JP2012187295A - Rice cooker - Google Patents

Abstract

[PROBLEMS] To shorten rice cooking time and improve rice cooking performance by using superheated steam.
SOLUTION: A rice cooker body 1, a pan 2 detachably accommodated in the body, a lid 3 that covers the body in an openable and closable manner, a heating means 4 for heating the pan, and superheated steam is supplied into the pan. The superheated steam supply unit 9, the pot temperature detecting means 5 for detecting the temperature of the pot, the lid temperature detecting means 13 for detecting the boiling of the contents of the pan, and the outputs of the pot temperature detecting means 5 and the lid temperature detecting means 13 are input. And the control means 10 for controlling the heating means 4, and by putting the 200 ° C superheated steam generated by the superheated steam supply section 9 into the pan in the steaming step, the rice cooking performance is not lowered. Reduce time.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a rice cooker using superheated steam.

  In recent years, rice cookers have been required to improve the taste of rice and shorten the cooking time. Conventionally, this type of rice cooker is configured to inject steam from above the pan in addition to heating by a heating means for heating the pan, and to cook rice and water from above the pan (for example, Patent Documents) 1).

  FIG. 3 shows a conventional rice cooker using superheated steam described in Patent Document 1. As shown in FIG. 3, the pan 21, the pan heating means 22 for heating the pan 21, the lid 23 covering the opening of the pan 21, and the steam generation means 24 are provided. It is comprised so that a vapor | steam may be thrown in into the pot 21 from the lid | cover 23 which covers a part.

  FIG. 4 shows the relationship between the temperature, time, and heating output of the rice cooking process of a conventional rice cooker using superheated steam described in Patent Document 2. The operation during cooking will be described. The rice cooking process is largely divided into each process of immersion, cooking, and steaming, and is controlled by a preset temperature and time. After the dipping process, the cooking process is started and the pot heating means for heating the cooking pot is driven while the output of the pot temperature detecting means for detecting the temperature of the cooking pot is detected, and the inside of the pot is boiled with high heat. The rice cooking amount determination means determines the amount of rice cooked in the pan according to the time required for the temperature rise of the pot temperature detection means in this cooking process, and then continues cooking with the heating amount according to the rice cooking amount. To do. The water in the water tank is heated by driving the water tank heating means from the start of cooking until the inside of the pan reaches boiling, and steam is generated. While maintaining the boiling in the pan with the heating amount according to the amount of rice cooked, the gelatinization phenomenon that changes to rice while water absorbs water progresses, and the water put in the pan at the time of rice cooking absorbs and evaporates to the rice and is almost lost When it reaches the state, proceed to the steaming process. While the inside of the pan is boiling, the water tank heating means is intermittently driven so that the water temperature of the water tank does not drop. In the steaming process, it is important to complete the gelatinization of the starch and remove excess moisture on the surface of the rice grain, but since the moisture has already decreased and convection has stopped, the pot heating means The rice at the bottom is easy to scorch, and if you try to avoid scorching, you will not be able to give enough heat, so drive the water tank heating means and steam heating means to generate superheated steam at a temperature of 100 ° C or higher, and after the steaming process starts Before the temperature in the pan is completely lowered, steam is allowed to flow into the pan through the steam hole. Since the time proportional to the amount of cooked rice is required for the steam to spread evenly in the pan after the start of steam injection, the total time T2 of the time required for the steam to reach and the time required for the gelatinization promotion reaction is calculated for each rice amount. In this case, the steam charging time is used.

JP 2003-144308 A JP 2004-321687 A

  However, in the rice cooker having the above-described conventional configuration, by supplying superheated steam having a boiling point higher than the boiling point of water into the pan, a necessary and sufficient amount of heat can be applied to the rice in the pan while preventing the rice from being burnt and the upper layer from being dried. However, the rice has a problem that the cooking time cannot be shortened without deteriorating the rice cooking performance.

  In order to solve the conventional problems, the rice cooker of the present invention heats the rice cooker body, a pan that is detachably accommodated in the body, a lid that covers the body so as to be opened and closed, and the pan. A heating means, a superheated steam supply section for supplying superheated steam into the pan, a pan temperature detecting means for detecting the temperature of the pan, a lid temperature detecting means for detecting the temperature of the lower surface of the lid, and the pan temperature detection Superheated steam having a temperature of about 200 ° C. generated by a superheated steam supply unit for supplying superheated steam into the pan. By adding a large amount of heat in the steaming process and further increasing the umami component, the amount of heat necessary for gelatinization can be reduced without reducing the quality of the rice. Reduces steaming time In which was to so that. This makes it possible to shorten the cooking time.

