JP6223489B2 - rice cooker - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a rice cooker that cooks cooked rice, and more particularly, to a rice cooker and a rice cooking method having a novel rice cooking control capable of cooking delicious rice cooked.

  In general, cooked rice in the furnace is sticky and is said to be delicious. The reason for this is that cooking in the oven can be done without worrying about the thermal power, and the rice can be kept at a high temperature.

A pressure-type rice cooker has been developed that has a boiling point of 100 ° C. or higher when cooking rice in the oven. Although it was possible to cook cooked rice with a sticky feeling, this structure was complicated.
In view of such a situation, various studies have been made on methods for cooking cooked rice having stickiness even with a rice cooker having a simple non-pressure structure. For example, what adjusts the temperature and time of the preheating process at the time of cooking cooked rice as one method (see Patent Document 1) is considered, and as another method, in the steaming process after the cooked rice is cooked The thing which sprays hot hot water on cooked rice (refer patent document 2) is considered.

JP 2001-46224 A JP 2008-104683 A

However, in the former method, “boiled rice” is greatly influenced by “degree of gelatinization”, so if it is attempted to gelatinize for a sufficient time in the preheating process, the surface structure of the rice will soften and hinder water absorption. The phenomenon that is said to have occurred. That is, in the preheating process, it is important to promote water absorption into the cooked rice, but as a result, water absorption into the cooked rice is hindered, so that the surface of the cooked rice is broken and the core is inside. The rest was difficult to obtain sufficient stickiness.
Further, in the latter method, the structure for adding hot water, the amount of hot water to be added, timing, etc. is complicated in order to obtain “boiled rice rice cake”.

The present invention has been made against the background described above, and an object thereof is to obtain a rice cooker that can promote gelatinization of cooked rice without scorching.

A rice cooker according to the present invention includes a main body having an opening on an upper surface, a lid that opens and closes the upper surface of the main body, a pot that is housed in the main body and into which rice to be cooked can be charged, and heating that heats the pot A boiling maintaining step of cooking the cooked rice, and a control means for performing energization control of the heating means; and a stickiness degree selecting means for selecting a stickiness degree of the cooked rice. In the subsequent dry-up process until reaching the dry-up peak temperature, the degree of stickiness selected by the stickiness degree selecting means is compared with the degree of stickiness at a reference level, and the selected degree is selected. When the degree of stickiness is higher, the amount of energization of the heating means is increased to increase the dry-up peak temperature than when the stickiness is the reference level.

According to this invention, since gelatinization of cooked rice can be promoted without scorching, delicious cooked rice can be cooked.

It is a cross-sectional schematic diagram which shows the structure of a rice cooker. It is a front view of the operation / display part of a rice cooker. In the rice cooker which concerns on Embodiment 1, it is the graph which shows transition of the pot temperature in rice cooking which paid its attention to the temperature in case a stickiness level is "strong", and the relationship between the energization rate and energization amount at that time. In the rice cooker which concerns on Embodiment 1, it is the graph which shows transition of the pot temperature in rice cooking which paid its attention to the temperature in case a stickiness level is "medium", and the relationship between the energization rate and energization amount at that time. In the rice cooker which concerns on Embodiment 1, it is the graph which shows transition of the pot temperature in rice cooking which paid its attention to the temperature in case a stickiness level is "weak", and the relationship between the energization rate and energization amount at that time. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement regarding the temperature of the rice cooking process of the rice cooker which concerns on Embodiment 1. FIG. It is a graph which shows the relative tenacity of each temperature on the basis of the tenacity in case the peak temperature of the dry-up process which concerns on Embodiment 1 is 110 degreeC. In the rice cooker which concerns on Embodiment 2, it is the graph which shows transition of the pot temperature in rice cooking which paid attention to the time when the stickiness level is "strong", and the relationship between the energization rate and energization amount at that time. In the rice cooker which concerns on Embodiment 2, it is the graph which shows transition of the pot temperature in rice cooking which paid its attention to the time when the stickiness level is "medium", and the relationship between the energization rate and energization amount at that time. In the rice cooker which concerns on Embodiment 2, it is the graph which shows transition of the pot temperature in rice cooking which paid its attention to the time when the stickiness level is "weak", and the relationship between the energization rate and energization amount at that time. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement regarding the time of the rice cooking process of the rice cooker which concerns on Embodiment 2. FIG. It is a graph which shows the relative tenacity of each time on the basis of the tenacity when the time until it reaches the peak temperature of the dry-up process according to Embodiment 2 is 10 minutes. It is the graph which shows transition of the pot temperature in the rice cooking of the dry-up process which concerns on Embodiment 3, and the relationship between the energization rate and energization amount at that time. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement of the rice cooking process of the rice cooker which concerns on Embodiment 3. FIG. In the rice cooker which concerns on Embodiment 4, it is the graph which shows transition of the pot temperature in rice cooking which paid its attention to the temperature in case a stickiness level is "strong", and the relationship between the energization rate and energization amount at that time. In the rice cooker which concerns on Embodiment 4, it is the graph which shows transition of the pot temperature in rice cooking which paid its attention to the temperature in case a stickiness level is "medium", and the relationship between the energization rate and energization amount at that time. In the rice cooker which concerns on Embodiment 4, it is the graph which shows transition of the pot temperature in rice cooking which paid its attention to the temperature in case a stickiness level is "weak", and the relationship between the energization rate and energization amount at that time. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement of the rice cooking process of the rice cooker which concerns on Embodiment 4. FIG. In the rice cooker which concerns on Embodiment 5, it is a graph which shows transition of the pot temperature in rice cooking which paid its attention to time when a stickiness level is "strong". In the rice cooker which concerns on Embodiment 5, it is a graph which shows transition of the pot temperature in rice cooking which paid its attention to time when a stickiness level is "medium". In the rice cooker which concerns on Embodiment 5, it is a graph which shows transition of the pot temperature in rice cooking paying attention to the time when the stickiness level is "weak". It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement of the rice cooking process of the rice cooker which concerns on Embodiment 5. FIG. It is a graph which shows the relative tenacity of each time on the basis of the tenacity strength at the time of performing the steaming process which concerns on Embodiment 5 in the temperature range of 90 to 100 degreeC for 15 minutes.

