JP2003314824A - Heating cooker - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a heating cooker heating a heating object by superheated steam and precisely cooking the heating object in a suitable finishing state. <P>SOLUTION: This heating cooker is provided with a heating chamber 2 for disposing the heating object W, a steam heating part 16 feeding the superheated steam into the heating chamber 2 and heating the heating object W, and a weight detecting part 13 detecting the weight of the heating object W changed by the heating by the superheated steam. The weight detecting part 13 detects the weight increase due to condensation of the steam or the weight decrease due to evaporation of condensed water and the water content in the heating object W so as to stop the steam heating part 16. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a heating cooker for heating an object to be heated such as food, and more particularly to a heating cooker capable of heating an object to be heated with superheated steam of 100 ° C. or higher.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A heating cooker for cooking an object to be heated such as food with superheated steam of 100 ° C. or more obtained by further heating saturated steam has been conventionally known. In this heating cooker, superheated steam is supplied into a heating chamber that houses an object to be heated. When the temperature in the heating chamber reaches a predetermined temperature according to the food or the like and the heating time suitable for each food or the like elapses, the superheated steam is stopped and the cooking is completed.

As a result, it is possible to prevent evaporation of water in the object to be heated and cook the food or the like with a moist finish. Further, superheated steam has a higher heat conductivity than air due to the heat transfer effect of condensation heat and can shorten the cooking time, and at the same time, the heating chamber becomes anoxic and can prevent the oxidation of the object to be heated. It is like this.

[0004]

However, according to the above-mentioned conventional heating cooker, since the cooking is controlled by the temperature and the heating time in the heating chamber, the cooking may be insufficient when the superheated steam is stopped. Cooking may overheat. That is, the optimum cooking time may not be reached when the set time elapses due to variations in heating temperature. Also,
Although it is possible to change the heating temperature and heating time according to the amount and weight of the object to be heated, even if the amount is set and the size of the same food is different, even if the weight is detected, the weight of the container is detected. , The density and surface area of the food may be different. As a result, there is a problem that cooking cannot be stopped accurately depending on the object to be heated.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a heating cooker capable of heating an object to be heated with superheated steam and accurately cooking to a finished state suitable for the object to be heated.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a heating chamber for accommodating an object to be heated, and a steam heating unit for supplying superheated steam into the heating chamber to heat the object to be heated. And a weight detection unit that detects the weight of the object to be heated that changes due to heating by the superheated steam, and the steam heating unit is controlled based on the weight change of the object to be heated that is detected by the weight detection unit. I am trying.

According to this structure, the object to be heated is arranged in the heating chamber, and the steam heating unit supplies the superheated steam into the heating chamber to cook the object to be heated. The weight detection unit detects an increase in the weight of the heated object due to condensation of steam, a decrease in the weight of the heated object due to evaporation of condensed water and moisture in the heated object, and based on this detection result The temperature of superheated steam is controlled.

Further, the present invention is characterized in that, in the heating cooker having the above-mentioned structure, the supply of the superheated steam is stopped on the basis of the weight change of the object to be heated.

Further, the present invention is characterized in that in the heating cooker having the above-mentioned structure, the temperature of the object to be heated is calculated based on the weight change of the object to be heated, and the supply of the superheated steam is stopped according to the temperature. There is. According to this configuration, for example, the temperature history of the object to be heated is calculated by the time from the condensation process in which the weight increase of the object to be heated increases to the restoration process in which the weight decrease occurs,
The superheated steam is stopped when the set temperature is reached.

Further, according to the present invention, in the heating cooker having the above-mentioned structure, an internal heater for heating the object to be heated by radiant heat is provided, and after the supply of the superheated steam is stopped, the object to be heated is heated by the internal heater. It is characterized by that. With this configuration, the object to be heated is dried by the radiant heat of the internal heater. As a result, the object to be heated is cooked in a state where the surface is crisp and the inside is moist.

The present invention is also characterized in that the temperature of the superheated steam is varied based on the change in the weight of the object to be heated.
According to this configuration, the superheated steam is heated when the weight of the object to be heated becomes smaller than the initial weight from the restoration process to the drying process. As a result, the drying is performed quickly by the heat transfer effect of the condensation heat.

The present invention is also characterized in that the amount of superheated steam supplied is varied based on the weight of the object to be heated. According to this configuration, the object to be heated having a large weight needs a large amount of steam for condensing on the surface, so that the supply amount of the superheated steam is increased and the object to be heated is efficiently condensed.

Further, the present invention is characterized in that a notification means is provided for notifying when the weight is constant for a predetermined period of time or when the weight is reduced by the detection of the weight detecting section when the heating by the steam heating section is started. . According to this configuration,
If the weight is constant at the beginning of cooking, it is determined that the object to be heated is not housed in the heating chamber, and the notification is given. Further, when the weight is reduced, it is determined that the supply of steam is insufficient, and the notification is given.

