WO2007009195A1

WO2007009195A1 - Cooking appliance

Info

Publication number: WO2007009195A1
Application number: PCT/BE2005/000119
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jean-Marie Jenicot
Original assignee: De Jelin S.A.
Priority date: 2005-07-18
Filing date: 2005-07-18
Publication date: 2007-01-25

Abstract

The invention concerns a cooking appliance for steam cooking of at least one food, said appliance comprising: a first container (1) designed to hold at least one liquid, a second container (2) designed to hold the food, said container being supported on the first container (1), and advantageously a lid (3), the second container having a base (11) associated with at least one calorie storing element (17).

Description

Cooking appliance

The present invention relates to a cooking appliance comprising at least one or more floors or baskets for cooking food with steam.

Steam cooking pans are known in which the food to be cooked is placed in a perforated basket having legs bearing against the bottom of the pan. To serve, the basket is intended to be removed from the pan or the cooked food is intended to be transferred to another dish. These operations create a rapid decrease in the temperature of cooked foods.

Also known are steam cooking pans, comprising several stages of cooking different foods.

Known pans have two major problems, namely:

1. Once cooked, food should be removed for placement in a dish. To keep food hot for as long as possible, it is advisable to preheat the dish. However, the simple operation of transferring food from a floor or basket to a dish is already a cause of a decrease in the temperature of the cooked food.

2. When cooking different foods in stacked tiers or baskets, the condensed water of one or more foods in an upper tier or basket will flow to foods in a lower tier or basket, while that cooking vapors of a lower stage pass into the cooking chamber of an upper stage. This causes food cooked on different floors to no longer have their original or original taste. Also known from document FR 1.231.309 (1960) a pot for cooking different foods. The pot has different cooking stages. Given the configuration of the cooking stages, these can not be used as dishes as such. In addition, the vapor formed in the lower container comes into contact with the first food to be cooked before coming into contact with the second food, etc. The taste of the second food will be altered by the cooking condensations of the first food.

To avoid this taste problem for foods located on the first floor, it has been proposed to use an inner cover to prevent the second stage condensate from falling on the first floor foods. In this cooking appliance, the steaming of foodstuffs will essentially be due to a cooking process in which the steam passes under the food to be cooked, thus in some cases provoking an over-cooking of the food on the lattice of a foodstuff. floor. Such over-cooking can cause degradation or loss of structure of the food, degradation may lead to the passage of food through the support mesh to another floor.

The present invention relates to a cooking appliance for solving the first problem and / or the second problem, advantageously both problems simultaneously.

The subject of the invention is a cooking appliance intended for steam cooking at least one foodstuff, this appliance comprising at least: a first container intended to contain at least one liquid, said container having a bottom adapted to be placed on a heat source or being adapted to be associated with a heat source, to transform the liquid at least partially into vapor, a second container for containing the food or foods to be steamed, said container being adapted to bear on the first container, this upper container having a bottom member having passages and at least one side wall having a upper edge and preferably one or passages, said container forming a cooking chamber above the bottom, and - advantageously a lid or a system forming a lid for at least the second or the last container in case a series of containers are stacked above the first container, said passages of the second or last container comprising one or more passages adapted for the passage of steam from the first container to the second or last container, and one or more passages adapted for the passage of liquid, in particular steam condensed from the second or last container to the first container.

According to the invention, the second or last container has a bottom associated with at least one calorie storage element, said one or more calorie storage elements being adapted, when brought to a temperature of at least 80 ^° C. during a baking step, to maintain at a temperature above 60 ° C, preferably at 65 ° C, preferably above 70 ^° C, for at least 15 minutes the bottom face of the open top container placed on a table in an atmosphere d air at 20 ⁰ C, said face being the side facing the chamber of said second container.

Advantageously, each steam food cooking vessel is surrounded by an outline or envelope forming a second wall to define with the side wall of the cooking vessel, one or more channels adapted to the circulation of steam to increase the circulation of steam around food. This makes it possible to significantly improve the heat exchange, to obtain a more homogeneous cooking, etc. and therefore significantly reduce the cooking time.

In its simplest embodiment, the second container is adapted to be placed or extend into the first container and serves as a sort of basket to receive the food to be cooked and the cooked food. In this embodiment, the second container advantageously comprises a flange adapted to bear substantially sealingly on the upper edge of the first container. Advantageously, a lid closes the opening or the upper openings of the second container or the upper opening of the first container.

