive food items for cooking, baking, and/or broiling during a cooking cycle. The cavity 102 may also include temperature sensors 116 for determining the air temperature within the cavity 102 during cooking. The oven 100 may further include a user interface 118 configured to receive user input with respect to cycles or other oven operation. The user interface 118 may also provide information to the user such as cook time, temperature, smoke and herb flavoring settings, etc. Specifically, users may be able to select certain smoking options via the user interface 118, such as type of items to smoke (wood, herbs, etc.), time, food items, etc.
As best shown in
Referring back to
The drawer assembly 140 may be a cuboid or cube, but may also take on other shapes. In the example shown in
The drawer assembly 140 may include a handle 156. The handle 156 may be arranged on the drawer front 150b to allow a user to easily insert and remove the drawer assembly 140 from the receptacle 142. The handle 156 may be made of a similar material as that of the drawer portion 144, such as metal. However, in some examples, the handle 156 may be made of a heat resistant material such as silicon. In some examples, the handle 156 may connect to a grasping tool. The grasping tool may allow users to easily reach the drawer assembly 140 without having to reach into the oven 100.
Similarly, the receptacle 142 may also define a cuboid of similar dimensions to the drawer assembly 140 in order to receive the drawer assembly 140. The receptacle 142 is illustrated in
Such air flow may be generated, in part, by the fan assembly 134 as described in more detail with respect to
Similar to the drawer openings 154, while the receptacle openings 158 are shown as a plurality of round holes, other shapes, sizes and variations may be appreciated. Slots may be used, as well as a combination of slots, holes, etc. The receptacle openings 158 may be dimensioned such as to create a large enough air flow while maintaining the rigidity of the receptacle shape.
A temperature sensor 162 may be arranged at, near, or within the receptacle 142, as best illustrated in
Further, while a single fan assembly 134, heat ring 132, drawer assembly 140, etc., are illustrated in the figures, it may be appreciated that more than one of each of these elements may be incorporated into the oven 100. In one example, two fans at each top corner of the oven 100 may be included. The drawer assembly 140 may be arranged between the fans, or multiple drawer assemblies may be included. Further, such arrangements may be on the oven sides 104. The heating element, while shown as a ring 132, may be in other forms or shapes.
The memory 202 may include a single memory device or a number of memory devices including, but not limited to, random access memory (RAM), volatile memory, non-volatile memory, static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), flash memory, cache memory, or any other device capable of storing information. The non-volatile storage 204 may include one or more persistent data storage devices such as a hard drive, optical drive, tape drive, non-volatile solid-state device, cloud storage or any other device capable of persistently storing information.
The processor 206 may include one or more microprocessors, micro-controllers, digital signal processors, microcomputers, central processing units (CPU), graphical processing units (GPU), tensor processing units (TPU), field programmable gate arrays, programmable logic devices, state machines, logic circuits, analog circuits, digital circuits, or any other devices that manipulate signals (analog or digital) based on computer-executable instructions residing in memory 202.
The processor 206 may be configured to read into memory 202 and execute computer-executable instructions residing in the non-volatile storage 204. Upon execution by the processor 206, the computer-executable instructions may cause the oven 100 to implement one or more of the algorithms and/or methodologies disclosed herein.
The controller 200 may be electrically connected to signaling interfaces of other components of the smart oven 100, thereby allowing the processor 206 of the controller 200 to manipulate the functions of the smart oven 100. For example, the controller 200 may be configured to receive user input from the user interface 118, such as requests to initiate a cooking cycle. The controller 200 may also be configured to control operation of the heating system 122, including to apply power to heating elements of the heating system 122 to warm the cavity 102, as well as to discontinue applying power to the heating element of the heating system 122, in addition to controlling the fan assembly 134. The controller 200 may also control a door lock to selectively control the latch mechanism of the door assembly 120 to prevent the door assembly 120 from being opened during the cycle.
The controller 200 may also be configured to receive input from other sensors to support the operation of the oven, including smoking and/or flavoring preferences. This may include input from sensors such as the temperature sensor 162. This may also include input from one or more additional sensors throughout the oven 100.
The temperature sensor 162 may detect the temperature of the drawer assembly 140. The controller 200 may receive a drawer temperature and use the drawer temperature to control the heating system 122 so that the content of the drawer assembly achieves a desired temperature. For example, the controller 200 may heat the heat ring 132 with a specific heat profile over time. The heat ring 132 may heat the wood chips to the point where they begin to smoke, thus releasing the desirable flavor compounds. It is also desirable to not completely burn the wood chips, which may result in undesirable, more acrid, compounds to be released. In one example, the desired temperature is below 350 degrees Celsius. The user may select a dedicated program via the user interface 118 to activate a smoking feature or function, in combination with other cooking functions or settings.
Further, while wood chips are used as an example herein, other contents may be used to flavor food via the drawer assembly 140. For example, chopped or minced herbs or a combination of herbs and wood chips may be used (e.g., rosemary, juniper, sage, etc.). The user has the ability to customize a preferred flavor based on combinations, quantities, etc. In the example of herbs, a specific setting via the user interface 118 may be selected, as herbs require a lower temperature than wood chips for their aromatic compounds to be released without burning. Thus, a dedicated program may be used to activate the herb flavoring function. Further, specific herbs may each have a specific temperature profile.
Accordingly, a smoke and herb flavoring generator for a cooking appliance is described herein. The small drawer capable of housing items that add flavoring to food may be arranged in a housing in the back wall of the oven. The small holes in the housing and the drawer may allow oxygenation and circulation of the smoke, imparted by airflow generated by the main cavity fan. The fan may be mounted concentrically with a ring element to allow heat to best reach the items in the drawer. Other variations of the drawer shape, hole arrangement and configuration, as well as placement in the cavity may be appreciated.
Users may thus easily remove the drawer and reinsert the drawer at will. Further, such integration with a household appliance reduces the need for an additional, large appliance for a smoking function.
While exemplary embodiments are described above, it is not intended that these embodiments describe all possible forms of the disclosure. Rather, the words used in the specification are words of description rather than limitation, and it is understood that various changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. Additionally, the features of various implementing embodiments may be combined to form further embodiments of the disclosure.
The flowcharts and block diagrams in the figures illustrate the architecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementations of systems, methods and computer program products according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. In this regard, each block in the flowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portion of code, which comprises one or more executable instructions for implementing the specified logical function(s). It should also be noted that, in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specified functions or acts, or combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions.
