Cooking apparatus and method with product recognition

1. A method for controlling a clam grill that has a positioning mechanism and first and second platens, said method comprising:

operating said positioning mechanism to move said second platen toward and away from said first platen;

when said clam grill is initially activated, operating said positioning mechanism in a preheat mode to move said second platen toward and into contact with said first platen until a signal is provided indicative of said second platen making contact with said first platen;

stopping said second platen in response to said signal; and

initiating a first platen heater and a second platen heater to preheat said first and second platens to preset temperatures; and

performing a self-calibration.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

if an impediment is detected between an uppermost non-cooking position of said second platen and a predetermined distance above said first platen while said second platen is moving toward said first platen, stopping said second platen; and

then moving said second platen away from said first platen toward said uppermost non-cooking position.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising maintaining said second platen in contact with said first platen until said at least a zone of said first platen attains a first preset temperature and said second platen attains a second preset temperature.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising every time said preheat mode is performed also performing a self-calibration by recording a position of said second platen attained as it is stopped as a reference position, and using said recorded reference position during ensuing cook cycles to recognize a thickness of a food product disposed on said first platen.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:

when performing said self-calibration and said heaters attain said preset temperatures, operating said positioning mechanism to move said second platen away from said contact with said first platen to an uppermost non-cooking position;

recording a value of a distance traveled; and

using said zero thickness value and said distance traveled value to determine food product thickness during subsequent cooking procedures.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising sensing one or more temperatures at one or more locations of said first platen; using said sensed temperatures to evaluate an amount of food product on said first platen and compensating a cook time of a cook cycle based on said amount of food product.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising determining a load sensitivity by evaluating a drop in said temperatures and compensating said cook time based on said drop and a rate of temperature recovery.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising sensing one or more temperatures at one or more locations of said first platen, manually disposing a temperature probe at said one or more locations on a surface of said first platen; and calibrating surface temperature of the first platen based on temperature probe signals received from the temperature probe.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein said locations on said surface bear visible marks.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein said positioning mechanism, when moving toward said first platen, engages a detector and, when moving away from said first platen disengages said detector, which provides said signal.