In a particular embodiment, the cooking apparatus comprises at least:

- a lower container for containing at least one liquid, said container having a bottom adapted to be placed on a heat source, and at least one side wall with a rim so as to define a receiving chamber adapted to contain said liquid cooking intended to be converted at least partially into steam,

a first upper receptacle adapted to bear substantially sealingly on the lower receptacle, in particular along the upper edge of this lower receptacle, this upper receptacle having a bottom element having passages and at least one side wall having a upper edge, said container forming a reception chamber above the bottom, and

a system intended to bear substantially sealingly on the upper edge of the upper container so as to form with it a set of distinct chambers communicating with each other, said assembly being substantially sealed, said passages from the bottom of the container; upper comprising one or more passages adapted for the passage of steam from the lower container to the upper container, and one or passages adapted for the passage of liquid, in particular condensed vapor from the upper container to the lower container.

In a simple form, the first container is a tank adapted to be heated by a heat source, such as a heating plate, while the upper container is a tank adapted to be placed above the first tank and to seal at least partially the upper opening of the first container Advantageously, a cover covers the upper opening of the second container.

According to the invention comprising at least one lower container and one upper container, the upper container has a bottom advantageously associated with at least one steam calorie storage element of the lower container, said one or more calorie storage elements being adapted, once worn. at a temperature of at least 80 ^° C. during a firing step, to maintain at a temperature above 60 ^° C., advantageously at 65 ° C., preferably greater than 70 ^° C., for at least 15 minutes the face the bottom of the open top container placed on a table in an air atmosphere at 20 ⁰ C, said face being the side facing the chamber of said upper container.

When cooking food placed in the second container or in the upper container by means of water vapor formed in the lower container or first container, the one or more heat accumulators are loaded with calories. Their temperature then increases gradually to reach a temperature close to the temperature of the steam, that is to say a temperature close to 100 ^° C. These calories accumulated during the cooking step can be restored once the second container or the upper container placed at the table to keep food at a good temperature for a sufficient time. These accumulators also make it possible to control the temperature of the bottom of the second container or the upper container during a cooking phase, for example to prevent overcooking of food in contact with said bottom of the second container or the upper container. .

Advantageously, a thermal insulation layer or a means creating a thermal insulation extends between the storage cell and the bottom wall of the cooking chamber, said layer or means being adapted so that when the storage cell has a temperature of more than 90 ⁰ C, and that the second container or first upper container is placed on a table, the temperature of the bottom face facing the cooking chamber (i.e. food) is less than 80 ° C, preferably less than about 70 ° C one minute after placement of the container on the table. This prevents that once the steam supply is finished or once the container is placed on a table, that food continues to be cooked. This also makes it possible to use the calories of the accumulator to keep the food warm without or substantially without subsequent cooking of the food present in the upper container or the second container.

Preferably, the insulation layer or insulating means is an air layer located between the storage cell and the bottom wall of the cooking chamber. Advantageously, the metal bottom wall is at a distance from the heat accumulator of at least 0.5 mm, for example at a distance of 1 to 5 mm.

According to one embodiment, the system intended to bear on the upper edge of the upper container comprises at least one container with a flange or plate adapted to bear substantially sealingly on the upper edge of the upper container and at least one cover for close the top opening of a system container.

According to an advantageous embodiment, the bottom of the upper container or the second container has at least one side opposite to that facing the chamber of said upper container a thermally insulating element. Such an insulating member is advantageous for limiting heat loss outwardly when the upper container is placed on a table (this allows the calories stored in the accumulator to be best used to keep food warm once it has been removed. supply of calories via the finished lower container), but also to limit the passage of calories from the lower container to the upper container through the bottom face of the upper container facing the lower container. To avoid such losses, it is also advantageous to place the container with food when steamed in a suitable support for dressing the container while providing thermal insulation.

According to an advantageous embodiment, the bottom of the upper container or the second container comprises an assembly comprising an insulating layer and a calorie-accumulating element, the calorie-accumulating element being situated between the cooking chamber of the upper container and the insulation layer. According to a particular embodiment, the accumulator element is located between two elements or layers of thermal insulation, the element or the insulating layer turned towards the outside has insulation characteristics greater than those of the element or insulation layer facing the bottom wall of the container.

