JP2012110506A - Rice cooker - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a rice cooker capable of grinding coats of brown rice in which the cooked brown rice can have soft palate feeling and good taste.SOLUTION: A controller 50 has a brown rice mode control section constituted of a software. The brown rice mode control section controls a heater 31 and maintains the temperature of an inner pot 10 at about 70°C and rotates and drives mixing blades 40 by a mixing motor 17 and surely removes the outer coats of the brown rice based on the output of a temperature sensor 32.

Description

  The present invention relates to a rice cooker that can cook brown rice.

  Conventionally, as this type of rice cooker, there is a rice cooker provided with a rotatable kneading blade and rotating the kneading blade so that the brown rice in the container absorbs water uniformly in the water absorption process (special feature). No. 2008-18122, FIG. 1 (Patent Document 1)).

  However, in the above-mentioned conventional rice cooker, even if brown rice can absorb water uniformly, the temperature of the container in the water absorption process is about 58 ° C. (see FIG. 4 of Patent Document 1). Even after stirring, the hull of brown rice could not be removed. For this reason, the conventional rice cooker has a problem that the cooked brown rice has a hard and soft outer texture and does not have a good finish.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2008-18122 (FIGS. 1 and 4)

  Then, the subject of this invention is providing the rice cooker which can scrape the outer_layer | skin of brown rice, and the cooked brown rice can have a soft texture and favorable taste.

In order to solve the above problems, the rice cooker of the present invention is
The body,
A lid attached to the main body so as to be opened and closed;
An inner pot that can be accommodated in the main body,
A heating unit for heating the inner pot;
A temperature sensor for detecting the temperature of the inner pot;
A stirring section arranged in the inner pot;
A drive unit for driving the stirring unit;
While maintaining the temperature of the inner pot at the brown rice hull removal acceleration temperature at which brown rice hull removal is promoted, the stirring unit is rotated based on the brown rice hull being shaved, based on the output of the temperature sensor. And a brown rice mode control unit for controlling the heating unit and the driving unit.

  According to the rice cooker having the above-described configuration, the brown rice mode control unit maintains the temperature of the inner pot at the brown rice hull removal promoting temperature by the temperature sensor and the heating unit, and the driving unit causes the stirring unit to be brown rice. It is driven to rotate so that its outer skin is scraped. Thereby, since the said brown rice is stirred by the stirring part, maintaining the brown rice hull removal acceleration temperature, the hull is surely shaved and removed.

  Therefore, according to the rice cooker of this invention, the cooked brown rice has a soft texture and a good taste, and does not become a bubble wrap.

  In addition, the brown rice hulls that have been shaved and removed remain in the inner pot and are cooked as part of the rice, so that the nutrients of the brown rice are not lost.

In the rice cooker of one embodiment,
The brown rice mode control unit
A preheating step for maintaining the temperature of the inner pot at the brown rice hull removal acceleration temperature, a cooking step for increasing the temperature of the inner pot from the brown rice hull removal acceleration temperature following the preheating step, and the cooking step Subsequently, the heating unit is controlled based on the output of the temperature sensor so as to perform a boiling maintaining step of maintaining the temperature of the inner pot at the boiling maintenance temperature and a steaming step following the boiling maintenance step, Cook rice.

  According to the above embodiment, the brown rice mode control unit, following the preheating step of rotationally driving the stirring unit while maintaining the temperature of the inner pot at the brown rice hull removal acceleration temperature, sequentially cooked step and Since the boiling maintaining process and the steaming process are performed, brown rice having a high nutritional value, a soft texture and a good taste can be cooked without interruption.

In the rice cooker of one embodiment,
The brown rice hull removal acceleration temperature is a temperature within a range from 65 ° C to 80 ° C.

  According to the above embodiment, the brown rice hull removal acceleration temperature is a temperature within a range of 65 ° C. to 80 ° C., and therefore the brown rice hull can be removed reliably, and the cooked brown rice has a soft texture and good texture. It can have a good taste.