An embodiment of a rice cooker according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Embodiment 1 of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. In the first embodiment, the degree of stickiness of cooked rice is adjusted by adjusting the temperature of the dry-up process.

Embodiment 1
A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The first embodiment is characterized in that a stickiness adjusting process for adjusting the degree of stickiness of cooked rice by temperature adjustment is provided in the dry-up process in the rice cooking process.
First, the structure of the rice cooker which concerns on Embodiment 1 is demonstrated based on FIG.
The rice cooker 100 is a heating coil as a heating means for heating the main body 1, the outer lid 10a and the inner lid 10b, the container cover 2, and the bottom of the pan, the outer body of which is formed in a bottomed cylindrical shape. 3, side heating means 28 as heating means for heating the side of the pan, lid heater 29, pan bottom temperature sensor 4 as the heating means provided on the lid, hinge portion 6 that supports the lid so that it can be opened and closed, and control And means 8. Note that a sheathed heater may be provided as a heating means in place of the heating coil 3.

The container cover 2 is formed in a bottomed cylindrical shape, and the hook 5 is detachably accommodated therein. In the center of the bottom of the container cover 2, a hole 2a for inserting the pan bottom temperature sensor 4 is provided. The pan bottom temperature sensor 4 is composed of, for example, a thermistor.

  The outer lid 10a is provided with an operation / display section 13 on the upper surface, and a cartridge 12 penetrating to the inner lid 10b is detachably attached. The cartridge 12 includes a steam inlet 12a having a valve that moves up and down according to the steam pressure generated during rice cooking, and a steam outlet 12b that discharges the steam that has passed through the valve of the steam inlet 12a to the outside. Is provided.

  The inner lid 10b is attached to the surface of the outer lid 10a on the main body 1 side via a locking member 11. A lid packing 9 of a sealing material is attached to the peripheral edge portion of the inner lid 10b to ensure sealing with the flange portion 5a formed on the outer periphery of the upper end portion of the hook 5. Further, an inner temperature sensor 14 made of, for example, a thermistor for detecting the temperature in the hook 5 is attached to the inner lid 10b.

The control means 8 controls the high-frequency current to be supplied to the heating coil 3, the side heating means 28, and the lid heater 29 based on the outputs from the pan bottom temperature sensor 4, the time measuring means 7, the operation / display unit 13, and the internal temperature sensor 14. In addition to controlling the overall operation of the rice cooker. The control means 8 can be configured by hardware such as a circuit device that realizes the function, or can be configured by an arithmetic device such as a microcomputer or a CPU and software executed thereon.

Next, details of the operation / display unit 13 are shown in FIG. FIG. 2 is a front view of the operation / display unit 13 of the rice cooker according to the first embodiment.
A liquid crystal display panel 15 is arranged in the center. The liquid crystal display panel 15 is printed with time 16 and the display 16 of “white rice”, “washless rice”, “brown rice” and “germinated brown rice” as the rice variety, and “normal” and “ka” as the finished hardness. Therefore, “print” 17 of “soft”, “high”, “medium”, “weak” print display 18 as the degree of stickiness of the finish, and print display 19 of “white rice” “rice porridge” “rice cooked” as menus are displayed. . On the left side of the liquid crystal display panel 15, a rice seed selection switch 20 for selecting the rice seed of the rice seed display 16, a hardness level selection switch 21 for selecting the hardness of the hardness level display 17, and a stickiness level display. A stickiness level selection switch 22 for selecting 18 stickiness, a menu selection switch 23 for selecting a menu on the menu display 19, and a cut / warm switch 24 are provided. A switch 26 and a time switch 27 are provided.

Next, the rice cooking operation of the rice cooker according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.
First, a user operates the switch group in the operation display part 13, and sets desired rice cooking. Now, it is assumed that the hardness of “white rice” or “normal” or the degree of stickiness is set and the rice cooking switch 25 is touched. Then, rice cooking is started based on the flowchart shown in FIG.

  In step S1, the degree of stickiness of the set rice is determined based on the signal indicating the degree of stickiness from the stickiness degree selection switch 22, and the process proceeds to the preheating step in step S2. The preheating step is a stage before the water in the kettle 5 boils, and the kettle 5 is heated at a predetermined temperature for a predetermined time to promote water absorption of the rice, and a taste component such as sugar as a sweet component or an amino acid as an umami component Is a step of generating. The control means 8 controls according to the temperature information from the pan bottom temperature sensor 4 so as to supply desired power to the heating means 3 until the pot temperature reaches T0 ′ as shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, and the pot temperature reaches T0 ′. Then, the supply of electric power to the heating means 3 is controlled on and off so that the temperature of the kettle is maintained until the time information from the time measuring means 7 indicates the time t0 ′.

When the time information from the time measuring means 7 indicates time t0 ', the process proceeds to the step before boiling in step S3. The pre-boiling process is a process from the end of the preheating process until the water in the kettle 5 boils, that is, the temperature information from the pan bottom temperature sensor 4 detects the boiling in the kettle 5. Water absorption proceeds further than the preheating step, and gelatinization of rice starch begins. When the time information from the time measuring means 7 indicates the time t0 ′, the control means 8 heats until the kettle temperature reaches the boiling detection temperature T0 according to the temperature information from the pan bottom temperature sensor 4, as shown in FIGS. Control is performed so that desired power is supplied to the means 3. In the first embodiment, the boiling detection temperature T0 is determined based on the temperature information from the pan bottom temperature sensor 4, but the boiling detection temperature T0 is based on the temperature information from the internal temperature sensor 14 or the temperature information from both. You may make it perform determination of.