Preferably, the thermally insulating element or the insulation layer turned towards the lower container has thermal insulation properties such that when the upper container with the calorie accumulator element with a temperature of 80 ^° C. is placed on a table in an atmosphere of 20 ⁰ C, the temperature of the bottom face in contact with the table is less than 40 ⁰ C 5 minutes after placement of the upper container on the table.

To avoid or reduce heat loss, when the upper container is placed on a table, the upper container is advantageously provided with tabs to limit the contact surface between the table and the upper container or higher raising (s) or support (s) or envelope surrounding the upper container having a height greater than that of the container or a height adapted so that the bottom of the container does not touch the table. The use of an extension or envelope surrounding the cooking vessel improves the steam cooking. Indeed, in this case the or each container is surrounded by a riser or envelope delimiting by its contour a second sealed wall. This constitution offers the particularity of allowing the steam emitted by the heating vessel to circulate between the wall riser or envelope and the vertical wall of the basket, and to enter the container or cooking basket by lateral orifices increasing the flow and the flow of steam around the food. This makes it possible to increase the heat transfer between the steam and the food, to ensure a better distribution of the steam, a more regular cooking of food, etc. This better heat exchange makes it possible to reduce the cooking time.

According to a particularly advantageous embodiment, the system intended to bear on the upper edge of the upper container comprises at least one container adapted to bear substantially sealingly on the upper edge of the upper container and at least one cover for sealing the top opening of a system container. In this embodiment, the apparatus takes the form of a multi-stage cooking apparatus, i.e. with a series of different steam cooking stages. Each stage then makes it possible to cook distinct foods separately. Advantageously, the different containers stacked one above the other and placed above the lower container are advantageously interchangeable in position, each container can be placed directly above the lower container. In a still more particular embodiment, the lower container and the upper container (s) may be used interchangeably.

Preferably, a thermal insulation layer such as an air layer extends between the storage cell and the bottom wall of the cooking chamber, said layer being adapted so that when the storage cell has a temperature more than 90 ° C and that the upper container is placed on a table, the temperature of the bottom face facing the cooking chamber is less than 80 ^° C, preferably less than about 70 ^° C one minute after placement of the container on the table. According to an advantageous characteristic, one or more containers of the system have a bottom associated with at least one calorie-accumulating element, said one or more calorie storage elements being adapted, when brought to a temperature of at least 80.degree. a cooking step, to maintain at a temperature above 60 ⁰ C for at least 15 minutes the bottom face of the open container placed on a table in an air atmosphere at 20 ⁰ C, said face being turned towards the chamber of cooking of the container considered.

Preferably, the bottom of the container considered has at least towards its opposite side to that facing the chamber of said container a member or a layer of thermal insulation.

More particularly, the bottom of the upper container comprises an assembly comprising an insulation layer and a calorie storage element, the calorie accumulator element being located between the cooking chamber of the container in question and the insulation layer, in particular between a thermal insulation layer.

According to a detail of embodiment, the side wall or walls are provided with one or calorie storage elements.

The invention also relates to a cooking appliance comprising at least:

a first upper container adapted to bear substantially sealingly on the lower container, in particular along the upper edge of this lower container, this upper container having a bottom-forming element having passages and at least one side wall having an upper edge, said container forming a reception chamber above the bottom, and

a system intended to bear substantially sealingly on the upper edge of the upper container so as to form with a set of distinct chambers communicating with each other, said assembly being substantially sealed, said passages from the bottom of the upper container; comprising one or more passages adapted for the passage of steam from the lower container to the upper container, and one or more passages adapted for the passage of liquid, in particular condensed vapor from the upper container to the lower container, in particular an apparatus such as described according to the first subject of the invention, characterized in that the upper container and / or one or more containers of the system comprises:

an outer side wall, an inner side wall remote from the outer side wall to form a distribution chamber adapted to receive steam from a container located under the container in question, said wall having one or more passages between the chamber; of distribution and the cooking chamber, and

- A bottom defining with the inner wall and optionally with the outer wall the cooking chamber, said bottom having at least one liquid collector, said liquid collector having at least one passage adapted to flow the liquid to the lower container possibly via one or more intermediate containers.