[0014]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a front view showing a heating cooker according to an embodiment. The heating cooker 1 has a heating chamber 2 which accommodates an object W to be heated such as food and can be opened and closed by an opening / closing door (not shown). Below the heating chamber 2, an oven plate 10 on which an object W to be heated is placed is arranged.

The oven tray 10 is supported by a support rod 10a, and the lower end of the support rod 10a projects outside the heating chamber 2 and is connected to the weight detection unit 13. The weight detection unit 13 detects the weight of the object W to be heated on the oven plate 10. Further, in the heating chamber 2 below the oven plate 10, an in-compartment heater 15 that heats the object W to be heated by radiant heat composed of far infrared rays is provided.

A steam heating section 16 including a water supply tank 3, a steam generation heater 4 and a superheater 5 is arranged on the side of the heating chamber 2. The steam generating heater 4 and the superheater 5 are configured by covering the outer circumference of the fluid passage with a heating wire (not shown). The steam generation heater 4 is connected to the water supply tank 3 by a water supply valve 6, and heats the stored water in the water supply tank 3 that flows in when the water supply valve 6 is opened to generate steam.

The superheater 5 is connected to the steam generating heater 4 by the steam valve 14, and further heats the steam generated by the steam generating heater 4 to generate superheated steam at 100 ° C. or higher. The superheated steam is supplied into the heating chamber 2 through the discharge port 5a, and the object W to be heated is heated by the superheated steam. Also,
By changing the opening area of the steam valve 14, the supply amount of steam can be changed.

Below the steam heating section 16, a magnetron 8 for generating microwaves is provided. The microwave is guided into the heating chamber 2 via the waveguide 9, and the object W to be heated is heated by the microwave. The circulation fan 12
Circulates air and steam in the heating chamber 2 by the exhaust hole 1
Air and excess steam are exhausted from 1.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the heating cooker 1. The control unit 7 comprises a CPU, and the steam heating unit 16
(See FIG. 1). The control unit 7 controls the magnetron 8, the in-compartment heater 15, the steam generation heater 4, the overheater 5, the water supply valve, the steam valve 14, the weight detection unit 13, and the in-compartment circulation fan 12.

The display unit 26 connected to the control unit 7 is provided on an operation panel (not shown) arranged on the front surface of the control unit 7, and displays a cooking menu, a cooking status, and the like. Control unit 7
The input unit 27 connected to is provided on the operation panel,
The cooking menu displayed on the display unit 26 is selected and the cooking conditions are set. The storage unit 28 connected to the control unit 7 is R
It is composed of OM, RAM, non-volatile memory, etc., and stores programs of cooking menus and setting information by the input unit 27 and temporarily stores various calculations.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the heating cooker 1 having the above structure. In step # 11, the cooking condition of the article to be heated W is set by the input of the input unit 7. If cooking with superheated steam is set, the process proceeds to step # 12. When cooking by the in-compartment heater 15 or the magnetron 8 is set, each processing is performed, but since it is a conventionally known operation, description thereof will be omitted.

In step # 12, the weight detector 13 detects the initial weight m _{0 of the} object W to be heated. Step #
At 13, the water supply valve 6 is opened and the stored water flows into the steam generating heater 4. In step # 14, the steam generation heater 4 and the superheated heater 5 are driven to generate superheated steam at 100 ° C. or higher. As a result, the heating of the object W to be heated by the superheated steam is started.

At step # 15, it is judged if the initial weight m _{0 of the} object W to be heated is larger than a predetermined weight ma. The weight ma is an absolute weight determined according to the ability to generate superheated steam, and when the initial weight m ₀ is larger than the weight ma, the amount of steam condensed on the surface of the object W to be heated is insufficient. Therefore, in step # 16, the opening area of the steam valve 14 is increased to increase the amount of steam supplied into the heating chamber 2, and the process proceeds to step # 17. As a result, the object W to be heated is efficiently condensed.
Further, in step # 15, the initial weight m ₀ is the predetermined weight ma.
If it is determined that the following is true, the process proceeds to step # 17.

At step # 17, the process stands by until a predetermined time elapses. When the predetermined time has elapsed, the process proceeds to step # 18, the weight m ₁ is detected by the weight detection unit 13, and it is determined whether or not the weight m ₁ has increased with respect to the initial weight m ₀ . When the object W to be heated is heated by superheated steam, the steam condenses and adheres to the surface. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5, a condensation process in which the weight of the object to be heated W increases at the beginning of heating is performed. Therefore, due to the heat transfer effect of the condensation heat, the thermal conductivity becomes higher than that of air, and cooking is performed quickly. still,
In FIG. 5, the vertical axis represents the weight of the object to be heated and the horizontal axis represents time.

