JP2003336846A - Heating cooking apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To overcome the disadvantage of food heating using overheated steam that a structure for generating overheated steam is complex. <P>SOLUTION: In this heating cooking apparatus, water is directly injected and supplied onto an evaporating member 8 in a preheated heating chamber 1 to achieve quick evaporation and overheating to generate overheated steam excellent in food heating performance. A heat storage member 9 is disposed intimately with the evaporating member 8 to promote water evaporation. An upwardly-open exhaust flow passage is provided in communication with the heating chamber 1 to cause only the steam to condense and reflow. Further, an ambient temperature measuring means 10 is provided for measuring ambient temperature inside the heating chamber 1, and water feeding action is produced after the temperature measured by the ambient temperature measuring means 10 has reached a preset temperature. <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 and cooking apparatus for heating food by utilizing superheated steam generated in a food heating cabinet.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recently, abundant supplies of cooked foods have come to be used, and many of them have been used at home dining tables. As prepared foods, a wide variety of prepared foods such as fried foods such as croquette, steamed foods such as choux mai, steamed foods such as dumplings, baked foods such as grilled fish, and simmered foods such as Chikuzen-ni are supplied. When eating these cooked foods at home, it is common to reheat, in addition to heating in a frying pan or steamer, microwave using microwave, oven using radiant heating by infrared rays, A heating cooking device such as a convection oven heated with hot air or a steam oven using heated steam is used.

A large number of heating cooking devices have also been proposed which use superheated steam heated to 100 ° C. or more and utilize condensation heat transfer for high-speed heating (for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2000-184964).
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-263667).

The heating and cooking method using superheated steam involves heating steam to a temperature of 120 to 300 ° C., for example.
With excellent heat transfer ability, it is possible to heat food quickly, and it is possible to raise the temperature to deprive the food of water appropriately, so especially when reheating fried foods, it can be finished with a chewy flavor, etc. It has the excellent characteristics of.

[0005]

As described above, although the heating of foods using superheated steam has many effects, there is a problem that the apparatus configuration for generating superheated steam has to be large-scaled. It was In principle, superheated steam is obtained by further heating water vapor obtained by evaporating water to bring it into a superheated state of 100 ° C. or higher, but separately from a heating chamber that stores food. A steam generator and a superheater that further heats the generated steam are indispensable.For household cooking equipment that heats a small amount of food for several people or less, compared to the volume of the heating chamber that stores the food, the steam generator And the heating device occupy a considerably large volume, and in terms of energy, the energy required to preheat each part may be much larger than the energy used to heat food, resulting in energy loss. It was a big one.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a heating cooking device which reduces energy loss, which is a major problem in the above conventional superheated steam cooking device, and can sufficiently bring out the effect of superheated steam cooking with a simple structure and operation. .

[0007]

A first aspect of the present invention provides a heating chamber for containing food, a heating device for heating an atmosphere in the heating chamber, a water supplying device for injecting water into the heating chamber, A heating and cooking apparatus comprising: an evaporation member that receives water supplied from the water supply means and evaporates in a heating chamber.

The second aspect of the present invention is the cooking apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, further comprising an air flow circulating means for circulating the atmospheric gas in the heating chamber.

The third aspect of the present invention further comprises an ambient temperature measuring means for measuring the ambient temperature in the heating chamber, and the water supply operation is performed after the temperature measured by the ambient temperature measuring means reaches a preset temperature. The heating and cooking apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention controls so as to enable the above.

A fourth aspect of the present invention is the cooking apparatus according to the first or second aspect of the present invention, which comprises a heat storage member in close contact with the evaporation member.

A fifth aspect of the present invention further comprises temperature detecting means for measuring the temperature of the evaporating member, and the operation of the water supplying means after the temperature detecting means detects that the temperature has reached a preset temperature by the control means. The heating and cooking apparatus according to the fourth aspect of the present invention performs interlocking control to enable the above.

A sixth aspect of the present invention is provided with an exhaust part for exhausting steam in the heating chamber, and a heat dissipation part provided in the exhaust part, wherein the water condensed by the heat dissipation means is reused as water for superheated steam. It is any one of the 1st-5th heating cooking apparatus of this invention utilized.

