EP2728966A1 - Hochfrequenzheizkocher - Google Patents

Hochfrequenzheizkocher Download PDF

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Publication number
EP2728966A1
EP2728966A1 EP13190765.1A EP13190765A EP2728966A1 EP 2728966 A1 EP2728966 A1 EP 2728966A1 EP 13190765 A EP13190765 A EP 13190765A EP 2728966 A1 EP2728966 A1 EP 2728966A1
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EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
heating
water vapor
heated
cooking dish
microwaves
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Granted
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EP13190765.1A
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English (en)
French (fr)
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EP2728966B1 (de
Inventor
Satomi Uchiyama
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Panasonic Holdings Corp
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Panasonic Corp
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    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H05—ELECTRIC TECHNIQUES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • H05B—ELECTRIC HEATING; ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS FOR ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES, IN GENERAL
    • H05B6/00—Heating by electric, magnetic or electromagnetic fields
    • H05B6/64—Heating using microwaves
    • H05B6/66—Circuits
    • H05B6/68—Circuits for monitoring or control
    • H05B6/687—Circuits for monitoring or control for cooking
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H05—ELECTRIC TECHNIQUES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • H05B—ELECTRIC HEATING; ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS FOR ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES, IN GENERAL
    • H05B6/00—Heating by electric, magnetic or electromagnetic fields
    • H05B6/64—Heating using microwaves
    • H05B6/647—Aspects related to microwave heating combined with other heating techniques
    • H05B6/6473—Aspects related to microwave heating combined with other heating techniques combined with convection heating
    • H05B6/6479—Aspects related to microwave heating combined with other heating techniques combined with convection heating using steam

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to a high-frequency heating cooker for dielectric heating an object to be heated.
  • a typical microwave heating device as a high-frequency heating cooker of this kind is a microwave oven for directly heating an object to be heated, i.e., a food. Accordingly, the microwave oven is an easy-to-use device necessary for living that does not require any pot or pan.
  • a heating chamber shape has been improved in the level of convenience such that a space for accommodating a food or foods has a flat bottom surface and a width dimension of 400 mm or more, which is greater than a depth dimension, to widely lay and heat the foods.
  • microwave ovens those having a "grilling” function or a “steaming (cooking with steam)” function appear in the market, in addition to the conventional "heating” and “microwave-cooking” functions to high-frequency heat the foods by radiating microwaves to the foods.
  • a high-frequency heating treatment is conducted with the foods placed on a bottom wall of the heating chamber. That is, microwaves generated by a high-frequency generating device or a magnetron are radiated from an exciting portion through a waveguide so that the foods may be heated by dielectric heating.
  • the foods for example, fishes, hamburgers, gratins or the like
  • the foods are laid on a cooking dish that is supported by supports provided on right and left side walls of the heating chamber so that upper portions of the foods may be heated by a heater located above the foods and bottom portions of the foods may be heated by the cooking dish that has been increased in temperature by microwaves radiated from below the cooking dish.
  • the "steaming” is a method of heating the foods using a latent heat of water vapor (539 calories per gram) generated by boiling water.
  • a steamed food for example, a steamed egg hotchpotch, a steamed bread or the like
  • a steam cooker called a steamer or steaming basket.
  • the steaming is characterized in that a cooked food is kept from drying out because it is heated with moisture added thereto for uniform cooking.
  • microwave steaming In conventional microwave ovens not having any steam generator that generates water vapor, a method of heating a food in a manner analogous to the steaming with the use of only high-frequency heating is widely employed. This method is known as "microwave steaming" and applied to, for example, chickens or clams steamed with Japanese liquor or sake. In the conventional "microwave steaming", moisture (sake in this case) added to the food is heated to generate water vapor during cooking.
  • silicon-based containers of various shapes are frequently used as containers for microwave steaming.
  • the high-frequency heating has the advantage of requiring a shorter cooking time but is disadvantageous in that uneven heating is likely to occur and overheating often dries out or hardens the food.
  • Chinese dumplings such as jiao-zis or shao-mais or steamed Chinese breads
  • ingredients are wrapped with a starchy skin essentially made of wheat flour and, hence, the conventional high-frequency heating with the use of microwaves encounters a difficulty in finishing them in a moist, smooth, fluffy and soft state as if they have been steamed with the steamer.
  • a microwave oven suited for the steaming in which a food or foods are not directly heated by microwaves, but water prepared within a heating chamber in advance is heated by microwaves and the food is subsequently heated and cooked with the use of water vapor generated (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
  • a conventional microwave oven is provided with a steaming utensil having a water tray, a food plate disposed above the water tray, and a lid that covers a space around the food placed on the food plate.
