JP7519076B2 - Cooking equipment - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a cooking device that enables so-called hybrid heating, such as by heating the bottom of a cooking container with high-temperature gas or the like and heating the sides with steam.

Conventionally, this type of commercial cooking device has been equipped with, for example, a cooking kettle as a cooking container into which ingredients are put and cooked, and a gas heating device for heating the bottom of the cooking kettle. When stir-frying vegetables in such a cooking device, for example, the large amount of vegetables put into the cooking kettle undergoes the following process.

That is, a large amount of vegetables is initially placed in a large commercial cooking pot, filling it all the way to the top, and the bottom of the pot is heated to a high temperature by a gas heating device. As the stir-frying process progresses, the vegetables that were initially filled all the way to the top of the pot begin to concentrate toward the bottom of the pot, and finally the stir-frying is completed by high-temperature heating at the bottom.

However, when stir-frying using only high-temperature heating from the gas heating device at the bottom as described above, it takes a considerable amount of time for a large amount of vegetables to gather at the bottom of the cooking pot, which causes the cooking time to become significantly longer. If the heating temperature is further increased to shorten this time, the vegetables that are in the process of gathering tend to burn on the inside surface of the cooking pot, etc.

Therefore, the applicant proposed a cooking device in Patent Document 1 that enables so-called hybrid heating, such as heating the bottom of the cooking container with high-temperature gas and the sides with high-calorie steam.

Here, high calorie means high heat transfer.

In this cooking device, a pot containing ingredients is heated at different positions using a steam heat source and a gas or electric heat source. The gas or electric heat source heats the bottom of the pot, while the steam heat source supplies steam to a jacket disposed on the side of the pot, and the gas or electric heat source and the steam heat source are each controlled separately. Therefore, vegetables that are filled to the top of the pot at the beginning of heating can be heated from the side with high-calorie steam and quickly concentrated at the bottom of the pot. Finally, stir-fry cooking can be completed in a short time by high-temperature heating at the bottom using a gas heating device.

On the other hand, when the steam heating is stopped after the ingredients are quickly concentrated by steam heating, drainage may remain in the jacket or drainage from the steam pipes may flow into the jacket, causing drainage to accumulate in the jacket. This accumulation of drainage in the jacket causes the heat of the ingredients, which have become hotter than the steam temperature due to high-temperature heating by a gas heating device or the like, to be transferred to the jacket, causing the drainage in the jacket to evaporate.

When drainage evaporates in this way, the heat of evaporation in the jacket takes away the heat from the food being heated to high temperatures using a gas heating device or the like, preventing a rapid temperature rise due to high temperature heating at the bottom.

Patent No. 3076321 Patent No. 3650718

The problem with this invention is that in cooking devices that enable so-called hybrid heating, the heat of the ingredients is lost due to the heat of evaporation of the drain during high-temperature heating.

The invention of claim 1 is a cooking device that enables so-called hybrid heating, comprising a cooking vessel for putting in ingredients and cooking them, the cooking vessel including a body part rising from the outer periphery of the bottom part in order to prevent or suppress the loss of heat from ingredients due to the evaporation heat of the drain during high-temperature heating, a bottom heating device that is disposed at the bottom of the cooking vessel and heats the bottom part to a high temperature by any one of gas heating, electromagnetic induction heating, electric heating, and steam heating, or a selective combination of these, a heat exchange jacket that forms a closed cross-sectional part on the wall surface between the bottom and body part of the cooking vessel or on the wall surface of the body part, and performs heat exchange with the wall surface by a fluid heat medium supplied inside the closed cross-sectional part, a medium supplying device for supplying the fluid heat medium into the closed cross-sectional part, and a heat exchanger that is disposed at the bottom heating device. A cooking device equipped with a control unit that separately controls the bottom heating device and the medium supplying device, the cooking device is equipped with a temperature sensor that detects the temperature of the food during cooking, and a discharge valve that controls the opening of the inside of the closed cross-sectional portion to the atmosphere or controls the discharge of the drain inside the closed cross-sectional portion, and the control unit starts cooking the food by controlling the bottom heating device and the medium supplying device, and when the rising temperature of the food during cooking detected by the temperature sensor matches the temperature of the fluid heat medium supplied to the inside of the closed cross-sectional portion, it controls the medium supplying device and the discharge valve to stop the supply of the fluid heat medium and open the inside of the closed cross-sectional portion to the atmosphere or discharge the drain inside the closed cross-sectional portion, thereby performing heating control by the bottom heating device.

