System and method for heating food

1 . An insert, comprising:

a pair of elements that are rotatable about a hinge from an open position to a closed position;

wherein the pair of elements are made from solid continuous material excluding openings across an external surface of the insert such that the insert in the closed position defines a recess to hold food and wherein a width of the insert in the closed position is based on a width of a slot in a heating device such that the external surface of the insert is configured to thermally engage heating elements of the heating device when placed in the slot;

wherein the hinge is along a bottom of the insert and wherein the insert in the closed position defines an opening along a top of the insert that is opposite from the bottom of the insert;

and wherein the insert further comprises a clip that is rotatable about a second hinge on the top of the insert such that the clip is rotatable from an open position where the opening is open to a closed position where the opening is closed.

2 . The insert of claim 1 , wherein the insert is made from non-stick thermally conductive material.

3 . The insert of claim 2 , wherein the insert is made stainless steel material.

4 . The insert of claim 1 , wherein the width of the insert in the closed position is based on the width of the slot in the heating device such that the insert in the closed position is configured to thermally engage the heating elements of the heating device when placed in the slot.

5 . The insert of claim 1 , wherein the insert defines the opening along the top and the recess between the pair of elements in the closed position such that the opening is continuous with the recess.

6 . The insert of claim 1 , further comprising a seal that extends around a perimeter of each of the pair of elements such that an air-tight seal is provided around the perimeter of the insert in the closed position.

7 . The insert of claim 1 , further comprising at least one flange that extends from the top of the insert in an orthogonal direction relative to opposing sides of the insert.

8 . A system, comprising:

a first insert, comprising:

a pair of elements that are rotatable about a hinge from an open position to a closed position:

wherein the pair of elements of the first insert are made from solid continuous material excluding openings across an external surface of the first insert such that the first insert in the closed position defines a recess to hold a sandwich and/or meat and wherein a width of the first insert in the closed position is based on a width of at least one slot in a heating device such that the external surface of the first insert is configured to thermally engage a pair of heating elements of the heating device when placed in the at least one slot;

a second insert that is different from the first insert, said second insert comprising:

a pair of elements that are rotatable about a hinge from an open position to a closed position;

wherein the pair of elements of the second insert are made from solid continuous material excluding openings across an external surface of the second insert such that the second insert in the closed position defines a recess to hold food and wherein a width of the second insert in the closed position is based on the width of the at least one slot in the heating device such that the external surface of the second insert is configured to thermally engage the pair of heating elements of the heating device when placed in the at least one slot;

wherein the second insert in the closed position defines an opening in a top of the second insert opposite from a bottom of the second insert comprising the hinge, wherein the opening is configured to pour liquid and wherein an inner surface of each element of the pair of elements of the second insert comprises a plurality of regular spaced protrusions to form a waffle;

wherein the heating device comprises a housing with a top, a bottom, and a pair of opposite sides;

the at least one slot defined by the housing, said at least one slot extending in a direction from the top to the bottom;

the pair of heating elements adjacent the at least one slot; and

wherein the pair of heating elements are configured to thermally couple with the pair of elements of the first insert and the second insert upon placement of the first insert or the second insert in the at least one slot.

9 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the at least one slot comprises a pair of slots defined by the housing, wherein the pair of heating elements comprises a first pair of heating elements adjacent a first slot of the pair of slots and a second pair of heating elements adjacent a second slot of the pair of slots, and wherein a pair of levers are along one of the sides of the housing such that a first lever of the pair of levers is operatively connected to the first pair of heating elements and a second lever of the pair of levers is operatively connected to the second pair of heating elements.

10 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the first pair of heating elements and the second pair of heating elements include a shared heating element positioned between the first and second slots.

11 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the pair of heating elements are positioned on opposite sides of the at least one slot and wherein each heating element of the pair of heating elements comprises a heat source and a non-stick thermally conductive element with an inner surface thermally coupled with the heat source and an outer surface configured to thermally engage the pair of elements of the first insert or the second insert in the at least one slot.

12 . The system of claim 8 , further comprising at least one lever along one of the sides of the housing and a switch along the same side of the housing as the at least one lever, said switch configured to adjust a time and temperature setting among a plurality of time and temperature settings, wherein the time and temperature setting is selected based on the food within the recess of the first insert or the second insert.