Advantageously, the apparatus comprises at least one lower container, a first upper container and a second upper container adapted to bear on the first upper container. Such an apparatus is then advantageously characterized in that the one or more passages of the liquid collector of the second upper container are adapted to cause the liquid collected from the second receptacle to fall into the liquid collector of the first upper receptacle or into a conduit of the first upper receptacle. bringing the collected liquid from the second collecting container, said duct extending into the cooking chamber of the first upper container and / or in the dispensing chamber of the first upper container and / or out of the cooking chamber.

Preferably, the liquid collector of a container is a manifold extending at the periphery of the bottom of the cooking chamber.

According to an advantageous detail, the dispensing chamber of a container extends around the cooking chamber of the container in question. Preferably, the inner side wall has distributed passages for supplying steam to the center of the cooking chamber at least in two different, advantageously opposite, directions.

More particularly, the inner side wall has passages for bringing the steam into the cooking chamber in at least three different directions, in particular in four different directions, two of which are opposed to each other and the other two are also opposed to each other.

The invention also relates to the use of a cooking appliance according to one of the inventions for steaming different foods simultaneously.

Features and details of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description in which reference is made to the accompanying drawings.

In these drawings,

- Figure 1 is a schematic perspective view of the elements constituting an embodiment of an apparatus according to the invention;

- Figure 2 is a sectional view of the apparatus of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a sectional view on a larger scale of the upper container of the apparatus of Figure 1;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of another embodiment of an apparatus according to the invention; FIG. 5 shows in perspective a cooking vessel of the apparatus of FIG. 4,

Figure 6 shows in perspective an envelope of the cooking apparatus of Figure 4, Figure 7 is a sectional view of cooking vessels of Figure 5 nested within each other;

FIG. 8 is a sectional view of envelopes of FIG. 6 nested one inside the other,

- Figure 9 is a sectional view of a support for receiving a cooking vessel with the cooked food.

The apparatus of Figure 1 comprises:

a lower container 1 intended to contain water intended to be transformed into steam; an upper container intended to extend at least partially in the lower container, and

a lid 3 adapted to cover the upper opening 4 of the upper container 2.

The lower container 1 is of the type having a bottom 5 adapted to be placed on a heat source, such as an electric plate. To facilitate the handling of the container 1, handles 6 are provided.

In one embodiment, the container 1 comprises a heating resistor 7 comprising a connector 8, said resistor (shown in phantom) being adapted to heat the water of the container 1 and transform it into vapor. In such an embodiment, the container is advantageously provided with a control system, such as a thermostat, water level, etc.

The lower container 1 has an upper edge 9 in the form of a flat substantially parallel to the bottom 5 of the container 1. The container 2 has a shape adapted to be placed in the container 1. This container 2 has an upper flange 10 adapted to bear on the rim 9 of the container 1. When the rim 10 of the container 2 bears on the edge 9 of the container 1, the bottom 11 of the container 2 is remote from the bottom 5 of the container 1. The quantity of water present in the chamber 1 is advantageously such that the level of water in the container 1 is lower than the lower level of the bottom 11 (lower at the peripheral groove 1 IB) of the receptacle 2 placed in the receptacle 1, to prevent liquid hot water from the receptacle 1 from passing into the receptacle 2. The base 11 comprises a central part 1 IA that is substantially curved or inclined so that any water present on this wall flows to a peripheral groove HB. This peripheral groove HB acts as a liquid water collector. The peripheral groove has passages 12 adapted to recycle the water collected to the container 1. The container 2 has between its bottom (or more precisely the peripheral groove 1IB) and the flat rim 10, side walls 13 having openings 14 These side walls 13 are spaced from the side walls 15 of the container 1 so as to define between these walls 13,15 a steam distribution chamber 16. The vapor formed in the bottom of the container 1 passing through the distribution chamber 16 before passing into the container 2 through the passages 14. The upper portion 13A of the side walls 13 (adjacent portion 13A of the flange 10) is adapted to substantially conform to the The passages or perforations 14 extend in the lower part 13B of the side walls, adjacent part of the collecting groove HB.

Below its domed bottom 1A, the container comprises a calorie accumulator 17. This calorie accumulator 17 is in the form of a flat element carried by a plate 18 welded to the container 2. The calorie accumulator 17 is remote from the bottom 5 of the container 2, for example with a distance "d" varying between 1 and 5mm. The maximum height H of the bottom relative to the lower level N1 of the peripheral groove HB is approximately 9 mm.