If the control means 8 determines with the boiling detection temperature T0 by the temperature information from the pan bottom temperature sensor 4, it will progress to the boiling maintenance process of step S4. The boiling maintenance process is a process of promoting the gelatinization of the starch of cooked rice by keeping the rice and water in the kettle 5 at a high temperature after boiling detection, and cooking the cooked rice. The cooked rice in the kettle 5 is burnt for a predetermined time. Heat with input that does not stick. After the time information from the time measuring means 7 is determined to be the boiling detection temperature T0, the control means 8 performs control so that desired power is supplied until a predetermined time elapses. In addition, you may determine the time of a boiling maintenance process by determining the moisture content in the pot 5 from the temperature change of the pan bottom temperature sensor 4, ie, estimating that the excess water in the pot 5 was lost.

When a predetermined time has elapsed after the controller 8 determines that the boiling detection temperature T0 is reached, the process proceeds to a dry-up process in step S5. The dry-up process is a process that completely absorbs moisture to the center of the rice, completely gelatinizes to the center of the cooked rice, and completely evaporates if there is excess water in the kettle. The dry-up process is higher than the boiling detection temperature T0. In this process, the temperature of the kettle is increased to the peak temperature (the highest temperature in the dry-up process) and the gelatinization of rice is promoted. A stickiness adjusting process is provided in this dry-up process. The stickiness adjustment step is a step of changing the dry-up peak temperature based on the stickiness degree “strong”, “medium”, and “weak” set by the stickiness degree selection switch 22. In order of the stickiness degree “weak”, “medium”, and “strong”, the dry-up peak temperature is increased to increase the degree of gelatinization of the rice, and the stickiness degree is increased in order. Based on the results of an experiment that shows that the rice that has been sufficiently absorbed can be kept at a high temperature, and the temperature can be increased to increase the gelatinization degree of the starch and cooked the sticky rice. Is provided.

  When the control means 8 proceeds to the dry-up process at step S5, the temperature information from the pan bottom temperature sensor 4 is fetched at step S51, and whether the stickiness degree set by the stickiness degree selection switch 22 at step S52 is “strong”. Determine whether or not. If it is set to “strong”, the process proceeds to step S53. FIG. 3 shows the temperature curve of the kettle when set to “strong” and the energization rate and energization amount to the heating means 3 in the viscosity adjusting step. The energization rate is the ratio of energization time in a certain period of time, and is indicated by the size of the mountain width in FIG. 3. When the width of the mountain is large, the energization rate is high, and when the width of the mountain is small, the energization rate is Indicates low.

In step S53, the control means 8 determines whether or not the temperature information from the pan bottom temperature sensor 4 is the dry-up peak temperature T1, which is 130 ° C. in the first embodiment. Proceeding to S531, the power supply to the heating means 3 is continued, returning to Step 51, and repeating the steps S52, S53, and S531 in this order, and the temperature information from the pan bottom temperature sensor 4 becomes the dry-up peak temperature T1. The power supply to the heating means 3 is continued until. The power supply to the heating means 3 at this time may be performed based on the energization rate pattern with the increased energization rate shown in FIG. 3, or the energization amount pattern with the increased energization amount shown in FIG. You may carry out based on energization amount w1) until it reaches after-dry-up peak temperature T1.

If it is determined in step S53 that the temperature information from the pan bottom temperature sensor 4 has reached the dry-up peak temperature T1, the power supply to the heating means 3 is stopped, and the temperature information from the pan bottom temperature sensor 4 indicates the boiling detection temperature T0 (100 ° C. ) Proceed to the steaming step in step S6 when the following occurs. When proceeding to the steaming process, the temperature information from the pan bottom temperature sensor 4 is set to the boiling detection temperature T0 (100 ° C.) or less, but after reaching the dry-up peak temperature T1 based on the time information from the time measuring means 7, a predetermined value is obtained. You may make it progress to a steaming process after progress of this time.

If the stickiness degree set by the stickiness degree selection switch 22 is “medium”, the process proceeds from step S52 to step S521, and in step S522, the temperature information from the pan bottom temperature sensor 4 is the dry-up peak temperature T2, In the first embodiment, it is determined whether or not the temperature is 120 ° C. If the temperature is lower than the dry-up peak temperature T2, the process proceeds to step S5221, the power supply to the heating unit 3 is continued, the process returns to step 51, and the following steps are performed in order. S52, step S521, step S522, and step S5221 are repeated, and the power supply to the heating unit 3 is continued until the temperature information from the pan bottom temperature sensor 4 reaches the dry-up peak temperature T2. The power supply to the heating means 3 at this time may be performed based on an energization rate pattern in which the energization rate shown in FIG. 4 is smaller than that in the case of “strong”, and the energization amount shown in FIG. It may be performed on the basis of the energization amount pattern (energization amount w2 <w1 until the dry-up peak temperature T2 is reached after the start of the dry-up process) compared to the case of “strong”.

If it is determined in step S522 that the temperature information from the pan bottom temperature sensor 4 has reached the dry-up peak temperature T2, the power supply to the heating means 3 is stopped, and the temperature information from the pan bottom temperature sensor 4 indicates the boiling detection temperature T0 (100 ° C. ) Proceed to the steaming step in step S6 when the following occurs. When proceeding to the steaming process, the temperature information from the pan bottom temperature sensor 4 is set to the boiling detection temperature T0 (100 ° C.) or less, but after reaching the dry-up peak temperature T1 based on the time information from the time measuring means 7, a predetermined value is obtained. You may make it progress to a steaming process after progress of this time.