If the weight m ₁ has not increased with respect to the initial weight m ₀ , it is considered that an abnormality has occurred, and the routine proceeds to step # 19 to avoid the abnormality. Step # 19
Then, it is determined whether the detected weight is constant and the weight m ₁ is equal to the initial weight m ₀ . When the detected weight is constant, it is considered that the object W to be heated is not placed on the oven tray 10, and the fact that there is no object to be heated is notified by the display of the display unit 26 (informing means) in step # 20. . After that, the process proceeds to step # 30 described below and ends. As a result, storage of the article to be heated W is promoted, and no-load operation can be prevented.

If the detected weight is not constant in the determination in step # 19, that is, if the weight is reduced, it is considered that the steam is insufficient and the moisture in the object W to be heated is evaporated. For this reason, the display unit 2 should supply water in step # 21.
It is notified by the display of 6. After that, the process proceeds to step # 30 described below and ends. As a result, the water tank 3
Water supply to the water is promoted, and dry operation can be prevented. It should be noted that the notification may be performed by lighting a buzzer or a lamp.

If the weight of the object W to be heated is increased as determined in step # 18, the process proceeds to step # 22.
As shown in FIG. 5, the water droplets condensed on the surface of the object W to be heated evaporate due to the continued heating by the superheated steam, so that the restoration process of reducing the weight is performed after the condensation process.
In step # 22, the process waits until the weight of the article to be heated W starts to decrease, and when it comes to the restoration process, the process proceeds to step # 23.

At step # 23, it is judged whether or not the heating by the internal heater 15 is to be switched when the restoration process is started. In the condensation process, the heat of condensation is used to quickly raise the temperature inside the object W to be heated, while in the restoration process, the internal heater 15
By heating by means of, the object W to be heated can be gently dried.

For example, when the object W to be heated is toast or the like, it can be cooked in a state in which the surface is crisp and the inside is moist by switching to the internal heater 15. Therefore, when the input is set in step # 11 to switch to heating by the in-compartment heater 15, the process proceeds to step # 24 and the heater heating process shown in FIG. 4 is called.

In the heater heating process of FIG. 4, step # 4
The steam generating heater 4 and the superheater 5 are stopped at 2, and the water supply valve 3 is closed at step # 43. Step #
In 44, the inside heater 15 is driven, and the object W to be heated is heated by the radiant heat of far infrared rays.

In step # 45, the process waits until a predetermined time elapses, and when the predetermined time elapses, the in-compartment heater 15 is stopped in step # 46 and the cooking ends. It should be noted that the heater heating process may be performed at the time of shifting from the restoration process to the drying process described later, or the heating by the magnetron 8 may be performed instead of the heating by the in-chamber heater 15.

In FIG. 3, if it is determined in step # 23 that the heating by the in-compartment heater 15 is not switched, the process proceeds to step # 25. As shown in FIG. 5 described above, when all the condensed water on the surface of the object to be heated W is evaporated, the water content inside the object to be heated W is evaporated, so that the weight of the object to be heated W becomes smaller than the initial weight m _0. A drying process is performed.

In step # 25, it is judged whether or not the setting is made to perform the drying process. When the drying process is not performed by the heated object W such as meat bun or Shumai, the process proceeds to step # 26, and after the restoration process is started, the process waits until a predetermined time determined according to the heated object W elapses. When the predetermined time has elapsed, the process proceeds to step # 30, which will be described later, to finish cooking.

When the object W to be heated, such as grilled fish, is subjected to a drying process to impart a brown color and to crisply cook, the process proceeds to step # 27 until the weight of the object W to be heated matches the initial weight m _0. stand by. The weight of the object W to be heated is the initial weight m _0.
If it coincides with, the drying process is started and the process proceeds to step # 28.

In step # 28, the superheated heater 5 further raises the temperature of the superheated steam. The superheated steam has a drying rate of about 170 ° C. or higher and is faster than that of dry air. Therefore, it is possible to raise the temperature of the superheated steam to 170 ° C. or higher and shorten the drying time of the article W to be heated. It should be noted that by raising the temperature of the superheated steam to about 170 ° C. or higher at the start of the above-described restoration process depending on the object to be heated W, it is possible to promote the evaporation of condensed water together with the water inside the object to be heated.

In step # 29, after the drying process is started, the process waits until a predetermined time determined according to the object W to be heated has elapsed. When the predetermined time has elapsed, the steam generation heater 4 and the superheater 5 are stopped in step # 30, and step # 3
At 1, the water supply valve 3 is closed. This completes cooking.

