Microwave oven

Abstract

To provide a microwave oven capable of shortening a cooking time with less uneven cooking of food ingredients to prevent odor specific to the food ingredients from remaining inside the oven.SOLUTION: A microwave oven comprises: a cooking chamber; microwave generation means for irradiating the cooking chamber with microwaves; and superheated steam generation means for flowing superheated steam into the cooking chamber, where exhausts gases, including soot, generated from food ingredients in the cooking chamber from the cooking chamber by the superheated steam.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a microwave oven that utilizes superheated steam. [Background technology]

[0002] A microwave oven is a cooking appliance that irradiates food with microwaves, causing the water molecules in the food to vibrate and heat the food from within. Generally, a magnetron is used to generate microwaves of 2,450 MHz, and a fan is provided to blow air into the cooking chamber.

[0003] When cooking food using a microwave oven, high-temperature gases and oily smoke are generated from the food, which not only produce a distinctive odor, but also cause dirt to form inside the appliance (interior) and in the kitchen (Patent Document 1). Also, a microwave oven equipped with a steam container has been proposed to replenish the moisture lost during cooking of ingredients, but there is a risk that the steam may react excessively with the microwaves (Patent Document 2). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] JP 2016-104060 A [Patent Document 2] JP 2004-85171 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] To provide a microwave oven capable of reducing uneven cooking of ingredients, shortening cooking time, and suppressing odors specific to ingredients from remaining inside the oven. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The microwave oven according to the present invention comprises a cooking chamber, microwave generating means for irradiating microwaves into the cooking chamber, and superheated steam generating means for causing superheated steam to flow into the cooking chamber, and is characterized in that generated gases including oily smoke and the like generated by ingredients in the cooking chamber are exhausted from the cooking chamber by the superheated steam.

[0007] Here, the amount of superheated steam flowing into the cooking chamber is an amount sufficient to replace the air in the cooking chamber with the superheated steam, and may be (1 to 10) × V ml / min where V ml is the capacity of the cooking chamber, and the temperature of the superheated steam is preferably 300 to 400°C. Furthermore, the raw water used in the superheated steam generating means is preferably hydrogen water containing 100 to 1,000 ppb of hydrogen. Effect of the Invention

[0008] The microwave oven of the present invention only requires the amount of superheated steam to replace the air in the cooking chamber, which creates a low-oxygen state and suppresses oxidation of the ingredients, and the water molecules in the moderate amount of superheated steam and the water molecules in the ingredients are vibrated by the microwaves, so that the entire ingredients are cooked in a shorter time than with microwaves alone. In addition, superheated steam has reducing properties, which breaks down odorous components generated by food ingredients and reduces lingering odors and stains in the cooking chamber. Furthermore, if hydrogen water is used as the raw water for generating superheated steam, a further reduction effect is produced. The hydrogen concentration is 100 to 1,000 ppb, and preferably 400 to 800 ppb. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] 1 shows an example of the structure of a microwave oven according to the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] The structure of a microwave oven 10 according to the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. The microwave oven 10 has a cooking chamber 11 and microwave generating means 12 for irradiating microwaves into the cooking chamber, and a magnetron is generally used. Microwaves are irradiated from the irradiation port 12a toward the inside of the cooking chamber. The apparatus is provided with a superheated steam generating means 13, in which water W is poured into a water storage portion, steam is generated by a superheater 13a, and the steam is superheated by a superheater 13b disposed above the water storage portion, to obtain superheated steam at 300 to 400°C. The superheated steam is injected from the injection port 13c into the cooking chamber. Food ingredients are placed in cooking chamber 11 and superheated steam is sprayed into the cooking chamber. If the capacity of the cooking chamber is Vml, the amount of steam sprayed may be 1 to 10 times the capacity of the cooking chamber, Vml, per minute. In this embodiment, a hydrogen generating agent is added during the supply of the water W, and hydrogen water with a concentration of 100 to 1,000 ppb is supplied. Hydrogen water may be obtained by electrolyzing water, but in this embodiment, hydrogen water was used which was produced by sintering powder of rock such as Tomuro stone. The food material 1 is cooked in cooking chamber 11 filled with superheated steam, which has reducing properties and is also called dry steam, being different from normal steam in that it is dry steam. As a result, the inside of the cooking chamber 11 becomes a low-oxygen state. When microwaves are applied to the food in this state, the food 1 can be cooked while preventing oxidation, with the superheated steam tightly surrounding the food. In this embodiment, when cooking using only microwaves, the fan 12b can be operated.

[0011] Using the microwave oven of FIG. 1, a comparison was made between cooking with microwaves while injecting superheated steam and cooking with microwaves while stopping the injection of superheated steam and blowing air with fan 12b. When cooking potatoes, it took about five minutes using conventional microwaves alone, but when combined with superheated steam, it only took about three minutes. In addition, when cooking fish using only microwaves, oily smoke is generated and a fishy smell comes from the exhaust port 11a, but when superheated steam is combined, the fishy smell from the exhaust port 11a is reduced. [Explanation of symbols]

[0012] 1. Ingredients 10. Microwave 11 Galley 12 Microwave generating means 13 Superheated steam generating means

Claims

1. The kitchen and A microwave generating means for irradiating microwaves into the cooking chamber; and a superheated steam generating means for causing superheated steam to flow into the cooking chamber. The gas generated from the food in the cooking chamber, including oily smoke, is heated by the superheated steam.

13. A microwave oven, characterized in that exhaust is exhausted from the cooking chamber.

2. The amount of superheated steam flowing into the cooking chamber is an amount sufficient to replace the air in the cooking chamber with the superheated steam, 2. The microwave oven according to claim 1, wherein the heating rate is (1 to 10) x Vml / min, where Vml is the volume of the cooking chamber.

3. 3. The microwave oven according to claim 2, wherein the temperature of the superheated steam is 300 to 400°C.

4. 4. The microwave oven according to claim 3, wherein the raw water used for the superheated steam generating means is hydrogen water containing 100 to 1,000 ppb of hydrogen.

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