Possibly a seal 19 is interposed between the edge 9 and the flange 10, to ensure a sufficient seal between said edge 9 and flange 10.

The lid 3 is adapted to close the upper opening of the container 2, this lid has a central handle 20. The lid 3 is advantageously provided with means for holding the lid closed on the container 1. Optionally, the lid is provided with a or multiple ports to prevent overpressure or overpressure.

The lower container 1, the upper container 2 and the lid 3 are made for example of metal, such as aluminum, but preferably stainless steel.

The operation of the apparatus of Figure 1 is apparent from Figure 3.

The container 1 is filled with water to a level between a minimum level MIN and a maximum level MAX adapted so that the water does not touch the container 2 when the latter is carried by the edge 9 of the container 1.

The container 2 is placed in the container 1 and the food A is placed on the bottom 5 of the container 2. The lid 3 is placed above the container 2.

The container 1 is placed on a heating plate (eg electric) to boil the water and transform it at least partially into steam. The steam passes into the distribution chamber 16 before passing into the container 2 through the passages 14. The steam is then used to cook the food. The steam condenses at least partially on the food, on the walls or on the lids. The water thus formed is collected in the peripheral groove IB to return to the container 1 via the openings 12. During this cooking step, the accumulator 17 is charged in calories so as to avoid that at the start of cooking too many calories pass through the bottom 5, and to ensure for the cooked food, a sufficient temperature for a period of time sufficient, once the container 1 is removed from the heating plate, in particular once the container 2 is removed from the container 1.

The accumulator element 17 of calories is suitable once the cooking is complete and once brought to a temperature of at least 80 ° C during this cooking step, to maintain a temperature greater than 60 ⁰ C, for at least 15 minutes the bottom face 11 of the open top container placed on a table in an air atmosphere at 20 ⁰ C, said side being the side facing the chamber of said second container.

The air insulation layer is sufficient to avoid excessive temperature of this face, for example to avoid a temperature above 75 ° C.

Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view of another embodiment of an apparatus according to the invention.

The apparatus comprises:

- A lower container 1 similar to that shown in Figure 1, said container being adapted to contain the water to be converted into steam;

a food-cooking container 2 similar to that shown in FIG. 1, except that the flat flange 10 bearing on the upper edge 9 of the container 1 has large-diameter passages for the passage of steam; the distribution chamber 16 defined between the containers 1 and 2 to an upper distribution chamber 33;

an envelope 27 having at its lower end a profiled rim 28 for covering the flat rim 10 of the cooking vessel 2 and an upper edge 29 (with passages 29A) intended to serve as support for another cooking vessel 30, said envelope being provided with handles 6;

- A cooking vessel 30 similar to the cooking vessel 2, the upper flat flange 31 (with passages 25) bears on the upper edge 29 of the casing 27 so as to define between the side wall 32 of the casing 27 and the side wall 13 (with the perforations 14) a steam distribution chamber 33 to the cooking chamber of the container via the passages 14, the bottom of the container 30 sealing substantially completely the upper opening of the container 2; an envelope 37 having at its lower end a profiled rim 38 for covering the flat rim 31 of the cooking vessel 30 and an upper edge 39 (with passages 39A) intended to serve as a support for another cooking vessel 40, said envelope being provided with handles 28;

a cooking vessel 40 similar to the cooking vessel 2 and 30, the flat upper rim 41 (with passages 25) being supported on the upper edge 39 of the envelope 37 so as to define between the lateral wall 42 of the 37 and the side wall 13 (with the perforations 14) of the container 40 a steam distribution chamber 43 to the cooking chamber of the container via the passages 14, the bottom of the container 40 substantially completely closing the upper opening of the chamber cooking the container 30; and

a lid 3 adapted to cover the passages 25 of the upper flat rim of the cooking vessel 40 and the upper opening of the container 40.

The containers 2, 30 and 40 each comprise a calorie accumulator 17 housed in a sealed chamber located under the bottom of the cooking chamber.

The envelopes 27, 37 advantageously have a shape adapted to allow their interlocking into one another when they are not used, to facilitate their storage. Likewise, the interchangeable cooking vessels 2, 30, 40 have a shape adapted to fit into each other when not in use (see FIGS. 7 and 8). Figure 5 shows in perspective a cooking vessel of Figure 4, while Figure 6 shows in perspective an envelope 27 or 37 of the cooking apparatus of Figure 4.

