JP2007209382A - Rice cooker - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a rice cooker capable of cooking rice in an excellent cooked state by reducing the cooking time, and cooking musenmai (rice without requiring washing) in an excellent cooked state and in a short period of time while reducing the loss of nutrient components. <P>SOLUTION: The rice cooker comprises a pot 10 for storing rice, a pot heating means 11 for heating the pot 10, a pot temperature measuring means 12 for measuring the temperature of the pot 10, a control means 13 for controlling the quantity of heating of the pot heating means 11 based on the temperature measured by the pot temperature measuring means 12 for cooking rice, and a pre-cooking means 14 for feeding mist to the rice in the pot 10 before feeding water. With this structure, by feeding mist to the rice in the pot before feeding water, water can be absorbed in the rice in a short period of time without immersing the rice or musenmai in water. Especially, as musenmai is not immersed in water at the time, the nutrient components do not dissolve in water, and water can be absorbed in the rice with the whole nutrient components retained in the rice. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a rice cooker having a function of shortening rice cooking time and cooking rice.

Conventionally, as this type of rice cooker, the pressure device is used to maintain the pressurized state during the rice cooking process (during the water immersion process and the cooking / smoothing process) to improve the water absorption and heat conduction to the rice. One that shortens time is known (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
JP-A-6-22710

  However, in the conventional configuration, since the pressurized state is maintained during the rice cooking process, the total rice cooking time is shortened, but the appearance of the cooked rice obtained after the completion of rice cooking is poorly swelled and textured. Becomes stiff. This is because the pressurized state is maintained in the water immersion process, so the water absorption speed is promoted, but there is no gap between the rice and the rice is in a dense state, so the time of the water immersion process is actually shortened. The speed to make up just enough water absorption is not promoted. As a result, it is considered that the cooking / smoothing process was started with insufficient water absorption, and the water absorption into the center became insufficient and hardened. Therefore, in the conventional configuration, it was not possible to obtain good rice while shortening the rice cooking time.

  Wash-free rice, which has become quite popular in recent years, is white rice that has been removed by a special treatment from rice cake remaining on the surface of polished white rice, which needs to be removed before cooking. There is no, you can cook rice just by adding water. However, since rice is cooked immediately without washing, water absorption tends to be insufficient. Therefore, as an unwashed rice cooking course in a rice cooker, in order to compensate for the lack of water absorption for not washing rice, the water immersion process had to be made longer than the white rice cooking course, and the rice cooking time could not be shortened.

  In addition, as a method for producing non-washed rice, there are a method of removing rice bran remaining on the surface of white rice with the same rice bran, a method of taking tapioca starch, a method of washing with water, etc., all of which are treated on the surface. As a result, the surface may be scratched by the treatment, and it is easier for the nutrients to elute from the surface when immersed in water compared to white rice that has just been polished. Furthermore, in the non-washed rice cooking course, the inundation time is longer than in the white rice cooking course, and when cooking the non-washed rice, elution into water such as vitamins B1, B2, etc. increases as nutrients, As a result, the amount of lost nutrient components in the cooked rice increased.

  The present invention solves the above-mentioned conventional problems, and shortens rice cooking time and cooked rice in a good cooked state, and cooked rice in a good cooked state and with no loss of nutritional components in a short time. An object of the present invention is to provide a rice cooker that can be obtained.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, the rice cooker of the present invention includes a pot for storing rice, a pot heating means for heating the pot, a pot temperature measuring means for measuring the temperature of the pot, and a pot temperature measuring means. The control means which cooks rice by controlling the heating amount to a pan heating means based on the temperature by and the rice cooking pretreatment means which supplies mist to the rice in the pan before water supply are provided.

  As a result, by supplying mist to the rice in the pan before water supply, it becomes possible to achieve water absorption in a short time without immersing the rice or non-washed rice. Since it is not soaked in water, the nutritional components are not eluted in the water and can be absorbed in the state of staying inside the rice. Therefore, it is possible to obtain in a short time rice having a good cooked state and non-washed rice having a good cooked state and suppressed disappearance of nutritional components.

  The rice cooker of the present invention can obtain cooked rice in a short time while shortening the rice cooking time, and washing-free rice in which the cooked state is good and the disappearance of nutrients is suppressed.

