JP2012176193A - Rice cooker - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a rice cooker capable of rendering a taste of an object to be cooked more excellent, or reducing time for rice cooking according to a variety of rice cooking courses.SOLUTION: The rice cooker includes: a pot heating device for heating a pot; a superheated steam supply part for supplying superheated steam in the pot; a pot temperature detecting part for detecting temperature of the pot; a rice cooking course selection part capable of selecting a specific rice cooking course among a plurality of the rice cooking courses; and a rice cooking control part for performing a rice cooking process by controlling a heating operation of the heating device based on the selected rice cooking course by the rice cooking course selection part and the detected temperature of the pot temperature detecting part. The superheated stream supply part is configured so that the superheated steam having two or more different temperature can be generated, and the rice cooking control part makes the superheated steam supply part generate the superheated steam with the temperature corresponding to the selected rice cooking course by the rice cooking course selection part.

Description

  The present invention relates to a rice cooker using superheated steam.

  In rice cookers, good taste of rice is required, and the time required for the rice cooking process, that is, shortening of the rice cooking time is required.

  Here, the “rice cooking step” is mainly composed of four steps of a preheating step (also referred to as a water absorption step), a temperature raising step, a boiling maintenance step, and a steaming step. The preheating step is a step in which the rice is preliminarily absorbed by water that is lower in temperature than the gelatinization start temperature (about 60 degrees) of the rice. The temperature raising step is a step of raising the temperature of the water in the pan to a boiling state (about 100 ° C.). A boiling maintenance process is a process of maintaining the boiling state of the water in a pan, gelatinizing rice starch, and raising the gelatinization degree to about 50% to 80%. The steaming process is a process of evaporating excess water using preheating and raising the degree of gelatinization of rice to nearly 100%.

  The taste of rice is said to be better as the amount of glucose (glucose), which is a sweetening component, increases. Glucose is produced by hydrolysis of starch (amylose / amylopectin) by enzymes contained in rice. The longer the preheating step is, the more water is absorbed by the rice, the more glucose can be produced. Conventionally, in order to shorten the cooking time, shortening the time of the preheating step has been performed. In this case, since the production | generation of glucose will reduce, the taste of rice will worsen.

  Moreover, the taste of rice is said to be better as the degree of gelatinization of rice is higher. For this reason, the said steaming process is performed. In this steaming process, the water in the pan is almost gone, so the rice in the pan is easily burnt. Moreover, while the upper surface of the rice in a pan is heated through the space above the said rice, the other surface of rice is heated through a pan. For this reason, it is easy to produce cooking unevenness, such as drying only the upper surface of rice. For this reason, in a rice cooker that heats a pan only with an induction heating coil, it is necessary to heat it for a long time with low heating power so that the rice does not burn and does not cause uneven cooking. If the time of this steaming process is shortened, of course, taste will worsen.

  That is, shortening the rice cooking time and improving the taste of rice are in a trade-off relationship. The rice cooker which improves this subject is indicated by patent documents 1 (Unexamined-Japanese-Patent No. 2003-144308), for example. Patent Document 1 discloses a rice cooker including a superheated steam supply unit that supplies superheated steam exceeding 100 ° C. into the pot from the opening of the pot. According to the rice cooker of Patent Document 1, by supplying superheated steam into the pan from the opening of the pan, it is possible to prevent only the upper surface of the rice from being dried, and to suppress the scorching of the rice, thereby increasing the amount of heat to the rice. Can be given. Thereby, the taste of rice can be made favorable, without lengthening the time which a steaming process requires. Or the time which a steaming process requires can also be shortened, without reducing the taste of rice.

JP 2003-144308 A

  In recent years, rice to be cooked with a rice cooker has been diversified not only to white rice but also to brown rice, germinated brown rice, and milled rice. For this reason, in general, rice cookers are identified from multiple rice cooking courses such as a white rice course, brown rice course, and white rice (softer) course so that rice can be cooked in a rice cooking sequence suitable for those to be cooked. The rice cooking course is configured to be selectable.