  • a heating element for generating heat upon absorption of microwaves is disposed on the reverse side of the water tray.
  • the food plate is made of a material that does not allow transmission of the microwaves and has holes of a size that allows transmission of steam.
  • the lid is made of a material that does not allow transmission of the microwaves.
  • Another microwave oven has been proposed, in which a steaming and baking utensil is used during cooking to heat a food or foods accommodated in a heating chamber using water vapor and microwaves and to brown a bottom surface of the food via a cooking dish (see, for example, Patent Document 2).
  • This conventional microwave oven is provided with a water vapor generator disposed outside the heating chamber and a heating element held in close contact with the cooking dish to generate heat by absorption of the microwaves. After the food placed on the cooking dish has been placed within the heating chamber, the bottom surface of the food held in contact with the cooking dish is browned by heating the heating element of the cooking dish with the microwaves to increase the surface temperature of the cooking dish while water vapor generated by the water vapor generator is being introduced into the heating chamber to heat the food.
  • the steaming and baking utensil as disclosed in Patent Document 2 is of a construction in which a steam vent is formed in a wall of the heating chamber to allow water vapor generated by the water vapor generator to be ejected therethrough and a steam inlet is formed in a lid to introduce water vapor, which has been ejected from the steam vent, into the steaming and baking utensil so that the water vapor supplied from the water vapor generator may be introduced into the steaming and baking utensil via the steam inlet.
  • Patent Document 1 the steaming utensil as disclosed in Patent Document 1 is dedicated for steaming and not intended for steaming and baking in which the surface of the food is browned. Because of this, the food plate is not heated even if the microwaves are radiated, thus making it impossible to steam and bake the food to brown the surface of the food held in contact with the food plate.
  • the food placed on the cooking dish is covered with the metallic lid, the food cannot be directly heated with the microwaves.
  • the present invention is intended to provide a high-frequency heating cooker capable of quickly and easily obtaining a delicious steamed food or steamed and baked food with a favorable finish by effectively controlling supply of water vapor and microwaves using a cooking dish that does not require a lid.
  • the high-frequency heating cooker according to the present disclosures comprises:
  • the high-frequency heating cooker according to the present disclosures can provide a high-frequency heating cooker capable of quickly and easily obtaining a delicious steamed food or steamed and baked food with a favorable finish by effectively controlling supply of water vapor and microwaves using a cooking dish that does not require a lid.
  • the first invention is directed to a high-frequency heating cooker comprising:
  • the object to be heated is heated from the surface with the water vapor to thereby reduce drying of the surface of the object to be heated to retain the surface in a moist state.
  • the subsequent second heating treatment because the microwaves are propagated into the space filled with the water vapor, the distribution of the microwaves is uniformed and, accordingly, the temperature of the object to be heated can be uniformly increased, thus resulting in a reduction in cooking time.
  • the cooking dish is heated with the microwaves, heating of the object to be heated from a bottom surface is promoted, thereby making it possible to promote a temperature increase of the bottom surface of the object to be heated, which is in contact with the cooking dish and not in direct contact with the water vapor and accordingly difficult to increase in temperature, as compared with an upper surface of the object to be heated that is exposed to the water vapor. Accordingly, a temperature difference between the inside and outside of the object to be heated is reduced and the entire object to be heated is enclosed by an environment of uniform temperature, thus making it possible to prepare a steamed food with a favorable finish in a short period of time.
  • the second invention is characterized in that when the information associated with the heating treatment inputted by the operating portion is information associated with steaming and baking, the controller controls so as to steam and bake the object to be heated by conducting, after the first heating treatment and the second heating treatment, a third heating treatment in which the drive of the microwave generator is continued to continuously heat the high-frequency heating element and the object to be heated placed on the cooking dish with the microwaves to evaporate water stored in the cooking dish, and then the drive of the microwave generator is further continued to increase a temperature of the cooking dish over 100°C to brown a bottom surface of the object to be heated.
  • the third heating treatment is conducted after the first and second heating treatments to evaporate water stored in the cooking dish and increase the temperature of the cooking dish over 100°C, thus making it possible to bake the bottom surface of the object to be heated until it is crispy.
  • the third invention is characterized in that even in the second heating treatment, the drive of the water generator is continued to heat the object to be heated placed on the cooking dish with the water vapor and the microwaves.
  • the object to be heated in the second heating treatment, can be uniformly and quickly steamed with the water vapor and the microwaves with an atmosphere around the object to be heated retained in a state filled with the water vapor.
  • the fourth invention is characterized in that the cooking dish is made of a material that does not allow transmission of the microwaves.