  If the temperature of the inner pot is higher than 80 ° C., even if the stirring unit is driven to rotate, the brown rice is too soft and the hull of the brown rice cannot be removed sufficiently. Unpolished rice cannot have a good taste.

In the rice cooker of one embodiment,
The brown rice hull removal acceleration temperature is a temperature within a range from 70 ° C to 80 ° C.

  According to the above embodiment, the brown rice hull removal acceleration temperature is a temperature within a range from 70 ° C. to 80 ° C., and thus the brown rice hull can be removed more reliably, and the cooked brown rice has a softer texture. And can have a better taste.

  According to the present invention, while maintaining the temperature of the inner pot at the brown rice hull removal promoting temperature at which brown rice hull removal is promoted, the stirring unit is rotationally driven so that the hulled rice hull is shaved, so that the hulled rice hull is reliably secured. The cooked brown rice can have a soft texture and a good taste without losing nutrients.

It is a schematic block diagram of the rice cooker of one Embodiment of this invention. It is a control block diagram of the rice cooker. It is a figure which shows the temperature change of the inner pot of the said embodiment, and the operation state of the stirring blade of the said embodiment. It is a figure which shows the temperature change of the inner pot of the comparative example 1, and the operation state of the stirring blade of the comparative example 1. FIG. It is a figure which compares and shows the evaluation of the taste about the brown rice cooked by the said embodiment and Comparative Examples 1 and 2 using the said rice cooker. It is a figure which compares and shows evaluation about various evaluation items about brown rice cooked by the above-mentioned embodiment and comparative examples 1 and 2 using the above-mentioned rice cooker.

  Hereinafter, the rice cooker of this invention is demonstrated in detail by embodiment of illustration. Drawing 1 is a schematic structure figure of a rice cooker of one embodiment of the present invention.

  The said rice cooker is provided with the main body 1 and the cover body 2 attached to this main body 1 so that opening and closing was possible, as shown in FIG. The main body 1 includes an outer case 12 and an inner case 13 that is disposed in the outer case 12 and accommodates the inner pot 10. The inner case 13 is formed of a material having heat resistance and electrical insulation.

  A cylindrical convex portion 10a protruding inward is provided on the bottom of the inner pot 10, and a disc-shaped stirring blade 40 as an example of a stirring portion is rotatably fitted to the convex portion 10a. . The stirring blade 40 includes a blade body 41 made of a disc-shaped resin having radial grooves, an annular yoke 42, and a plurality of magnets 43 arranged at equal intervals in the circumferential direction inside the yoke 42. Have. The yoke 42 and the magnet 43 are embedded in the wing body 41.

  A stirring motor 17 as an example of a drive unit that drives the stirring blade 40 is provided below the convex portion 10a. The stirring motor 17 is fixed to the main body 1, and the rotating shaft 17 a of the stirring motor 17 has a tip 16 having a larger diameter than other portions. A plurality of magnets 18 are fixed at equal intervals in the circumferential direction at the large-diameter tip portion 16 of the rotating shaft 17a of the stirring motor 17, and the magnets 18 are disposed in a space inside the convex portion 10a. A radial magnetic coupling is formed by the magnet 18 at the tip 16 of 17a and the magnet 43 of the stirring blade 40. The rotating shaft 17a and the magnet 18 are covered with a nonmagnetic cover 17b fixed to the motor, so that the rotating shaft 17a and the magnet 18 are not exposed to ensure safety.

  In addition, a heater 31 as an example of a heating unit is fixed to the inner case 13 so as to be in close contact with the lower outer surface of the inner pot 10. The bottom of the inner pot 10 is directly heated by the conduction heat and radiant heat of the heater 31.

  A temperature sensor 32 is fixed to the bottom of the inner case 13, and the tip of the temperature sensor 32 abuts on the bottom of the inner pot 10 housed in the inner case 13 to detect the temperature of the inner pot 10. It is like that.

  On the other hand, the lid 2 is detachably attached to the upper side of the main body 1 via an outer lid 21 that is rotatably attached via a hinge shaft (not shown), and a side of the outer lid 21 that faces the inner pot 10. And an inner lid 22.