  However, when brown rice was cooked while supplying superheated steam into the pot using the rice cooker of Patent Document 1, the cooked rice had a blue-smelling, hard and polo texture, little sweetness, and watery. It was. Moreover, when sprouted brown rice was cooked while supplying superheated steam into the pan using the rice cooker of Patent Document 1, the cooked rice was a little bluish, sticky, watery and soft. That is, in the rice cooker of patent document 1, those taste cannot be made favorable according to various rice cooking courses. Of course, the cooking time cannot be shortened.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to solve the above-described problems, and according to various rice cooking courses, the rice cooker can further improve the taste of the cooked rice, or the rice cooking time can be shortened. Is to provide.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is configured as follows.
According to the present invention, the pan stored in the rice cooker body,
A pot heating device for heating the pot;
A superheated steam supply section for supplying superheated steam into the pan;
A pan temperature detector for detecting the temperature of the pan;
A rice cooking course selection unit that can select a specific rice cooking course from a plurality of rice cooking courses,
A rice cooking control unit that controls the heating operation of the heating device based on the rice cooking course selected by the rice cooking course selection unit and the detection temperature of the pan temperature detection unit, and performs a rice cooking process,
With
The superheated steam supply unit is configured to be capable of generating superheated steam having two or more different temperatures,
The rice cooking control unit causes the superheated steam supply unit to generate superheated steam having a temperature corresponding to the rice cooking course selected by the rice cooking course selecting unit.
Provide rice cooker.

  According to the rice cooker according to the present invention, the superheated steam at a temperature corresponding to the rice cooking course selected by the rice cooking course selection unit is generated in the superheated steam supply unit, so that it is optimal for the rice cooking course. Temperature superheated steam can be fed into the pan. Thereby, the rice cooking time can be shortened without further improving the taste of the cooked rice without lengthening the cooking time or reducing the taste of the cooked rice.

It is a schematic cross section of the rice cooker concerning 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a top view which shows typically the state which notched some lid main bodies of the rice cooker concerning 1st Embodiment of this invention.

  The inventors of the present invention have obtained the following knowledge as a result of intensive studies in order to solve the problems of the prior art.

  The superheated steam supply part with which the conventional rice cooker like patent document 1 is provided is comprised so that the superheated steam of specific temperature may be supplied in a pan. This is because it is sufficient to supply superheated steam at a specific temperature into the pan from the viewpoint of preventing scorching and drying of the rice.

  On the other hand, the inventors of the present invention have found that there is an optimum superheated steam temperature by a rice cooking course such as a white rice course, a brown rice course, or a white rice (softer) course. For example, when the rice cooking course is a white rice course, it has been found that by setting the temperature of the superheated steam to 200 ° C., it is possible to improve the taste and shorten the cooking time, and further improve the aroma.

  Specifically, by supplying superheated steam at 200 ° C into the pan, heat was passed into the rice and the surface of the rice was coated, and even when cooled, the water did not evaporate and it was hard to become hard. . In addition, by supplying 200 ° C superheated steam into the pan, compared to the case of supplying 130 ° C superheated steam into the pan, pyrazine, which is considered to have a good fragrance, is increased by 20%, and the fragrance is said to be bad. Hexanal was found to be reduced by 35%. Moreover, it discovered that the production | generation of glucose could be accelerated | stimulated also in a steaming process by supplying 200 degreeC superheated steam in a pan. That is, glucose is produced by hydrolysis of rice starch into oligosaccharides (a general term for sugars having 2 to 10 glucose bound thereto), and the oligosaccharides are hydrolyzed. In the conventional rice cooker, all hydrolysis from starch to glucose is performed in the preheating step. On the other hand, in the steaming process, since the water has already been absorbed by the rice, the rice can be directly heated by supplying superheated steam at 200 ° C. into the pan, and the oligosaccharide is added to glucose. It becomes possible to disassemble. That is, it becomes possible to hydrolyze rice starch into oligosaccharides in the preheating step and hydrolyze the oligosaccharides into glucose in the steaming step. Thereby, the time which a preheating process requires can be shortened and rice cooking time can be shortened, without reducing the production amount of glucose. For example, when the cooking time when the superheated steam is not supplied into the pan is 56 minutes, the cooking time can be shortened to 44 minutes by supplying 200 ° C superheated steam into the pan.

  It has been confirmed that the above effect cannot be obtained when the rice is heated by an induction heating coil of 200 ° C. instead of 200 ° C. superheated steam. In addition, when the temperature of the superheated steam was set to 150 ° C., the cooked rice was a little bluish, less sweet and hard. Moreover, even if the time for supplying 150 ° C. superheated steam into the pan was lengthened, it was not possible to cook rice having a better taste than that when 200 ° C. superheated steam was supplied into the pan. That is, the inventors of the present invention have found that the use of superheated steam as a heating source and the temperature of the superheated steam are important in obtaining the above effects.

