Wirelessly operable cooking appliance

Abstract

A wirelessly operable cooking appliance for cooking food products includes a wireless communication device. A computing device, such as a smartphone, can wirelessly communicate with the cooking appliance to control and monitor the cooking appliance.

1 - 33 . (canceled) 
     
     
         34 . A cooking appliance, comprising:
 a housing;   an electric heating element disposed within the housing;   at least one cooking plate mounted on the housing for cooking a food item, the at least one cooking plate comprising a food contact surface and a lower surface opposed to the food contact surface, and configured to be heated by the electric heating element;   a sensing device configured to detect an operational characteristic of the cooking appliance, the operational characteristic comprising a cooking plate temperature of the at least one cooking plate; and   a control device configured to:
 communicate with a user computing device via a wireless network; 
 receive a cooking configuration from the user computing device via the wireless network, the cooking configuration including at least a target cooking plate temperature of the at least one cooking plate; and 
 control the electric heating element to heat the at least one cooking plate to the target cooking plate temperature. 
   
     
     
         35 . The cooking appliance of  claim 34 , wherein the sensing device comprises a thermostat assembly having a sensing member configured to contact the lower surface of the at least one cooking plate, and wherein the thermostat assembly detects and monitors the temperature of the at least one cooking plate. 
     
     
         36 . The cooking appliance of  claim 34 , wherein the control device is further configured to:
 control the electric heating element to heat the at least one cooking plate to a predetermined temperature before the food item is placed onto the food contact surface of the at least one cooking plate; and   generate an alert indicating that the at least one cooking plate has reached the predetermined temperature.   
     
     
         37 . The cooking appliance of  claim 34 , wherein the control device is further configured to:
 transmit the operational characteristic to the user computing device.   
     
     
         38 . The cooking appliance of  claim 34 , further comprising:
 a temperature probe assembly configured to be inserted into the food item placed on the food contact surface of the at least one cooking plate and monitor an internal temperature of the food item.   
     
     
         39 . The cooking appliance of  claim 38 , wherein the temperature probe assembly is electrically connected to the control device and sends a signal indicative of the internal temperature of the food item to the control device. 
     
     
         40 . The cooking appliance of  claim 38 , wherein the temperature probe assembly is connected to the user computing device and sends a signal indicative of the internal temperature of the food item to the user computing device. 
     
     
         41 . The cooking appliance of  claim 34 , wherein the food contact surface is configured to provide a substantially flat surface, to shape a waffle, to provide a bake dish, to provide a plurality of bowl-type spaces, or to provide a plurality of dish-type spaces. 
     
     
         42 . The cooking appliance of  claim 34 , comprising a plurality of cooking plates. 
     
     
         43 . The cooking appliance of  claim 34 , wherein the cooking appliance is a countertop cooking appliance. 
     
     
         44 . The cooking appliance of  claim 34 , wherein the cooking appliance is a toaster oven. 
     
     
         45 . A cooking appliance, comprising:
 a first electric heating element;   a first cooking plate configured to contact a food item placed thereon and be heated by the first electric heating element; and   a first temperature sensing device configured to detect a temperature of the first cooking plate;   a second electric heating;   a second temperature sensing device configured to detect a temperature of the second cooking plate; and   a control device configured to:
 communicate with a user computing device via a wireless network; 
 receive a cooking configuration data from the user computing device via the wireless network, the cooking configuration comprising a target plate temperature; 
 control at least one of the first and second electric heating elements to heat at least one of the first and second cooking plates to the target cooking plate temperature. 
   
     
     
         46 . The cooking appliance of  claim 45 , further comprising:
 a temperature probe assembly comprising a temperature probe element, the temperature probe element configured to be inserted into the food item to measure an internal temperature of the food item;   
     
     
         47 . The cooking appliance of  claim 46 , wherein the control device is further configured to:
 control at least one of the first and second heating elements based on the cooking configuration data to heat the first cooking plate to reach the target cooking plate temperature until the internal temperature of the food item reaches a target probe temperature of the cooking configuration data.   
     
     
         48 . The cooking appliance of  claim 45 , wherein the control device is further configured to:
 control the at least one of the first and second electric heating elements to preheat the first cooking plate to a predetermined temperature before the food item is placed in the cooking appliance; and   generate an alert indicating that the cooking appliance is ready to receive the food item for cooking.   
     
     
         49 . The cooking appliance of  claim 45 , wherein the control device is further configured to:
 transmit the temperature of at least one of the first and second cooking plates detected by at least one of the first and second temperature sensing devices to the user computing device via the wireless network.   
     
     
         50 . The cooking appliance of  claim 45 , wherein the cooking configuration data further comprises at least one of: a target cooking temperature, a target probe temperature, a status of a preheat operation, and a status of a cooking operation. 
     
     
         51 . The cooking appliance of  claim 45 , further comprising:
 a first housing, wherein the first cooking plate is detachably mounted on the first housing;   a second housing, wherein the second cooking plate is detachably mounted on the second housing;   wherein, the first housing is pivotally coupled to the second housing.   
     
     
         52 . The cooking appliance of  claim 45 , further comprising:
 a probe storage configured to receive and store the temperature probe assembly.   
     
     
         53 . A cooking appliance, comprising:
 a bottom assembly comprising a bottom heating subassembly, the bottom heating subassembly comprising a bottom housing;   a heating element disposed within the bottom housing of the bottom heating subassembly;   a bottom cooking plate mounted on the bottom housing, wherein the bottom heating subassembly is configured to secure the bottom cooking plate thereon and to heat the bottom cooking plate;   a temperature sensing device configured to detect and monitor a temperature of the bottom cooking plate;   a top assembly;   a hinge assembly, wherein the bottom and top assemblies are coupled by the hinge assembly; and   a control device configured to:
 communicate with a user computing device via a wireless network; and 
 receive a cooking configuration from the user computing device via the wireless network, and control the heating element to heat the bottom cooking plate based upon the cooking configuration. 
   
     
     
         54 . The cooking appliance of  claim 53 , wherein,
 the cooking configuration comprises a target cooking plate temperature; and   the control device is further configured to control the heating element to heat the bottom cooking plate until the cooking plate temperature reaches the target cooking plate temperature.   
     
     
         55 . The cooking appliance of  claim 53 , further comprising: a temperature probe assembly configured to measure a temperature of a food item heated by the cooking appliance. 
     
     
         56 . The cooking appliance of  claim 53 , wherein,
 the cooking configuration comprises a target cooking temperature and a target probe temperature; and   the control device is further configured to the heating element to heat the bottom cooking plate until an internal temperature of the food item reaches the target cooking temperature or the target probe temperature.   
     
     
         57 . The cooking appliance of  claim 53 , wherein,
 the bottom housing has a forward end and a rearward end; and   the bottom cooking plate has a food contact surface configured to receive a food item, the food contact surface configured to be substantially flat from the rearward end to the forward end.   
     
     
         58 . A toaster oven, comprising:
 a housing;   an electric heating element disposed within the housing;   a sensing device configured to detect an operational characteristic of the toaster oven, the operational characteristic comprising a temperature within the toaster oven; and   a control device configured to:
 communicate with a user computing device via a wireless network; and 
 receive a cooking configuration from the user computing device via the wireless network, the cooking configuration including at least a target temperature within the housing of the toaster oven; and 
 control the electric heating element to heat the toaster oven to the target temperature.