The operation of the apparatus of FIG. 4 is as follows:

The foods to be cooked separately are placed in the different cooking containers 2, 30, 40.

The container 1 is placed on a heat source to boil the water and turn it into steam.

The steam thus formed passes into the distribution chamber 16, then via the passage 25 into the distribution chamber 33, and finally via the passage 25 of the container 30 into the distribution chamber 43. The steam passes from these distribution chambers into the different cooking chambers through the passages or perforations 14 of the side walls 13 of the various cooking containers 26.

The steam passing through the various cooking chambers condenses at least partially on the food to be cooked and on the walls and on the lid.

Condensed waters on food or from food flow to the peripheral groove HB of the different bottoms 11 of the cooking vessels thanks to the substantially convex shape of the bottoms. For each cooking vessel, the condensed water on the walls will flow into the peripheral groove HB of the container in question.

The water collected in the peripheral groove 1IB of the cooking vessel 40 falls via the passages 12 into the peripheral channel 1IB of the container 30. The water collected in the peripheral groove 1IB of the cooking vessel 30 falls in the peripheral groove 1IB of the container 6. The water collected in the groove IB 1 of the container 2 return in turn in the container 1 to be converted at least partially into steam.

The steam distribution system from the distribution chambers surrounding the cooking chambers allows a lateral supply of substantially uniform steam in the cooking chambers. Such a lateral supply also makes it possible to ensure large vapor flow rates entering the cooking chambers around the food to be cooked. This ensures an excellent heat exchange between the steam and the food to cook, resulting in a reduced cooking time.

Figure 9 is a cross-sectional view of a support adapted to receive a cooking vessel. This support 100 (with handles 6) forms an envelope having an opening 101 for the introduction of the container 2 into the inner chamber 102 of the envelope, a bottom 103 for collecting the water escaping from the cooking vessel, and a flange 104 serving to support the rim of the container.

Claims

claims

1. A cooking appliance intended for steaming at least one foodstuff, this appliance comprising at least: a first container intended to contain at least one liquid, said container having a bottom adapted to be placed on a source of heat pure transforming the liquid at least partially into vapor or being adapted to be associated with a heat source, a second container for containing the food or food to be steamed, said container being adapted to bear on the first container, this upper container having a bottom member having passages and at least one side wall having an upper edge and preferably one or more passages, said container forming a cooking chamber above the bottom, and - advantageously a cover or a system forming a lid for at least the second container, said passages of the second container comprising one or s adapted passages for the passage of steam from the first container to the second container, and one or passages adapted for the passage of liquid, in particular condensed vapor from the second container to the first container, characterized in that the second container has a bottom associated with at least one calorie storage element, said one or more calorie storage elements being adapted, when brought to a temperature of at least 80 ^° C. during a cooking step, to maintain a temperature greater than 60 ^° C. ⁰ C, preferably at 65 ° C, preferably greater than about 7O ⁰ C for at least 15 minutes the bottom face of the open top container placed on a table in an air atmosphere at 20 ⁰ C, said face being the face turned towards the chamber of said second container.

2. Cooking appliance according to claim 1, this appliance comprising at least: - a lower container for containing at least one liquid, said container having a bottom adapted to be placed on a heat source, and at least one side wall with a rim so as to define a receiving chamber adapted to contain said liquid cooking intended to be converted at least partially into steam,

a first upper receptacle adapted to bear substantially sealingly on the lower receptacle, in particular along the upper edge of this lower receptacle, this upper receptacle having a bottom element having passages and at least one side wall having a upper edge, said container forming a cooking chamber above the bottom, and

a system intended to bear substantially tightly on the upper edge of the upper container so as to form with a set of distinct chambers communicating with each other, said assembly being substantially sealed, said passages from the bottom of the container; upper unit comprising one or more passages adapted for the passage of steam from the lower container to the upper container, and one or passages adapted for the passage of liquid, in particular condensed vapor from the upper container to the lower container, characterized in that the first upper container has a bottom associated with at least one calorie storage element, said one or more calorie storage elements being adapted, when brought to a temperature of at least 80 ^° C. during a cooking step, to maintain a temperature greater than 60 ^° C., advantageously greater than 65 ° C., preferably greater than 65 ° C. about 70 ⁰ C, for at least 15 minutes the bottom face of the first open top container placed on a table in an air atmosphere at 20 ⁰ C, said face being the side facing the chamber of said first upper container.