  In addition, for example, when the rice cooking course is germinated brown rice, the inventors of the present invention can set the temperature of the superheated steam to 150 ° C. so that the rice is softly cooked to the center of the rice without lengthening the rice cooking time. It was found that the scent peculiar to germinated brown rice that can be made and the scent is bad can be reduced. In addition, when the temperature of the superheated steam was set to 200 ° C., the cooked rice had a strong fragrance unique to germinated brown rice and was hard. That is, the higher the temperature of the superheated steam, the better the taste and the shorter the cooking time.

  In addition, the inventors of the present invention, for example, when the rice cooking course cooks the cooked course, by setting the temperature of the superheated steam to 130 ° C., the scent of the ingredients is not reduced without increasing the rice cooking time. It has been found that the rice has good grain balance and swelling and can cook soft rice as a whole. In addition, when the temperature of the superheated steam was set to 200 ° C., the cooked rice had a scent as if the soy sauce was burnt, and the rice was firm and hard. Moreover, when the temperature of superheated steam was set to 150 degreeC, the cooked rice had few fragrance of ingredients, the balance of a grain was bad, and the inside of a grain was a hard thing.

  Based on these findings, the inventors of the present invention have arrived at the following present invention.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the pan stored inside the rice cooker body;
A pot heating device for heating the pot;
A superheated steam supply section for supplying superheated steam into the pan;
A pan temperature detector for detecting the temperature of the pan;
A rice cooking course selection unit that can select a specific rice cooking course from a plurality of rice cooking courses,
A rice cooking control unit that controls the heating operation of the heating device based on the rice cooking course selected by the rice cooking course selection unit and the detection temperature of the pan temperature detection unit, and performs a rice cooking process,
With
The superheated steam supply unit is configured to be capable of generating superheated steam having two or more different temperatures,
The rice cooking control unit causes the superheated steam supply unit to generate superheated steam having a temperature corresponding to the rice cooking course selected by the rice cooking course selecting unit.
Provide rice cooker.

  According to the 2nd aspect of this invention, the said rice cooking control part makes the said superheated steam supply part produce | generate the said superheated steam for the time corresponding to the rice cooking course selected in the said rice cooking course selection part. The described rice cooker is provided.

  According to the 3rd aspect of this invention, the said rice cooking control part adjusts the temperature of the said superheated steam corresponding to the rice cooking course selected in the said rice cooking course selection part according to the amount of rice cooking, the 1st or 2nd aspect. The rice cooker as described in is provided.

  According to the 4th aspect of this invention, the said rice cooking control part adjusts the time when the said superheated steam supply part supplies the said superheated steam in the said pan according to the amount of rice cooking, either of the 1st-3rd aspect. The rice cooker as described in one is provided.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In addition, this invention is not limited by this embodiment.

<Embodiment>
The structure of the rice cooker concerning embodiment of this invention is demonstrated using FIG. 1 or FIG. FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a rice cooker according to an embodiment of the present invention. Drawing 2 is an upper surface figure showing typically the state where a part of lid main part of a rice cooker concerning an embodiment of the present invention was notched.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the rice cooker concerning this embodiment is accommodated in the substantially bottomed cylindrical rice cooker main body 1 in which the pot accommodating part 1a was formed, and the pot accommodating part 1a, and rice and water are contained. It has a pan 2 that can be put in. A lid body 3 is attached to the upper portion of the rice cooker body 1 so that the upper opening of the rice cooker body 1 can be opened and closed. A substantially disk-shaped inner lid 4 capable of sealing the upper opening of the pan 2 is detachably attached to the inside of the lid main body 3 (the side covering the opening of the pan 2).