The present invention has the above-mentioned configuration, and after starting cooking of ingredients by controlling the bottom heating device and the medium supply device, when the temperature of the ingredients being cooked matches the temperature of the fluid heat medium, the supply of the fluid heat medium is stopped and the inside of the closed cross-section is opened to the atmosphere or the drain inside the closed cross-section is discharged, and heating control is performed by the bottom heating device. This makes it possible to prevent or suppress the loss of heat from the ingredients due to the evaporation heat of the drain in the heat exchange jacket during high-temperature heating by the bottom heating device.

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a cooking device capable of hybrid heating. FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view including a cross section of a heat exchange jacket. 11 is a flow chart of a control for preventing or suppressing heat loss of food materials due to the heat of evaporation of drain during high-temperature heating.

The present invention relates to a cooking device that enables so-called hybrid heating, and has the objective of preventing or suppressing the loss of heat from ingredients due to the evaporation heat of the drain during high-temperature heating, comprising a cooking vessel for putting ingredients in and cooking them, which includes a body part rising from the outer periphery of the bottom part, a bottom heating device that is disposed at the bottom of the cooking vessel and heats the bottom part to a high temperature by gas heating, electromagnetic induction heating, electric heating, steam heating or a selective combination of these, a heat exchange jacket that forms a closed cross-sectional part on the wall surface between the bottom and body part of the cooking vessel or on the wall surface of the body part, and performs heat exchange with the wall surface by a fluid heat medium supplied inside the closed cross-sectional part, a medium supplying device that supplies the fluid heat medium inside the closed cross-sectional part, and ... A cooking device equipped with a control unit that separately controls the bottom heating device and the medium supplying device, the cooking device is equipped with a temperature sensor that detects the temperature of the food during cooking, and a discharge valve that controls the opening of the inside of the closed cross-sectional portion to the atmosphere or controls the discharge of drainage from the inside of the closed cross-sectional portion. The control unit starts cooking the food by controlling the bottom heating device and the medium supplying device, and when the rising temperature of the food during cooking detected by the temperature sensor matches the temperature of the fluid heat medium supplied to the inside of the closed cross-sectional portion, it controls the medium supplying device and the discharge valve to close the supply of the fluid heat medium and open the inside of the closed cross-sectional portion to the atmosphere or discharge the drainage from the inside of the closed cross-sectional portion, thereby controlling the heating by the bottom heating device.

The temperature sensor that detects the temperature of the ingredients during cooking includes sensors that directly detect the temperature of the ingredients during cooking, and sensors that detect the wall temperature of the cooking vessel that forms a closed cross-section together with the heat exchange jacket.

The exhaust valve that opens the inside of the closed cross-section to the atmosphere can be configured to release steam from within the closed cross-section when opened, or to release steam from within the closed cross-section and exhaust drainage from within the closed cross-section when opened.

The exhaust valve that discharges the drainage from the closed cross-section is connected to the bottom of the closed cross-section, but if the exhaust valve is open to the atmosphere and releases only the steam from within the closed cross-section, the exhaust valve may be connected to the closed cross-section at any position.

[Hybrid heating cooking device]
FIG. 1 is an overall schematic diagram of a cooking device.

As shown in FIG. 1, a cooking device capable of hybrid heating comprises a cooking container 1, a bottom heating device 3, a heat exchange jacket 5, a medium supply/discharge device 7 as a medium supply device, a weight detector 9, and a control panel 11 as a control unit.

The cooking vessel 1 is a large cooking pot in which ingredients such as vegetables are added and fried, or paste paste, sauce, soup, and other foods are boiled. The cooking vessel 1 includes a bottom 13 formed in a dish-like or spherical shape, and a body 15 rising from the outer periphery of the bottom 13. The bottom 13 is the lower part of the cooking vessel 1 formed of a large curved surface, and is the part up to the corner between the bottom 13 and the body 15. The body 15 is the part rising from the corner. However, the shape of the cooking vessel 1 is not particularly limited as long as it includes the bottom 13 and the body 15 and can separate the heating. The cooking vessel 1 is made of iron, stainless steel, a multi-layered material of iron and stainless steel, or copper, or a combination of these. In addition, a temperature sensor 16 is attached to the outer periphery of the bottom 13 of the cooking vessel 1. This temperature sensor 16 detects the wall temperature of the bottom 13, and its output is input to the control panel 11.

The bottom heating device 3 is disposed under the bottom 13 of the cooking vessel 1 and serves to heat the bottom 13, and in this embodiment is configured as a gas heating device. The bottom heating device 3 is equipped with a plurality of gas burners 17, 19, 21. The gas burners 17, 19, 21 are disposed in a circular ring shape when viewed from above, with the gas burners 17 and 19 disposed on the inner ring side and the gas burner 21 disposed on the outer ring side, and the inner and outer rings can be controlled separately.

