Electric heating – Microwave heating – Cookware
Patent
1997-12-01
1999-04-20
Walberg, Teresa
Electric heating
Microwave heating
Cookware
H05B 680
Patent
active
058956026
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL DOMAIN
The present invention relates to the domain of heating and cooking various products with the aid of thermic or electromagnetic energy, and in particular it concerns the domain of heating or cooking by application of an energy, for example infra-red, inductive or preferably micro-wave.
PRIOR ART
In the domain of heating or cooking various products by micro-waves, the products to be heated or cooked are disposed on a support placed in a closed application cavity.
Although the application of micro-waves effectively makes it possible to heat or cook a product, it has been ascertained that, by proceeding thus, the heated or cooked product no longer has the same qualities as those presented by the same product subjected to a different mode of heating or cooling.
This is particularly the case in the preferred but non-exclusive domain of application of the baking or heating of foodstuffs which are reputed to lose in part their organoleptic and/or nutritional qualities, after having been subjected to the action of micro-waves. The physical character of certain foodstuffs may in certain cases even by affected by the splitting or breaking of the outer skin, tegument, pod or other envelope. This seems to be due to the agitation of the free and trapped molecules of water of which the dissociation provokes the emission of diffusing steam, entraining therewith at least certain of the principles of the product which is thus found in a state which may be qualified as partly degraded.
The state of the art has proposed various techniques to bring a solution to the problems raised hereinabove. For example, Patent Appln. FR-A-2 501 031 describes a steam-cooking apparatus insertable in a micro-wave oven. According to the teaching disclosed, the apparatus comprises a recipient transparent to micro-waves containing at least in part a recipient reflecting the micro-waves and having a perforated bottom spaced from the bottom of the transparent recipient to define a reservoir adapted to contain a reserve of water. The apparatus is completed by a lid.
It should be noted that such an apparatus presents a complex and cumbersome structure with which two negative aspects detrimental for wide commercial diffusion are associated. The first lies in the cost and the practical aspect of use, such as positioning and cleaning. The second concerns the substantial reduction of the inherent useful volume and of that of the application cavities of the micro-wave ovens.
European Patent 0 334 572 also discloses a device designed to preserve the intrinsic qualities of the products and in particular the organoleptic and nutritional qualities of a foodstuff, while offering simplicity of use. The device comprises an element of which at least a wall is interposed between the enclosure and the generator, this element being made of a water-retaining porous matter, being provided with a water-tight coating, apart from on its face directed towards the inside of the baking-heating enclosure. Such a device is satisfactory in practice, insofar as it renders possible cooking or heating by micro-waves, preserving the smooth character of the foodstuffs, similarly to the traditional mode of cooking by oven or steam.
Although such a device is satisfactory in practice, it must be ascertained that this proposition does not make it possible to control the generation of steam produced in the enclosure. Furthermore, it has been ascertained that the water-retention element is capable of being locally overheated in its part placed opposite the micro-wave generator. It has also proved that the diffusion of the steam, within the enclosure, is not really homogeneous, particularly for enclosures of relatively large capacity.
If the control of the steam within an enclosure represents a major drawback for micro-wave ovens, it must be considered that such a problem is also raised for the other types of oven, namely, for example, induction or infra-red ovens.
The need is thus apparent of having available a technique making it possible to control the steam intro
REFERENCES:
patent: 4316070 (1982-02-01), Prosise et al.
patent: 4465234 (1984-08-01), Maehara et al.
patent: 4821709 (1989-04-01), Jensen et al.
patent: 5343551 (1994-08-01), Glucksman et al.
patent: 5525782 (1996-06-01), Yoneno et al.
Pwu Jeffrey
Walberg Teresa
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