  On the other hand, a control device 50 is disposed between the outer case 12 and the inner case 13. The control device 50 receives the output of the temperature sensor 32 and controls the stirring motor 17 and the heater 31.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the control device 50 includes a CPU (central processing unit) 51, a memory unit 52, an input / output circuit (not shown), and the like. The CPU 51 retrieves and executes instructions stored in the memory unit 52, and performs arithmetic operations, logical operations, comparisons, and the like on data input from various input devices. In addition, the CPU 51 has a timekeeping function and the like, and performs various operating time determinations and the like. On the other hand, the memory unit 52 stores a program for controlling the heater 31 and the stirring motor 17. Further, the memory unit 52 can store information obtained from the temperature sensor 32 or the like.

  The control device 50 includes a brown rice mode control unit 53 configured by software. The brown rice mode control unit 53 controls the heater 31 and the agitation motor 17 based on the output of the temperature sensor 32, so that the temperature of the inner pot 10 becomes the brown rice hull removal acceleration temperature (approximately 70 ° C. in this embodiment). A preheating step of rotating the stirring blade 40 by driving the stirring motor 17 while maintaining, a cooking step of increasing the temperature of the inner pot 10 from the brown rice hull removal promotion temperature, and this cooking step. Then, the boiling maintenance process which maintains the temperature of the inner pot 10 at a boiling maintenance temperature, and the steaming process following this boiling maintenance process are sequentially performed.

  The operation of the rice cooker having the above configuration will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

  First, after storing the inner pot 10 containing a proper amount of brown rice and water in the main body 1, the user operates the display operation unit (not shown), selects the rice for brown rice, and performs the rice rice cooking operation. To start.

  As shown in FIG. 3, in this rice cooking operation of brown rice, the brown rice mode control unit 53 sequentially cooks brown rice through a preheating process P1, a cooking process P2, a boiling maintenance process P3, and a steaming process P4. In addition, the heater 31 and the stirring motor 17 are operated. And the temperature of the inner pot 10 changes with time, as shown by "the top of the pot", "the center of the pot" and "the bottom of the pot" in FIG. FIG. 3 shows actually measured data in this embodiment. Here, “upper pot” indicates the relationship between the temperature output by the temperature sensor provided to detect the temperature of the upper part of the inner pot 10 and time, and “center of the pot” indicates the vertical direction of the inner pot 10. The relationship between the temperature output by a temperature sensor provided to detect the temperature of the central portion and time is shown. On the other hand, “bottom” indicates the relationship between the temperature output by the temperature sensor 32 that detects the temperature of the bottom of the inner pot 10 and time.

  Next, each process of the preheating process P1, the cooking process P2, the boiling maintenance process P3, and the steaming process P4 is demonstrated in detail.

[Preheating process P1]
In the preheating process P1, the control device 50 drives the heater 31 to heat the inner pot 10, and maintains the temperature of the inner pot 10 at about 70 ° C., which is an example of brown rice hull removal acceleration temperature, for about 40 minutes. Moreover, the control apparatus 50 rotationally drives the stirring blade 40 by the stirring motor 17 during the preheating process P1. At this time, as shown in FIG. 3, the temperature of the inner pot 10 is kept constant at about 70 ° C. for each of the upper, middle and lower pots. Thereby, the water 101 and the brown rice 102 accommodated in the inner pot 10 are stirred by the stirring blade 40 while being maintained at approximately 70 ° C., and the outer skin of the brown rice 102 is surely shaved and removed.

  Moreover, since the outer skin of the brown rice 102 removed by shaving remains in the inner pot 10 and is cooked as a part of the rice, the nutrients of the brown rice are not lost.

[Cooking process P2]
Next, in the cooking process P2 following the preheating process P1, the control device 50 stops the operation of the stirring motor 17 and stops the stirring blade 40, and then heats the inner pot 10 with the heater 31 to The temperature of the pan 10 is increased from approximately 70 ° C. to 100 ° C. At this time, the temperature of the inner pot 10 reaches 100 ° C. in the order of the top of the pot, the center of the pot, and the bottom of the pot.