The gas burners 17, 19, and 21 are connected to a source of fuel gas 26 via gas piping 23. The gas piping 23 is equipped with solenoid valves 25, 27, 29, and 31, which can be driven and controlled by the control panel 11 described below. The solenoid valve 27 controls the gas burners 17 and 19 on the inner wheel side, and the solenoid valve 25 controls the gas burner 21 on the outer wheel side.

The heat exchange jacket 5 forms a closed cross-sectional portion on the wall surface on the outer periphery side of the bottom 13 of the cooking vessel 1. A fluid heat medium is supplied inside the closed cross-sectional portion to enable heat exchange with the wall surface. That is, in this embodiment, the heat exchange jacket 5 forms a closed cross-sectional portion on the outer surface of the body 15 so as to cover the corner portion on the outer periphery side of the bottom 13. The heat exchange jacket 5 is not limited to being provided between the bottom 13 and the body 15 of the cooking vessel 1, but can also be configured to form a closed cross-sectional portion only on the wall surface of the body 15. This heat exchange jacket 5 is formed continuously around the entire circumference of the cooking vessel 1. Therefore, heat can be exchanged around the entire circumference of the cooking vessel 1 by the fluid heat medium supplied to the heat exchange jacket 5, and the cooking speed can be more reliably increased. However, the heat exchange jacket 5 can also be provided in a partitioned manner at predetermined lengths around the entire circumference of the cooking vessel 1. In this case, the fluid heat medium can be supplied and discharged to each partitioned heat exchange jacket by separate control.

The medium supply/discharge device 7 is adapted to selectively supply and discharge steam, water, and air as the fluid heat medium. When the only purpose of the heat exchange jacket 5 is to heat the device, the medium supply/discharge device 7 supplies and discharges only steam as the fluid heat medium.

The medium supply/discharge device 7 includes an upper pipe 33 and a lower pipe 35. The upper pipe 33 is connected to the upper side of the heat exchange jacket 5 on one side, and the lower pipe 35 is connected to the lower side on the other side. The upper pipe 33 branches into three pipes 37, 39, and 41, each of which is equipped with a solenoid valve 43, 45, and 47. The solenoid valves 43, 45, and 47 are controlled to open and close by the control panel 11. The pipe 37 is connected to a supply source of steam 49. A pressure sensor 38 is provided in the pipe 37, and the detection value is input to the control panel 11. The pipe 39 is connected to the discharge part of the cooling water 51, and the pipe 41 is connected to the discharge part of the cooling air 53.

The lower pipe 35 branches into three pipes 55, 57, and 59, each equipped with a solenoid valve 61, 63, and 65. Each solenoid valve 61, 63, and 65 is controlled to open and close by the control panel 11. The pipe 55 is connected to the exhaust side of the steam 49, the pipe 57 is connected to a supply source of cooling air 53, and the pipe 59 is connected to a supply source of cooling water 51.

A flat surface 67 constituting the bottom surface of the closed cross-section is formed around the entire circumference of the lower part of the heat exchange jacket 5. The flat surface 67 is a portion where drainage accumulates. A pipe 68 is connected to a part of the flat surface 67. The pipe 68 is, for example, open to the atmosphere and discharges drainage from the heat exchange jacket 5. The pipe 68 is provided with a drain valve 70 as a discharge valve for controlling the discharge of drainage. The drain valve 70 is controlled to open and close by the control panel 11. By opening the drain valve 70, drainage accumulated on the flat surface 67 can be discharged through the pipe 68. The drain valve 70 can also be configured as a blow valve controlled to open and close by the control panel 11. In the case of a blow valve, the pipe can be connected to any position of the heat exchange jacket 5, not limited to the flat surface 67. By opening the blow valve, the closed cross-section in the heat exchange jacket 5 can be blown by the pipe to discharge the remaining steam. The flat surface 67 faces a flat upper surface 71 on the insulating wall portion 69 below it. The insulating wall portion 69 is configured to surround the outer periphery of the bottom heating device 3 and is supported on a support stand 73. This insulating wall portion 69, which will be described later, thermally separates the heat exchange jacket 5 and the bottom heating device 3.

The support base 73 is provided with a number of feet 75 for placement. Each foot 75 is fitted with, for example, a load cell as the weight detector 9. The detection signal of the load cell of each foot 75 is input to the control panel 11. By averaging the detected loads of the load cells attached to each foot 75, the total weight of the cooking vessel 1 and the heat exchange jacket 5 can be accurately detected. In particular, even if the ingredients in the cooking vessel 1 are shifted to one side during cooking or move due to stirring, the loads at each time are detected by the load cells attached to each foot 75, and the average is calculated to perform accurate weight detection in sequence. In this embodiment, the total weight of the cooking vessel 1 and the heat exchange jacket 5, including the insulating wall 69, is detected.

