Patent ID: 7075041

Claim:
A method for controlling a cooking process in a cooking appliance having a cooking chamber, a heating source for heating the cooking chamber, a sensor for measuring a gas concentration in the cooking chamber, and an electric or electronic control system in signal communication with the sensor, the control system including an evaluation circuit and a memory, the method comprising: ascertaining, as a function of a food to be cooked and using the evaluation circuit, a cooking end value stored in the memory, the cooking end value being manually selected or automatically identified; processing an output signal of the sensor using the evaluation circuit so as to generate a cooking quotient, the cooking quotient at a point in time corresponding to a ratio of the first derivative of the output signal with respect to time to a first extreme value of the first derivative of the output signal with respect to time, the first extreme value being detected at an earlier point in time after a beginning of the cooking process; comparing a value of the cooking quotient to the cooking end value using the evaluation circuit; and triggering an appliance function upon a falling of the value of the cooking quotient below the cooking end value after the beginning of the cooking process.