RICE COOKER

• Main Authors: TAMAKI MASAKO, NAKAE SATOSHI
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 21.12.1999
• Edition: 6
• Subjects: APPARATUS FOR MAKING BEVERAGES; CHEMISTRY; COFFEE MILLS; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; FOODS OR FOODSTUFFS; FOODS, FOODSTUFFS, OR NON-ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES, NOT COVERED BYSUBCLASSES A23B - A23J; FURNITURE; HUMAN NECESSITIES; KITCHEN EQUIPMENT; METALLURGY; PRESERVATION OF FOODS OR FOODSTUFFS, IN GENERAL; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL; THEIR PREPARATION OR TREATMENT, e.g. COOKING, MODIFICATION OFNUTRITIVE QUALITIES, PHYSICAL TREATMENT; THEIR TREATMENT, NOT COVERED BY OTHER CLASSES; TREATMENT OF WATER, WASTE WATER, SEWAGE, OR SLUDGE

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To promote water absorption and gelatinization of starch existing in rice albumen cells to reduce the rice cooking time by specifying the pH of water used in cooking rice. SOLUTION: Rice and water are put in a rice cooking pot 12, and sodium hydrogencarbonate is added from a reagent storage 18 to exceed the pH 7 of water. In such a condition, rice is dipped in water for a fixed time to absorb water. After that, a power supply device 14 is turned on to heat the rice cooking pot 12 by a heating coil 13, thereby heating the rice and water stored in side to be gelatinized and completing rice cooking. A reagent is not limited to sodium hydrogencarbonate, but any material which shows alkaline when it is dissolved in water such as sodium hydroxide or the like may be adopted. Thus, the rice is previously dipped in liquid water with > pH 7 and the rice is gelatinized in the dipping step, so that gelatinization is advanced before heating after dipping so as to reduce the rice cooking time which is the gelatinization time.