The control panel 11, as a weight change storage device, stores in advance as a reference value the weight change according to the change in moisture content during heating in order to achieve the cooking purpose of the ingredients placed in the cooking vessel 1. The cooking purpose of the ingredients may, for example, be to properly manage the sugar content of the ingredients by maintaining the appropriate change in moisture content during and at the end of cooking, to accurately achieve the desired flavor of the ingredients after cooking, or to properly change the moisture content so as not to burn the ingredients during cooking, or even to intentionally burn some of the ingredients to add flavor or color due to the burning.

To achieve the cooking purpose of these ingredients, the weight change of the ingredients in response to the change in moisture content during heating according to the cooking purpose is detected in advance through experiments using each load cell as a weight detector 9 attached to the foot 75, and the reference value (reference line) of the weight change according to the cooking purpose is stored in advance as a map in the control panel 11. In particular, since the types and amounts of ingredients, water, and seasonings added vary depending on the cooking purpose, such as stir-frying vegetables, making paste paste, sauces, and soups, and reducing other foods, and even stewing foods, the relationship between these addition conditions and the weight change according to the optimal moisture content change during cooking, and the relationship between the optimal moisture content and weight at the end of heating are all determined in advance through experiments, and these are stored in the control panel 11 as reference values.

The control panel 11 also functions as a drive control device, calculating the weight change of the ingredients placed in the cooking vessel 1 from the change in the total weight detected by the weight detector 9, and controls the drive of the bottom heating device 3 and the medium supply/discharge device 7 so that the weight change of the ingredients matches the reference value. In this case, the objects of drive control by the control panel 11 are the solenoid valves 25, 27, or the solenoid valves 43, 45, 47, 61, 63, 65, etc. Furthermore, the control panel 11 functions as a drive control device, and stops heating by controlling the drive of the bottom heating device 3 and the medium supply/discharge device 7 when the weight change of the ingredients corresponds to the target moisture content.

The control panel 11 stores the temperature of the steam, which is the fluid heat medium, supplied to the inside of the closed cross-sectional portion of the heat exchange jacket 5. When the product temperature, which is the rising temperature of the food during cooking detected by the temperature sensor 89 described below, matches the temperature of the fluid heat medium supplied to the inside of the closed cross-sectional portion under the control of the medium supply and discharge device 7, the medium supply and discharge device 7 and the drain valve 70 are controlled to stop the supply of the fluid heat medium.

The fact that the product temperature matches the temperature of the fluid heat medium does not necessarily mean that they match exactly, but can also mean that they are lower or higher than the temperature of the fluid heat medium, or that there can be a certain degree of variation between the temperature and the exact match. The technical significance of this temperature match is to prevent or suppress the evaporation of the drainage accumulated in the heat exchange jacket 5 due to the high temperature heating of the bottom 13 by the bottom heating device 3 after the medium supply and discharge device 7 is stopped. Therefore, as long as the drainage, etc., serves to prevent or suppress evaporation due to the high temperature heating of the bottom 13 by the bottom heating device 3, it is not necessary for the product temperature to match the steam temperature exactly as described above.

The stirring blades 79, 81, and 83 of the stirrer 77 are inserted into the cooking vessel 1 from above, allowing for heating and stirring. In this embodiment, the stirrer 77 is supported separately from the cooking vessel 1. However, it is also possible to support the stirrer 77 together with the cooking vessel 1 on the support base 73. In this case, the weight detector 9 is configured to detect the total weight including the stirrer 77.

The stirring blades 79, 81 are attached to a branch shaft 85 supported by an eccentric rotating shaft 84. An auxiliary shaft 87 is provided below the eccentric rotating shaft 84, and a temperature sensor 89 is supported at the lower end of the auxiliary shaft 87. The temperature sensor 89 detects the temperature of the ingredients in the cooking vessel 1 during cooking, and its output is input to the control panel 11.

The stirring blade 83 is attached to a branch shaft 93 supported on the main shaft 91 side. Therefore, cooking with stirring by the stirring blades 79, 81, and 83 can be performed at a faster speed and the cooking purpose of the ingredients can be achieved more accurately.

The cooking vessel 1 is supported rotatably by a rotating shaft on one side in the diametric direction. A piston cylinder device is connected to the cooking vessel 1 via a bracket or the like, and the cooking vessel 1 can be driven in reverse so as to move upward on the other diametric direction around the rotating shaft by driving the piston cylinder device. This drive allows the ingredients in the cooking vessel 1 to be automatically discharged after cooking.

