JPH0586210B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Industrial Application] This invention relates to a rice cooker, and particularly to a rice cooker that improves the taste of rice by transferring rice starch from β starch to α starch. .

[Conventional technology]

Conventional rice cookers are equipped with a microcomputer and determine that the rice cooking process is complete when the temperature detected by the pot bottom temperature sensor that detects the bottom temperature of the pot reaches 130°C, the rice cooking process completion point shown in Figure 3. After that, the process automatically shifts to the unevenness process.

In FIG. 3, a is the pot bottom temperature characteristic, b is the cooked rice temperature characteristic, T ₁ is the time required for the rice cooking process, and T ₂ is the time required for the steaming process.

By going through such a rice cooking process and a shading process, the rice undergoes a transition from β starch to α starch, resulting in delicious rice.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

In such conventional rice cookers, the uneven time T ₂ in the process was kept constant regardless of the amount of rice cooked, so it was not possible to accurately secure the time required for gelatinizing the cooked rice. In other words, gelatinization of rice starch requires 20 to 25 minutes after the rice temperature reaches a boil, but in conventional methods, the cooking time is different for small and large amounts of rice, but the cooking time is uneven.
Since T ₂ was kept constant, the time required for gelatinization was insufficient, especially in the case of a small amount, because the water quickly ran out and reached the completion point of the rice cooking process.

This invention was made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and provides a rice cooker that can reliably secure the time necessary for gelatinization and improve the taste of cooked rice.

[Means for solving problems]

The rice cooker according to the present invention automatically shifts from the rice cooking process to the steaming process based on a detection signal when the temperature of the pot heated by the heating element reaches a preset rice cooking completion temperature. heating amount control means for controlling the heating amount of the heating body; and rice cooking amount detection means for detecting the amount of cooked rice in the pot during the rice cooking process.
Boiling detection means for detecting when the temperature of cooked rice in the pot reaches boiling temperature; and timer means for counting the gelatinization time necessary for gelatinization of rice starch based on the boiling detection signal of the boiling detection means. The apparatus further includes gelatinization time setting means for setting gelatinization time corresponding to the rice cooking amount detected by the rice cooking amount detection means in the timer means.

[Effect]

The rice cooker according to the present invention detects an accurate amount of cooked rice during the rice cooking process by means of a rice cooking amount detection means, sets an appropriate gelatinization time corresponding to the detected rice amount by a gelatinization time setting means, and then detects boiling. When the boiling of the rice is detected by the means, the timer means is operated;
The gelatinization time set by the gelatinization time setting means is counted, and when this counting is completed, the heating element is controlled to complete the gelatinization and shading process of the cooked rice.

〔Example〕

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below based on the drawings. FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram showing one embodiment of a rice cooker according to the present invention. This embodiment includes a heating element 2 for heating a pot 1, a pot bottom sensor 3 for detecting the pot bottom temperature of the pot 1, Lid sensor 4 that detects boiling of rice in the pot
The rice cooking completion detection means 5 receives the detection signal from the pot bottom sensor 3 as input, and detects a preset rice cooking completion temperature, for example, t ₀ =130°C, and controls the amount of heating based on the detection signal. The means 6 controls the amount of heat applied to the heating element 2 in order to shift from the rice cooking process to the shading process.

In the rice cooking process and the unevenness process, the rice cooking amount detection means 7 receives the detection signal from the pot bottom sensor 3 as input.
α based on the detection result of α
Set the conversion time T. Further, when the boiling detection means 9 which inputs the detection signal of the lid sensor 4 detects that the cooked rice in the pot has reached the boiling temperature of 100°C, the timer means 10 is operated according to the detection signal.
The gelatinization time setting means 8 is configured to count the preset gelatinization time T, and the heating amount control means 6 is controlled in response to this count end signal to complete the unevenness process.

Here, the pot 1 is supported by a support 12 provided at the bottom of the outer box 11 and is housed in the pot, and a heating element 2 for heating the pot 1 is placed between the pot 1 and the outer box 11. Also, a pot bottom sensor 3 is provided within the support 12 so as to be in close contact with the bottom of the pot 1. Further, the lid sensor 4 is provided at the center of the lid 13 on the surface facing the cooked rice in the pot, and is configured to detect the temperature of the cooked rice. The rice-cooking completion detecting means 5 to the timer means 10 also include a memory storing a processing program, an input circuit for inputting detection signals from the pot bottom sensor 3 and lid sensor 4, and signals from a switch (not shown), etc.; An output signal, that is, a heating amount control signal, obtained by program processing based on the input signal is sent to the heating element 2 via an output circuit.
It consists of a microcomputer equipped with a CPU for outputting data to the computer.