[Boiling maintenance process P3]
Next, in the boiling maintenance process P3 following the cooking process P2, the control device 50 adjusts the amount of heating to the inner pot 10 by the heater 31 so as to keep the temperature of the inner pot 10 at 100 ° C. The boiling maintenance operation is performed for about 30 minutes. At this time, the temperature of the inner pot 10 is maintained at a constant temperature of about 100 ° C. for all of the top, bottom, and bottom.

[Steaming process P4]
Finally, in the steaming process P4 following the boiling maintenance process P3, the control device 50 adjusts the amount of heating to the inner pot 10 by the heater 31 as in the boiling maintenance process P3, and the steaming operation is performed for approximately 15 minutes. Go to finish cooking rice of brown rice 102. At this time, the temperature of the inner pot 10 is about 100 ° C. at the top, the center, and the bottom of the pot, and is kept constant until the cooking of the brown rice is finished.

  According to the rice cooker of the said structure, in the preheating process P1 in the rice cooking operation | movement of brown rice, stirring blade 40, maintaining the temperature of the inner pot 10 at the brown rice hull removal acceleration temperature (approximately 70 degreeC) by the brown rice mode control part 53. Since the rice is rotated, the hulled rice can be surely removed, and the cooked brown rice has a soft texture and good taste, and does not have a bubble wrap.

  Further, the control device 50, in order to maintain the temperature of the inner pot 10 at the brown rice hull removal promotion temperature (approximately 70 ° C.), sequentially follows the preheating step P1 for rotationally driving the stirring blade 40, and the cooking step P2 and Since the boiling maintaining process P3 and the steaming process P4 are performed, brown rice having a high nutritional value and a soft texture and good taste can be cooked at a time without interruption.

(Comparative Example 1)
Next, with reference to FIG. 4, the comparative example 1 of the said embodiment is demonstrated. In this comparative example 1, only the point which changed the temperature of the inner pot 10 in the preheating process P1 of the said embodiment into about 40 degreeC differs from the said embodiment. In the preheating process P1 of Comparative Example 1, the temperature in the inner pot 10 is kept constant at about 40 ° C. for the upper, middle and lower of the pot as shown in FIG. 102 and water 101 are stirred at about 40 ° C. for about 40 minutes.

(Comparative Example 2)
In the comparative example 2, only the point which changed the temperature of the inner pot 10 in the preheating process P1 of the said embodiment into about 80 degreeC differs from the said embodiment. In the preheating process P1 of Comparative Example 2, the inner pot 10 is kept constant at approximately 80 ° C., and the brown rice 102 and the water 101 in the inner pot 10 are stirred at approximately 80 ° C. for approximately 40 minutes.

(Evaluation results)
Next, the result of having compared the evaluation about the brown rice cooked by the said embodiment and the said comparative examples 1 and 2 is demonstrated.

  First, twelve panelists evaluated the taste of brown rice cooked in the above embodiment and Comparative Examples 1 and 2 above.

  Specifically, 12 panelists were asked to select the rice with the best taste among the brown rice cooked by the embodiment and Comparative Examples 1 and 2 above. As shown in FIG. 5A, nine panelists selected brown rice cooked according to the embodiment, accounting for three-quarters of the whole, and far more than the panelists selected brown rice cooked according to Comparative Example 1.

  Next, evaluation about the predetermined | prescribed item of the brown rice cooked by the said embodiment and the said comparative examples 1 and 2 was performed by 12 panelists.

