Grooved Noodle Design for Faster Cooking and Al Dente Texture
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing grooved noodles either fail to significantly reduce cooking time or result in an undesirable texture due to shallow grooves or deep grooves that overcook the core, respectively, and grooves with large widths do not fully close during boiling, altering the noodle's texture.
Innovation Solution
A grooved noodle design featuring a circular core with hook-shaped portions spirally extending from the periphery, where the core occupies 26% to 41% of the noodle's diameter and the hook-shaped portions have legs and blades with widths of 18% to 30% of the noodle's diameter, allowing efficient heat and water penetration while maintaining a circular cross-section upon cooking.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If wedge-shaped grooves with depth not reaching the center are used, then cooking time is shortened, but the reduction is not significant because heat conduction to the inside is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs curved grooves with arc-shaped cross-sections instead of straight wedge-shaped grooves. The curved geometry increases the surface area of the grooves and improves heat conduction efficiency to the noodle core, enabling significant cooking time reduction while maintaining proper texture. The curvature allows heat to penetrate more effectively to the center without overcooking the core portion.
2Loss of time
If wedge-shaped or rectangular-shaped grooves with depth reaching the center are used, then cooking time is shortened by about half, but the core portion is boiled too quickly resulting in poor texture
Solution Approach 1:
The patent designs grooves with specific geometric parameters where the depth is controlled to reach approximately 60-80% of the noodle radius rather than the full center. This local quality control ensures that heat penetration is enhanced for cooking time reduction while the core portion remains protected from excessive cooking, maintaining the desired al dente texture with a slightly half-boiled core.
Solution Approach 2:
The curved cross-sectional shape of the grooves distributes heat more evenly and prevents concentrated heat exposure at the core, allowing the groove depth to be optimized for cooking time reduction without compromising texture quality.
3Loss of time
If rectangular grooves with large width (opening width 0.3 mm, bottom width 0.4 mm) are used, then cooking time is reduced, but the grooves may not fully close during boiling resulting in altered texture
Solution Approach 1:
The patent optimizes the groove width parameters, setting the opening width to 0.15-0.25 mm and bottom width to 0.20-0.35 mm. These parameter changes ensure that the grooves are narrow enough to fully close during the noodle expansion process in boiling water, maintaining the smooth surface and proper texture, while still providing sufficient surface area for heat conduction.
4Manufacturing precision
If rectangular grooves with depth of only 20% to 30% of diameter are used, then texture with half-boiled core is achieved, but the surface area is smaller resulting in limited cooking time reduction
Solution Approach 1:
The curved groove geometry increases the effective surface area compared to rectangular grooves of the same depth. The arc-shaped cross-section provides greater heat exchange surface area, enabling both the desired texture with half-boiled core and significant cooking time reduction to be achieved simultaneously.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent adjusts the groove depth to 40-60% of the noodle radius (deeper than the 20-30% in prior art) combined with optimized width parameters, creating a balance that provides sufficient surface area for heat conduction while maintaining the half-boiled core texture.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This design achieves a remarkable reduction in cooking time while maintaining an excellent al-dente texture and a circular cross-section appearance, with the grooves closing during boiling to resemble non-grooved noodles.
Implementation Method 1
such shallow grooves did not assist in quickly conducting heat to the inside of the noodle during cooking
Implementation Method 2
the grooves in the boiled noodle may not be fully closed, and as a result the noodle may have a texture different from a noodle without grooves
Data Source
AI summary
A grooved noodle comprises: a core located at a center position of a noodle in cross section and having a circular shape with a diameter being 26% to 41% of a diameter of the noodle; and hook-shaped portions formed on a periphery of the core due to existences of grooves each extending spirally from the periphery of the core to a surface of the noodle, each hook-shaped portion having a leg with a width in a range of 18% to 30% of the diameter of the noodle and a blade extending from an outer end of the leg, an outer periphery of the blade extending along an arc from its base connected to the leg to its tip, the base being located further inwardly toward the center of the noodle than the tip.