  Further, if the stickiness degree set by the stickiness degree selection switch 22 is “weak”, the process proceeds from step S521 to step S5211, and in step 5211 the temperature information from the pan bottom temperature sensor 4 is the dry-up peak temperature T3. In the first embodiment, it is determined whether or not the temperature is 110 ° C. If the temperature is lower than the dry-up peak temperature T3, the process proceeds to step S5211, the power supply to the heating unit 3 is continued, the process returns to step S51, and the following steps are performed in order. The power supply to the heating means 3 is continued until the temperature information from the pan bottom temperature sensor 4 reaches the dry-up peak temperature T3 by repeating S52, step S521, step S5211, and step S52111. The power supply to the heating means 3 at this time may be performed based on an energization rate pattern in which the energization rate shown in FIG. 5 is smaller than that in the case of “medium”, and the energization amount shown in FIG. It may be performed based on the energization amount pattern (the energization amount w3 <w2 <w1 until the dry-up peak temperature T3 is reached after the start of the dry-up process) compared to the case of “medium”.

If it is determined in step S5211 that the temperature information from the pan bottom temperature sensor 4 has reached the dry-up peak temperature T3, the power supply to the heating means 3 is stopped, and the temperature information from the pan bottom temperature sensor 4 indicates the boiling detection temperature T0 (100 ° C. ) Proceed to the steaming step in step S6 when the following occurs. When proceeding to the steaming process, the temperature information from the pan bottom temperature sensor 4 is set to the boiling detection temperature T0 (100 ° C.) or less, but after reaching the dry-up peak temperature T1 based on the time information from the time measuring means 7, a predetermined value is obtained. You may make it progress to a steaming process after progress of this time.

The steaming process is a process for evaporating the moisture on the surface of the cooked rice, making the cooked rice moisture uniform, and allowing the inside of the cooked rice to be completely gelatinized. The cooked rice is not burnt and the kettle temperature is kept at 80 ° C. or higher for a predetermined time. It is a process to do. After the predetermined time has elapsed, rice cooking is terminated, and power supply to the heating means 3 is stopped.

FIG. 7 shows that when rice is cooked based on the first embodiment, the dry-up peak temperature in the stickiness adjustment process of the dry-up process is plotted on the horizontal axis, and the degree of stickiness of the cooked cooked rice is 110 ° C. ( It is the figure which showed on the vertical axis | shaft the value compared relatively as 1 when the stickiness degree set with the stickiness degree selection switch 22 is "weak").
As apparent from FIG. 7, the peak temperature is 120 ° C. (the stickiness degree set by the stickiness degree selection switch 22 is “medium”), and 130 ° C. (the stickiness degree set by the stickiness degree selection switch 22 is “ "Strong") indicates 1.08 and 1.19, respectively, and cooking of stickiness in cooked rice can be realized. In this way, it is possible to increase the degree of stickiness by increasing the peak temperature in the dry-up process.
In other words, delicious cooked rice with different stickiness can be cooked according to the user's preference.

In the first embodiment, the pot temperature is shown as an example centered on the temperature information from the pan bottom temperature sensor 4, but the temperature information from the internal temperature sensor 14, in other words, the temperature information of the cooked rice is centered. Even if controlled, the same effect can be obtained.
Furthermore, in the first embodiment, for the sake of explanation, the level of stickiness has been described in three stages of “strong”, “medium”, and “weak”, but is not limited to three stages. Embodiments 2 to 8 shown below are not limited to the three stages as described above.

Embodiment 2
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
In the second embodiment, the stickiness adjustment step for adjusting the degree of stickiness of the cooked rice by temperature adjustment is provided in the dryup step in the rice cooking step of the first embodiment, and the stickiness degree is changed by changing the dryup peak temperature in the stickiness adjustment step. The time to the dry-up peak temperature was changed with respect to the change, that is, the time was increased in the order of stickiness degree “weak”, “medium”, and “strong”. The other points are the same as or equivalent to those of the first embodiment.

Hereinafter, the rice cooking operation of the rice cooker will be described focusing on differences from the first embodiment.
Rice cooking is started, and the same operation as in the embodiment is performed from step S1 to step S4.
When the control means 8 proceeds to the dry-up process in step S5, the dry-up elapsed time t is fetched based on the time information from the time measuring means 7 in step S51a, and the stickiness degree set by the stickiness degree selection switch 22 in step S52a. Is determined to be “strong”. If it is set to “strong”, the process proceeds to step S53a. FIG. 8 shows the pot temperature curve and the energization rate and energization amount to the heating means 3 in the viscosity adjusting step when “strong” is set.

In step S53a, the control means 8 determines whether or not the time information from the time measurement means 7 is the stickiness adjustment time t1, which is 20 minutes in the second embodiment. The power supply to the heating means 3 is continued based on the energization rate pattern in which the energization rate shown in FIG. 8 is reduced or the energization amount pattern in which the energization amount is reduced (the energization amount w1 ′ after the predetermined time after starting the dry-up process is small) ( S531a), the process returns to step 51a. In the following order, power supply to the heating unit 3 is continued until the time information from the time measuring unit 7 reaches the stickiness adjusting time t1 by repeating step S52a, step S53a, step S531a, and step S51a. The viscosity adjusting time t1 is a time from the start of the dry-up process to the dry-up peak temperature T ′ (120 ° C. in the second embodiment).

  If it is determined in step S53a that the time information from the time measuring means 7 has reached the stickiness adjustment time t1, the power supply to the heating means 3 is stopped, and the temperature information from the pan bottom temperature sensor 4 is determined to be the boiling detection temperature T0 (100 ° C. ) Proceed to the steaming step in step S6 when the following occurs. In addition, when proceeding to the steaming step, the temperature information from the pan bottom temperature sensor 4 is set to the boiling detection temperature T0 (100 ° C.) or less, but a predetermined time has elapsed after the time t1 for viscosity adjustment based on the time information from the time measuring means 7. You may make it progress to a steaming process later.

