Patent ID: 8530797

Claim:
A cooking appliance ( 1 ) comprising a lower casing ( 2 ) structured for resting on a generic working table, a lower food-contacting heating plate ( 3 ) which is positioned on the top ( 2 a ) of the lower casing ( 2 ) in a substantially horizontal position and is structured for directly supporting the food products (f) to be cooked, and an upper bell-shaped body ( 4 ) which is movably mounted on the lower casing ( 2 ) so as to be movable to and from a closed position in which the bell-shaped body ( 4 ) rests on the top ( 2 a ) of the lower casing ( 2 ) and defines, together with the lower casing ( 2 ), a closed cavity ( 10 ) containing the lower heating plate ( 3 ); the cooking appliance ( 1 ) being also provided with an upper food-contacting heating plate ( 5 ) which is located inside the bell-shaped body ( 4 ) so as to be positioned, when the bell-shaped body ( 4 ) is in the closed position, over the lower heating plate ( 3 ) substantially parallel to the latter, and which is connected to the bell-shaped body ( 4 ) via a connecting assembly ( 13 ) structured so as to allow the upper heating plate ( 5 ) to move freely inside the bell-shaped body ( 4 ) in a direction (d 0 ) substantially perpendicular to the reference laying plane of the upper heating plate ( 5 ); the cooking appliance ( 1 ) also comprising a heating-plate locking device ( 14 ) which is able, on command, to selectively impair any movement of the upper heating plate ( 5 ) in said moving direction (d 0 ); and a control unit ( 9 ) which controls the heating-plate locking device ( 14 ) so as to activate said heating-plate locking device ( 14 ) for impairing any movement of the upper heating plate ( 5 ) in said moving direction (d 0 ), after a given lapse of time from the starting of the cooking cycle, and to let the upper heating plate ( 5 ) press by gravity the food products to be cooked only at the beginning of the cooking cycle.