Figure 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view including the cross section of the heat exchange jacket.

As shown in FIG. 2, the insulating wall 69 includes a heat insulating material 97, and a hollow portion 99 is provided around the bottom heating device 3. A shielding plate 100 is provided at the upper end of the insulating wall 69. In this way, the insulating wall 69 and the shielding plate 100 thermally separate the heat exchange jacket 5 and the bottom heating device 3, so that, for example, when the bottom 13 of the cooking vessel 1 is heated to a high temperature by the bottom heating device 3, the heat can be prevented from directly affecting the heat exchange jacket 5. The inner periphery of the insulating wall 69 is provided with a number of communication holes 101 that communicate with the bottom heating device 3. In addition, an exhaust pipe 103 that communicates with the hollow portion 99 is connected to a part of the insulating wall 97. These communication holes 101 and the exhaust pipe 103 connect the hollow portion 99 to the inside and outside of the insulating wall 69, allowing exhaust to be performed.

Next, the operation will be explained. In this case, the operation of the drain valve 70 will be explained first using a flow chart. After that, an example of cooking operation using hybrid heating will be explained.

Figure 3 is a flow chart of the control that prevents or suppresses the loss of heat from the ingredients due to the heat of evaporation from the drain during high-temperature heating.

First, ingredients such as vegetables, water if necessary, and seasonings are added to the cooking vessel 1. The amounts added are based on predetermined reference values. The timing of adding water, seasonings, etc. may differ from the start of heating depending on the cooking purpose, and the amounts added are changed depending on the cooking purpose. These are determined in advance by experimentation in order to obtain an appropriate moisture content. Because the timing of addition is determined in advance by experimentation, it is extremely easy to grasp the amounts of ingredients, water, seasonings, etc. to be added depending on the cooking purpose, significantly improving workability.

Then, when the system starts under the drive control of the control panel 11, the flowchart in Figure 3 is executed.

In the "Start Heating" process of step S1, the bottom heating device 3 and the medium supply/discharge device 7 are driven and controlled according to a preset program by the control of the control panel 11. This drive control opens and closes the solenoid valves 25 and 27 of the bottom heating device 3, and fuel gas 26 is ejected from each gas burner 17, 19, and 21 through the piping 23 from the supply source, and ignition is performed by automatic ignition controlled by the control panel 11. As a result, the bottom of the cooking vessel 1 is heated to a high temperature by gas heating.

At the same time, the solenoid valves 43 and 61 are controlled to open and close by the drive control of the control panel 11, and steam is supplied from the steam supply source 49 through the pipe 37 into the heat exchange jacket 5. The steam supplied is selected from various types, such as saturated steam and superheated steam, depending on the heating purpose. The steam supplied into the heat exchange jacket 5 exchanges heat with the wall surface on the outer periphery side of the bottom 13 of the cooking vessel 1, and the cooking vessel 1 is heated in that portion.

In step S2, the process of "reading product temperature and steam temperature" is executed. In this process, the temperature of the steam supplied by the medium supply/discharge device 7 into the heat exchange jacket 5 and the temperature of the food being cooked detected by the temperature sensor 89 are read, and the process proceeds to step S3.

In step S3, the process "Is product temperature >= steam temperature?" is executed. In this process, the read steam temperature is compared with the temperature of the food ingredient (product temperature). If the product temperature is lower than the steam temperature (NO), the process returns to step S2, and if the product temperature is higher than the steam temperature (YES), the process moves to step S4. "Product temperature higher than steam temperature" means that the product temperature during heating is equal to or higher than the steam temperature. As described above, there can be a margin of error as to whether the product temperature matches the steam temperature.

Returning to step S2, the process of "Reading product temperature and steam temperature" and the process of "Is product temperature >= steam temperature?" in step S3 are repeated.

