Cooking system particularly for pasta, rice and bread

A cooking system for preparation of foods, comprises an oven with a microwave source and a convection heater, and a bowl with a stirrer; the system further comprises at least a couple of interchangeable bowls, a plastic bowl being configured to be used when microwave source is in an activated configuration and a metal bowl being configured to be used when heater is in an activated configuration.

FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a cooking system for the preparation of different foods, comprising an oven with a microwave source and a heater, a bowl with a stirrer configured to stir ingredients inside the bowl during cooking.

BACKGROUND

Microwave ovens with powered stirrer assemblies are known in the art, for instance from GB2248375, GB2488335 and WO2006/030265. Such known stirring assemblies include paddles or the like which mix food being cooked and reduce the formation of hot spots.

From CN200987621 it is also known a microwave oven for making bread.

All the above known solutions comprise a single type of bowl which is mainly dedicated to a single cluster of food products. This reduce the flexibility of use of the microwave oven since a bowl specifically designed for cooking rice or pasta is not the best choice for cooking bread or similar products.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a cooking system as described in this description which solves the problems listed above regarding deficiencies in other devices flexibility in use.

These and other features, advantages, and objects of the present cooking system will be further understood and appreciate by those skilled in the art upon studying the following specification, claims, and appended drawings. According to the invention, such problem is solved thanks to the features listed in the appended claims.

SUMMARY

According to the cooking system described herein, the cooking system is provided with more than one interchangeable bowls of different materials, and specifically a plastic bowl configured to be used in the oven when a microwave source is switched on for the cooking of pasta, rice or the like and a metal bowl configured to be used when only the heater is switched on for cooking of bread or the like. With the term “heater” we mean here any heat radiating member including tubular electric resistance, halogen heating member, or electrical resistances contained in a dedicated sub-chamber of the oven where a forced air flow is generated. With the above solution of different bowls dedicated for different clusters of food it is possible to optimize the use of microwaves and/or of the heater.

According to another embodiment of this system, the cooking system comprises a water reservoir in the oven and dosing means configured to feed a predetermined amount of water in the bowls depending on the kind of food to be cooked.

According to another embodiment of this system, the oven comprises sensing means capable of sensing the specific bowl used in the oven and steering the microwave source or the heater.

According to another embodiment of this system, the cooking system also comprises specific packages of ingredients with dedicated tags or RFID devices which are detected by a sensor of the oven in order to automatically select a specific cooking program without any intervention by the user.

According to another embodiment of this system, the plastic bowl is associated with a stirrer including paddles moving at a short distance from the interior sides of the bowl to reduce any tendency of the formation of hot spots in the food being cooked. In the tests performed by the applicant, this has been seen particularly beneficial in the cooking of pasta or rice.

According to another embodiment of this system, the metal bowl is associated with a stirrer having a single paddle which is hinged to a supporting bar so that in a first direction of rotation the paddle interacts with the food and stirs it, while in a second direction of rotation the paddle is substantially flat and parallel to the bottom wall of the bowl. This has been found to be very beneficial in terms of a proper and efficient cooking of bread or the like. Moreover, the shape of the paddle has preferably a curved upper profile (at least in the upright configuration thereof) where two distinct curved “peaks” are present, one higher and closer to the center of the bowl and the other lower and closer to the side wall of the bowl. This latter curved portion is angularly slightly rotated with respect to the flat surface of the paddle, and this angle is preferably comprised between 2° to 30°. The above shape of the paddle for the metal bowl has proven very beneficial in accelerating the cooking of the bread in the cooking system according to the disclosure.

Further features and advantages of a cooking system according to the disclosure will become clear from the following detailed description, provided as a non-limiting example with reference to the attached drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

With reference to the drawings, a cooking system according to the disclosure comprises an oven10having a cavity12where two interchangeable bowls A and B can be mounted. The oven10comprises a microwave source14(for instance a magnetron or a solid state microwave generator), grill heaters16on the top of the cavity12and a forced convection unit18, for instance provided with a resistance (not shown) placed in a rear hollow space where also a fan18ais placed for directing hot air towards the cavity. The oven10further comprises a water container20, for instance a removable drawer placed in the bottom area of the oven, connected to a dosing pump22for supplying a metered amount of water to the bowls A or B. In the oven10there is also a motor and gearbox24which provides, in a known way, motion to a stirrer26or28(FIGS. 2, 3) inside the bowls A or B. The oven10further comprises a control unit30including a pump control32and a motor control34, such control unit30being also connected to a RFID sensor36configured to recognize a package (not shown) with a transponder when it is placed near the RFID sensor, and to a user interface38.