  The rice cooker of this invention can shorten the time of a steaming process, without reducing the result of rice, and can shorten rice cooking time.

Sectional drawing of the rice cooker in Embodiment 1 of this invention. Operation time chart of rice cooker in embodiment 1 of the present invention Cross section of conventional rice cooker The figure which showed the relationship between the temperature of rice cooking process of conventional rice cookers, time, and heating output

  1st invention is a rice cooker main body, the pan detachably accommodated in the said main body, the lid | cover which covers the said main body so that opening and closing is possible, the heating means which heats the said pan, and superheated steam in the said pan. The superheated steam supply section to supply, the pan temperature detecting means for detecting the temperature of the pan, the lid temperature detecting means for detecting the temperature of the lower surface of the lid, and the outputs of the pan temperature detecting means and the lid temperature detecting means are input. And a control means for controlling the heating means, and by introducing superheated steam having a temperature of about 200 ° C. generated by a superheated steam supply section for supplying superheated steam into the pot into the pot in the steaming step. Because the amount of umami ingredients increases at the same time as the amount of heat necessary for starch to gelatinize, the amount of heat necessary for gelatinization can be reduced without reducing the quality of the rice, shortening the rice cooking time A rice cooker that can be Kill.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1: shows sectional drawing of the rice cooker in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. In FIG. 1, 1 shows a rice cooker main body and is equipped with a detachable pan 2. Further, a lid 3 covering the upper surface of the pan 2 is installed so as to be freely opened and closed. Moreover, the heating means 4 which heats the pan 2, and the pan temperature detection means 5 which detects the temperature of the pan 2 are arrange | positioned in the rice cooker main body 1 inside. A water tank 6 is provided inside the rice cooker body 1. The water tank 6 is a cylindrical container for containing water for generating steam. A water tank heating coil 7 is attached to the outer peripheral surface of the water tank housing portion. When the water tank heating coil 7 heats the water tank 6, the water in the water tank 6 boils and steam of about 100 ° C. is generated. In addition, an opening is provided in a side portion of the water tank storage portion. In the opening portion, a water tank temperature sensor 8 for measuring the temperature of the water tank 6 is disposed so as to be able to contact a side portion of the water tank 6 stored in the water tank storage portion.

Moreover, the superheated steam supply part 9 for supplying the superheated steam exceeding 100 degreeC in the pan 2 is attached inside the lid | cover 3. As shown in FIG. The lid temperature detection means 13 detects boiling of the cooking object in the pan 2 and is disposed on the surface of the lid 3 facing the cooked rice. The superheated steam supply unit 9 is configured to superheat steam of about 100 ° C. generated in the water tank 6 and generate superheated steam having a temperature exceeding 100 ° C.

  A control means 10 is mounted inside the rice cooker body 1. The control means 10 is constituted by a microcomputer or the like, receives the output of the pan temperature detection means 5 as an input, and controls the heating means 4 via the drive means 11 constituted by an inverter circuit or the like.

  The control device 12 is composed of a control means 10, a drive means 11, and the like. The drive means 11 is composed of an inverter circuit or the like when the heating means 4 is composed of an induction heating coil, and the heating means 4 is composed of a heater. It is composed of bidirectional thyristors and relays.

  About the rice cooker comprised as mentioned above, the operation | movement is demonstrated below using FIG.

  First, the rice which cooks rice and the water corresponding to the amount of the rice are put in the pan 2, and the rice cooker main body 1 is decorated in a predetermined state. Furthermore, when a predetermined amount of water is put into a water tank 6 provided in the rice cooker body 1 and a user operates a rice cooking start switch (not shown), the rice cooking process is performed by the control means 10. The rice cooking process is divided into pre-cooking, cooking, boiling maintenance, and steaming processes.

  When cooking rice is started, a pre-cooking process of heating with the first electric power W1 is started. The pre-cooking step is a step of immersing the rice in water at a temperature lower than the gelatinization temperature so that the rice can be sufficiently gelatinized in the subsequent steps, and allowing the rice to absorb water in advance. When the temperature of the pot 2 detected by the pot temperature detecting means 5 of the pot 2 is lower than the predetermined temperature θ1, the heating means 4 is operated, and when the temperature is equal to or higher than the predetermined temperature θ1, the operation of the heating means 4 is stopped. The temperature in the pan 2 is kept at θ1 while controlling the heating means 4 on and off. Thereby, water absorption of rice is promoted.