  The first invention is a pot for storing rice, a pot heating means for heating the pot, a pot temperature measuring means for measuring the temperature of the pot, and a heating amount to the pot heating means based on the temperature by the pot temperature measuring means. The rice in the pan before water supply by using a rice cooker equipped with a control means for cooking rice by controlling the rice and a rice pretreatment means for supplying mist to the rice in the pan before water supply Thus, it is possible to realize water absorption in a short time without immersing the rice or the unwashed rice, and at this time, especially the unwashed rice is not immersed in the water, so that the nutrient components are eluted in the water. Without being absorbed, water can be absorbed while staying inside the rice. Therefore, it is possible to obtain in a short time rice having a good cooked state and non-washed rice having a good cooked state and suppressed disappearance of nutritional components.

  According to a second invention, in particular, in the first invention, the rice cooking pretreatment means has mist generation means, and the mist generated by the mist generation means is supplied to the rice in the pan before water supply. The mist is generated by the mist generating means, supplied to the rice stored in the pan, and can be absorbed in a short time. In particular, unwashed rice is not soaked in water, so it is possible to absorb water in a state in which the amount of nutrient components eluted is suppressed.

  In a third aspect of the invention, in particular, in the second aspect of the invention, the rice cooking pretreatment means includes a mist heating means for heating the generated mist, and a mist temperature measuring means for measuring the mist temperature. By controlling the amount of heating to the mist heating means based on the measured mist temperature, the heat-controlled mist can be put into the pan, so that the water absorption rate to the rice or non-washed rice is further increased.

  In the fourth aspect of the invention, in particular, in the third aspect of the invention, the mist supplied to the rice in the pan is maintained for a certain period of time below the gelatinization temperature of the rice, so that the surface of the rice or non-washed rice has the gelatinization temperature. Since it does not become (over 60 degreeC), the water absorption speed | rate can be accelerated | stimulated efficiently, without the water absorption inhibition by gelatinization producing.

  In the fifth aspect of the invention, in particular, in the fourth aspect of the invention, the time for maintaining the fixed time below the gelatinization temperature of the rice is 5 minutes or more and 10 minutes or less. Can absorb water.

  In a sixth aspect of the invention, in particular, in any one of the first to fifth aspects of the invention, the rice cooking pretreatment means includes a water tank for storing water and a water supply means for supplying water from the water tank into the pan. Therefore, in the pre-cooking process, the mist is put into a pan containing rice or non-washed rice, and after water is absorbed beforehand, the water necessary for cooking is automatically supplied and cooked in a short time. be able to. In particular, in the case of non-washed rice, it is possible to obtain rice in a good state with a reduced amount of nutritional components dissolved in a short time.

  In the seventh aspect of the invention, in particular, in the sixth aspect of the invention, by providing the water tank heating means for heating the water tank, the water in the preheated water tank can be continuously supplied into the pan after the mist is charged. Therefore, in the cooking process, boiling in a short time is realized, and as a result, a rice in a good state can be obtained in a shorter time. In particular, in the case of non-washed rice, it is possible to cook the rice in a state where the loss of nutrients is suppressed.

  The eighth invention, in particular, in any one of the first to seventh inventions, has a soaking process and a cooking / smoothing process as the rice cooking process, and mist is added to the rice in the pan before water supply in the soaking process. In the inundation process, by supplying mist in the pot, water can be absorbed into the rice stored in the pot or non-washed rice in a short time, and the cooking and unevenness process continues. By carrying out, it is possible to automatically obtain cooked rice in a short time automatically. In particular, in the case of non-washed rice, it is possible to absorb water without immersing it in water, so that it can be cooked in a state where loss of nutrients is suppressed.

  According to a ninth aspect of the invention, in particular, in the eighth aspect of the invention, the water tank heating means for heating the water tank preheats the water in the water tank during the inundation process, and in the cooking / muraring process, By supplying water into the pan using the water supply means, the water supplied into the pan will boil in a short time, and as a result, the rice cooking time will be further reduced to obtain rice with a good cooked state. Can do.

  In the tenth aspect of the invention, in particular, in the ninth aspect of the invention, the temperature of the water supplied into the pan by the water supply means is 97 ° C. or more and 99 or less in the cooking / smoothing step. Can be boiled in a shorter time, and as a result, the rice cooking time can be shortened to obtain cooked rice with a good cooked state. Since the water supplied at this time is not 100 ° C., cavitation due to steam (gas) is unlikely to occur (when cavitation occurs, water supply failure of the pump as the water supply means is likely to occur). In the case of non-washed rice, it is possible to absorb water without immersing it in water, so that it can be cooked in a state in which loss of nutritional components is suppressed.