  • This configuration allows the microwaves to enter the object to be heated placed on the cooking dish from a void space between a wall surface of the heating chamber and the cooking dish to directly heat the object to be heated with the microwaves, thereby enabling direct heating with an appropriate amount of microwaves.
  • the high-frequency heating element mounted to the outer bottom surface of the cooking dish effectively absorbs the microwaves to rapidly generate heat, which is in turn efficiently conducted to the cooking dish.
  • the fifth invention is characterized in that the exciting portion comprises a rotational antenna having a directivity in a specific radial direction.
  • This configuration allows the microwaves radiated into the heating chamber to be concentrated on the heating element mounted to the outer bottom surface of the cooking dish or radiated so that many microwaves may reach an upper side of the cooking dish via a void space, thereby making it possible to effectively control the radiation direction of the microwaves depending on the object to be heated.
  • the sixth invention further comprises a radiant heat supply portion disposed above the heating chamber to heat the object to be heated with heat radiation different from the microwaves.
  • an upper wall of the heating chamber can be preheated for prevention of dew condensation on the upper wall and further an upper surface of the object to be heated can be browned.
  • the seventh invention further comprises a convective heat supply portion for generating convective heat that is supplied into the heating chamber.
  • all walls of the heating chamber can be preheated for prevention of dew condensation on all the walls and further the object to be heated can be baked with convective heat after supply of the water vapor into the heating chamber has been reduced.
  • the eighth invention further comprises a circulating fan which agitates and circulates a gas inside the heating chamber.
  • the density of the water vapor or the temperature in the heating chamber can be uniformed by agitating the water vapor that permeates the heating chamber.
  • the ninth invention further comprises a temperature detector which detects a temperature inside the heating chamber, wherein the controller controls the microwave generator and the water vapor generator based on a temperature detected by the temperature detector, and/or the controller controls any one or more of the radiant heat supply portion, the convective heat supply portion and the circulating fan based on a temperature detected by the temperature detector.
  • This configuration allows control of the heating means to be switched at the optimum timing during heating and, hence, even if heating conditions such as, for example, the amount of the object to be heated, the temperature at the start of cooking, and the like change, favorable cooking can be conducted to appropriately accommodate such changes.
  • Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a high-frequency heating cooker according to a first embodiment of the present invention with a door opened
  • Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the high-frequency heating cooker according to the first embodiment of the present invention as viewed from a steam generator side with an outer casing removed
  • Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the high-frequency heating cooker of Fig. 2 with the door opened.
  • a high-frequency heating cooker has a main body 1 and a heating chamber 2 defined in the main body 1 to form a heating space.
  • the heating chamber 2 has an external appearance generally in the form of a rectangular parallelepiped and is provided with a door 3 employed as an opening and closing wall through which an object to be heated is taken in and out of the heating chamber 2.
  • An operating portion or panel 4 is provided on the front side of the main body 1 of the high-frequency heating cooker and, for example, on the side (right side) of the door 3.
  • the operating panel 4 is provided with a start switch 5a for ordering the start of a heating treatment, a cancelling switch 5b for ordering completion of the heating treatment, an indicator 5c, a dial 5d for selecting an automatic cooking program prepared in advance or for manual manipulation, and the like.
  • a high-frequency (microwaves) exciting potion 7 for radiating microwaves into the heating chamber 2 is provided generally at a central portion of a bottom wall 6 (below a closure member 11).
  • a magnetron 8 is employed as a high-frequency generator to generate microwaves that are radiated into the heating chamber 2.
  • the microwaves radiated from the magnetron 8 pass through a waveguide 9 before they are introduced to the exciting portion 7.
  • the waveguide 9 is of a rotary drive type to radiate the microwaves into the heating chamber 2 and, by this configuration, the exciting portion 7 acts as a radiation antenna having a directivity in a specific radial direction in a rotational trajectory circle.
  • an output shaft of a motor 10 employed as a drive portion for rotationally driving the radiation antenna is inserted into and mounted to a connecting shaft of the radiation antenna of the exciting portion 7.
  • the radiation antenna has a directivity in a specific radial direction in a rotational position thereof and the direction in which the microwaves are strongly radiated can be controlled by controlling the rotational position.
  • a directivity in a specific radial direction in a rotational position thereof and the direction in which the microwaves are strongly radiated can be controlled by controlling the rotational position.
  • a single rotational antenna may be used or otherwise a plurality of rotational antennas may be used.
  • the closure member 11 is disposed immediately above the radiation antenna, i.e., the exciting portion 7.
  • the closure member 11 is made of a ceramic- or glass-based low-loss dielectric material in the form of a plate that can allow microwaves to easily transmit therethrough.
