Patent ID: 8551331

Claim:
An automatic cooking medium filtering system, comprising: a cooking vessel comprising an opening formed therein for receiving food product, said cooking vessel configured to accommodate a cooking medium; a filter container comprising a removable filter configured to filter the cooking medium, said filter container in fluid communication with said cooking vessel; a fill manifold disposed on a fluid communication path between said filter container and said cooking vessel, a supplying mechanism configured to supply cooking medium from said fill manifold to said cooking vessel along said fluid communication path; a pressure sensor configured to sense a pressure of the cooking medium supplied from said filter container; and a controlling mechanism receiving sensed pressure data from said pressure sensor, said controlling mechanism configured to control an operation of said supply mechanism in response to the sensed pressure data to provide the cooking medium from said filter container to said cooking vessel, wherein said controlling mechanism is configured to halt the operation of said supplying mechanism when said pressure sensor senses a change in the pressure of cooking medium supplied by said supplying mechanism that is a pressure drop that is greater than or equal to a predetermined pressure drop threshold, wherein said fill manifold comprises: a first opening configured to permit cooking medium to enter said fill manifold from said filter container; a second opening configured to permit cooking medium to exit said fill manifold to said cooking vessel; and a third opening connected to an expansion chamber, wherein said expansion chamber comprises: a first end adjacent the third opening; and a second end adjacent said pressure sensor, wherein said expansion chamber is inclined such that the second end is disposed above the first end to preserve an air-charge for reducing build-up of deadhead pressure and prevent immersion of said pressure sensor in the cooking medium.