If the stickiness degree set by the stickiness degree selection switch 22 is “medium”, the process proceeds from step S52a to step 521a. In step 522a, the time information from the time measuring means 7 is the stickiness adjustment time t2. In the second embodiment, it is determined whether or not it is 15 minutes, and if it is less than the stickiness adjustment time t2, the energization rate pattern or energization amount obtained by increasing the energization rate shown in FIG. Based on the energization amount pattern (the energization amount w2 ′> w1 ′ after a predetermined time from the start of the dry-up process) larger than that in the case of “strong”, the power supply to the heating means 3 is continued, and the process returns to step 51a. Subsequently, step S52a, step S521a, step S522a, step S5221a, and step S51a are repeated in order, and the power supply to the heating unit 3 is continued until the time information from the time measuring unit 7 reaches the sticky adjustment time t2 (S5221a). .

  If it is determined in step S522a that the time information from the time measuring means 7 has reached the stickiness adjustment time t2, the power supply to the heating means 3 is stopped, and the temperature information from the pan bottom temperature sensor 4 indicates the boiling detection temperature T0 (100 ° C. ) Proceed to the steaming step in step S6 when the following occurs. When proceeding to the steaming process, the temperature information from the pan bottom temperature sensor 4 is set to the boiling detection temperature T0 (100 ° C.) or less, but based on the time information from the time measuring means 7 based on the time information from the time measuring means 7. You may make it progress to a steaming process after predetermined time progress after the time t1 for stickiness adjustment.

Further, if the stickiness degree set by the stickiness degree selection switch 22 is “weak”, the process proceeds from step S521a to step 5211a, and the time information from the time measuring means 7 is the stickiness adjustment time t3 in step 5211a. In the second embodiment, it is determined whether or not the time is 10 minutes. If the time information from the time measuring means 7 is less than the time t3 for adjusting the stickiness, the energization rate shown in FIG. To the heating means 3 based on the energization rate pattern or the energization amount pattern (the energization amount w3 ′> w2 ′> w1 ′ after a predetermined time from the start of the dry-up process) compared to the increased energization rate pattern or the energization amount “medium”. Is continued (S52111a), and the process returns to step 51a. Thereafter, step S52a, step S521a, step S5211a, step S52111a, and step S51a are repeated in order, and the power supply to the heating unit 3 is continued until the time information from the time measuring unit 7 reaches the viscosity adjustment time t3.

  If it is determined in step S5211a that the time information from the time measuring means 7 has reached the stickiness adjustment time t3, the power supply to the heating means 3 is stopped, and the temperature information from the pan bottom temperature sensor 4 is the boiling detection temperature T0 (100 ° C) or less, the process proceeds to the steaming step of step S6. In addition, when proceeding to the steaming process, the temperature information from the pan bottom temperature sensor 4 is set to the boiling detection temperature T0 (100 ° C.) or less, but a predetermined time has elapsed after the time t3 for viscosity adjustment based on the time information from the time measuring means 7. You may make it progress to a steaming process later.

In FIG. 12, when rice is cooked based on the second embodiment, the stickiness adjustment time t in the stickiness adjustment process of the dry-up process is plotted on the horizontal axis, and the stickiness adjustment time t is 10 for the stickiness degree of the cooked cooked rice. It is the figure which showed on the vertical axis | shaft the value which carried out the relative comparison as 1 when the stickiness degree set with the partial stickiness degree selection switch 22 is "weak").
As is apparent from FIG. 12, the stickiness adjustment time t is 15 minutes (the stickiness degree set by the stickiness degree selection switch 22 is “medium”), and 20 minutes (the stickiness degree set by the stickiness degree selection switch 22). When the degree was “strong”), it was 1,12,1,21 respectively. When the dry-up peak temperature is 120 ° C., the stickiness can be increased by increasing the stickiness adjustment time t by 10 minutes, and the stickiness can be increased by increasing the stickiness adjustment time t. is there.
In other words, delicious cooked rice with different stickiness can be cooked according to the user's preference.

  In addition, in this Embodiment 2, although it showed as an Example centering on the temperature information from the pan-bottom temperature sensor 4 as a pot temperature, centering on the temperature information from the internal temperature sensor 14, in other words, the temperature information of cooked rice. Even if controlled, the same effect can be obtained.

Embodiment 3
Next, Embodiment 3 of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
Embodiment 1 provides a stickiness adjustment process for adjusting the degree of stickiness of cooked rice by temperature adjustment in the dryup process in the rice cooking process, and changes the stickiness degree by changing the dryup peak temperature in this stickiness adjustment process, The stickiness adjustment process which adjusts the degree of stickiness of cooked rice by time adjustment in the dry-up process in Embodiment 2 in the rice cooking process is changed, and the degree of stickiness is changed by changing the time to reach the dry-up peak temperature in this stickiness adjustment process. In contrast, in the third embodiment, the dry-up peak temperature is maintained at a predetermined temperature for a predetermined time as the viscosity adjusting step.

  That is, the control means 8 controls the high-frequency current to be supplied to the heating means 3 based on the output from the pan bottom temperature sensor 4, the time measurement means 7, all the switches of the operation / display unit 13, and the internal temperature sensor 14, that is, The energization amount and energization time for the heating means 3 are controlled so that the temperature from the pan bottom temperature sensor 4 becomes a curve indicating the pot temperature in FIG. 13, and the overall operation of the rice cooker is controlled. And the control means 8 makes the heating means 3 perform power supply for maintaining the dry-up peak temperature at a predetermined temperature for a predetermined time in the viscosity adjusting step.