  The pot storage part 1a of the rice cooker body 1 is composed of an upper frame 1b and a coil base 1c. The upper frame 1b has a cylindrical portion 1ba that is arranged so that a predetermined gap is provided with respect to the side wall of the stored pan 2, and an upper opening of the rice cooker body 1 that protrudes outward from the upper portion of the cylindrical portion 1ba. And a flange portion 1bb fitted to the inner peripheral portion. The flange portion 1bb is formed with a water tank storage portion 1bc for storing the water tank 5. The water tank 5 is a bottomed cylindrical container that holds water for generating steam. A water tank heating coil 6 for heating (induction heating) the water tank 5 is attached to the outer peripheral surface of the water tank housing portion 1bc. When the water tank heating coil 6 heats the water tank 5, the water in the water tank 5 boils and steam of about 100 ° C. is generated. In addition, an opening is provided in the side portion of the water tank storage portion 1bc. In the opening portion, a water tank temperature sensor 7 for measuring the temperature of the water tank 5 is disposed so as to be able to contact a side portion of the water tank 5 stored in the water tank storage portion 1bc.

  The coil base 1c is formed in a bottomed cylindrical shape corresponding to the shape of the lower portion of the pan 2, and the upper portion is attached to the lower end portion of the cylindrical portion 1ba of the upper frame 1b. A pan bottom heating unit 8 which is an example of a pan heating device for heating (induction heating) the pan 2 is attached to the outer peripheral surface of the coil base 1c. The pan bottom heating unit 8 includes an in-bottom heating coil 8a and an out-bottom heating coil 8b. The in-bottom heating coil 8a is disposed so as to face the periphery of the center of the bottom of the pan 2 via the coil base 1c. The outside bottom heating coil 8 b is disposed so as to face the corner portion of the bottom of the pan 2 through the coil base 1.

  An opening is provided in the central portion of the bottom of the coil base 1c. In the opening portion, a pan temperature sensor 9 which is an example of a pan temperature detecting unit for measuring the temperature of the pan 2 is disposed so as to be able to contact the bottom of the pan 2 stored in the pan storage unit 1a. . Since the temperature of the pan 2 is substantially the same as the temperature of the cooked rice in the pan 2, the pan temperature sensor 9 can detect the temperature of the cooked rice in the pan 2 by detecting the temperature of the pan 2. .

  The lid body 3 includes a hinge shaft 3A. The hinge shaft 3A is an opening / closing shaft of the lid main body 3, and both ends thereof are fixed to the upper frame 1b of the rice cooker main body 1 so as to be rotatable. The lid body 3 is provided with a through hole 3c so as to penetrate the central portion thereof in the thickness direction of the lid body 3, and the steam cylinder 10 is detachably attached to the through hole 3c. Steam escape holes 10a and 10b are provided in the top and bottom walls of the steam cylinder 10 so that excess steam in the pot 2 can be discharged to the outside of the rice cooker. An annular packing 11 is attached around the through hole 3 c on the inner lid 4 side of the lid body 3. The packing 11 is provided so as to be in close contact with the periphery of the steam escape hole 4 a provided in the inner lid 4 when the inner lid 4 is attached to the lid body 3.

  Further, an inner lid temperature sensor 12, which is an example of an inner lid temperature detection unit that detects the temperature of the inner lid 4, is attached to the lid body 3. An inner lid heating coil 13, which is an example of an inner lid heating device for inductively heating the inner lid 4, is attached to the inner surface of the bottom wall 3 b of the lid body 3 (inside the lid body).

  The inner lid 4 is made of a metal such as stainless steel capable of induction heating. An annular packing 14 is attached to the surface of the outer peripheral portion of the inner lid 4 on the pan 2 side. The packing 14 is provided in close contact with the flange portion of the pan 2 when the lid body 3 is in the closed state.

  Moreover, the superheated steam supply part 15 for supplying the superheated steam exceeding 100 degreeC in the pan 2 is attached to the inside of the lid body 3. The superheated steam supply unit 15 is configured to superheat steam at about 100 ° C. generated in the water tank 5 and generate superheated steam having two or more different temperatures. A steam introduction pipe 16 and a superheated steam discharge pipe 17 are connected to the superheated steam supply unit 15. The superheated steam supply unit 15 is in contact with a superheated steam temperature sensor 18 that is an example of a superheated steam temperature detection unit that detects the temperature of the superheated steam generated by the superheated steam supply unit 15.

  The steam introduction pipe 16 communicates with the inside of the water tank 5 when the lid body 3 is in the closed state, and is provided so as to guide the steam generated in the water tank 5 to the superheated steam supply unit 15. An annular packing 19 is attached to the end of the steam introduction pipe 16 on the water tank 5 side. The packing 19 is provided in close contact with the flange portion of the water tank 5 when the lid body 3 is in the closed state.