As a method related to the present invention,
A heating chamber for storing food, heating means for heating the atmosphere in the heating chamber, temperature measuring means for measuring the temperature of the atmosphere in the heating chamber, water supply means for injecting water into the heating chamber, and the heating An evaporation member for receiving water supplied from the water supply means and evaporating it indoors; and a control means for setting and controlling the heating and cooking conditions of the food in cooperation with the heating means, the temperature measuring means and the water supply means. In the cooking method of the heating and cooking device, the heating means is energized to raise the temperature of the heating chamber to preheat the heating chamber to a preset temperature, and then the water is supplied to the evaporation member by the water supply means. There is a heating cooking method in which a predetermined amount of water is poured into the container to generate steam, and the steam is heated by the heating means to generate superheated steam, and cooking is performed using the superheated steam.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

(First Embodiment) A first embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional configuration diagram showing a first embodiment of a heating and cooking device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view of relevant parts, and FIG. 3 is a control flow chart showing its operation control.

In FIG. 1, 1 is a heating chamber for heating food, 2 is a door that can be opened and closed, 3 is heating means consisting of a sheath heater for heating the inside of the heating chamber 1, and 4 is gas for heating the inside of the heating chamber 1. It is an airflow circulation means having a motor-driven fan configuration for circulation. Further, 5 is a water tank, 6 is a water supply means composed of an electric pump, 7 is a water supply pipe connected from the water supply means 6 into the heating chamber 1, 8 is a metal tray-shaped evaporation member, and 9 is on the evaporation member 8. It is a heat storage member made of foam metal that is placed in close contact.

Reference numeral 10 is a temperature measuring means consisting of a thermistor arranged on the inner wall of the heating chamber 1, and 11 is a control provided on the upper portion of the door 2 which is operable for input and performs various detections, judgments, displays, notifications and operation signal outputs. It is connected to the heating means 3, the air flow circulating means 4, the water supply means 6, the temperature measuring means 10 and the like. In addition, 12 is a food product, 13 is a shelf material for placing the food product 11, and 14 is a heat shield plate.

Here, the operation / display section of the control means 11 is constructed as shown in FIG. That is, there are a temperature setting operation selection button 15, a temperature setting button 16 and a temperature display section 17, as well as a heating time setting operation selection button 18, a time setting button 19 and a time display section 20. 21 and a cooking button 22 are arranged. Reference numeral 23 is a preheat lamp for notifying completion of preheating, 24 is a cooking lamp for indicating that cooking is in progress, and 25 is an end buzzer for notifying completion of cooking.

Next, FIG. 3 shows the operation flow in the above configuration.
Will be explained. The power supply connected to the control means 11 is turned on to start the operation (S1), first the selection button 15 is pressed to set the temperature, and the temperature setting button 16 is operated while observing the temperature display portion 17 to store the heating chamber 1. Set the internal temperature (S
2) Next, the selection button 18 is pressed to set the time for heating and cooking, and the time setting button 19 is operated while watching the time display section 20 to input and set the required time (S3).

After that, when the start button 21 is pushed, the heating means 3 is energized from the control means 11 and the air flow circulating means 4 is also energized, so that the temperature inside the heating chamber 1 is gradually raised (S4). The temperature of the circulating air flow in the heating chamber 1 is measured by the temperature measuring means 10, and the preheating is continued (S5) until the temperature set in advance (S2) is reached (S5). When the temperature inside the heating chamber 1 reaches the set temperature, the preheating lamp 23 is turned on to notify (S7), the door 2 is opened to insert the food 12, and the cooking button 22 is pressed to start the heating and cooking operation (S8). ).

That is, first, the water supply means 6 is operated to draw water from the water tank 5 and to inject a predetermined amount of water into the evaporation member 8 in the heating chamber 1 through the water supply pipe 7 (S9). At this time, the evaporation member 8 and the heat storage member 9 placed in close contact therewith are sufficiently preheated and stored by receiving the heat supplied by the heating means 3, and receive water injection from the water supply means 6 there. Then, it instantly evaporates to become steam, and the temperature thereof rises while receiving the heat of the heating means 3 for continuously heating to become superheated steam. The superheated steam thus obtained circulates in the heating chamber 1 by the operation of the air flow circulation means 4, contacts the food 12 inserted and placed on the shelf 13 and performs high-quality cooking at high speed ( S10) can be performed.

The control means 11 starts the operation of the timer at the same time when the cooking button 22 is pressed (S1).
1), time management according to time setting (S3) (S12)
Are doing During the cooking time, the cooking lamp 24 lights up to indicate that cooking is in progress (S13), and when the set time is over, the heating means 3 is de-energized (S14) and the end buzzer 25 is activated.
Is controlled to notify the end of cooking (S15).