  In an eleventh aspect of the invention, in particular, in any one of the second to tenth aspects of the invention, the mist generating means is an ultrasonic vibrator, so that mist can be generated reliably.

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

(Embodiment)
As shown in the figure, the rice cooker in the present embodiment includes a pot 10 containing rice (or water), a pot heating means 11 comprising an electromagnetic heating coil or the like for heating the pot 10 and cooking rice, Based on the temperature of the pan 10 measured by the pan temperature measuring means 12 and the temperature of the pot 10 measured by the pan temperature measuring means 12, the pot heating means 11 is supplied to the pot heating means 11 so that each step of cooking rice can be sequentially executed. And a control means 13 for controlling the heating amount.

  In addition to the pot 10, rice cooking pretreatment means 14 for supplying mist to the rice in the pot 10 before water supply is provided. This rice cooking pretreatment means 14 is comprised from the following each part in this Embodiment. However, it does not necessarily mean that all parts must be provided.

  That is, a water tank 15 for storing water and a water tank heating means 15a for heating the water tank 15 are provided, and water is supplied from the water tank 15 to the mist generating chamber 17 by a water supply means 16 comprising a pump or the like. A mist is generated by the mist generating means 18. The amount of water supplied to the mist generating chamber 17 is controlled by the control means 13, and the flow rate is adjusted by the flow rate regulator 19. The mist generating means 18 is mainly composed of an ultrasonic vibrator, and the generated mist is sent to the mist heating means 21 at the upper part of the pan 10 through the mist passage pipe 20 and heated to enter the pot 10. It is thrown. The amount of heating to the mist heating means 21 is controlled by the control means 13 based on the temperature of the mist measured by the mist temperature measuring means 22 comprising a temperature sensor that measures the temperature of the mist.

  The structure of the mist heating means 21 includes an inner lid 23 that covers the upper part of the pan 10, its heating means 24, a heating chamber 25 that leads to the inside of the pot 10, and the like. The temperature is determined.

  In the present embodiment, the mist supplied to the rice in the pan 10 is not more than the gelatinization temperature of the rice (60 ° C. or less, preferably 30 ° C. or more and 60 ° C. or less) for a certain time (5 minutes or more and 10 minutes or less). I try to keep it.

  Moreover, in the rice cooker of this Embodiment, it has a water-immersion process and a boil-up / smoothing process as a rice cooking process, and the mist supplied to the rice in the pan 10 before water supply is supplied in the said water-immersion process. I have to. Further, the water tank heating means 15a preheats the water in the water tank 15 during the flooding process, and supplies the heated water tank 15 water into the pot 10 by the water supply means 16 in the cooking / murating process. ing. And the temperature of the water supplied in the pot 10 with the water supply means 16 is controlled to 97 degreeC or more and 99 or less in a cooking and uneven process. When the temperature of the water is 97 ° C. or higher and 99 or lower, the water supplied into the pan 10 can be boiled in a shorter time, and as a result, the rice cooking time is shortened and the cooked state is good. I can get rice. Since the water supplied at this time is not 100 ° C., cavitation due to steam (gas) is unlikely to occur (when cavitation occurs, water supply failure of the pump that is the water supply means 16 is likely to occur).

  Here, the rice cooking process of the rice cooker in this Embodiment is demonstrated taking the case where 3 rice (450g) is accommodated in the pan 10 as an example.

  First, rice is stored in the pan 10, and rice cooking is started by pressing a rice cooking start button 27 provided in a part of the rice cooker housing 26. That is, based on the temperature of the pan 10 measured by the pan temperature measuring means 12, in the rice cooker having the water soaking process as the rice cooking process, the water soaking process of the rice cooking process, the cooking / smoothing process are executed. In the water immersion process, the pre-cooking process is performed, and a necessary amount of water is supplied from the water tank 15 to the mist generating chamber 17, and mist generation mainly configured by an ultrasonic vibrator is performed using the supplied water. By means 18, mist is generated. The generated mist passes through the mist passage pipe 20 and is sent to the mist heating chamber 25. In the mist heating chamber 25, the mist temperature is maintained at 40 ° C. based on the information of the mist temperature measuring means 22. It is controlled by the control means 13. The mist maintained at 40 ° C. is put into the pot 10 for 10 minutes, and the water immersion process is completed.