  The superheated steam discharge pipe 17 communicates with the inside of the pan 2 through the superheated steam supply hole 4b provided in the inner lid 4 when the lid body 3 is in the closed state, and the superheated steam generated by the superheated steam supply unit 15 is panned. 2 is provided so as to guide it into 2. An annular packing 20 is attached to the end of the superheated steam discharge pipe 17 on the pan 2 side. The packing 20 is provided in close contact with the periphery of the superheated steam supply hole 4b of the inner lid 4 when the lid body 3 is in the closed state.

  The lid body 3 includes a display unit 21 such as a liquid crystal display that displays various information such as a rice cooking course and a rice cooking time, and a plurality of rice cooking courses such as a white rice course, a brown rice course, and a white rice (softer) course. The operation part 22 which is an example of the rice cooking course selection part which can select a specific rice cooking course is provided. The operation unit 22 includes a plurality of buttons such as a rice cooking start button so that instructions for starting, canceling, or making a reservation for cooking can be given in addition to selecting a rice cooking course. The user can select a specific rice cooking course with the operation unit 22 while referring to the display content of the display unit 21 and instruct the start of rice cooking.

  A rice cooker control unit 23 is mounted inside the rice cooker body 1. The rice cooking control unit 23 includes a storage unit that stores a plurality of rice cooking sequences for cooking rice. Here, the “rice cooking sequence” is mainly composed of four steps of preheating, temperature rising, boiling maintenance, and steaming. In performing each step in turn, the energizing time, heating temperature, heating time, heating output, etc. This is a predetermined cooking procedure. Each rice cooking sequence corresponds to one of a plurality of rice cooking courses. The rice cooking control unit 23 controls the driving of each unit and each device based on the rice cooking course selected by the operation unit 22 and the detected temperatures of the temperature sensors 7, 9, and 12, and executes the rice cooking process. Moreover, the rice cooking control part 23 superheats the superheated steam of the temperature corresponding to the rice cooking course selected by the operation part 22 based on the detection temperature of the rice cooking course selected by the operation part 22 and the superheated steam temperature sensor 18. It is made to generate in the steam supply part 15. Table 1 below shows setting examples of the temperature and supply time of superheated steam in each rice cooking course.

  Next, operation | movement of the rice cooker concerning this embodiment comprised as mentioned above is demonstrated.

  First, the user sets the pan 2 in which rice and water are put in the pan 2 in the pan storage portion 1a, and sets the water tank 5 in which water is put in the water tank storage portion 1bc. Then, after the rice cooking course is selected by the operation unit 22 by the user, when the start of rice cooking is instructed, the rice cooking process is started under the control of the rice cooking control unit 23. When the rice cooking process is started, first, the preheating process is started.

  The preheating step is a step of immersing the rice in water at a temperature lower than the gelatinization temperature so that the rice can be sufficiently gelatinized in the subsequent steps, and allowing the rice to absorb water in advance. In this preheating step, the rice cooking control unit 23 raises the temperature of the water in the pan 2 to a temperature close to the temperature at which gelatinization of rice begins (about 60 ° C.), and then maintains the temperature after the temperature rise. The pan heating operation of the pan bottom heating unit 8 is controlled based on the temperature detected by the pan temperature sensor 9. Thereby, water absorption of rice is promoted. In this preheating step, the rice cooking control unit 23 drives the water tank heating coil 6 to preheat the water in the water tank 5. When a preset time has elapsed from the start of the preheating process according to the selected rice cooking course, the process proceeds to the temperature raising process.

  The temperature raising process is a process in which the pot 2 is heated at a stretch with a strong fire to bring the water in the pot 2 to a boiling state (about 100 ° C.). In this temperature raising step, the rice cooking control unit 23 controls the pot bottom heating unit 8 so as to rapidly heat the pot 2 and bring the water in the pot 2 to a boiling state. When the temperature detected by the pan temperature sensor 9 is about 100 ° C. due to the temperature raising process, the process proceeds to the boiling maintenance process. The time required for this temperature raising step varies depending on the amount of rice cooked (the amount of cooked rice put in the pan 2) and the like. For this reason, the amount of cooked rice can be automatically determined from the time required for the temperature raising step. For example, the amount of cooked rice can be automatically determined by examining the time difference from when the temperature detected by the pan temperature sensor 9 reaches 80 ° C. until the temperature detected by the inner lid temperature sensor 12 reaches 80 ° C.