As described above, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to easily perform the simple structure and operation of supplying water into the heating chamber 1 which has been heated and heated, without using a complicated structure and mechanism as in the conventional case. Moreover, superheated steam can be rapidly generated, and high-quality food can be overheated. For example, when the internal volume of the heating chamber 1 is about 10 liters, the set temperature is 200
Preheating at ℃, if you use 300g aluminum evaporation member 8, even if you inject about 12g of water here, the temperature will instantly drop to about 120 ℃, but overheated steam generation of more than 10 liters Is obtained. Since the generated superheated steam comes into contact with the heating means 3 that is energized and generates heat, the temperature is raised immediately, so that heating cooking using the superheated steam can be performed in a state substantially close to the initial setting (S2).

If the heat storage member 9 is arranged in close contact with the evaporation member 8 (or may be integrally molded), the water supply means 6
The decrease in the temperature in the heating chamber 1 immediately after the operation is further reduced, and the cooking with higher quality becomes possible. In addition, in the operation with this configuration, superheated steam is generated after the food 12 is inserted into the heating chamber 1, and when the food 2 is inserted by opening the door 2 of the heating chamber 1, the heating effect is strong. Safe cooking operation can be performed without exposing to excessive superheated steam.

If the heat storage member 8 is made of a porous material such as foamed metal or has a void structure such as a wire mesh or punching metal, the heat transfer to the supplied water is accelerated, or the inside of the evaporation member 8 is accelerated. The surface area of water can be enlarged to facilitate evaporation, which is more effective in reducing unstable transient states after water supply. In addition, the heat storage member 8 is made of a lightweight and inexpensive ceramic porous body and can be replaced as appropriate, so that the evaporation member is prevented from being contaminated or the heat transfer property being deteriorated due to the accumulation of the hardness component contained in the water used. This is also possible and can be an effective means for maintaining a sanitary and efficient superheated steam cooking device.

When the volume of the heating chamber 1 is small, natural convection may be used for the generation of overheated steam and heat exchange with the food 12 in the heating chamber 1, but when the volume of the heating chamber 1 is large. Alternatively, in order to make the temperature uniform and increase the speed, it is effective to equip the airflow circulation means 4 to forcibly convect the gas in the heating chamber 1, and even a food having a complicated shape can be uniformly cooked. . In this case, by preventing radiant heat emitted from the heating means 3 having a high temperature from reaching the food 12 directly, a partial abnormal temperature rise of the food 12 can be avoided. It is also an effective means to use a different shielding structure.

In the present embodiment, the pump-driven water supply means 6 is used for water supply, but any means capable of supplying an appropriate amount of water to the evaporation member 8 when necessary, for example, a self-weight drop type It is also possible to use a method in which the water tank 5 equipped with a manual valve is installed at a slightly higher position.

(Second Embodiment) A second embodiment of the present invention will be described. The present embodiment is basically the same in configuration, operation, and control method as that of the first embodiment, but is characterized by a method of treating surplus gas in the heating chamber 1.
Therefore, the difference will be mainly described. The same numbers are given to the same components as those in the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a heating and cooking apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 4, the heating chamber 1
An exhaust passage 26 that opens upward is provided in the upper part of the, and a fin-shaped heat dissipation member 27 is provided on the side wall thereof. Further, the heat storage member 9 is provided with a temperature detecting means 28 composed of a thermistor and communicated with the control means 11.

Characteristic points of the action and operation in the above configuration will be described. When the water in the water tank 1 is supplied to the evaporating member 8 in the heating chamber 1 which has been heated by the operation of the water supply means 6, the water is evaporated by the thermal energy accumulated and retained by the evaporating member 8 and the heat accumulating member 9 to cause overheating. It becomes vapor and diffuses into the heating chamber 1. The superheated steam generated in this way pushes the air that was previously present and part of the generated superheated steam, which cannot be completely accommodated in the heating chamber 1 and is pushed out to the outside through the exhaust passage 26. Since the side wall of the exhaust flow path 26 is provided with a heat dissipation member 27, and the side wall of the exhaust flow path 26 has sufficiently lowered in temperature, the steam containing gas may be condensed and attached from the gas containing the steam. become. The condensed water droplets flow down along the side wall of the exhaust passage 26 protruding upward, flow down into the heating chamber 1 again, and are reused again as a generation source of superheated steam. Therefore, the amount of water supplied from the water supply means 6 may be the minimum necessary, and the steam that has been conventionally diffused to the outside can be reused, resulting in replenishment of water. The composition will have air removed over time and will only approach superheated steam.