  After the necessary amount of water is supplied to the mist generating chamber 17 in the water immersion process, the water in the water tank 15 is heated to 98 ° C. by the water tank heating means 15a. However, it is supplied into the pan 10, and the cooking and unevenness process is performed, and the cooking of rice is completed. (Table 1) is data regarding cooked rice.

  As shown in (Table 1), each process time of the rice cooker in the present embodiment (rice) is 10 minutes in the water immersion process, 9 minutes in the cooking / muraring process, and the total rice cooking time is 19 minutes. Moreover, as apparent from the sensory evaluation, the appearance was swollen and soft, and a state equivalent to rice cooked using a conventional rice cooker over 48 minutes could be realized. On the other hand, in the conventional pressure rice cooker (rice), the rice cooking time was 31 minutes, which was longer than that of the present embodiment, the appearance was bad, and the texture was hard.

  This is due to the following reason. (Table 2) is data relating to the moisture content of rice during the inundation process.

  In the water immersion process of the present embodiment (rice), as shown in (Table 2), the water content of rice is reduced to 29% by pouring mist controlled at 40 ° C. for 10 minutes into the pan. The water content is 27% when the conventional rice cooker (rice) has a water immersion temperature of 60 ° C. and a water immersion time of 20 minutes, the water content of the pressure rice cooker (rice) is 60 ° C. and the water immersion time is 8 minutes. %, The water content was high and the water absorption rate was increased. Mist-like water is considered to be close to gas and easily penetrates into the rice. On the other hand, the 60 ° C water immersion temperature of conventional rice cookers and pressure rice cookers is higher than the 40 ° C mist temperature. Water absorption at the surface layer portion of rice is promoted, but since it is in the vicinity of the generally known gelatinization temperature (over 60 ° C, in some cases over 65 ° C), the gelatinization reaction occurs at the absorbed surface layer portion. It is thought that water absorption into the center of the rice was hindered and the final moisture content was low. Moreover, in the pressure rice cooker, it is thought that the moisture content was further lowered because the immersion time was short.

  In the next cooking / smoothing process, in the water tank 15, the water heated to 98 ° C. in advance during the flooding process is supplied into the pot 10, so that the time until boiling is the conventional rice cooker or pressure cooker Compared to this, it was quicker and it was possible to carry out the cooking and spotting process in 9 minutes. In the cooking and unevenness process, rice is further gelatinized by absorbing water and transferring rice β-starch to α-starch. It is thought that it was accelerated as much as water penetrated to the inside, and it could be cooked in 9 minutes in the same state as a conventional rice cooker.

  As is apparent from the above description, when the rice cooker of the present embodiment cooks rice, in the water immersion process, mist at 30 ° C. or higher and 60 ° C. or lower, preferably 40 ° C., is applied to the rice in the pot 10 for 5 minutes or longer. By adding 10 minutes or less, preferably 10 minutes, the rate of water absorption into the rice is increased, the water content inside the rice is also increased, and in addition, by preheating the water in the water tank 15 during the water immersion process, The time until boiling is shortened in the cooking and unevenness process. Moreover, since water is absorbed to the inside of rice by mist water absorption, gelatinization reaction is also accelerated | stimulated, and also rice with a good cooking state can be obtained while shortening rice cooking time.

  Next, the rice cooking process of the rice cooker in this Embodiment is demonstrated taking the case where 3 washing | cleaning rice (450g) is accommodated in the pan 10 as an example.

  First, wash-free rice is accommodated in the pan 10, and although not shown in the figure, by pressing the wash-free rice cooking start button provided in a part of the rice cooker casing 26, rice cooking is started as described above. Then, the water immersion process and the cooking / smoothing process are executed.

  First, in the water immersion process, a necessary amount of water is supplied from the water tank 15 to the mist generating chamber 17, and the mist is generated by the mist generating means 18 mainly composed of an ultrasonic vibrator using the supplied water. The generated mist passes through the mist passage pipe 20 and is sent to the mist heating chamber 25. In the mist heating chamber 25, the mist temperature is maintained at 30 ° C. based on the information of the mist temperature measuring means 22. Control is performed by the control means 13 as described above. The mist maintained at 30 ° C. is introduced into the pot 10 for 15 minutes, and the water immersion process is completed.

  In the water immersion process, after the required amount of water is supplied to the mist generating chamber 25, the water in the water tank 15 is heated to 98 ° C. by the water tank heating means 15a. However, it is supplied into the pan 10, and the cooking and unevenness process is performed, and the cooking of rice is completed.