According to the present embodiment, due to the weight change of the object W to be heated detected by the weight detector 13, the object W to be heated is restored regardless of variations in heating temperature, amount, density, surface area, etc. of the object to be heated. It is possible to accurately determine that the state is in a dry process. This makes it possible to accurately determine and control the cooking end time, the superheated steam temperature rise time, and the like according to the object to be heated, and the desired cooking can be performed accurately.

In steps # 26 and # 29, the superheated steam is stopped depending on the time from the start of the restoration process and the drying process, but since it is a short time, the cooking error due to variations in heating temperature is small. It does not reduce the accuracy of cooking. Further, the temperature of the object to be heated when the superheated steam is stopped is set when the input is set (step # 11), and the steam superheater 16 is controlled by the temperature of the object to be heated W calculated based on the detection result of the weight detection unit 13. You may control.

That is, the temperature history of various objects to be heated is acquired, and the relationship between the time and temperature required for the condensation process and the restoration process is stored in the storage unit 28 in advance as a database. From the time required for the condensation process and the restoration process during cooking, the temperature history of the object to be heated is calculated by the control unit 7 (calculation means) based on the database, and the time until the object to be heated reaches the set temperature is determined by step # 26 and step # 29. As a result, the cooking temperature of the object to be heated can be accurately grasped and accurate cooking can be performed.

[0040]

According to the present invention, the steam heating unit is controlled such as stopping the supply of superheated steam on the basis of the change in the weight of the object to be heated detected by the weight detecting unit. It is possible to accurately determine whether the object to be heated is in the state of restoration process or drying process regardless of the amount, density, surface area and the like. This makes it possible to accurately determine and control the cooking end time, the superheated steam temperature rise time, and the like according to the object to be heated, and the desired cooking can be performed accurately.

Further, according to the present invention, the temperature of the object to be heated is calculated based on the weight change of the object to be heated, and the supply of the superheated steam is stopped in accordance with the temperature, so that the cooking temperature of the object to be heated can be accurately measured. It is possible to grasp and perform accurate cooking.

Further, according to the present invention, after the supply of the superheated steam is stopped, the object to be heated is heated by the in-compartment heater which heats the object to be heated by energization, so that the object to be heated is gently dried. In the case of toast etc., the surface can be crisp and the inside can be cooked in a moist state.

Further, according to the present invention, the temperature of the superheated steam is changed based on the change in the weight of the object to be heated. It is possible to shorten the drying time of the object to be heated.

Further, according to the present invention, the supply amount of the superheated steam is varied based on the weight of the object to be heated, so that the steam amount is not excessive or insufficient, and the object to be heated is efficiently condensed.

Further, according to the present invention, when the weight of the object to be heated is constant for a predetermined time or when the weight of the object to be heated decreases at the start of heating by the steam heating unit, the notifying means is provided.
It is possible to prevent idle operation and no-load operation.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing a heating cooker according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a heating cooker according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation of the heating cooker according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation of a heater heating process of the heating cooker according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a change in weight of an object to be heated by the heating cooker according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 cooker 2 heating chambers 3 water tank 4 Steam generation heater 5 Overheated heater 6 water supply valve 7 control unit 8 magnetron 9 Waveguide 10 oven plates 11 exhaust hole 12 Internal circulation fan 13 Weight detector 14 Steam valve 15 Internal heater 16 Steam heating unit 26 Display 27 Input section 28 Storage W Heated object

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A heating chamber in which an object to be heated is housed, a steam heating unit for supplying superheated steam into the heating chamber to heat the object to be heated, and a weight of the object to be heated which changes due to heating by the superheated steam. A heating cooker comprising a weight detection unit for detecting, and controlling the steam heating unit based on a change in weight of an object to be heated detected by the weight detection unit. 2. The heating cooker according to claim 1, wherein the supply of the superheated steam is stopped based on a change in the weight of the object to be heated. 3. The heating device according to claim 2, further comprising a calculating means for calculating the temperature of the object to be heated based on a change in the weight of the object to be heated, and the supply of the superheated steam is stopped according to the temperature. Heating cooker. 4. The object to be heated according to claim 2, further comprising an internal heater for heating the object to be heated by radiant heat, and after the supply of the superheated steam is stopped, the object to be heated is heated by the internal heater. Heating cooker. 5. The temperature of the superheated steam is varied based on the change in the weight of the object to be heated.
The cooking device according to any one of 1. 6. The heating cooker according to claim 1, wherein the amount of superheated steam supplied is varied based on the weight of the object to be heated. 7. The informing means for informing when the weight is constant for a predetermined period of time or when the weight is reduced by the detection of the weight detecting unit at the start of heating by the steam heating unit. ~ The heating cooker according to claim 6.