When the process proceeds to step S4, the process of "steam supply valve closed, drain valve open" is executed. This process closes the solenoid valve 43, which is the steam supply valve, and opens the drain valve 70. When the solenoid valve 43 is closed, the supply of steam 49 into the heat exchange jacket 5 is stopped. When the drain valve 70 is opened, the drainage accumulated on the flat surface 67 in the heat exchange jacket 5 is discharged to the outside through the pipe 68. The accumulation of drainage occurs when the steam supplied into the heat exchange jacket 5 is condensed by heat exchange with the food being heated, or when it comes into contact with the outer wall of the heat exchange jacket 5 and is cooled and condensed. Furthermore, water supplied through the pipe 35 for temperature control may accumulate. In addition, the condensed drainage in the pipe 37 may flow into the heat exchange jacket 5 and accumulate. If the drain valve 70 is open to the atmosphere, the remaining steam in the heat exchange jacket 5 is ejected through the pipe 68 together with the drainage discharge when the drain valve 70 is opened. When the drain valve 70 is a blow valve, the remaining steam in the heat exchange jacket 5 is blown out to the atmosphere from a pipe connected to a predetermined position immediately after the supply of the fluid heat medium by the medium supply/discharge device 7 is stopped. The blow valve can also be replaced with a solenoid valve 62 shown in FIG. 1 that blows to the steam drain line. In this case, the lower pipe 35 is branched into four pipes 55, 56, 57, and 59, each of which is provided with a solenoid valve 61, 62, 63, and 65. The opening and closing of each solenoid valve 61, 62, 63, and 65 is controlled by the control panel 11.

In this modification, the solenoid valve 62 can be installed together with the drain valve 70, or it can be installed in place of the drain valve 70.

When the solenoid valve 62 is installed in place of the drain valve 70, the solenoid valve 62 can be controlled in the same way as the drain valve 70 to act as a blower valve for the drain piping, discharging the drain, air, and steam in the heat exchange jacket 5 to the drain piping with a lower pressure.

If the solenoid valve 62 is installed together with the drain valve 70, the two can be controlled simultaneously, or one can be selectively switched between them to allow drainage.

Therefore, when the temperature of the ingredients when the supply of the fluid heat medium by the medium supply/discharge device 7 is stopped becomes higher due to continued gas heating by the bottom heating device 3, the evaporation phenomenon of the internal drain is prevented or suppressed even if the high temperature heat of the ingredients is transferred to the heat exchange jacket 5. This prevents or suppresses the loss of the high temperature heat of the ingredients caused by gas heating due to the evaporation heat of the drain.

In step S5, the "read product weight" process is executed. This process takes into consideration that the change in moisture content in the cooking vessel 1 during the cooking process is an extremely important factor related to the sugar content, saltiness, umami concentration, etc. of the ingredients, or to scorching. Therefore, the total weight is detected by each load cell of the weight detector 9 attached to each leg 75, and the product weight is calculated as the weight of the ingredients. In other words, the control panel 11 sequentially calculates the change in weight of the ingredients in the cooking vessel 1 based on the detected total weight. The calculation result is compared with a reference value, and the bottom heating device 3 and the medium supply and discharge device 7 are controlled so that it matches this. Note that the reference value can also be set to the total weight change including the cooking vessel 1 etc. according to the moisture content during cooking, and the control can be performed by directly comparing the detected total weight with this reference value.

In step S6, a process for determining "Product weight <= set value?" is executed. In this process, it is checked whether the change in moisture content in the cooking vessel 1 is equal to or less than the set value. If the product weight is above the set value (NO), the moisture content is deemed higher than the set value and the process returns to step S5. If the product weight is below the set value (YES), the moisture content is deemed equal to or lower than the set value and the process proceeds to step S7.

In step S7, the "gas supply stop" process is executed. This process is carried out, for example, by selectively stopping the outer ring gas burner 21 and the inner ring gas burners 17 and 19 by controlling the opening and closing of the solenoid valves 25 and 27 on the bottom heating device 3 side.

By controlling the heating as described above, even if a large amount of vegetables and other ingredients are placed in the cooking container 1 up to the top, they can be heated quickly by the bottom heating device 3 and by heat exchange in the heat exchange jacket 5.

When the ingredients placed in the cooking vessel 1 are vegetables, for example, and these are to be stir-fried, the vegetables placed all the way to the top of the cooking vessel 1 will gather on the bottom 13 side in a short time, and high-temperature cooking can be performed by gas heating on the bottom 13 side.

When high-temperature cooking is performed using only gas heating at the bottom 13 as described above, if the vegetables, which were initially loaded all the way to the top of the heating pot 1, are heated intensely with high gas temperatures in an attempt to quickly gather them toward the bottom 13, the vegetables will easily burn. Also, if the degree of gas heating is reduced in an attempt to avoid such burning, it will take too long for the vegetables to gather toward the bottom 13.

In contrast, by using gas to heat the bottom 13 as described above and high-calorie heating by heat exchange on the body 15 side using steam, a large amount of vegetables and other foods can be quickly concentrated on the bottom 13 side in a short time, and can be quickly heated to high temperatures by gas heating. In other words, high-temperature cooking can be performed in a short time by so-called hybrid heating.