Next, the operation of the above device will be explained with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. First, at the start of the rice cooking process, the heating element 2 is heated over high heat by the heating amount control means 6 (step 21). Next, the rice cooking amount detecting means 7 performs the rice cooking amount detection operation from step 22 to step 28. This rice cooking amount determination operation measures the temperature rise rate of the pot 1 which is heated over high heat at the beginning of the rice cooking process (before the rice in the pot boils), and detects the rice cooking amount based on the measurement result. When it is detected by the detection signal that the pot bottom temperature has reached the judgment start temperature, for example 60℃ (step 22), the timer _t0 starts measuring (step 23), and then the pot bottom temperature reaches the judgment end temperature, For example, when it is detected that the temperature has reached 75°C (step 24), the measurement of timer _t0 is stopped (step 25). In this way, the temperature increase rate can be measured by measuring the passage time between predetermined temperatures. The time t ₀ measured here becomes the predetermined time T ₁
Determine whether t ₀ > T ₁ for (step 26) t ₀ > T ₁
If so, it is determined that the rice is at its maximum (step 27), and conversely, t ₀
> T ₁ , it is determined that the amount of cooked rice is small (step 28).

Generally, 20 to 25 minutes are required at boiling temperature for rice starch to gelatinize, but in actual cooking, due to the difference in the amount of rice cooked, it takes less time to boil for a small amount than for a large amount. Because rice absorbs less water, and it is said that gelatinization of rice starch occurs even before boiling, it takes longer to gelatinize when cooking a small amount of rice than when cooking a large amount. For this reason, the gelatinization time setting means 8 sets the gelatinization time T to t ₁ (for example, 20 _minutes ) based on the detection result of the rice cooking amount detection means 7 when the rice is at its maximum (step 29). If the amount is small, αization time T
is set to t ₂ (for example, 25 _minutes ) which is longer than t ₁ (step 30). Next, the temperature of cooked rice in pot 1 is boiling temperature 100℃.
The lid sensor 4 and the boiling detection means 9 detect that the boiling point has been reached (step 31). timer means 10
As a result, counting of the gelatinization time T set by the gelatinization time setting means 8 is started (step 32), and the heating element 2 is heated over low heat in order to proceed with gelatinization (step 33). Thereafter, the temperature detected by the pot bottom sensor 3 increases due to a decrease in the moisture in the pot 1, and when the rice cooking completion detection means 5 detects that the rice cooking process completion point (for example, 130° C.) has been reached (step 34),
Upon receiving this, the heating amount control means 6 turns off the heating element 2 and shifts to the unevenness process (step 35). However, when the timer means 10 then sends out a count end signal (step 36), the unevenness process is completed and the process moves to the warming process (step 37).

In addition, in the above-mentioned heating amount control, it is assumed that by turning off the heating element 2 during the unevenness process, the temperature of the cooked rice will drop to the boiling temperature or higher;
The temperature of cooked rice is controlled to continue boiling by boiling, etc., so that complete gelatinization occurs.

In the above embodiment, the rice cooking amount detecting means 7 detects the amount of cooked rice based on the detection signal of the pot bottom sensor 3, but the rice cooking amount detecting means 7 detects the amount of cooked rice based on the detection signal of the lid sensor 4. is possible.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the present invention, the rice cooking amount detecting means and the gelatinization time setting means set an appropriate gelatinization time corresponding to the accurate rice cooking amount detected during the rice cooking process, and then the boiling detection means When it is detected that the cooked rice has reached the boiling temperature, the timer means counts the preset gelatinization time and controls the heating element to continue boiling during this time to complete the gelatinization and shading process of the cooked rice. Appropriate α for the amount of rice cooked
It is possible to reliably secure the cooking time and improve the taste and cooking accuracy of cooked rice.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a flowchart explaining the operation of the embodiment of Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is a characteristic diagram showing the characteristics of the pot bottom temperature and cooked rice temperature. . In the figure, 1 is a pot, 2 is a heating element, 5 is a rice cooking completion detection means, 6 is a heating amount control means, 7 is a rice cooking amount detection means, 8 is a gelatinization time setting means, 9 is a boiling detection means,
10 is a timer means.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. The heating amount of the heating element is adjusted so that when the temperature of the pot heated by the heating element reaches a preset rice cooking completion temperature, the rice cooking process automatically shifts to the steaming process based on the detection signal. a heating amount control means for controlling the amount of cooked rice in the pot, a rice cooking amount detection means for detecting the amount of cooked rice in the pot during the rice cooking process, and a boiling detection means for detecting when the temperature of the cooked rice in the pot reaches a boiling temperature. , a timer means for counting the gelatinization time necessary for gelatinizing rice starch based on the boiling detection signal of the boiling detection means; and a timer means for counting the gelatinization time required for gelatinization of rice starch based on the boiling detection signal of the boiling detection means; A rice cooker comprising a gelatinization time setting means.