Studies of Cooking-rate Equations based on Water-soaking-shell Models

In order to design and to control automatically various cooking apparatuses, it is necessary to determine the cooking-rate equations and to obtain the rate parameters for the equations. In this study, we postulated the cooking-rate equations based on the water-soaking-shell models, and reported on the calculation methods of the rate parameters using a non-linear least square method.

The rate parameters in the cooking-rate equations of rice, udon and kishimen (round and flat noodles of wheat flour, respectively) were determined at 92.5 °C, assuming the sphere, the long-cylinder and the infinite-slab. The lengths of udon and kishimen increased by the cooking, then the calculated values of these rate parameters did not give the exact theoretical values.

The rate parameters in this paper are semi-theoretical or merely experimental ones, but may be adopted with satisfaction for the design of various cooking apparatuses.