In addition, when the supply of steam to the closed cross section by the heat exchange jacket 5 is stopped and blown, there is no drain or only a very small amount of drain inside the closed cross section, so the heat of the ingredients is prevented from being taken away by the evaporation heat of the drain when the bottom 13 is heated to a high temperature, allowing for more advanced high-temperature cooking in a short time.

In this cooking, in the agitator 77, as the main shaft 91 rotates, the eccentric rotation shaft 84 revolves around the main shaft 91, and the branch shaft 85 rotates around the eccentric rotation shaft 84. Therefore, the agitator blades 79, 81 revolve around the main shaft 91 while rotating around the eccentric rotation shaft 84, and the agitator blade 83 rotates around the main shaft 91. These agitator blades 79, 81, 83 allow the ingredients in the cooking vessel 1 to be agitated and cooked, and high-temperature, high-speed agitation cooking can be performed overall.

When the ingredients are vegetables and the vegetables are being stir-fried, for example, when the ingredients are gathering quickly toward the bottom 13 side or are in the middle of gathering, the solenoid valves 43, 61 are controlled by the control panel 11, and steam is removed from the heat exchange jacket 5 or the supply is stopped, thereby reducing or stopping the degree of heat exchange. Therefore, heat exchange by steam on the body 15 side of the cooking vessel 1 is suppressed or stopped, so problems such as overheating by steam on the body 15 side and burning during the process of gathering the vegetables toward the bottom 13 side during stir-frying can be prevented.

Furthermore, cooling water or cooling air can be introduced into the heat exchange jacket 5 by controlling the opening and closing of the solenoid valves 45, 47, 62 (if added or substituted), 63, 65 by the control panel 11. Therefore, active cooling can be performed on the wall surface on the outer periphery side of the bottom 13 of the cooking vessel 1, and scorching in this area can be reliably prevented. Therefore, after supplying steam to heat, the cooking vessel 1 can be cooled by supplying water or air, and in the process of the ingredients converging to the bottom 13 as cooking progresses, the outer periphery side wall surface of the cooking vessel 1 can be heated too much, causing the ingredients to burn. In this case, the ingredients are concentrated on the bottom 13 side, and do not affect high-temperature cooking by gas heating. Depending on the ingredients, the gas heating of the bottom heating device 3 can be stopped after cooking, and cooling water 51 or cooling air 53 can be actively introduced into the heat exchange jacket 5 to cool the ingredients while they are laid down in the cooking vessel 1.

During this cooking process, the moisture content in the cooking vessel 1 changes as described above. At the same time, the stirring state of the stirring blades 79, 81, and 83 can also be controlled and related to the moisture content control. The stirring state of the stirring blades 79, 81, and 83 related to this moisture content control is measured in advance by experiment and stored in the control panel 11.

In addition, on the medium supply/discharge device 7 side, solenoid valves 43, 45, 47, 61, 62 (if added or substituted), and 63 are controlled to open and close to selectively supply and discharge steam, cooling water, and cooling air to and from the heat exchange jacket 5, thereby controlling the temperature.

This control allows precise control of changes in moisture content during heating to achieve the desired cooking goal, and allows for reliable and easy cooking with controlled moisture content.

In addition, when the weight change of the ingredients at the end of the boiling process of paste paste, sauce, soup, or other food products corresponds to the desired moisture content, heating by the drive control of the bottom heating device 3 and the medium supply and discharge device 7 can be stopped, and the desired moisture content can be accurately obtained.

The desired moisture content can be determined by taking into account the moisture that evaporates due to residual heat, for example, which still exists in the cooking vessel 1 when heating is stopped, and in this case a more accurate moisture content can be obtained. However, if cooling water or cooling air is immediately introduced into the heat exchange jacket 5 to remove the residual heat in the cooking vessel 1 and suppress the evaporation of moisture due to the residual heat, it is also possible to set and stop the desired moisture content without taking into account evaporation due to residual heat.

Depending on the food, some ingredients may be intentionally charred to add color or flavor. In such cases, strict management is required because charring more than necessary will destroy the product. In such cases, the desired charring can be accurately achieved by storing the weight change according to the moisture content change that is determined in advance through experiments to obtain the charring that is appropriate for the cooking purpose as a reference value.

In particular, with hybrid heating as described above, high-temperature, high-speed cooking can be performed at more than twice the speed of conventional methods. With moisture content control that relies on the intuition of the worker, the work may not be completed in time, or overheating may occur due to overrun, making it impossible to achieve the final desired moisture content. However, with the above control, the cooking objective can be achieved extremely easily and accurately. Therefore, the speed of high-temperature cooking is no longer restricted by the working ability of the worker, and high-temperature, high-speed cooking can be performed reliably.