  • Three pairs of support portions including upper support portions 16a, 16b, middle support portions 17a, 17b and lower support portions 18a, 18b are provided on a right side wall 12 and a left side wall 13 of the heating chamber 2 to support a cooking dish 15 having an outer bottom surface to which a high-frequency heating element 14 has been mounted.
  • a radiant heat supply portion 19 is provided on an upper side within the heating chamber 2.
  • the radiant heat supply portion 19 is one of heating means to heat an object to be heated by making use of heat radiation different from microwaves.
  • a convective heat supply portion 21 is provided outside a rear wall 20 of the heating chamber 2. The convective heat supply portion 21 generates convective heat to supply it into the heating chamber 2.
  • a circulating fan 22 is mounted on the rear wall 20 to agitate and circulate a gas within the heating chamber 2.
  • a water tank 23 for accommodating water therein to generate water vapor is disposed below the closure member 11 and the water within the water tank 23 is sent to a water vapor generator 24 disposed outside the left side wall 13 of the heating chamber 2 by a pump motor.
  • the water sent to the water vapor generator 24 is heated and turned into water vapor and increased in volume.
  • the water vapor is then ejected into the heating chamber 2 from a water vapor vent 26 through a water vapor guide pipe 25 and eventually fed into the heating chamber 2.
  • the water vapor vent 26 is formed in the left side wall 13 of the heating chamber 2 so as to open to a space within the heating chamber 2 above the cooking dish 15 supported by the upper support portions 16a, 16b.
  • Fig. 5 depicts a functional block diagram of the high-frequency heating cooker according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
  • a controller 27 outputs a control signal based on information that has been inputted by a user using an operating portion on the operating panel 4 mounted to the main body 1 of the high-frequency heating cooker.
  • the water vapor generator 24, the magnetron 8, the radiant heat supply portion 19 and the convective heat supply portion 21 are controlled based on the control signal outputted from the controller 27.
  • the main body 1 of the high-frequency heating cooker is also provided with a temperature detector 28 to detect the temperature inside the heating chamber 2 (for example, the temperature of a heating region above the cooking dish 15).
  • Temperature information of the heating region detected by the temperature detector 28 is inputted to the controller 27 and, based on such temperature information, the heating means of the water vapor generator 24, that of the magnetron 8, that of the radiant heat supply portion 19 and that of the convective heat supply portion 21 are controlled. Instead of this, the heating means of at least one of the water vapor generator 24, the magnetron 8, the radiant heat supply portion 19 and the convective heat supply portion 21 may be controlled based on the temperature information.
  • Handmade shao-mais (which are one kind of Chinese dumplings) as an object to be heated are first placed on the metallic cooking dish 15 having the high-frequency heating element 14 mounted to the outer bottom surface thereof and the cooking dish 15 is subsequently supported on the upper support portions 16a, 16b of the heating chamber 2.
  • An item "handmade shao-mai" listed in an automatic cooking program is then selected using the dial 5d provided on the operating panel 4.
  • the controller 27 controls the water vapor generator 24 to generate water vapor based on a control program (control sequence) stored in advance.
  • the water vapor so generated is then ejected from the water vapor vent 26 via the water vapor guide pipe 25 and supplied into the heating chamber 2.
  • the cooking dish 15 vertically partitions the heating chamber 2 into two compartments such that an upper compartment, i.e., a heating region (heating space) above the cooking dish 15 may be about one third of the entire heating chamber 2.
  • the heating region above the cooking dish 15 is filled with the supplied water vapor in about two minutes. Further, when the water vapor is continuously supplied, the temperature of the heating region continues to increase and the density of saturated water vapor increases until the temperature of the heating region reaches about 100°C.
  • the object to be heated is heated from the surface by latent heat of the water vapor and the temperature thereof increases with time. At the same time, the water vapor condenses on the surface of the object to be heated and turns into dew condensation water as if a film of hot water has been formed on the surface. In a high-temperature environment and in the presence of water, starchy skins of the shao-mais are heated until it is completely gelatinized so as to be transparent and radiant and have a smooth texture. Heating the object to be heated with the use of water vapor and not microwaves is a first heating treatment.
  • the temperature of a central portion of the object to be heated or that of a bottom portion of the object that is not directly held in contact with steam increases more slowly than that of the surface of the object.
  • a power source for driving the magnetron 8 is therefore controlled to generate microwaves, which are then introduced into the waveguide 9 and radiated into the heating chamber 2 from the radiation antenna of the exciting portion 7.
  • the high-frequency heating element 14 mounted to the outer bottom surface of the cooking dish 15 absorbs part of the radiated microwaves and generates heat, and the bottom surface of the object to be heated is heated by conductive heat.
  • the conductive heat also acts to heat water condensed in the cooking dish 15 and evaporate it again.