Hereinafter, the rice cooking operation of the rice cooker will be described focusing on differences from the first embodiment.
Rice cooking is started, and the same operation as in the embodiment is performed from step S1 to step S4.
When the control means 8 proceeds to the dry-up process of step S5, the temperature information from the pan bottom temperature sensor 4 is heated toward the dry-up peak temperature T4 (for example, 110 ° C. in the third embodiment) higher than the boiling detection temperature T0. The power is supplied to the means 3, the holding time is reset (set to 0) in step S51b, and the process proceeds to step S52b.
In step S52b, the control means 8 determines whether or not the temperature information from the pan bottom temperature sensor 4 reaches the dry-up peak temperature T4. If the temperature information is less than the dry-up peak temperature T4, the control unit 8 proceeds to step S521b and heats up. The power supply to the means 3 is continued, and the process returns to step 51b. In the following order, power supply to the heating means 3 is continued until the temperature information from the pan bottom temperature sensor 4 reaches the dry-up peak temperature T4 by repeating steps S52b, S521b, and S51b in order.

If it determines with the temperature information from the pan bottom temperature sensor 4 having reached dry-up peak temperature T4 in step S52b, the measurement of the holding time t will be started based on the time information from the time measurement means 7 in step S53b. In step S55b, it is determined whether or not the holding time t reaches the predetermined time t4. If the holding time t is less than the stickiness adjusting time (holding time) t4, the process proceeds to step S53b and the temperature from the pan bottom temperature sensor 4 is reached. Power is supplied to the heating means 3 so that the information maintains the dry-up peak temperature T4. In this power supply, the supply of power to the heating means 3 is controlled on and off so that the temperature information from the pan bottom temperature sensor 4 maintains the dry-up peak temperature T4.

Thereafter, these steps are repeated, and the power supply to the heating means 3 is continued until the holding time t based on the time information from the time measuring means 7 reaches the viscosity adjusting time t4, and the kettle temperature is maintained at the dry-up peak temperature T4. When the holding time t reaches the viscosity adjustment time t4, the power supply to the heating means 3 is stopped, and when the temperature information from the pan bottom temperature sensor 4 becomes equal to or lower than the boiling detection temperature T0 (100 ° C.), the steaming in step S6 is performed. Proceed to the process. In addition, when proceeding to the steaming process, the temperature information from the pan bottom temperature sensor 4 is set to the boiling detection temperature T0 (100 ° C.) or less, but a predetermined time has elapsed after the time t4 for viscosity adjustment based on the time information from the time measuring means 7. You may make it progress to a steaming process later.

In the third embodiment, the temperature is adjusted by the heating means 3 so that the kettle temperature is maintained at the dry-up peak temperature T4 for a predetermined time (stickiness adjusting time t4). The stickiness can be adjusted with high accuracy.
In addition, since the dry-up peak temperature T4 is set to 110 ° C., which is a temperature at which the cooked rice does not burn, the cooked rice in contact with the kettle is not yellowed, hardened, or even burned, and is not sticky. High cooked rice is obtained. It should be noted that the tenacity level selection switch 22 is linked with a signal indicating the tenacity level “strong”, “medium”, or “weak”, and the tenacity level increases as the “strong”, “medium”, or “weak” level. If the dry-up peak temperature T4 is set to be high, cooked rice with stickiness according to taste can be obtained.

In this third embodiment, the stickiness adjustment time is set to one. However, as shown in the second embodiment, the stickiness degree “strong”, “medium”, and “weak” from the stickiness degree selection switch 22 are indicated. If the setting is made so that the stickiness adjustment time t4 becomes longer as the stickiness level becomes stronger in accordance with “strong”, “medium”, and “weak”, the cooked rice with stickiness according to taste can be obtained. .

  In the dry-up process described in the first to third embodiments, the heating coil 3 disposed mainly at the bottom of the pan is used as the heating means, but the input ratio is also distributed to the side heating means 28 and the lid heater 29. The cooked rice having the desired stickiness can be obtained without burning the cooked rice.

Embodiment 4
Next, a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
In the fourth embodiment, the temperature of the steaming process after the completion of the dry-up process is adjusted. That is, the temperature is increased in the order of stickiness degree “weak”, “medium”, and “strong”. The other points are the same as or equivalent to those of the first embodiment.

Hereinafter, the rice cooking operation of the rice cooker will be described focusing on differences from the first embodiment.
Rice cooking is started, and the same operation as in the embodiment is performed from step S1 to step S4.
When the control unit 8 completes the dry-up process of step S5 and proceeds to the steaming process of step 6, the control means 8 takes in the temperature information from the pan bottom temperature sensor 4 in step S61, and is set by the stickiness degree selection switch 22 in step S62. It is determined whether or not the degree of stickiness is “strong”. If it is set to “strong”, the process proceeds to step S63. FIG. 15 shows the pot temperature curve T5 and the energization rate and energization amount to the heating means 3 when set to “strong”. And if a steaming process is performed for the predetermined time with the said temperature curve T5, electric power supply will be stopped and rice cooking will be complete | finished.

If the stickiness degree set by the stickiness degree selection switch 22 is not “strong”, the process advances from step S62 to step 621. If the degree of stickiness set in step 621 is “medium”, the process proceeds to step S622. FIG. 16 shows the pot temperature curve T6 and the energization rate and energization amount to the heating means 3 when set to “medium”. And if a steaming process is performed for the predetermined time with the said temperature curve T6, electric power supply will be stopped and rice cooking will be complete | finished.

  Further, when the stickiness degree set by the stickiness degree selection switch 22 is not “medium”, the process proceeds from step S621 to step 6211. FIG. 17 shows the pot temperature curve T7 and the energization rate and energization amount to the heating means 3 when set to “weak”. And if a steaming process is performed for the predetermined time with the said temperature curve T7, electric power supply will be stopped and rice cooking will be complete | finished.

  The energization rate for maintaining the above temperature curve is the largest when “strong” and the smallest when “weak”. Further, there is a relationship of energization amount patterns (w4> w5> w6) for maintaining the temperature.