Thus, since the oxygen concentration in the heating chamber 1 is selectively reduced, the food 12 that is cooked by superheated steam in the heating chamber 1 can be prevented from being deteriorated and deteriorated due to the oxidative action, so that the quality is improved. It can be cooked with excellent heat.

Although a fin-shaped heat dissipation member 27 is separately provided on the side wall of the exhaust passage 26, if the exhaust passage 26 is made of a metal body, the exposed exhaust flow The wall surface of the passage 26 also acts as the heat dissipation member 27, and it is not always necessary to separately provide such a structure, and the material and shape are not limited as long as the heat exchange (heat dissipation) is sufficiently performed.

Further, by disposing the temperature detecting means 28 for detecting the temperature state of the heat storage member 9 for additionally supplying the latent heat of vaporization of the supplied water, the heat capacity of the heat storage member 9 becomes large to some extent. Then, the difference between the circulating air temperature in the heating chamber 1 measured by the temperature measuring means 10 and the temperature of the heat storage member 9 becomes large, and the timing of operating the water supply means 6 is too early, so that the heat storage member 9 and the evaporation member 8 are sufficiently Water may be supplied before a sufficient temperature rise is obtained. However, if the temperature of the heat storage member 9 is directly detected and the water supply means 6 is operated in consideration of the timing at which the supplied water is instantly vaporized to become superheated steam, the food 12 to be cooked is heated.
Can be processed under optimum conditions, and higher quality cooking can be performed.

[0034]

As described above, the heating and cooking device of the present invention is
By supplying water directly to a sufficiently preheated heating chamber to generate steam and reheat it to generate superheated steam, it is possible to sufficiently cook food using superheated steam with a simple configuration and simple operation. It can be realized. Moreover, it is possible to perform a safe cooking operation without directly contacting the human body with superheated steam during operation.

By attaching a heat storage member to the evaporation member for evaporating the supplied water, high-speed and reliable generation of superheated steam can be secured, and the heat storage member is provided with a temperature detecting means to operate in conjunction therewith. Optimal timing control of water supply for superheated steam generation can be realized.

Further, by disposing an exhaust flow path having a heat radiating member on the side wall, which communicates with the upper part of the heating chamber and is opened upward, a sufficient amount of superheated steam can be obtained with a minimum amount of water and the heating can be performed. It is possible to realize superheated steam cooking that suppresses oxidative deterioration of foods with sufficiently reduced oxygen concentration in the room.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional configuration diagram showing a first embodiment of a heating and cooking device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the main part.

FIG. 3 is a control flow chart showing the above operation control.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional configuration diagram showing a second embodiment of a heating and cooking device according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 heating chamber 2 doors 3 heating means 4 Air flow circulation means 5 water tank 6 water supply means 7 Water supply pipe 8 Evaporating member 9 Heat storage member 10 Temperature measuring means 11 Control means 12 food 13 shelves 14 Heat shield 15 Temperature selection button 16 Temperature setting button 17 Temperature display 18 hour selection button 19 hour setting button 20 hour display 21 Start button 22 Cooking button 23 Preheat lamp 24 cooking lamp 25 end buzzer 26 Exhaust flow path 27 Heat dissipation member 28 Temperature measuring means

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Ikuko Tanaka             1006 Kadoma, Kadoma-shi, Osaka Matsushita Electric             Sangyo Co., Ltd.

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A heating chamber for storing food, a heating means for heating an atmosphere in the heating chamber, a water supply means for injecting water into the heating chamber, and water supplied from the water supply means in the heating chamber. A heating and cooking device comprising: an evaporation member that receives and evaporates. 2. The heating and cooking device according to claim 1, further comprising an air flow circulating means for circulating the atmospheric gas in the heating chamber. 3. An atmosphere temperature measuring means for measuring an atmosphere temperature in the heating chamber is further provided, and the water supply operation can be performed after the temperature measured by the atmosphere temperature measuring means reaches a preset temperature. The cooking device according to claim 1, which is controlled by the above. 4. The cooking device according to claim 1, further comprising a heat storage member that is in close contact with the evaporation member. 5. The temperature measuring means for measuring the temperature of the evaporation member is further provided, and the water supplying means can be operated after the temperature detecting means detects that the temperature has reached a preset temperature by the control means. The heating and cooking device according to claim 4, which is interlockedly controlled. 6. An exhaust unit for exhausting steam in the heating chamber, and a heat dissipation unit provided in the exhaust unit, wherein water condensed by the heat dissipation means is reused as water for superheated steam. The heating and cooking device according to any one of 1 to 5.