Abstract: Food stuffs are cooked at precise temperatures, which are optionally below 100° C., in a vessel that is evacuated to exclude air, in which low pressure steam replaces the air. When a sufficient quantity of air is excluded and replaced with water vapor, the temperature of vapor is accurately measured inside the vessel below the lid to control the temperatures within about 1° C. Air is preferably excluded via a controlled heated process for a relatively short period of time at high temperature to generate steam, the temperature is lowered to condense water vapor upon which the lid will sealingly engage the rim of the vessel, forming a partial vacuum in the cooking vessel.

Abstract: According to one example, a system includes a computing device having a processor that is operable to display a first portion of a cooking recipe. The system further includes a heat source system having a heat source operable to provide an amount of energy to be used to cook a food item in accordance with the cooking recipe, and a processor operable to adjust the amount of energy provided by the heat source based on one or more communications with the computing device. The system further includes an auxiliary button system having an interface operable to receive an instruction to move from a first step of the cooking recipe to a second step, and a processor operable to transmit, via a second communication link with the computing device, an indication of the instruction.