  • the rotational position of the radiation antenna is controlled so that the radiated microwaves may reach the heating region above the cooking dish 15 as many as possible through void spaces between the cooking dish 15 and inner surfaces of the right side wall 12, the left side wall 13 and the rear wall 20 of the heating chamber 2 and a void space between the cooking dish 15 and the door 3. Having reached the heating region above the cooking dish 15, the microwaves directly heat the object having much moisture on the surface thereof. The microwaves also heat and evaporate dew condensation water stored in the cooking dish 15.
  • the upper heating region partitioned by the cooking dish 15 is filled with high-density water vapor and the propagation of microwaves through a space filled with water vapor makes the microwave distribution uniform, thus making it possible to uniformly heat the object to be heated using the microwaves that have entered the heating region through the void spaces.
  • the rotational position of the radiation antenna or the exciting portion 7 is controlled by the controller 27 depending on a case where the radiational directivity of microwaves towards the high-frequency heating element 14 of the cooking dish 15 is strengthened or a case where the amount of microwaves that can reach the heating region above the cooking dish 15 is increased.
  • heating the object to be heated in the above-described manner in which the object to be heated is indirectly heated by the microwaves via the cooking dish 15 and directly heated by the microwaves that have entered the heating region above the cooking dish 15, is a second heating treatment.
  • the object to be heated is heated by the microwaves by bringing the water vapor generator 24 to a stop (by stopping supplying water vapor).
  • the second heating treatment is not limited to such a case, but in the second heating treatment, the object to be heated may be heated by the water vapor and the microwaves by continuing the drive of the water vapor generator 24 to continuously heat the object to be heated with the use of the water vapor. In this case, the heating of the object to be heated can be further promoted in the second heating treatment with the object encircled by the high-density water vapor.
  • Fig. 6 depicts temperature changes with time when steaming was conducted.
  • Handmade shao-mais were employed as the object to be heated and placed on the cooking dish 15, which was in turn supported on the upper supporting portions 16a, 16b of the heating chamber 2.
  • Example 1 is a case where the shao-mais were cooked with steam by conducting the first heating treatment and the second heating treatment
  • Comparative Example 1 is a case where the shao-mais were cooked with steam using only water vapor and not microwaves.
  • FIG. 6 indicates changes in internal temperature of the shao-mai (food temperature 1), (B) indicates changes in bottom temperature of the shao-mai (food temperature 2), (C) indicates changes in temperature of the cooking dish 15, and (D) indicates changes in temperature of the heating chamber (heating region above the cooking dish 15).
  • thick lines indicate Example 1 and thin lines indicate Comparative Example 1. The temperature changes during microwave-cooking were measured using a fiber-optic thermometer.
  • Example 1 the shao-mais were heated with only water vapor in the first heating treatment, which was then switched to the second heating treatment, in which the shao-mais were heated with only microwaves, by stopping supply of the water vapor after eight minutes from the start of heating.
  • the heating treatment was conducted with only water vapor by continuously supplying the water vapor from the start of heating.
  • Example 1 in comparison with Comparative Example 1, after the surfaces of the shao-mais have been gelatinized by heating the shao-mais with the water vapor in the first heating treatment, it is further heated with the microwaves in the second heating treatment, thereby making it possible to reduce the heating time and conduct favorable cooking (steaming) without any temperature variations.
  • a high-frequency heating cooker according to a second embodiment of the present invention is explained hereinafter. Because the high-frequency heating cooker according to this second embodiment differs in the control sequence of the controller 27 from the high-frequency heating cooker according to the first embodiment referred to above and other configurations are the same, the following explanation is made focusing on different points.
  • Jiao-zis (which are another kind of Chinese dumplings) employed as an object to be heated are first placed on the metallic cooking dish 15 having the high-frequency heating element 14 mounted to the outer bottom surface thereof and the cooking dish 15 is subsequently supported on the upper support portions 16a, 16b of the heating chamber 2.
  • An item "steamed and baked jiao-zi" listed in an automatic cooking program is then selected using the dial 5d provided on the operating panel 4.
  • the controller 27 runs a control program (control sequence) stored in advance. More specifically, the controller 27 controls the water vapor generator 24 to generate water vapor, which is then ejected from the water vapor vent 26 via the water vapor guide pipe 25 and supplied into the heating chamber 2.
  • the cooking dish 15 vertically partitions the heating chamber 2 into two compartments such that the heating region above the cooking dish 15 may be about one third of the entire heating chamber 2.
  • the heating region above the cooking dish 15 is filled with the supplied water vapor in about two minutes. Further, when the water vapor is continuously supplied, the temperature of the heating region continues to increase and the density of saturated water vapor increases until the temperature of the heating region reaches about 100°C.
