Development and Performance Evaluation of a Continuous Rice Cooker

摘要

A continuous food cooker was developed and the performance evaluation of the unit was carried out. The parameters were standardized for 30 kg of rice per hour. The final product was evaluated in terms of moisture pick up, volume expansion factor with reference to the milled rice, total percentage yield, stickiness of the product using an Instron tester and microbial analysis for the commercial acceptance of the product. The percentage loss of solids in the overflowing water at the outlet of the cooker was also determined. These product characteristics were compared with the laboratory scale experimental results available in the literature. A preliminary cost estimate of cooking rice at pilot scale is found to be $0.17 per kg. However, with necessary sealing at the outlet of the cooker, the cost can be reduced to $0.1 per kg.