Method for controlling the heating of food stuff

Claim 1

A method for controlling the heating of a food stuff in a food heating apparatus which includes a high frequency oscillator, a food temperature measuring instrument, at least one of a humidity detector and a gas detector, and a control circuit for operating said oscillator, said controlling method comprising the steps of: setting, depending on a type of said food stuff to be heated, a heating period coefficient (K o ) specific to said food stuff and corresponding to a predetermined reference initial temperature of the foof stuff, said heating period coefficient being stored in said control circuit, measuring, before heating, an initial temperature (T i ) of the food stuff by said food temperature measuring instrument; starting the heating of the food stuff; calculating a corrected heating period coefficient (K) as a function of at least said measured initial temperature (T i ) of the food stuff, said heating period coefficient (K o ), and said predetermined reference initial temperature; heating the food stuff for a first time period (τ) until a value detected by one of said humidity detector and said gas detector reaches a predetermined level from a minimum value; counting said first time period (τ) from the start of heating until said value detected by one of said humidity detector and said gas detector reaches the predetermined level; and, further heating the food stuff for an additional second time period (Kτ), following said first time period, which is obtained by multiplying said first time period (τ) by said corrected heating period coefficient (K), whereby the heating time length for the food stuff is determined properly by eliminating errors due to differing initial temperatures of the food stuff.

Claim 2

A method for controlling the heating of a food stuff in a food heating apparatus which includes a high frequency oscillator, a food temperature measuring instrument, at least one of a humidity detector and a gas detector, and a control circuit for operating said oscillator, said controlling method comprising the steps of: setting, depending on a type of said food stuff to be heated, a heating period coefficient (K o ) specific to said food stuff and corresponding to a predetermined reference initial temperature of the foof stuff, said heating period coefficient being stored in said control circuit, measuring, before heating, an initial temperature (T i ) of the food stuff by said food temperature measuring instrument; starting the heating of the food stuff; calculating a corrected heating period coefficient (K) as a function of at least said measured initial temperature (T i ) of the food stuff, said heating period coefficient (K o ), and said predetermined reference initial temperature; heating the food stuff for a first time period (τ) until a value detected by one of said humidity detector and said gas detector reaches a predetermined level from a minimum value; counting said first time period (τ) from the start of heating until said value detected by one of said humidity detector and said gas detector reaches the predetermined level; and, further heating the food stuff for an additional second time period (Kτ), following said first time period, which is obtained by multiplying said first time period (τ) by said corrected heating period coefficient (K), whereby the heating time length for the food stuff is determined properly by eliminating errors due to differing initial temperatures of the food stuff.