The water container20is provided with a level sensor (not shown), for instance of the type having several metal parts connected to an electronic circuit detecting the water level on the basis of conductivity or capacitance measures, in order to inform the control unit30when the water level is not sufficient for performing a predetermined cooking program, for instance a cooking program using the highest amount of water.

With reference toFIG. 2, a plastic bowl A is shown where a first stirrer26is used. Such stirrer26presents a central cylindrical portion26a, a lower paddle26bstemming out from a bottom part of the portion26aand a upper paddle26cat 180° with respect to the lower paddle26b, with a connecting portion26c′ and a stirring portion26c″ which in the installed configuration shown inFIG. 2is vertically placed at a short distance from the side wall of the bowl A. Also the lower paddle26bis, in its installed configuration, is at a short distance from the bottom wall of the bowl A.

With reference toFIG. 4, a metal bowl B is shown which presents protruding ribs B′ and in which the second stirrer28is mounted. Such stirrer presents a hinge portion28awhich allows an upright configuration thereof (shown inFIG. 4) when the stirrer shaft S rotates in a clockwise direction, and a flat configuration (not shown) when the stirrer shaft S rotates in a counterclockwise direction. The stirrer28presents a paddle40having a substantially flat configuration and having an upper humps-shaped profile with a first curved portion40aand a second curved portion40bwhich is angled with respect to the first portion40a(the separation line between such portions is shown inFIG. 5with line29). The second curved portion40b, in the upright configuration of the paddle40, is at a height lower than the first curved portion40aand its angle referred to the remaining portion of the paddle is preferably comprised between 2° and 30°. Such angle is mainly due to the passage from an idle configuration of the second stirrer28to the upright configuration thereof, when the direction of rotation of the shaft S is changed.

With reference toFIG. 6, the bowl A or B are fixed to the bottom wall of the cavity12by means of L-shaped legs (not shown) snap engaging with C-shaped metal bars42protruding from the bottom wall of the cavity12.

With reference toFIG. 7, the bottom wall of the cavity12is further provided with an opening44through which a sensor assembly46is protruding, such sensor assembly comprising a first detector48with an actuating end48aand a second detector50with an actuating end50a. The detectors48and50are placed at different radial distances from the shaft S of the stirrers26and28, so that when plastic bowl A, which is bigger than metal bowl B, in mounted on the metal bars42, both detectors48and50are activated so that the control unit30is informed about what kind of bowl is installed. When the metal bowl A is installed, only the detector48, which is closer to the shaft S, is activated and the control unit is informed accordingly.

When the user wants to use the ingredients contained in a certain package (not shown), he/she has only to put the package at a short distance from the RFID reader36which automatically detects the package and programs the control unit30accordingly. Then the user open the package and, by following the instructions appearing on the user interface38, loads the content of the package into the bowl A or the bowl B, together with its stirrer26or28respectively. Then the user inserts the bowl A or B into the cavity12and, by following the instruction on the user interface38, press the on button so that the cooking program is initiated. During the cooking program, the control unit30feeds information to the water dosing system22, to the motor24and to the microwave source14and/or to the convection heating means16and18in order to automatically cook the food. At the end of the cooking the user interface38informs the user that he/she can take the cooked food out of the cavity12.

Of course the oven10of the cooking system according to the disclosure can also be used as a traditional combined oven, i.e. an oven where food can be cooked with microwaves only, with heating resistances only or by a combination of both.

From the above description the advantages of a cooking system according to the disclosure are clear, and particularly the flexibility of use which allows passing from an automatic cooking of rice or pasta to the cooking procedure to prepare bread at home, simply by changing the bowl and the related stirrer. Moreover the automatic recognition of the ingredients to be put in the bowl make the cooking of the above food very easy also for people with a limited cooking experience. Even if the above description is focused on the cooking of bread with radiating and convection heaters only, the cooking system according to the invention may be used also for preparing the dough for pizza, which can be consequently cooked in the oven itself.