  A boiling maintenance process is a process of maintaining the boiling state of the water in the pan 2, gelatinizing rice starch, and raising the gelatinization degree to about 50% to 80%. In this boiling maintenance step, the rice cooking control unit 23 controls the pan bottom heating unit 8 and the inner lid heating coil 13 so as to maintain the boiling state of the water in the pan 2. More specifically, the rice cooking control unit 23 performs duty control that repeats driving (ON) and driving stop (OFF) of the pot bottom heating unit 8 and the inner lid heating coil 13 at regular time intervals to intermittently heat the pot 2. .

  In the boiling maintenance step, water is continuously boiled, and a large amount of steam at about 100 ° C. is generated. The steam passes through the steam escape holes 4a of the inner lid 4 and the steam escape holes 10a and 10b of the steam cylinder 10 and is discharged to the outside of the rice cooker. Thereby, when most of the water in the pot 2 runs out, the temperature of the bottom surface of the pot 2 rises above the boiling point of water. When the pan temperature sensor 9 detects that the temperature of the bottom surface of the pan 2 has reached the boiling point or higher (for example, 130 ° C.), the process proceeds to the steaming step.

  The steaming process is a process of evaporating excess water using preheating and raising the degree of gelatinization of rice to nearly 100%. In this steaming step, the rice cooking control unit 23 controls the pot bottom heating unit 8 and the inner lid heating coil 13 so as to heat the pot 2 every time the temperature of the pot 2 falls below a certain temperature. More specifically, the rice cooking control unit 23 performs duty control that repeats driving (ON) and driving stop (OFF) of the pan bottom heating unit 8 and the inner lid heating coil 13 at regular time intervals in the same manner as the boiling maintenance step. The pan 2 is heated intermittently. Moreover, the rice cooking control part 23 drives the water tank heating coil 6, boils the water in the water tank 5, and generates a vapor | steam. Furthermore, the rice cooking control unit 23 drives the superheated steam supply unit 15 to superheat the steam introduced into the superheated steam supply unit 15 through the steam introduction pipe 16, and selects based on the detected temperature of the superheated steam temperature sensor 18. Superheated steam having a temperature corresponding to the rice cooking course selected by the unit 22 is generated. For example, when the rice cooking course is white rice, the rice cooking control unit 23 causes the superheated steam supply unit 15 to generate 200 ° C. superheated steam. Further, for example, when the rice cooking course is germinated brown rice, the rice cooking control unit 23 causes the superheated steam supply unit 15 to generate 150 ° C superheated steam. The superheated steam generated in the superheated steam supply unit 15 is supplied into the pan 2 through the superheated steam discharge pipe 17 and the superheated steam supply hole 4 b of the inner lid 4. When the time set beforehand according to the amount of rice cooking passes from the start of a steaming process, a steaming process is complete | finished (namely, rice cooking process is complete | finished).

  According to the rice cooker concerning this embodiment, since it is made to produce | generate the superheated steam of the temperature corresponding to the rice cooking course selected in the operation part 22 in the superheated steam supply part 15, it is optimal according to a rice cooking course. Temperature superheated steam can be fed into the pan 2. Thereby, while making the taste of to-be-cooked rice still better, rice cooking time can be shortened. For example, when the rice cooking course is white rice, as described above, by supplying superheated steam at 200 ° C. into the pan 2, it is possible to improve the taste and shorten the cooking time, and further improve the aroma. can do. In addition, when the rice cooking course is germinated brown rice, by setting the temperature of the superheated steam to 150 ° C., the rice can be cooked softly to the center of the rice without increasing the rice cooking time, and the fragrance is bad The scent peculiar to germinated brown rice can be reduced. In addition, when the rice cooking course is a cooked course, by setting the temperature of the superheated steam to 130 ° C., the scent of ingredients is not reduced without increasing the cooking time, and the balance and swelling of the grains are good Can cook rice that is soft overall.