  Specifically, 12 panelists evaluated each evaluation item of “fragrance”, “sweetness”, “ease of eating”, “appearance”, “softness”, and “total”. Here, “total” refers to comprehensive evaluation items including evaluation items of “scent”, “sweetness”, “ease of eating”, “appearance”, and “softness”. The evaluation method is based on brown rice cooked in Comparative Example 1 as a reference (evaluation point 0), and each item of brown rice cooked by Panella in the above embodiment and Comparative Example 2 is from -1.0 to +1.0. An evaluation score was given in the range, and the average score was taken as the evaluation. As shown to FIG. 5B, the brown rice cooked by embodiment obtained high evaluation about all the items compared with the brown rice cooked by the comparative example 1. FIG. Moreover, compared with the brown rice cooked by the comparative example 2, the brown rice cooked by embodiment obtained high evaluation about items other than "softness".

  In the above embodiment, the temperature of the inner pot is set to approximately 70 ° C. as an example of the brown rice hull removal promotion temperature in the preheating step. However, the temperature of the inner pot is not limited to this, and various conditions such as the temperature of water and the state of brown rice are used. Depending on the conditions, the brown rice hull removal acceleration temperature may be appropriately set to a temperature within the range of 65 ° C to 80 ° C. Furthermore, by setting the temperature of the inner pot as the brown rice hull removal promoting temperature to a temperature within the range of 70 ° C. to 80 ° C., the hulled rice hull is more reliably cut and removed.

  In addition, when the temperature of the inner pot is set to a temperature lower than 65 ° C., it becomes difficult to remove the hulled rice hull. On the other hand, when the temperature of the inner pot is set to a temperature exceeding 80 ° C., the brown rice becomes too soft, the removal of the hulled rice hulls becomes insufficient, and the taste of the cooked brown rice deteriorates rapidly.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the temperature of the inner pot was maintained at about 70 degreeC as an example of brown rice hull removal promotion temperature at the preheating process, and maintained for about 40 minutes, not only this but the time to maintain the temperature of an inner pot is Depending on various conditions such as the temperature of the water and the state of the brown rice, it may be set as appropriate.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the heater only heated the bottom part of the inner pot directly, it is not restricted to this, A horizontal heater is arrange | positioned along the circumferential direction so that the upper side surface of an inner case may be enclosed. Alternatively, a lid heater may be disposed in the lid body.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the heater was used as a heating part, you may use the induction coil which carries out induction heating as a heating part.

  In the above-described embodiment, the brown rice mode control is configured by software, but may be configured by hardware such as a switch, a timer, a comparator, and an amplifier.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Main body 2 Lid body 10 Inner pan 17 Stirring motor 31 Heating heater 32 Temperature sensor 40 Stirring blade 50 Control apparatus 53 Brown rice mode control part 101 Water 102 Brown rice P1 Preheating process P2 Cooking process P3 Boiling maintenance process P4 Steaming process

Claims (4)

The body,
A lid attached to the main body so as to be opened and closed;
An inner pot that can be accommodated in the main body,
A heating unit for heating the inner pot;
A temperature sensor for detecting the temperature of the inner pot;
A stirring section arranged in the inner pot;
A drive unit for driving the stirring unit;
While maintaining the temperature of the inner pot at the brown rice hull removal acceleration temperature at which brown rice hull removal is promoted, the stirring unit is rotated based on the brown rice hull being shaved, based on the output of the temperature sensor. A rice cooker comprising: the heating unit and the brown rice mode control unit that controls the driving unit. In the rice cooker according to claim 1,
The brown rice mode control unit
A preheating step for maintaining the temperature of the inner pot at the brown rice hull removal acceleration temperature, a cooking step for increasing the temperature of the inner pot from the brown rice hull removal acceleration temperature following the preheating step, and the cooking step Subsequently, the heating unit is controlled based on the output of the temperature sensor so as to perform a boiling maintaining step of maintaining the temperature of the inner pot at the boiling maintenance temperature and a steaming step following the boiling maintenance step, Rice cooker characterized by cooking rice. In the rice cooker according to claim 1 or 2,
The brown rice hull removal promotion temperature is a temperature within a range from 65 ° C to 80 ° C. In the rice cooker according to claim 3,
The brown rice hull removal promotion temperature is a temperature within a range from 70 ° C to 80 ° C.

Images