The implementation result when cooking rice is implemented based on this Embodiment 4 is described below.
When the steaming process time is constant, the result is that the degree of stickiness is stronger when the temperature curve stays in the region of 90 ° C to 100 ° C than in the region of 80 ° C to 90 ° C. Obtained. Specifically, in the former and the latter, when the steaming process was carried out for 10 minutes, the result was that the latter had a higher degree of stickiness of about 10%. In other words, delicious cooked rice with a different degree of stickiness can be cooked according to the user's preference.
Also, in this process, which is a process immediately after the dry-up process, the temperature of the cooked rice has already been maintained at a high temperature, so there is almost no need for an energization amount to maintain the temperature from 90 ° C. to 100 ° C. Allows cooking of cooked rice.

Embodiment 5
Next, a fifth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
In the fifth embodiment, the time of the steaming process after the completion of the dry-up process is adjusted. That is, the time is lengthened in the order of stickiness degree “weak”, “medium”, and “strong”. The other points are the same as or equivalent to those of the first embodiment.

Hereinafter, the rice cooking operation of the rice cooker will be described focusing on differences from the first embodiment.
Rice cooking is started, and the same operation as in the embodiment is performed from step S1 to step S4.
When the control unit 8 completes the dry-up process in step S5 and proceeds to the steaming process in step 6, the control means 8 takes in the elapsed time t of the steaming process based on the time information from the time measuring means 7 in step S61a, and the stickiness degree in step S62a. It is determined whether or not the stickiness set by the selection switch 22 is “strong”. If it is set to “strong”, the process proceeds to step S63a. FIG. 19 shows a kettle temperature curve when set to “strong”.

  If the control means 8 determines that it is “strong” in step S62a, whether or not the time information from the time measurement means 7 is stickiness adjustment time t5 in step S63a, which is 25 minutes in the fifth embodiment. If it is less than the adjustment time t5, the process returns to S61a. In the following order, power supply to the heating unit 3 is continued until the time information from the time measuring unit 7 reaches the stickiness adjusting time t5 by repeating step S62a, step S63a, and step S61a. And when predetermined time (25 minutes in Embodiment 5) passes, a steaming process will be complete | finished and rice cooking will be complete | finished.

  If the stickiness degree set by the stickiness degree selection switch 22 is not “strong”, the process advances from step S62a to step 621a. If the degree of stickiness set in step 621a is “medium”, the process proceeds to step S622a. FIG. 20 shows a kettle temperature curve when set to “medium”. And if a steaming process for predetermined time t6 is performed with the said temperature curve, electric power supply will be stopped and rice cooking will be complete | finished.

  If the control means 8 determines that it is “medium” in step S621a, whether or not the time information from the time measurement means 7 is stickiness adjustment time t6 in step S622a, which is 20 minutes in this embodiment 5. If it is less than the adjustment time t6, the process returns to S61a. In the following order, power supply to the heating unit 3 is continued until the time information from the time measuring unit 7 reaches the stickiness adjusting time t6 by repeating step S62a, step S621a, step S622a, and step S61a. And when predetermined time (20 minutes in Embodiment 5) passes, a steaming process will be complete | finished and rice cooking will be complete | finished.

Furthermore, when the stickiness degree set by the stickiness degree selection switch 22 is not “strong” or “medium”, the process proceeds from step S62a to step 621a, and then proceeds to step S6211a. FIG. 21 shows a kettle temperature curve when set to “weak”. And if a steaming process of t7 is performed for the predetermined time with the said temperature curve, electric power supply will be stopped and rice cooking will be complete | finished.

  If the control means 8 determines in step S621a that it is not “medium”, in step S6211a it is determined whether or not the time information from the time measurement means 7 is stickiness adjustment time t7, which is 15 minutes in the fifth embodiment. If it is less than the adjustment time t7, the process returns to S61a. In the following order, power supply to the heating unit 3 is continued until the time information from the time measuring unit 7 reaches the stickiness adjusting time t7 by repeating steps S62a, S621a, S6211a, and step S61a. And when predetermined time (15 minutes in Embodiment 5) passes, a steaming process will be complete | finished and rice cooking will be complete | finished.

FIG. 23 shows that when cooking is performed based on the fifth embodiment, the time of the steaming process is set on the horizontal axis, the degree of stickiness of the cooked cooked rice is set for 15 minutes (set by the stickiness degree selection switch 22) It is the figure which showed on the vertical axis | shaft the value which carried out the relative comparison as 1 when the degree of stickiness done was "weak"). As is apparent from FIG. 23, the duration of the steaming process is 20 minutes (the stickiness degree set by the stickiness degree selection switch 22 is “medium”), and 25 minutes (the stickiness degree set by the stickiness degree selection switch 22). Is “strong”), 1, 12, and 1, 26, respectively, and the cooking of stickiness in cooked rice can be realized. Thus, it is possible to increase the degree of stickiness by lengthening the time of the steaming process.
In other words, delicious cooked rice with different stickiness can be cooked according to the user's preference.

Embodiment 6
Next, a sixth embodiment of the present invention will be described.
Embodiment 6 adjusts the degree of stickiness of cooked rice by adjusting the temperature and time of the process after boiling detection.
It is the dry-up process and the steaming process that have sufficiently absorbed water in the cooked rice that greatly affects the degree of stickiness, but it is kept at a high temperature with water absorbed in the cooked rice even in the boiling maintenance process. Affects the degree of stickiness. Therefore, the degree of stickiness can be adjusted by adjusting the temperature and / or time of the boiling maintenance step. Specifically, in order to increase the degree of stickiness, it is necessary to perform control to increase the time of the boiling maintenance step.
Furthermore, by combining the first to sixth embodiments, it is possible to expand the cooking width of the stickiness. That is, the degree of stickiness can be adjusted by controlling the temperature or time of the process after boiling detection.

