Cooking appliance

Claim 1

A COOKING APPLIANCE, COMPRISING, IN COMBINATION, A COOKING CHAMBER HAVING A CLOSURE; A FIRST ELECTRICAL HEATING UNIT WITHIN SAID CHAMBER IN AN UPPER PORTION THEREOF; A SECOND ELECTRICAL HEATING UNIT DISPOSED WHOLLY EXTERNALLY OF SAID COOKING CHAMBER IN GOOD HEAT TRANSFER RELATION TO THE BASE WALL OF SAID CHAMBER; A WATER INLET SYSTEM FOR INTRODUCING WATER INTO SAID CHAMBER, SAID INLET SYSTEM INCLUDING A SPRAYING DEVICE WITHIN SAID CHAMBER FOR DISTRIBUTING SAID WATER OVER A SUBSTANTIAL AREA OF SAID BASE WALL; A FIRST THERMOSTAT MEANS FOR CONTROLLING ELECTRICAL ENERGY TO SAID SECOND NAMED HEATING UNIT TO MAINTAIN THE SAID BASE WALL AT A TEMPERATURE WHEREBY WATER IMPINGING THEREON WILL BE CONVERTED TO STEAM AT ABOVE ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE; A SECOND THERMOSTAT MEANS FOR CONTROLLING FLOW OF WATER THROUGH SAID WATER INLET SYSTEM TO DELAY INTRODUCTION OF WATER INTO SAID CHAMBER UNTIL THE BASE THEREOF IS AT A TEMPERATURE SUFFICIENT TO CONVERT SAID WATER INTO STEAM; A FIRST TIME-CONTROLLED SWITCH FOR ENERGIZING SAID FIRST-NAMED HEATING UNIT FOR A PREDETERMINED PERIOD; A SECOND TIME-CONTROLLED SWITCH FOR ENERGIZING SAID SECOND-NAMED HEATING UNIT FOR A PREDETERMINED PERIOD, SAID TIME SWITCHES BEING ARRANGED FOR INDIVIDUAL OR CONJOINT OPERATION; AND A THIRD THERMOSTAT MEANS FOR DE-ENERGIZING THE SAID HEATING UNITS IN THE CIRCUMSTANCE SAID BASE WALL ATTAINS A PREDETERMINED TEMPERATURE.