Tailored food preparation with an oven

Abstract

A method for operating a connected oven based on subjective user feedback, wherein the connected oven includes a set of in-cavity sensors configured to monitor the foodstuff throughout a cooking session; the method comprising: executing a cooking session according to an initial set of operation instructions to achieve a target food output condition; collecting subjective feedback values from the user for the resulting food output condition of the foodstuff after the cooking session; and updating the initial set of operation instructions based on the feedback values from the user.

We claim: 
     
         1 . A method, comprising:
 determining one or more food classes for a set of food items;   determining a set of operation instructions associated with a set of time points;   cooking the set of food items based on the set of operation instructions;   collecting a set of measurements for the set of food items while cooking the set of food items, wherein each measurement is associated with a time point from the set of time points;   collecting a feedback value for the set of food items from a user through a digital survey, wherein the feedback value is associated with a measurement from the set of measurements; and   generating an updated set of operation instructions for a food class of the one or more food classes based on the feedback value and the operation instruction that is associated with the time point associated with the measurement.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the set of measurements comprises images of the set of food items. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the digital survey comprises a display of the images, and wherein the feedback value comprises a selection of at least one of the images. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising: determining a spatial distribution of the set of food items based on the images, wherein the set of operation instructions is determined based on the spatial distribution. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising: determining a mass of the set of food items based on the images, wherein the set of operation instructions is determined based on the mass. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the food class for each of the food items in the set of food items is determined from the images of the set of food items, wherein the set of operation instructions is determined based on the food class for each of the food items in the set of food items. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the images are sampled by an optical sensor associated with the cooking apparatus. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the optical sensor is mounted to a cooking cavity retaining the set of food items while cooking. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising storing user preference data in association with the user, the user preference data comprising at least one of: the feedback value provided by the user or the updated set of operation instructions. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , further comprising: collecting and storing user preference data over multiple cooking sessions for multiple food classes, predicting a user preference for a second food class based on user preference data for the multiple food classes, and updating operation instructions for the second food class based on the predicted user preference. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the cooking apparatus is a grill. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the measurements comprise temperature readings collected by one or more temperature probes inserted into at least one of the food items from the set, and wherein the set of operation instructions comprise a set of target cavity temperature values. 
     
     
         13 . A cooking apparatus, comprising:
 a cooking cavity configured to cook a set of food items; and   a processing system, configured to:
 determine a food class for the set of food items; 
 determine a set of operation instructions for the food class, wherein each operation instruction is associated with a cooking session time point from a set of cooking session time points; 
 control the cooking cavity to cook the set of food items based on the set of operation instructions; and 
 determine a set of measurements while cooking the set of food items, wherein each measurement is associated with a cooking session time point from the set of cooking session time points; 
   wherein an updated set of operation instructions is determined based on user feedback associated with a measurement of the set of measurements.   
     
     
         14 . The cooking apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein the set of measurements comprise a set of images, wherein the user feedback comprises a selection of an image from the set of images, and wherein the updated set of operation instructions is determined based on the cooking session time point associated with the image. 
     
     
         15 . The cooking apparatus of  claim 14 , wherein the user feedback further comprises a subjective value, wherein the updated set of operation instructions is further determined based on the subjective value. 
     
     
         16 . The cooking apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein determining the updated set of operation instructions comprises determining a lower heating element energy output for a cooking session time point when the user feedback for an associated measurement is indicative of overcooking. 
     
     
         17 . The cooking apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein determining the updated set of operation instructions comprises:
 determining a time point associated with the measurement associated with the user feedback; and   terminating the set of operation instructions at the time point.   
     
     
         18 . The cooking apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein the set of measurements are sampled by a sensor mounted to the cooking cavity. 
     
     
         19 . The cooking apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein the food class for the set of food items is determined based on an image of the set of food items. 
     
     
         20 . The cooking apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein the cooking apparatus is a grill.