Embodiment 7
Next, a seventh embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the seventh embodiment, the temperature control in the first to sixth embodiments is applied to a pressure rice cooker.
Since Embodiments 1 to 6 control only the temperature and time, they are very useful as means for adjusting the viscosity with a non-pressure type rice cooker, but of course, rice cooking having an additional function such as a pressure type. It can also be applied to vessels. For example, in order to obtain cooked rice having a certain predetermined strength, 1.2 atm in the step after boiling is used in combination with the above-mentioned 1. by using the means for controlling the temperature and time. It is possible to obtain the same degree of stickiness as in the control of applying 1.2 atmospheres at a pressure value lower than 2 atmospheres.

Embodiment 8
Next, an eighth embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the eighth embodiment, the hardness control is included in the stickiness control of the first to seventh embodiments.
In general, the amount of water absorbed by cooked rice increases as the temperature of the soaked water increases, the longer the time of soaking, the lower the temperature, and the shorter the time. In addition, cooked rice with a large amount of water absorption is soft, and cooked rice with a small amount of water absorption is cooked hard. Therefore, the hardness of the cooked rice after cooking can be adjusted by adjusting the temperature or time of the preheating process or the pre-boiling process in which the cooked rice absorbs water.

Combining the control for adjusting the stickiness in the dry-up process and the steaming process shown in the first to seventh embodiments and the control for adjusting the hardness, it is more suitable for the consumer than controlling one of the stickiness or the hardness. It becomes possible to cook the cooked rice.
In order to obtain a desired stickiness and hardness in the cooked cooked rice, the stickiness level selection switch 22 selects the stickiness level, and the hardness level selection switch 21 selects the hardness level.

  Specifically, (1) In order to cook hard and crisp cooked rice, the electric power of the pre-boiling process is shortened in the preheating process so that the time t0 ′ is shortened, the kettle temperature T0 ′ is lowered, and the pre-boiling process time is shortened. It is necessary to carry out control to increase the temperature, lower the temperature of the dry-up process or the steaming process, and shorten the time. Also, (2) in order to cook the cooked cooked rice, the time t0 'is shortened in the preheating process, the kettle temperature T0' is lowered, and the power before the boiling process is increased so that the time before the boiling process is shortened. However, it is necessary to increase the temperature of the dry-up process or the steaming process and increase the time. (3) In order to cook soft and crisp rice, the time t0 ′ is increased in the preheating process, and the pot temperature is increased. It is necessary to control to increase T0 ′, reduce the power of the pre-boiling process so that the pre-boiling process time becomes long, lower the temperature of the dry-up process or the steaming process, and shorten the time, and (4) soft In order to cook the cooked rice, the time t0 ′ is increased in the preheating process, the kettle temperature T0 ′ is increased, the power in the pre-boiling process is reduced so that the pre-boiling process time is increased, and the dry-up process It is necessary to control that the higher the temperature of the steaming step, a longer time. By performing these controls with high accuracy, it is possible to provide cooked rice with a texture that meets the needs of a wide range of consumers.

Generally, it is said that old rice is cooked with hard and sticky rice. However, by performing the control of (4) above, it can be cooked to have the same texture as when cooked with ordinary rice. New rice is said to be cooked with soft and sticky rice. However, by controlling the above (1), it can be cooked to have the same texture as when cooked with ordinary rice. Thus, by adjusting both stickiness and hardness, the user's favorite texture can be obtained regardless of the quality and state of the rice.
Hard and crisp rice is suitable for sushi and curry rice, and soft and sticky rice is suitable for lunch. By adjusting both hardness and stickiness, cooked rice according to the dish or target can be provided.

The rice cooker according to the present invention is useful because it can cook cooked rice having a desired stickiness with a simple structure.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Main body, 2 Container cover, 2a Hole part, 3 Heating coil, 4 Pan bottom temperature sensor, 5 Pot, 5a Flange part, 6 Hinge part, 7 Time measurement means, 8 Control means, 9 Cover packing, 10 Cover body, 10a Outside Lid, 10b Inner lid, 11 Locking material, 12 Cartridge, 12a Steam inlet, 12b Steam outlet, 13 Operation / display section, 14 Internal temperature sensor, 15 Liquid crystal display panel, 16 Rice display, 17 Hardness level Display, 18 Stickiness level display, 19 Menu display, 20 Rice selection switch, 21 Hardness selection switch, 22 Stickiness selection switch, 23 Menu selection switch, 24 Off / Insulation switch, 25 Rice cooking switch, 26 Reservation switch, 27 Time Switch, 28 side heating means, 29 lid heater, 100 rice cooker.

Claims (3)

A body having an opening on the top surface;
A lid for opening and closing the upper surface of the main body;
A pot that is housed in the main body and into which cooked rice can be introduced;
Heating means for heating the kettle;
Control means for performing energization control of the heating means;
A stickiness degree selecting means for selecting the stickiness degree of the cooked rice,
The control means becomes the stickiness degree and reference selected by the stickiness degree selection means in the process until reaching the dryup peak temperature in the dryup process after the boiling maintenance process of cooking the cooked rice. Compared with the degree of stickiness of the level, when the selected stickiness degree is higher, the energization amount of the heating means is made larger than that at the reference level stickiness to increase the dry-up peak. A rice cooker characterized by increasing the temperature . A body having an opening on the top surface;
A lid for opening and closing the upper surface of the main body;
A pot that is housed in the main body and into which cooked rice can be introduced;
Heating means for heating the kettle;
Control means for performing energization control of the heating means;
A stickiness degree selecting means for selecting the stickiness degree of the cooked rice,
The control means becomes the stickiness degree and reference selected by the stickiness degree selection means in the process until reaching the dryup peak temperature in the dryup process after the boiling maintenance process of cooking the cooked rice. Compared with the degree of stickiness of the level, when the selected stickiness degree is higher, the heating rate of the heating means is made larger than that of the stickiness of the reference level, and the dry-up peak A rice cooker characterized by increasing the temperature . Temperature detecting means for detecting the temperature of the pot or the cooked rice,
The rice cooker according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the control means performs energization control of the heating means based on temperature information from the temperature detection means.

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