  In addition, it is preferable to change the supply time of superheated steam according to the rice cooking course selected in the operation part 22. FIG. For example, if the rice cooking course is a cooked course, if the heating time of 130 ° C superheated steam is set to the same 4 minutes as the white rice course, the superheated steam will push the scent of ingredients out of the pot to the outside of the rice cooker, The scent of ingredients will be reduced. In addition, when the rice cooking course is a white rice course, if the supply time of the superheated steam at 200 ° C. is longer than 4 minutes, the amount of heat supplied to the rice is too much, the surface of the rice is dried, and the taste is reduced. . Therefore, it is preferable that the rice cooking control unit 23 causes the superheated steam supply unit 15 to generate superheated steam for a time corresponding to the rice cooking course selected by the operation unit 22. Thereby, the optimal time according to a rice cooking course, superheated steam can be supplied in the pan 2, and the improvement of a taste and shortening of rice cooking time can be implement | achieved.

  Moreover, it is preferable to adjust the temperature and supply time of superheated steam according to the amount of rice cooking. For example, when there is little rice cooking amount, the distance from the superheated steam supply part 15 to the upper surface of rice becomes long. In this case, the temperature when the superheated steam reaches the top surface of the rice is lowered, and the amount of heat given to the rice is reduced. As a result, the amount of heat is insufficient and the taste of rice is reduced. In addition, shortening of the rice cooking time cannot be realized. Therefore, it is preferable that the rice cooking control part 23 adjusts the temperature of the superheated steam corresponding to the rice cooking course selected in the operation part 22 according to the amount of rice cooking. Moreover, it is preferable that the rice cooking control part 23 adjusts the time when the superheated steam supply part 15 supplies superheated steam in the pan 2 according to the amount of rice cooking. Thereby, the calorie | heat amount given to rice can be optimized according to the amount of rice cooking, and the improvement of a taste and shortening of rice cooking time can be implement | achieved.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, It can implement in another various aspect. For example, in the above description, the water tank 5 is provided in the rice cooker body 1, and the steam generated in the water tank 5 is heated by the superheated steam supply unit 15 to generate superheated steam, but the present invention is limited to this. Not. For example, the superheated steam supply unit 15 may introduce steam generated in the pan 2 and generate superheated steam by heating the steam. That is, the structure of a rice cooker is not specifically limited, What is necessary is just a rice cooker which has a superheated steam supply part.

  The rice cooker according to the present invention is useful as a domestic and commercial rice cooker, etc., because it can further improve the taste of the cooked rice or shorten the cooking time according to various rice cooking courses. It is.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Rice cooker body 1a Pan storage part 2 Pan 3 Lid body 3A Hinge shaft 4 Inner lid 5 Water tank 6 Water tank heating coil 7 Water tank temperature sensor 8 Pan bottom heating unit (pan heating device)
9 Pan temperature sensor (pan temperature detector)
10 Steam cylinder 11, 14, 19, 20 Packing 12 Inner lid temperature sensor (inner lid temperature detector)
13 Inner lid heating coil (Inner lid heating device)
15 Superheated steam supply section 16 Steam introduction pipe 17 Superheated steam discharge pipe 18 Superheated steam temperature sensor (superheated steam temperature detection section)
21 display part 22 operation part 23 rice cooking control part

Claims (4)

A pot stored inside the rice cooker body,
A pot heating device for heating the pot;
A superheated steam supply section for supplying superheated steam into the pan;
A pan temperature detector for detecting the temperature of the pan;
A rice cooking course selection unit that can select a specific rice cooking course from a plurality of rice cooking courses,
A rice cooking control unit that controls the heating operation of the heating device based on the rice cooking course selected by the rice cooking course selection unit and the detection temperature of the pan temperature detection unit, and performs a rice cooking process,
With
The superheated steam supply unit is configured to be capable of generating superheated steam having two or more different temperatures,
The rice cooking control unit causes the superheated steam supply unit to generate superheated steam having a temperature corresponding to the rice cooking course selected by the rice cooking course selecting unit.
rice cooker.   The said rice cooking control part is the rice cooker of Claim 1 which makes the said superheated steam supply part produce | generate the said superheated steam for the time corresponding to the rice cooking course selected in the said rice cooking course selection part.   The said rice cooking control part is a rice cooker of Claim 1 or 2 which adjusts the temperature of the said superheated steam corresponding to the rice cooking course selected in the said rice cooking course selection part according to the amount of rice cooking.   The said rice cooking control part is a rice cooker as described in any one of Claims 1-3 which adjusts the time when the said superheated steam supply part supplies the said superheated steam in the said pan according to the amount of rice cooking.

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