Patent ID: 8375848

Claim:
A self-cleaning rotisserie oven, comprising: a cooking chamber for cooking food product; a rotor for use in supporting and moving a food product in the cooking chamber; a sump positioned below the cooking chamber that collects water provided to the cooking chamber; a sensor positioned to detect when the sump is filled to a set level; an inlet valve configured to control supply of water to the cooking chamber; and a controller configured to carry out a self-cleaning process, the self-cleaning process including: (a) a pre-rinse phase in which (i) the controller opens the inlet valve, (ii) the controller closes the inlet valve when the sensor detects that the sump is filled to the set level, and (iii) the controller determines a duration of time between opening of the inlet valve in step (a)(i) and closing of the inlet valve in step (a)(ii), and (b) a later phase during which the controller opens the inlet valve for an amount of time that is determined and set by the controller as a function of the duration of time determined by the controller during step (a)(iii), the later phase occurring after the sump has been drained of water delivered in step (a).