GB2359148A

GB2359148A - Microwave oven time and temperature adjustment system

Info

Publication number: GB2359148A
Application number: GB0002722A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Richard Etheridge
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2000-02-08
Filing date: 2000-02-08
Publication date: 2001-08-15
Also published as: GB0002722D0

Abstract

A system that provides a single generic numerical code sequence for specifying cooking instructions to be used on microwave ovens irrespective of their individual oven power outputs (wattage). The ovens will be provided with a control system capable of interpreting the coded input covered by this invention. The control system will interpret this generic code and automatically adjust cooking time and temperature relative to the individual oven's power, so that foodstuff is cooked strictly in accordance with the food manufacturer's recommendations. The manufacturers recommendations will be based upon a standardised power level of 1000 watts and all types of microwave oven will interpret the manufacturer's code by basing any re-calculation on an industry standard formula that is encoded into each individual oven's control hierarchy. The standardised code defined is capable of stipulating different functions such as multi-part cooking processes including 'stand' and 'stir' requirements. The invention makes a contribution to health and safety in cooking.

Description

A_ 2359148 Microwave Oven Time and Temperature Adjustment System This

invention relates to Microwave oven cooking/heating times in relation to ovens of different wattages.

Microwaves are well known home appliances, which cook food by utilising microwaves.

Most manufacturers of microwaves sell a range of microwave ovens rated at different powers (wattage). They consequently cook foods at different speeds and achieve varying temperatures as a consequence. There are different ways of controlling the temperature inputs to the machine. The two principal methods are:

> A number scale which represents higher heat by ascending numbers, usually on a scale lying between 1 and 9.

> A simple scale based on approximate heat levels usually indicated as defrost, low heat, medium and maximum.

Food manufacturers tend to provide inf ormation on f ood packaging in order to advise users on recommended cooking times. It is not unusual for the food manufacturer in offering such instructions to restrict the stated oven power to two common oven wattages. However many people posses microwave ovens of different wattage to those stated on the food packaging, thus leading the user to estimate the heating level and cooking times associated with their particular microwave's power level. This constitutes a possible health hazard.

According to the present invention a system is provided that con be applied to any oven irrespective of its stated power output (wattage) thus allowing manufacturers of food products to provide just one set of cooking instructions which can then be automatically applied to all Microwave Ovens. This would be regardless of manufacturer or wattage, so long as the Microwave Oven's control system is capable of applying the system parameters contained in this invention.

The invention is a single numerical code sequence that the f ood manufacturer would provide on their packaging such that the complete cooking instructions are generically contained within this code. The instruction would be based on a standardised power rating of 1000 watts and then the processor on any individual oven would interpret the coded instruction and adjust the cooking time and temperature according to it's own design wattage.

Example 1

For the purpose of the invention a 1000-wett oven is adopted for which the food manufacturer would specify a code based on this invention.

For a food product that was to be cooked in a 1000-Watt oven tit full temperature (level 9) for 5 minutes the code provided would be:

9300 i.e. Temperature level 9 for 300 seconds (5) minutes Note: The processor and control unit f itted to the particular microwave oven in use would accommodate the conversions from the table below automatically. Therefore it would compensate for the departure from the standardised wattage printed on the packaging and apply the correct cooking time for the particular oven in use.

For any other oven of a dif f erent wattage the processor / control system would recalculate the cooking temperature and time instructions according to the table below.

Oven Specification Temperature Time (rounded to nearest second)

650 Watt 9 or Maximum 7 minutes and 42 Seconds 850 Watt 9 or Maximum 5 minutes and 53 Seconds 1300 Watt 9 or Maximum 3 minutes and 50 Seconds This table is constructed on the basis of an industry standard conversion for adjusting heating times at c particular temperature in relation to the differing Microwave power (wattage) outputs available.

Any suggested cooking time will therefore be given by following formula:

Standardised oven power (wattage) multiplied by the standardised time divided by the users oven wattage.