  • the object to be heated is heated from the surface by latent heat of the water vapor and the temperature thereof increases with time. At the same time, the water vapor condenses on the surface of the object to be heated and turns into dew condensation water as if a film of hot water has been formed on the surface. In a high-temperature environment and in the presence of water, starchy skins of the jiao-zis are heated until they are completely gelatinized so as to be transparent and radiant and have a smooth texture. The first heating treatment is conducted in this way without the use of microwaves.
  • the temperature of a central portion of the object to be heated or that of a bottom portion of the object that is not in contact with steam is lower than the surface temperature and, hence, the heating treatment with the use of only water vapor cannot burn or brown the bottom surfaces of the jiao-zis. Also, uneven heating occurs in varying degrees depending on the position where the jiao-zis are placed.
  • the microwaves are guided via the waveguide 9 and radiated into the heating chamber 2 from the exciting portion 7, i.e., the radiation antenna.
  • the rotational position of the radiation antenna is controlled so that the microwaves may be radiated towards the high-frequency heating element 14 mounted to the bottom surface of the cooking dish 15 as many as possible.
  • the high-frequency heating element 14 rapidly generates heat and increases the temperature of the cooking dish 15 up to about 100°C to heat the object to be heated via the cooking dish 15 and, at the same time, the object to be heated is also heated with the microwaves that have entered the heating region above the cooking dish 15 (second heating treatment).
  • this heating region is filled with high-density water vapor and, hence, the distribution of the microwaves that have entered the heating region is uniformed, thereby making it possible to promote uniform heating of the object to be heated and evaporate extra moisture adhering to the object surface or dew condensation water stored in the cooking dish 15 again.
  • Fig. 7 depicts temperature changes of the inside of a jiao-zi (jiao-zi 1), a bottom portion of the jiao-zi (jiao-zi 2), the cooking dish 15 and the heating chamber 2 (heating region above the cooking dish 15) in Example 2, in which the jiao-zis were steamed and baked by conducting the first to third heating treatments in the second embodiment referred to above.
  • the object to be heated is heated with water vapor at the beginning of the heating (first heating treatment) and then heated with microwaves after six minutes (second heating treatment).
  • first heating treatment the heating chamber 2
  • microwaves after six minutes
  • the steam-heating is switched to the microwave-heating whereby the temperature of the cooking dish 15, which has not been heated up to 100°C, rapidly increases and reaches about 100°C.
  • the microwave-heating is further continued, but the temperature of the cooking dish 15 is maintained at about 100°C while water stored in the cooking dish 15 still exists.
  • the temperature of the cooking dish 15 increases again and reaches a hundred and several tens of degrees C (third heating treatment). By doing so, the bottom surfaces of the jiao-zis can be browned.
  • a high-frequency heating cooker according to a third embodiment of the present invention is explained hereinafter. Because the high-frequency heating cooker according to this third embodiment differs in the control sequence of the controller 27 or the like from the high-frequency heating cooker according to the first embodiment referred to above and other configurations are the same, the following explanation is made focusing on different points.
  • a sizable lump of meat (pork) employed as an object to be heated is first placed on the cooking dish 15 having the high-frequency heating element 14 mounted to the outer bottom surface thereof and the cooking dish 15 is subsequently supported on the middle support portions 17a, 17b of the heating chamber 2.
  • An item "steamed pork" listed in an automatic cooking program is then selected using the dial 5d provided on the operating panel 4.
  • the controller 27 runs a control program stored in advance. More specifically, the controller 27 controls the water vapor generator 24 to generate water vapor, which is then ejected from the water vapor vent 26 via the water vapor guide pipe 25 and supplied into the heating chamber 2, thereby initiating the heating treatment of the object to be heated with water vapor (first heating treatment).
  • the cooking dish 15 vertically partitions the heating chamber 2 into two compartments such that the heating region above the cooking dish 15 may be about half of the entire heating chamber 2.
  • the heating region above the cooking dish 15 is filled with the supplied water vapor in about three minutes. If the lump of pork is heated with only water vapor, it requires several tens of minutes before the internal temperature thereof reaches 75°C or more at which it can be eaten.
  • supply of microwaves is started with a reduction in the amount of supply of the water vapor so that the inside and outside of the object to be heated may be efficiently heated by continuously and simultaneously supplying the water vapor and the microwaves (second heating treatment).
  • the temperature of the heating region continues to increase and the density of saturated water vapor gradually increases until the temperature of the heating region reaches about 100°C and, at the same time, the water vapor is present around the object to be heated at a high density, thus making it possible to uniform the distribution of the microwaves that have entered the heating region to uniformly heat the object to be heated.
