Systems and methods of preparing food products

Abstract

A food preparation and delivery system can include a plurality of cooking units such as ovens, each containing one or more prepared, but partially or completely uncooked, food items. The food items in the cooking units are for delivery to each of a corresponding plurality of consumer delivery destinations. The cooking units are loaded into a cargo compartment of a delivery vehicle for delivery to the plurality of consumer delivery destinations. The cooking conditions within the cooking unit are controlled such the each food item is cooked prior to arrival at the consumer destination location. In at least some embodiments, the estimated delivery time for each consumer destination location can be dynamically updated and the cooking conditions within the cooking unit adjusted.

1 . A portable cooking and delivery system, comprising:
 a vehicle having a cargo compartment;   a number of ovens, each oven having a respective heating element and at least one wall that forms an interior which is thermally insulated from an exterior thereof and which is thermally insulated from the respective interior of each other ones of the ovens; and   at least one controller that controls at least one of a temperature or a cooking time for each oven in response to an estimated transit time of the vehicle to a delivery destination.   
     
     
         2 . The portable cooking and delivery system of  claim 1  wherein the at least one controller that controls at least one of a temperature or a cooking time for each oven in response to an automatically determined estimated transit time of the vehicle to the delivery destination, the estimated transit time dynamically updated during transit. 
     
     
         3 . The portable cooking and delivery system of  claim 1  wherein the number of ovens comprises a plurality of ovens, each of the ovens has a respective interior that is thermally insulated from the respective interior of each other ones of the ovens, each of the ovens independently operable from one another. 
     
     
         4 . The portable cooking and delivery system of  claim 1  wherein the at least one controller starts the cooking of the contents of the oven when based at least part of the estimated transit time of the vehicle to the delivery destination. 
     
     
         5 . The portable cooking and delivery system of  claim 1  wherein the at least one controller turns the oven on based at least part of a dynamically estimated transit time of the vehicle to the delivery destination. 
     
     
         6 . The portable cooking and delivery system of  claim 5 , further comprising:
 a radio communicatively coupled to the at least one controller to provide signals indicative of at least one of a dynamically updated temperature or a dynamically updated cooking time for at least one of the ovens, the signals received from a remote stationary source.   
     
     
         7 . The portable cooking and delivery system of  claim 6 , further comprising:
 at least one transducer positioned to sense at least one operational condition of at least one of the ovens, the at least one transducer communicatively coupled to the radio to provide signals to the remote stationary source indicative of the sensed at least one operational condition of at least one of the ovens.   
     
     
         8 . The portable cooking and delivery system of  claim 1  wherein the vehicle includes an electrical power source electrically coupled to supply electric power to a drive system of the vehicle; and an auxiliary power unit operable to provide power to the respective heating element of the ovens independent of the electrical power source that supplies electric power to the drive system of the vehicle. 
     
     
         9 . The portable cooking and delivery system of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a securement structure in the cargo compartment of the vehicle that secures the ovens in the cargo compartment.   
     
     
         10 . The portable cooking and delivery system of  claim 1  wherein each oven includes a respective stone or ceramic or earthenware floor. 
     
     
         11 . The portable cooking and delivery system of  claim 1  wherein each oven includes a respective stone or ceramic or earthenware ceiling. 
     
     
         12 . The portable cooking and delivery system of  claim 1  wherein the heating element of each oven is a respective electric heating element. 
     
     
         13 . The portable cooking and delivery system of  claim 1  wherein at least one of the ovens includes an ejector moveable between a retracted configuration and an expanded configuration, wherein movement of the ejector from the retracted configuration to the expanded configuration moves the contents of the oven out of the oven without the contents being touched by a human. 
     
     
         14 . The portable cooking and delivery system of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 an oven rack that has oven securement structures that removably releasably secure the ovens in the oven rack.   
     
     
         15 . The portable cooking and delivery system of  claim 14  wherein the oven rack wherein at least one of the oven rack or the ovens have visual indicators spatially associated with respective ones of the ovens and which are indicative of a cooking status of the contents of the respective oven. 
     
     
         16 . The portable cooking and delivery system of  claim 1  wherein the vehicle is at least one of an electric vehicle or a hybrid vehicle, the vehicle has a number of door locks and a starter which are each responsive to a presence of a wireless transponder in a proximity thereof. 
     
