Cooking rice with minimum energy

Detailed experimental studies on procedures of reducing "On-stove time" and cooking with minimum Energy (Heat) using new energy efficient cooking techniques have been carried out. The total minimum amount of heat, Q(m) (after subtracting radiation losses), to be delivered to the pot, the sensible heat required for cooking, h(s), and on-stove time t(1) required to cook 1 kg of dry rice, using a new technique (Technique I) of cooking with a stove of effective power, Peff, 626 +/- 10W are found as 560 +/- 6 kJ, 465 +/- 5 kJ, and 911 +/- 10s, respectively; while conventional method with pressure cooker (Technique II) required Qm = 824 +/- 10 kJ heat and 1357 +/- 16s on-stove time. The corresponding energy and time without a pressure cooker (Technique III) were 1.5 MJ and 2640 s, respectively. When compared with other published works, our method gives the lowest energy to cook 1 kg of dry rice. The efficiencies of the cooking method for different techniques are evaluated. The Clean Development Mechanism potentials of the new cooking method are also evaluated. The results obtained are expected to help develop new cooking apparatus to cook with the lowest amount of energy and thus conserve food nutrient energy and protect environment by minimizing CO2 and other toxic emissions associated with all kinds of stoves/ovens. Discussion is made how to apply Technique I in solar cooker to reduce the cooking time. (C) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.