  • a high-frequency heating cooker according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention is explained hereinafter. Because the high-frequency heating cooker according to this fourth embodiment differs in the control sequence of the controller 27 from the high-frequency heating cooker according to the first embodiment referred to above and other configurations are the same, the following explanation is made focusing on different points.
  • a fish employed as an object to be heated is first placed on the cooking dish 15 having the high-frequency heating element 14 mounted to the outer bottom surface thereof and the cooking dish 15 is subsequently supported on the upper support portions 16a, 16b of the heating chamber 2.
  • An item "steamed and baked fish" listed in an automatic cooking program is then selected using the dial 5d provided on the operating panel 4.
  • the controller 27 runs a control program stored in advance. More specifically, the controller 27 controls the water vapor generator 24 to generate water vapor, which is then ejected from the water vapor vent 26 via the water vapor guide pipe 25 and supplied into the heating chamber 2, thereby initiating a heating treatment of the object to be heated with water vapor (first heating treatment).
  • the controller 27 controls the power source for driving the magnetron 8 to generate microwaves, which are then introduced into the water vapor guide pipe 25 and radiated into the heating chamber 2 from the exciting portion 7 or the radiation antenna.
  • the microwaves so radiated into the heating chamber 2 heat the high-frequency heating element 14 mounted to the outer bottom surface of the cooking dish 15 to heat the object to be heated via the cooking dish 15 and, at the same time, part of the microwaves enter the heating region above the cooking dish 15 to directly heat the object to be heated (second heating treatment).
  • the rotational position of the radiation antenna is controlled so that the microwaves may be radiated towards the high-frequency heating element 14 mounted to the outer bottom surface of the cooking dish 15 as many as possible.
  • the cooking dish 15 rapidly generates heat and increases the temperature of the cooking dish 15 over, for example, about 100°C to heat and brown a bottom surface of the fish (third heating treatment).
  • the controller 27 controls the radiant heat supply portion 19 provided above the heating chamber 2 to radiationally heat an upper surface of the fish. By steaming the fish softly and browning the upper surface thereof well, a steamed and baked fish having a soft texture and a fragrant flavor can be obtained.
  • a high-frequency heating cooker according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention is explained hereinafter. Because the high-frequency heating cooker according to this fifth embodiment differs in the control sequence of the controller 27 from the high-frequency heating cooker according to the first embodiment referred to above and other configurations are the same, the following explanation is made focusing on different points.
  • An egg hotchpotch employed as an object to be heated is first placed on the cooking dish 15 having the high-frequency heating element 14 mounted to the outer bottom surface thereof and the cooking dish 15 is subsequently supported on the middle support portions 17a, 17b of the heating chamber 2.
  • An item "steamed egg hotchpotch" listed in an automatic cooking program is then selected using the dial 5d provided on the operating panel 4.
  • the controller 27 runs a control program stored in advance. Specifically, the controller 27 controls the radiant heat supply portion 19 to preheat an upper surface of the heating chamber 2.
  • the controller 27 further controls the convective heat supply portion 21 and the circulating fan 22 to preheat the entire heating chamber 2. Preheating the heating chamber 2 can restrain water vapor from condensing on inner wall surfaces of the heating chamber 2 and on the cooking dish 15 to efficiently heat the object to be heated with the supplied water vapor.
  • the object contained in a vessel such as the egg hotchpotch is not damaged even if it is heated with convective heat or radiant heat in a short period of time.
  • the controller 27 controls the water vapor generator 24 to generate water vapor, which is then ejected from the water vapor vent 26 via the water vapor guide pipe 25 and supplied into the heating chamber 2, thereby initiating the heating treatment of the object to be heated with water vapor (first heating treatment).
  • the cooking dish 15 vertically partitions the heating chamber 2 into two compartments such that the heating region above the cooking dish 15 may be about half of the entire heating chamber 2.
  • the heating region above the cooking dish 15 is filled with the supplied water vapor in about three minutes.
  • supply of microwaves is started with a reduction in the amount of supply of the water vapor so that the egg hotchpotch may be efficiently heated from the inside and outside by continuously and simultaneously supplying the water vapor and the microwaves (second heating treatment). Because the upper heating region partitioned by the cooking dish 15 is filled with high-density water vapor, the distribution of the microwaves that have entered the heating region is uniformed, thus making it possible to uniformly heat the object to be heated.
  • a temperature difference between upper and lower portions of the egg hotchpotch or uneven heating which may be due to the places where a plurality of egg hotchpotches are placed, is improved, thus resulting in more uniform heating.