     
         17 . portable cooking and delivery system of  claim 1  wherein at least one processor dynamically determines the estimated transit time for the respective vehicle to each of a plurality of destinations to be visited during the route based at least in part on updated location information for the respective vehicle. 
     
     
         18 . The portable cooking and delivery system of  claim 1  wherein at least one processor dynamically determines the estimated transit time for the respective vehicle to each of a plurality of destinations to be visited during the route based at least in part on updated traffic information for the respective route the vehicle is to transit. 
     
     
         19 . The portable cooking and delivery system of  claim 1  wherein at least one processor dynamically determines the estimated transit time for the respective vehicle to at least one of the plurality of destinations to be visited during the route based at least in part on an update of the respective route the vehicle is to transit. 
     
     
         20 . The portable cooking and delivery system of  claim 1  wherein, for at least one vehicle, at least one processor updates the respective route the vehicle is to transit, and dynamically determines the estimated transit time for the respective vehicle to each of at least some of the plurality of destinations to be visited during the route based at least in part on the updated respective route the vehicle is to transit. 
     
     
         21 . The portable cooking and delivery system of  claim 1  wherein, for at least one vehicle, at least one processor detects a variance in the transit of the respective route the vehicle is transiting, and dynamically determines the estimated transit time for the respective vehicle to each of at least some of the plurality of destinations to be visited during the route based at least in part on the detected variance in the transit of the respective route that the vehicle is transiting. 
     
     
         22 . A method of operation in a food preparation and delivery system, the method comprising:
 loading a first food item in a first oven carried by a vehicle;   automatically controlling, via at least one controller, at least one of a temperature or a cooking time of the first oven based at least in part on an estimated time to a first destination for the first food item to cook the first food item in the first oven while the vehicle travels to the first destination.   
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 22 , further comprising:
 loading a second food item in a second oven carried by the vehicle;   automatically controlling, via the at least one controller, at least one of a temperature or a cooking time of the second oven based at least in part on an estimated time to a second destination for the second food item to cook the second food item in the second oven while the vehicle travels to the second destination, wherein the second destination is different from the first destination.   
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 22 , further comprising:
 loading a second food item in a first oven carried by the vehicle, after reaching the first destination;   automatically controlling, via the at least one controller, at least one of a temperature or a cooking time of the first oven based at least in part on an estimated time to a second destination for the second food item to cook the second food item in the first oven while the vehicle travels to the second destination, wherein the second destination is different from the first destination.   
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 22 , further comprising:
 generating a signal by the at least one controller that stops the cooking of the contents of the first oven when a defined cooking time is reached for a set of temperatures at which the first oven was operated during at least part of a transit of the vehicle.   
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 22  wherein automatically controlling at least one of a temperature or a cooking time based at least in part on an estimated time to destination for the respective food item includes automatically controlling by the at least one controller at least one of the temperature or the cooking time based at least in part on a dynamically estimated time to destination, updated as the vehicle travels to the destinations. 
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 22 , further comprising:
 generating a signal by the at least one controller that stops the cooking of the contents of the oven when a defined cooking time is reached for a set of temperatures at which the respective oven was operated during at least part of a transit of the vehicle.   
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 22 , further comprising:
 generating a signal by the at least one controller that stops the cooking of the contents of the oven when a defined cooking time is reached for a set of temperatures at which the respective oven was operated during at least part of a transit of the vehicle based on the dynamically updated estimated transit time to a delivery destination of the contents of the respective oven.   
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 22 , further comprising:
 positioning a plurality of ovens, including the first oven, in a cargo compartment of a vehicle   
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 29 , further comprising:
 securing the ovens in at least one oven rack before positioning the plurality of ovens in the cargo compartment of the vehicle; and   securing the at least one oven rack in the cargo compartment of a vehicle to position the plurality of ovens in the cargo compartment of the vehicle.   
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 22 , further comprising:
 loading the first food item in the first oven without the first food item being touched by a human.   
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 31 , further comprising:
 withdrawing the first food item from the first oven without the first food item being touched by a human.   
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 32 , further comprising:
 loading the first food item into packaging without the first food item being touched by a human.   
     
     
         34 . The method of  claim 22 , further comprising:
 withdrawing the first food item from the first oven without the first food item being touched by a human.   
     
     
         35 . The method of  claim 34 , further comprising:
 loading the first food item into packaging without the first food item being touched by a human.