The change in moisture content of the ingredients is detected and controlled as a change in weight, but the change in moisture content itself can also be displayed on an LCD monitor or the like, allowing the operator to check the difference from a standard value. This allows the operator to continually check whether the device is operating properly while it is in operation, resulting in more accurate cooking. Also, if the detected value deviates from the standard value, a buzzer or the like can be set to notify the operator. In such a case, an operator located away from the device can be notified of the device's abnormality, and the device can be immediately stopped to prompt repairs, etc.

Depending on the ingredients, it may be necessary to selectively cause convection in the cooking vessel 1 to move from inside to outside or from outside to inside. In this case, the control panel 11 can control the solenoid valves 25, 27 to control the driving and stopping of the gas burners 17, 19 on the inner ring side and the gas burner 21 on the outer ring side, thereby causing the convection to move in the desired direction.

In the above, the ingredients are vegetables, and the situation has been described where the ingredients gather toward the bottom 13 of the cooking vessel 1 during cooking, but there are also situations where the ingredients, such as cream, expand in volume during cooking. Even in such situations, the desired moisture content change and final moisture content of the ingredients can be accurately obtained by controlling the bottom heating device 3 and medium supply/discharge device 7 as described above.

When the bottom heating device 3 is heating, heat is discharged from the communication hole 101 into the cavity 99 and released to the outside through the exhaust pipe 103, allowing for accurate exhaust. In addition, the heat exchange jacket 5 and the bottom heating device 3 can be thermally separated by the insulating wall 69, preventing radiant heat from high-temperature gas heating from reaching the heat exchange jacket 5.

An electromagnetic induction heating device may be used as the bottom heating device 3. An electromagnetic induction heating element is placed under the bottom 13 of the cooking vessel 1. Electrical control of this electromagnetic induction heating element is performed by a control panel 11. The control panel 11 controls the electromagnetic induction heating element by, for example, stopping the heating state on the outer peripheral side and the inner peripheral side, in the same way as the heating by gas.

Therefore, similar effects can be achieved when an electromagnetic induction heating device is used. In addition, because an electromagnetic induction heating element is used, control by the control panel 11 becomes easier, and it is possible to construct it compactly without the need for piping and exhaust structures as in the case of gas.

The bottom heating device can be an electric heating device, or a heat exchange jacket can be provided separately on the bottom 13, so that the bottom 13 can also be heated by heat exchange with steam. In this case, the steam used in the heat exchange jacket 5 on the body 15 side can be reheated and supplied as superheated steam to the jacket on the bottom 13 side. It is also possible to supply superheated steam separately from the heat exchange jacket 5 on the body 15 side as a separate system. Furthermore, it is equally possible to configure the heat exchange jacket 5 side of the cooking vessel 1 with various heating coils or electromagnetic induction heating elements and electrically heat it. Each of the above solenoid valves can also be configured with an air valve, a motor valve, or other valve.

1 Cooking vessel 3 Gas heating device (bottom heating device)
5 Heat exchange jacket 7 Medium supply/discharge device (medium supply device)
11 Control panel (control section)
13 Bottom portion 15 Body portion 62 Solenoid valve (discharge valve)
68 Pipe 70 Drain valve (discharge valve)
89 Temperature Sensor

Claims (1)

A cooking device comprising: a cooking vessel including a body rising from the outer periphery of a bottom into which ingredients are put for cooking; a bottom heating device disposed at the bottom of the cooking vessel for heating the bottom to a high temperature by any one of gas heating, electromagnetic induction heating, electric heating, and steam heating, or a selective combination thereof; a heat exchange jacket for forming a closed cross-sectional portion on a wall surface between the bottom and body of the cooking vessel or on a wall surface of the body, and for performing heat exchange with the wall surface by a fluid heat medium supplied inside the closed cross-sectional portion; a medium supplying device for supplying the fluid heat medium into the closed cross-sectional portion; and a control unit for separately controlling the bottom heating device and the medium supplying device,
A temperature sensor for detecting a temperature of the food material during cooking and a drain valve for controlling the opening of the inside of the closed cross-sectional portion to the atmosphere or for controlling the drain of the inside of the closed cross-sectional portion,
The control unit starts cooking the ingredients by controlling the bottom heating device and the medium supplying device, and when the rising temperature of the ingredients during cooking detected by the temperature sensor matches the temperature of the fluid heat medium supplied to the inside of the closed cross-sectional portion by the control of the medium supplying device, controls the medium supplying device and the discharge valve to stop the supply of the fluid heat medium and open the inside of the closed cross-sectional portion to the atmosphere or discharge the drain inside the closed cross-sectional portion, thereby performing heating control by the bottom heating device.
A cooking device characterized by:

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