  • the object to be heated is heated with the water vapor and the microwaves, thereby making it possible to reduce the heating time and favorably cook the egg hotchpotch without any temperature variations. Also, because the object to be heated can be heated with a reduction in the amount of water vapor, not only can the volume of the water tank 23 be reduced, but the amount of dew condensation water remaining in the heating chamber 2 can be also reduced.
  • an egg liquid in the steamed egg hotchpotch reaches about 85°C or more, bubbling may occur to impair a smooth texture and, hence, a favorable finish can be obtained by controlling the heating region at a constant temperature using the temperature detector 28.
  • a high-frequency heating cooker according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention is explained hereinafter. Because the high-frequency heating cooker according to this sixth embodiment differs in the control sequence of the controller 27 from the high-frequency heating cooker according to the first embodiment referred to above and other configurations are the same, the following explanation is made focusing on different points.
  • Handmade shao-mais employed as an object to be heated are first placed on the metallic cooking dish 15 having the high-frequency heating element 14 mounted to the outer bottom surface thereof and the cooking dish 15 is subsequently supported on the upper support portions 16a, 16b of the heating chamber 2.
  • An item "handmade shao-mai" listed in an automatic cooking program is then selected using the dial 5d provided on the operating panel 4.
  • the controller 27 runs a control program stored in advance. More specifically, the controller 27 controls the water vapor generator 24 to generate water vapor, which is then ejected from the water vapor vent 26 via the water vapor guide pipe 25 and supplied into the heating chamber 2, thereby initiating a heating treatment of the object to be heated with water vapor (first heating treatment).
  • the cooking dish 15 vertically partitions the heating chamber 2 into two compartments such that the heating region above the cooking dish 15 may be about one third of the entire heating chamber 2.
  • the heating region above the cooking dish 15 is filled with the supplied water vapor in about two minutes.
  • the temperature of the heating region continues to increase and the density of saturated water vapor increases until the temperature of the heating region reaches about 100°C.
  • the power source for driving the magnetron 8 is controlled to generate microwaves and supply of the water vapor is stopped. In this way, the heating means is switched to subsequently heat the object to be heated with the microwaves (second heating treatment).
  • the heating style can be switched to the microwave-heating after the temperature detector 28 has detected that the temperature in the heating chamber has reached about 100°C, thus making it possible to obtain a stable finish that is unlikely to be affected by the amount of the object to be heated or the temperature of the surrounding environment.
  • control may be such that the cooking dish 15 is first heated to avoid dew condensation by detecting that the temperature in the heating chamber at the start of heating is lower than a given level using the temperature detector 28 and by controlling the rotational antenna to radiate the microwaves towards the cooking dish 15 so as to focus the microwaves on the cooking dish 15, and water vapor is subsequently supplied to heat the food.
  • the high-frequency heating cooker according to the present invention can efficiently and uniformly heat the entire object to be heated with a reduction in time by combining cooking with water vapor (first heating treatment) with high-frequency heating with microwaves (second heating treatment). Further, because the amount and timing of supply of the microwaves are changed depending on cooking methods, a wide range of cooking is possible using the same cooking dish and without using different cooking dishes.
  • the high-frequency heating cooker according to the present invention is also effective in reducing the amount of water to be used and the amount of dew condensation water remaining in the heating chamber and effectively utilized in the field associated with high-frequency heating cookers for dielectric heating an object to be heated.

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  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Electromagnetism (AREA)
  • Electric Ovens (AREA)
EP13190765.1A 2012-10-30 2013-10-30 Hochfrequenzheizkocher Active EP2728966B1 (de)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
JP2012238650A JP6089224B2 (ja) 2012-10-30 2012-10-30 高周波加熱調理装置

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EP2728966B1 EP2728966B1 (de) 2024-06-26

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Cited By (1)

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WO2021178845A1 (en) * 2020-03-06 2021-09-10 Spectrum Brands, Inc. Cooking appliance with conductive heating capabilities

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CN107041676B (zh) * 2017-04-26 2020-10-23 广东美的厨房电器制造有限公司 加热皿及烹饪器具
CN111066375B (zh) * 2018-04-06 2022-03-04 松下知识产权经营株式会社 高频加热装置
CN109431299B (zh) * 2018-10-17 2021-05-28 广东美的厨房电器制造有限公司 食物加工方法、装置、存储介质及烤箱
CN111669860A (zh) * 2019-03-08 2020-09-15 九阳股份有限公司 一种半导体微波加热设备及其控制方法

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US11937736B2 (en) 2020-03-06 2024-03-26 Spectrum Brands, Inc. Cooking appliance with conductive heating capabilities

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JP2014088984A (ja) 2014-05-15
JP6089224B2 (ja) 2017-03-08
EP2728966B1 (de) 2024-06-26
CN103791529A (zh) 2014-05-14

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