- Recalculated heating time Standardised oven wattage x Standardised cooking time Users oven Wattage For the example above an oven utilising the invention and rated at 650- wetts would recalculate the cooking time based on the code 9300 as follows:

((1000 x 5 minutes) / 650) i.e. a 650-watt oven would cook the food product for 7 minutes and 42 seconds at power level 9 (Maximum).

Or if the oven were rated at 850 watts then the cooking time would be:

((1000 x 5minutes) / 850) And so on.

i.e. an 850-watt oven would cook the food product for 5 minutes and 53 seconds at power level 9 (Maximum) Example 2

Many cooking instructions have more than one element, for example the foodstuff may require defrosting or to stand for a short period of time between two cooking processes. Food may also require stirring in between the various heating cycles throughout the cooking process.

In order to encompass this requirement the invention creates a longer numerical sequence but broken into sections by decimal points (.).

Number sections starting with a 0 (zero) indicate a wait period. e.g. 030 would be the code to wait 30 seconds Number sections starting with c double 00 (zero zero) indicate that a stir is required and this code would prompt the user through an audio signal and a display prompt on the microwave's display panel.

Example 1. 1 Hence to cook on defrost (power level 2) for 3 minutes (180) seconds and then to stand f or 1 minute (60) seconds followed by a f inal cooking period of 5 minutes (300) seconds at maximum (full power) (9) would require the following code.

2180.060.9300 A 1000-watt oven would cook the food dish as follows:

> 3 minutes at power level 2 (defrost) > Then wait for one minute > Then cook for 5 minutes at power level 9 (maximum).

While a 650-watt oven would automatically cook the food dish at the modified settings of:

> 4 Minutes and 37 Seconds at power level 2 (defrost) > Then wait for one minute > Then cook for 7 minutes and 42 seconds at power level 9 (Maximum) And so on.

Example 1.2

Adding a stir into the example 1.1 above would make it necessary to create the following code:

2180.00.060.9300 A 1000-watt oven would cook the food dish for:

> 3 minutes at power level 2 (defrost) > The user would be prompted to stir the foodstuff > The oven would wait for one minute > Then cook for 5 minutes at power level 9 (maximum).

> 4 Minutes and 37 Seconds at power level 2 (defrost) > The user would then be prompted to stir the foodstuff > The oven would wait for one minute > Then cook for 7 minutes and 42 seconds at power level 9 (Maximum) And so on.

Code Input Methods Methods of code entry could vary for the purpose of this invention and two suitable methods are explained.

Numeric Keypad.

The user would simply type in the standard code printed on the food packaging by means of a keypad mounted on the Microwave oven. The keypad Fig 1 would contain the numbers 0 (zero) to 9 and include a Decimal point (.). Once the code has been entered an (OK) key would be pressed to start the cooking cycle.

Bar Code Reader The food manufacturer in addition to providing the numerical code number could also print a bar code (Fig 2) onto the packaging that would contain the numerically coded cooking information encrypted within the Bar. Fig 2 shows the barcode for a cooking cycle numerically encoded as 2180.00.9300. A bar code reader built into the Microwave Oven would scan this code and set the cooking instructions automatically. There would need to be a check digit included in the bar code to ensure correct readings.

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Claims

Claims

1 A system of generic codes for setting accurate cooking times for microwave ovens that can be used to automatically cook foodstuffs irrespective of an oven's power rating.

Only a single cooking code would be required to be printed on food packaging based on a 1000-watt oven and any microwave oven using this system would automatically data compensate within its control function for that individual oven's power output.

The numbered code displayed on food packaging that relates to this invention will always be based on c 1000-Watt Microwave Oven. Consequently Microwave Oven's utilising this invention will be fitted with a processor unit that will automatically re-calculate the cooking instructions for time end temperature based upon the industry standard conversion outlined above.

The invention is a substantial contribution to Heath & Safety owing to the fact that it reduces the problems associated with incorrect cooking cycles sometimes encountered in microwave cooking because of poor interpretation of manufacturers cooking instructions.

This principle also applies to the heating/cooking of any item in a Microwave Oven utilising the invented system e.g. Gel f ffled warming bottles.