  The pre-cooking process is terminated after the lapse of a certain time T1, and the cooking process using the second power W2 that satisfies W2> W1 is started.

  When the predetermined time T2 has elapsed from the start of the cooking process to the boiling maintenance process or when the predetermined temperature φ1 is detected by the lid temperature detection means 13, the subsequent processes are continued with the first power W1. Here, W1 is 1000 W, W2 is 1100 W, T1 is 25 minutes 4 seconds, T2 is 32 seconds, φ1 is 80 ° C., and θ1 is 58 ° C.

  In the cooking process, the second power W2, the amount of rice cooked until the predetermined temperature φ1 is detected by the lid temperature detecting means 13 for detecting boiling after the predetermined temperature θ2 is detected by the pot temperature detecting means 5 of the pot 2. Depending on the temperature, the amount of cooked rice is determined from the rate of temperature increase at that time, and the next boiling maintenance step is performed with the thermal power corresponding to the amount of cooked rice. Here, θ2 is 80 ° C.

  A boiling maintenance process is a process of maintaining the boiling state of the water in the pan 2, gelatinizing rice starch, and raising the gelatinization degree to about 50% to 80%. When the predetermined temperature θ3 is detected by the pot temperature detecting means 5 of the pot 2, the boiling maintenance process is terminated. Here, θ3 is 130 ° C. After that, the steaming process is started, and heating (cooking) is performed in accordance with the amount of rice cooked multiple times during a certain period of time. The steaming process is a process of evaporating excess water using preheating and raising the degree of gelatinization of rice to nearly 100%.

The control means 10 drives the water tank heating coil 7 to boil the water in the water tank 6 and generate steam. Further, the control means 10 drives the superheated steam supply unit 9 to generate, for example, 200 ° C. superheated steam and supply it to the pot 2. In a conventional rice cooker, for example, 130 ° C. superheated steam was introduced in the steaming process, but by adding 200 ° C. superheated steam, a large amount of heat is supplied to increase the taste component, The result is improved. Since the amount of heat more than necessary for gelatinization is supplied, it is necessary to suppress the amount of heat. Therefore, for example, it is possible to shorten the steaming time for 2 minutes.

  When a certain time has elapsed from the start of the steaming process, the steaming process is terminated and the rice cooking process is terminated.

  Through the above rice cooking process, regardless of the amount of rice cooked, by adding superheated steam at a higher temperature than before in the steaming process to increase the taste component by supplying a large amount of heat, rice can be made The steaming time can be shortened without lowering. Thereby, rice cooking time can be shortened.

  Note that the values of T1, T2, θ1, θ2, θ3, φ1, W1, and W2 in the present embodiment are examples of implementation, and numerical values can be set according to the situation.

  Moreover, in the rice cooker using the induction heating system as the heating means 4 for heating the pan 2, it is possible to use particularly high electric power, and since the heat response is good and fine control is possible, the rice is cooked deliciously. Suitable for providing rice cookers. Also, in the heater type and the gas rice cooker, the effect is inferior to that of the induction heating type because it is inferior in electric power and thermal responsiveness, but there is no problem.

  As mentioned above, since the rice cooker concerning this invention can shorten rice cooking time by supplying superheated steam of high temperature, it can be applied also to uses, such as a domestic and commercial rice cooker.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Rice cooker main body 2 Pan 3 Lid 4 Heating means 5 Pan temperature detection means 6 Water tank 7 Water tank heating coil 8 Water tank temperature sensor 9 Superheated steam supply part 10 Control means 11 Drive means 12 Control apparatus 13 Cover temperature detection means

Claims (1)

A rice cooker body, a pan that is detachably housed in the rice cooker body, a lid that covers the body in an openable and closable manner, a heating means that heats the pan, and superheated steam that supplies superheated steam into the pan The heating unit for detecting the temperature of the pan, the temperature detecting means for detecting the temperature of the pan, the temperature detecting means for detecting the temperature of the lower surface of the lid, the outputs of the temperature detecting means for the pan and the temperature detecting means for the lid, and the heating Control means for controlling the means, and shortening the rice cooking time by introducing superheated steam having a temperature of about 200 ° C. generated by the superheated steam supply section for supplying superheated steam into the pot in the steaming process. Cooker.

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