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Abstract

Method and apparatus for controlling the food cooking time in a microprocessor controlled microwave oven in response to the remotely sensed condition of the food being heated. The average food temperature is constantly derived during cooking, utilizing user entered data on the food category, the food's initial mass, and the measured input power to the magnetron. The average current and average peak voltage input to the magnetron are sensed and the absorbed power in the food is derived using the magnetron efficiency. A self-calibrating analog to digital converter provides the magnetron input power in digital form for a microprocessor controller. In one embodiment the microprocessor sequentially derives the average food temperature as a function of cooking time using the entered food data, stored cooking coefficients previously determined by regression analysis, and the measured magnetron input power. In the preferred embodiment the microprocessor derives the cooking time as a function of the average food temperature using the entered food data, a stored constant previously determined by regression analysis, and the measured magnetron input power. In either embodiment means are provided so that the user may select the final food temperature within the range from 'rare' to ' well done' and cooking continues until the desired final temperature is reached.

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First Claim