JP5061765B2 - Cooking device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a cooker that defrosts and heats an object to be heated using Joule heat.

Conventionally, in this type of thawing device using Joule heat, a gap of 0.1 mm to 3.0 mm is provided between a pair of opposed electrode plates for applying an AC voltage to the food to be thawed and the food to be thawed. An electrolyte that fills the gap with a salt solution having a salt concentration of 0.1 to 4.5% by weight is an essential component, and reduces Joule heat loss at the interface between the food to be thawed and the electrode plate as much as possible. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1) The frozen material sandwiched between the electrode plates before or during the Joule heating or during the Joule heating is pressurized to increase the adhesion between the frozen material and the electrode plate, thereby increasing the conductivity of the frozen material. There is one that improves the efficiency of Joule heating because it increases (for example, see Patent Document 2).
JP 2005-65690 A JP 2002-186415 A

  However, since the structure of Patent Document 1 is filled with saline between the electrode plate and the food to be thawed, even when seasoning is unnecessary, salt is attached to the food to be thawed, causing a decrease in taste, There is a problem that the food to be thawed becomes watery and the taste is lowered.

  In addition, since the structure of Patent Document 2 pressurizes frozen food, there is a problem that the structure of the frozen food is destroyed and the quality of food after thawing is deteriorated, or a device having a complicated structure is required. .

  The present invention solves the above-described conventional problems, and provides a cooker that has a simple configuration and increases the degree of adhesion between an object to be heated and an electrode, and defrosts or heats the object to be heated while preventing a decrease in taste. For the purpose.

In order to solve the conventional problems, cooker of the present invention, a container for accommodating the object to be heated a frozen state, the power supply and a pair of electrodes to raise the temperature of the object to be heated, the power to the electrode The heating device is provided with a heating means for heating the electrode, and raises the degree of adhesion between the electrode and the heated object by raising the temperature of the heated object region facing the electrode.

  Accordingly, the degree of adhesion between the object to be heated and the electrode is increased while having a simple configuration, so that the object to be heated can be thawed while preventing a decrease in taste.

  The cooker of the present invention can provide a cooker that has a simple configuration, increases the degree of adhesion between the object to be heated and the electrode, and defrosts or heats the object to be heated while preventing a decrease in taste.

First invention comprises a container for containing an object to be heated in a frozen state, a pair of electrodes to raise the temperature of the object to be heated, in cooker and a power supply for supplying power to the electrode, the electrode The cooking device is provided with heating means for heating, and raises the degree of adhesion between the electrode and the heated object by raising the temperature of the heated object region facing the electrode.

This increases the degree of adhesion between the object to be heated and the electrode while having a simple configuration, so that the object to be heated can be thawed while preventing a decrease in taste , especially in the area to be heated facing the electrode efficiently. Since the temperature can be raised, it is possible to prevent a decrease in the taste of the object to be heated .

The second invention is particularly characterized in that the heating means of the first invention is in close contact with the electrode and is electrically insulated from the electrode.

  Thereby, the safety | security at the time of heating means use can be improved and usability can be improved.

The third aspect of the invention is characterized in that the heating means of the second aspect of the invention is in close contact with the surface of the electrode opposite to the surface in contact with the object to be heated.

  Thereby, since a to-be-heated material is prevented from being heated directly, the taste reduction of a to-be-heated material can be prevented.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, particularly in the first aspect of the present invention, a current value detecting means for detecting a current value between the electrodes is further provided, and the operation of the heating means is stopped when the current value detected by the current value detecting means rises from the initial value. To do.

  Thereby, since the timing before heat denaturation can be detected reliably and the temperature rise of the object to be heated can be terminated, it is possible to prevent a decrease in the taste of the object to be heated.

  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 1)
FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a cooking device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the cooker according to the present embodiment forms an outer shell with a container 2 that accommodates an object to be heated 1 and a lid 3 that can be attached to and detached from the container 2. In the container 2, a pair of electrodes 4 a and 4 b are disposed opposite to each other with the object 1 to be heated interposed therebetween. At least one of the electrodes is configured to be movable. The electrodes 4a and 4b are connected to a first power supply 5 that supplies power. In the electrodes 4a and 4b, heating means 6a and 6b are attached to the surfaces opposite to the surfaces in contact with the object 1 to be heated, respectively.

  The heating means 6 a and 6 b are connected to the second power supply 7. The heating means 6a and 6b are constituted by, for example, a planar or linear heater. The current value detection means 8 measures the current value between the electrode 4a and the electrode 4b. The second power supply 7 can freely vary the frequency of the supplied power. The operation of the first power source and the second power source is controlled by control means (not shown), and the voltage and frequency of the supplied power can be freely changed.

  About the cooking appliance which consists of the said structure, the operation | movement and an effect | action are demonstrated below.

  The object 1 to be heated in the frozen state is held in a state where it is sandwiched between the electrode 4a and the electrode 4b. The lid 3 is disposed so as to cover the opening of the container 2.

  In the electrodes 4a and 4b, heating means 6a and 6b are attached to the surfaces opposite to the surfaces in contact with the object 1 to be heated, respectively. The first power supply 5 supplies power to the electrodes 4a and 4b, and the second power supply 7 supplies power to the heating means 6a and 6b. The electrodes 4a and 4b and the heating means 6a and 6b are assembled through members having good thermal conductivity, and each is electrically insulated, and the electrodes 4a and 4b are made of titanium, stainless steel, ceramic processed metal Etc.