13 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the pair of elements of the first insert and the second insert are comprised of nonstick thermally conductive material.

14 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the opening in the second insert is in an external surface of the top of the second insert that is continuous with the recess and wherein the top of the second insert is proximate to the top of the housing when the second insert is placed in the at least one slot.

15 . The system of claim 14 , wherein the second insert further comprising a clip that is rotatable about a second hinge at the external surface of the second insert, said clip being rotatable from an open position when the opening is open to a closed position when the opening is closed.

16 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the second insert comprises a seal around a perimeter of each of the pair of elements to provide an air-tight seal when the second insert is in the closed position.

17 . A system, comprising:

an insert comprising;

a pair of elements that are rotatable about a hinge from an open position to a closed position;

wherein the pair of elements are made from solid continuous material across a width of the insert such that the insert in the closed position defines a recess to hold food and wherein the width of the insert in the closed position is based on a width of a slot in a heating device such that the insert in the closed position is configured to thermally engage a pair of heating elements of the heating device when placed in the slot

wherein the heating device comprises a housing with a top, a bottom, and a pair of opposite sides;

at least one slot defined by the housing, said at least one slot extending in a direction from the top to the bottom;

at least one lever along one of the sides of the housing and a switch along the same side of the housing as the at least one lever, said switch configured to adjust a time and temperature setting among a plurality of time and temperature settings, wherein the time and temperature setting is selected based on the food within the recess of the insert;

the pair of heating elements adjacent the at least one slot; and

a pair of temperature sensors configured to measure a temperature of the pair of heating elements;

a power source; and

a controller operatively coupled to the power source, the at least one lever, the switch, the temperature sensors and the pair of heating elements;

wherein the pair of heating elements are configured to thermally couple with the pair of elements of the insert upon placement of the insert in the at least one slot;

wherein said controller is configured to transmit a first signal to the power source based on receiving data from the at least one lever and switch indicating that the lever has been actuated and the time and temperature setting of the switch,

wherein said pair of heating elements are configured to increase in temperature to a first temperature upon the power source receiving the first signal;

wherein said temperature sensors are configured to transmit a second signal to the controller upon measuring that the temperature of the pair of heating elements is at the first temperature;

wherein upon receiving the second signal, said controller is configured to receive a third signal from the temperature sensors indicating the temperature of the pair of heating elements and configured to transmit the first signal to the power source to maintain the pair of heating elements at the first temperature for a first time period based on the time and temperature setting;

wherein upon determining that the pair of heating elements have maintained the first temperature for the first time period, the controller is configured to transmit a fourth signal to the lever and the pair of heating elements to raise the movable platform within the slot and deactivate the pair of heating elements.

18 . A system, comprising:

an insert comprising;

a pair of elements that are rotatable about a hinge from an open position to a closed position;

wherein the pair of elements are made from solid continuous material across a width of the insert such that the insert in the closed position defines a recess to hold food and wherein the width of the insert in the closed position is based on a width of a slot in a heating device such that the insert in the closed position is configured to thermally engage a pair of heating elements of the heating device when placed in the slot

wherein the heating device comprises a housing with a top, a bottom, and a pair of opposite sides;

at least one slot defined by the housing, said at least one slot extending in a direction from the top to the bottom;

the pair of heating elements adjacent the at least one slot; and

wherein the pair of heating elements are configured to thermally couple with the pair elements of the insert upon placement of the insert in the at least one slot;

a rotor configured to engage a rotary component within a container;

a secondary heating element configured to heat the container placed on the secondary heating element;

a temperature sensor configured to measure a temperature of the secondary heating element;

a panel including a plurality of buttons indicating a respective plurality of modes;

a controller operatively connected to the secondary heating element, the rotor, the temperature sensor and the panel;

wherein the controller is configured to transmit a first signal to the rotor to cause the rotary component within the container to rotate at a first speed and to transmit a second signal to the secondary heating element to cause the secondary heating element to increase a temperature of contents of the container to a second temperature, wherein the first speed and second temperature are based on one of the plurality of modes in a signal received at the controller from the panel upon actuation of one of the plurality of buttons.