3. Apparatus according to any one of claims 1 and 2, characterized in that a layer or a thermal insulation means extends between the storage element and the bottom wall of the cooking chamber, said layer or said means being adapted so that when the accumulator element has a temperature of more than 90 ⁰ C and the second container or first upper container is placed on a table, the temperature of the bottom face facing the cooking chamber is less than 80 ° C, preferably less than about 70 ⁰ C one minute after placing the container on the table.

4. Apparatus according to claim 3, characterized in that the insulating layer or the insulating means is an air layer between the accumulator element and the bottom wall of the cooking chamber.

5. Apparatus according to claim 2, characterized in that the system intended to bear on the upper edge of the upper container comprises, on the one hand, at least one container adapted to bear substantially sealingly on the upper edge of the container upper and, on the other hand, at least one cover for closing the top opening of a container of the system.

6. Apparatus according to claim 5, characterized in that one or more containers of the system have a bottom associated with at least one calorie storage element, said one or more calorie storage elements being adapted, once brought to a temperature of at least 8O ⁰ C during a cooking step, to maintain at a temperature above 65 ° C for at least 15 minutes the bottom face of the open container placed on a table in an air atmosphere at 20 ⁰ C, said face being turned towards the cooking chamber of the container in question.

7. Apparatus according to claim 6, characterized in that the bottom of the container considered has at least towards its opposite side to that facing the chamber of said container considered a thermally insulating element.

8. Apparatus according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that the bottom of the upper container comprises an assembly comprising an insulation layer and a calorie storage element, the insulation layer being located between the element accumulator of calories and the bottom wall of the cooking chamber of the container considered.

9. Apparatus according to any one of claims 5 to 8, characterized in that a thermal insulation layer, in particular an air layer, extends between the accumulator element and the bottom wall of the chamber cooking, said layer being adapted so that when the storage element has a temperature of more than 90 ⁰ C and the upper container is placed on a table, the temperature of the bottom face facing the cooking chamber is less than 80 ° C, preferably less than about 70 ⁰ C one minute after placing the container on the table.

10. Apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the bottom of the upper container or the second container has at least towards its side opposite to that facing the chamber of said upper container or second container a thermally insulating element .

11. Apparatus according to claim 10, characterized in that the bottom of the upper container comprises an assembly comprising an insulation layer and a calorie storage element, the calorie accumulator element being located between the cooking chamber of the upper container or the second container and the insulation layer.

12. Apparatus according to any one of claims 10 and 11, characterized in that the thermally insulating element or the insulating layer has insulating properties such as when the upper container with the calorie accumulator element with a temperature of 80 ⁰ C is placed on a table in an atmosphere of 20 ⁰ C, the temperature of the bottom face in contact with the table is less than 40 ⁰ C 5 minutes after the placement of the upper container on the table.

13. At least one cooking appliance according to claim 2, characterized in that the upper container and / or one or more containers of the system comprises:

an outer side wall,

an inner side wall remote from the outer side wall to form a distribution chamber adapted to receive steam from a container located under the container in question, said wall having one or more passages between the distribution chamber and the chamber of cooking, and

Cooking appliance according to claim 13, comprising at least one lower container, a first upper container and a second upper container adapted to bear on the first upper container, characterized in that the liquid collector passage (s) of the second upper container are adapted to drop the collected liquid from the second container into the liquid collector of the first upper container or into a conduit of the first upper container bringing the collected liquid from the second collection container, said conduit extending into the cooking chamber of the first upper container and / or in the dispensing chamber of the first upper container and / or out of the cooking chamber.

15. Apparatus according to claim 14, characterized in that the liquid collector of a container is a manifold extending at the periphery of the bottom of the cooking chamber.

16. Apparatus according to claim 14 or 15, characterized in that the distribution chamber of a container extends around the cooking chamber of the container considered.

17. Apparatus according to claim 13, characterized in that the inner side wall has distributed passages for supplying steam towards the center of the cooking chamber at least in two different, advantageously opposite directions.

Cooking appliance according to Claim 14, characterized in that the inner side wall has passages for feeding the steam into the cooking chamber in at least three different directions, in particular in at least four different directions, two of which are opposite. to each other and two others are equally opposed to each other.

19. Use of a cooking appliance according to any one of the preceding claims for steaming different foods.