  The current value detection means 8 measures the current value between the electrode 4a and the electrode 4b, that is, the impedance of the object to be heated 1 sandwiched between the electrode 4a and the electrode 4b. The state of the object to be heated 1 can be grasped from the current value of the current value detection means 8.

Joule heating is a technique in which an electric current is passed from an electrode to an object to be heated and the object to be heated is heated by self-heating, but in order for the electric current to flow, the object to be heated contains a conductive substance. It is a necessary condition that the electrodes are in close contact. In the case where the object to be heated 1 is a soft food or liquid food at room temperature, a current flows because the degree of adhesion between the object to be heated 1 and the electrodes 4a and 4b is high.

  On the other hand, when the object to be heated 1 is in a frozen state, the surfaces in contact with the electrodes 4a and 4b are not flat, and it is difficult to freeze the contact surface of the object to be heated 1 in a flat state. Furthermore, since the contact surface that appears to be flat at first glance has small irregularities, a gap is generated between the contact surface of the heated object 1 in the frozen state and the electrodes 4a and 4b. Due to the gaps, it becomes difficult for current to flow through the electrodes 4a and 4b and the object 1 to be heated, and it becomes difficult to raise the temperature of the object 1 to be heated by Joule heat.

  In order to solve these problems, the heated water 6a, 6b raises the temperature of the electrodes 4a, 4b, melts the contact surface of the heated object 1 with conduction heat, and the heated water 1 dissolves. 9, the gap between the object to be heated 1 and the electrodes 4a and 4b is filled to increase the degree of adhesion between the object to be heated 1 and the electrodes 4a and 4b.

  FIG. 2 is an enlarged schematic view of the contact surface between the article to be heated 1 and the electrode 4a when the temperature of the electrode 4a is not increased (A) and when the temperature is increased (B). In the present embodiment, the contact surface between the electrode 4b and the object to be heated 1 is assumed to be the same as the electrode 4a, and the illustration is omitted. According to FIG. 2, by heating the electrode 4 a to dissolve the contact surface of the article 1 to be heated, the space between the article 1 to be heated and the electrode 4 a is filled with the dissolved water 9, and the adhesion can be increased.

  At this time, in the case of mixed food, the dissolution rate varies depending on the components. For example, in the case of ice containing impurities, water is dissolved first, and dissolution of water containing impurities is slow and the concentration increases. In such a condition, the concentration of the conductive substance contained in the dissolved water 9 is very low, or no current flows because the conductive substance is not contained. Even in the case where the phenomenon occurs, a part of the convex portion of the object to be heated 1 is in contact with the electrodes 4a and 4b, and the conductive material of the object to be heated 1 is redissolved in the dissolved water 9, so that a current flows.

  Next, control of the heating means 6a and 6b will be described. When the electrodes 4a and 4b are heated by the heating means 6a and 6b and the contact surface of the object to be heated 1 is melted, it is necessary to finish the temperature increase of the electrodes 4a and 4b before the object to be heated 1 undergoes thermal denaturation. is there. For example, in a food containing protein, heat denaturation occurs from about 60 ° C. or higher, so that the temperature increase must be completed by that time. When heat denaturation or temperature unevenness occurs, the quality of the food deteriorates.

  When the object to be heated 1 is not in contact with the electrodes 4a and 4b, no current flows, so that the current value detected by the current value detecting means 8 is close to zero and hardly changes. On the other hand, since the current flows when the object to be heated 1 and the electrodes 4a and 4b are in contact with each other, the current value detected by the current value detecting means 8 rises from the initial value. When the current value rises from the initial value, the control means determines that the degree of adhesion between the object to be heated 1 and the electrodes 4a and 4b is increased and the current flows more easily, and the second means so as to stop energization to the heating means 6a and 6b The operation of the power supply 7 is stopped.

FIG. 3 is a graph showing changes in energization time and current value to the heating means 6a and 6b. The initial current value is Y ₀ , the current value at the end of energization of the heating means 6 a and 6 b is Y, and the required time at that time is X. As shown in FIG. 3, when the energization time is long and the electrodes 4a and 4b are heated, the current value increases.

  When Y is constant, the temperature rise characteristics of the electrodes 4a and 4b change depending on the heating characteristics of the heating means 6a and 6b, the configuration conditions of the electrodes 4a and 4b, and the required time X also changes.

As described above, since the cooker according to the present invention can defrost or heat the heated object by Joule heat while preventing the taste of the heated object from being lowered, the microwave oven,
It is effective for various cookers such as fish roasters, refrigerators, and cookers with lids.

Schematic of the cooking device in Embodiment 1 of the present invention In the same cooker, enlarged view of the contact surface between the heated object and the electrode when the electrode is not heated and when the electrode is heated In the same cooker, the graph which shows the energization time of a heating means, and the change of an electric current value

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Heated object 2 Container 4a, 4b Electrode 5 1st power supply 6a, 6b Heating means 7 2nd power supply 8 Current value detection means

Claims (4)

A container for storing the object to be heated in a frozen state ;
A pair of electrodes to raise the temperature of the object to be heated,
In a cooking device comprising a power source for supplying power to the electrode,
A cooker provided with a heating means for heating the electrode and raising the temperature of a heated object region facing the electrode to increase the degree of adhesion between the electrode and the heated object. The cooking device according to claim 1, wherein the heating means is in close contact with the electrode and is electrically insulated from the electrode. The cooking device according to claim 2 , wherein the heating unit is configured to be in close contact with a surface of the electrode opposite to a surface in contact with the object to be heated. Cooker according to claim 1, further provided with a current value detecting means for detecting a current value between the electrodes, the detected current value of the current value detection means stops operation of said heating means to rise from the initial value.