  As shown in (Table 1), each process time of the rice cooker in the present embodiment (wash-free rice) is 15 minutes in the water immersion process, 9 minutes in the cooking / muraring process, and the total rice cooking time is 24 minutes. It could be considerably shortened, and with a conventional rice cooker, it was possible to achieve a state equivalent to rice cooked over 48 minutes for rice and 58 minutes for unwashed rice.

  Also, in the water immersion process, water is absorbed without being immersed in water, and since the time is shorter than the water immersion process of conventional rice cookers, the amount of nutritional components eluted is small, and the nutritional components of the cooked rice are lost. Was able to be suppressed.

  In the next cooking / spotting process, as explained above, the gelatinization reaction is accelerated as soon as water penetrates into the unwashed rice by adding mist, and a normal rice cooker takes 9 minutes. We were able to cook in the same state as.

  Thus, when the rice cooker of this Embodiment cooks rice, in a water immersion process, 30 degreeC or more and 60 degrees C or less, Preferably 30 degreeC mist is 5 minutes or more and 10 minutes or less, Preferably it is 15 minutes in the pot 10 By adding, the water absorption rate to the non-washed rice is increased, the moisture content inside the non-washed rice is also increased, and since it is not immersed in water, the amount of elution of nutrients is small, and in addition, the water tank 15 By heating the water in advance, the time until boiling is shortened in the cooking and unevenness process. Moreover, since water is absorbed to the inside of the rice by the mist water absorption, the gelatinization reaction is also promoted, and the rice cooking time is shortened and the cooked state is good, and the rice with less loss of nutrients can be obtained. .

  As described above, the rice cooker according to the present invention shortens the rice cooking time and obtains cooked rice with a good cooked state and cooked rice with a good cooked state and suppressed disappearance of nutritional components in a short time. Because it can be used, it can be cooked regardless of whether it is for home use or for business use, and whether it is regular rice or non-washed rice.

Sectional drawing of the rice cooker in embodiment of this invention

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Pan 11 Pan heating means 12 Pan temperature measurement means 13 Control means 14 Rice cooking pretreatment means 15 Water tank 15a Water tank heating means 16 Water supply means 17 Mist generation chamber 18 Mist generation means (ultrasonic vibrator)
19 Flow controller 21 Mist heating means 22 Mist temperature measurement means

Claims (11)

A pot for storing rice, a pot heating means for heating the pot, a pot temperature measuring means for measuring the temperature of the pot, and a rice cooker by controlling the amount of heating to the pot heating means based on the temperature by the pot temperature measuring means. The rice cooker provided with the control means to perform and the rice cooking pre-processing means which supplies mist to the rice in the pot before water supply. The rice cooker according to claim 1, wherein the rice cooking pretreatment means has mist generation means, and the mist generated by the mist generation means is supplied to the rice in the pan before water supply. The rice cooking pretreatment means has a mist heating means for heating the generated mist and a mist temperature measuring means for measuring the mist temperature, and heating the mist heating means based on the mist temperature measured by the mist temperature measuring means. The rice cooker of Claim 2 which controls quantity. The rice cooker according to claim 3, wherein the mist supplied to the rice in the pan is maintained at a temperature below the gelatinization temperature of the rice for a certain time. The rice cooker according to claim 4, wherein the time for maintaining for a certain period of time below the gelatinization temperature of the rice is 5 minutes or more and 10 minutes or less. The rice cooking pretreatment means is a rice cooker according to any one of claims 1 to 5, comprising a water tank for storing water and a water supply means for supplying water from the water tank into the pot. The rice cooker of Claim 6 provided with the water tank heating means which heats a water tank. The rice cooker according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the rice cooker has a soaking process and a cooking / smoothing process as a rice cooking process, and supplies mist to rice in a pan before water supply in the soaking process. The water tank heating means for heating the water tank preheats the water in the water tank at the time of the inundation process, and the water in the heated water tank is supplied into the pot by the water supply means in the cooking / murating process. Item 9. A rice cooker according to item 8. The rice cooker according to claim 9, wherein the temperature of the water supplied into the pot by the water supply means is 97 ° C or higher and 99 or lower in the cooking / smoothing step. The rice cooker according to any one of claims 2 to 10, wherein the mist generating means is an ultrasonic vibrator.