Prec. Indian Acad. Sci., Vol. C2, Part 3, September 1979, pp. 331-337. 9 Printed in India.

Cooking at low temperatures: energy and time requirements

S C POPALI, N R YARDI and B C JAIN

Energy Division, Jyoti Ltd, Tandalja, Baroda 391 410

MS received 25 June 1979

Abstract. A flat plate solar collector can easily supply hot water at temperatures upto
90--95~ At these temperatures, rice, potatoes and vegetables can be cooked without
much difficulty. However, to design an efficient solar system for cooking, one must
know the exact energy and time required for cooking at these temperatures. Our
experiments show that the actual energy consumed in cooking rice, potatoes or green
vegetables is only 0.06 to 0.10 kWh/kg at cooking temperatures of 82-88~ and the
cooking time at these temperatures is 30--45 min.

Keywords: Solar energy; cooking temperatures; solar cookers; solar thermal applica-
tions; cooking energy.

1. Introduction

In recent years, solar cookers of various types, such as the concentrator or box type,
have been designed and demonstrated. While. the feasibility of cooking with solar
energy has been well established, no data have been reported so far about the exact
energy and temperature requirements of cooking various cereals. Such information
is important in designing efficient solar systems for cooking. This paper reports the
results of experiments for determining the energy and temperature requirements for
cooking rice, potatoes and green vegetables.

2. Experimental set-up

The experimental set-up is shown in figure 1. It consists of an aluminium cooking

vessel of 210 mm diameter and 220 mm height. The vessel is heated by a I kW electric
hot-plate placed underneath the container. The losses from the vessel to the sur-
roundings are minimised by using 60 mm thick mineral wool insulation on the sides
and 150 mm thick mineral wool insulation at the bottom. The top of the vessel is
covered with a 25 mm thick wooden slab to prevent evaporation losses and to keep
the conduction losses to the minimum. Appropriate holes are provided in the
wooden slab for inserting a thermometer and for taking out samples.
An energy meter is connected in circuit with the heater to measure the energy
input. The heater is switched on or off manually by observing the temperature
in the container. The on or off condition of the heater is indicated by a
!amp.

$31
332 S C Popali, N R Yardi and B C ,lain
,ndica~or
Lamp-~r-switch
energyrneter-~~
220V
0

oSUpply

"netvesseL~~ t ~i!i!lit

~ 1 7 6

Figure 1. Experimental set-up,

i,i
3. Procedure

The experimental procedure used to determine the energy and time requirements for
cooking is described below. An energy balance for the experimental set-up is as
follows:

Energy consumed in cooking

= (Energy input to the electrical heater)
-- (Increase in the sensible heat of water) (1)
-- (Energy loss to the surroundings).

The energy input to the electrical heater is directly measured with the help of an
energy meter. The increase in the sensible heat of water can be calculated from the
measured temperature rise and the known quantity of water. The energy loss to
the surroundings depends on the temperature difference between the vessel and the
ambient, and has to be determined experimentally. For this purpose, experiment I
is carried out. In this experiment only water is heated to the desired temperature
and the energy loss is determined as explained later.
In experiment II, potatoes, rice and green vegetables are cooked in the vessel.
By subtracting the losses to the surroundings and the increase in the sensible heat of
water, the energy required for cooking is determined.

3.1. Experiment I

The vessel was filled with 4"82 kg of water and was heated to 85~ by switching on
the heater. The heater was switched off when water temperature reached 77~
 Cooking at low temperatures 333

The temperature of water was noted down every 5 min. The energy loss to the
surroundings, which includes change in the sensible heat of insulation, was computed
using the following equation.

Energy loss to the = (Energy input to -- (Increase in the

surroundings the electrical heater) sensible heat of water (2)
(mSAt)).
The energy loss to the surroundings, the energy input and m S A t are plotted
against time in figure 2. It is seen from the figure that there is a rapid increase in
temperature when the heater is switched on. After the heater is switched off, the
temperature of water still continues to rise. This is because of the heat transfer
from the base which remains at a higher temperature for some time.
The temperature of water reaches a maximum, remains more or less constant for
some time and then starts falling at a constant rate. The rate of fall of temperature
is 0.06~ This rate o f cooling is found to be independent of temperature.

3.2. Experiment H

As seen from the results of experiment I, water continues to gain additional energy
from the base even after switching off the heater. The amount of energy so gained
would be difficult to determine if potatoes are also cooked simultaneously. To avoid
this difficulty the following procedure is adopted. Water (3.85 kg) is put in the cook-
ing vessel and heated by switching on the heater. The heater is switched off when
the desired temperature is reached. The temperature of water first continues to
rise and then slowly decreases. When the temperature again reaches the desired

O.8 ~1
energy supplied 1
0.? .... energy token by water only
~-~ energy toss
0.6 ._
/

. 0.3 / , , "
,/,/~,.. . . . . . .
"I~.__ .__._.._.I.._.... r,, __

0.2 ..~.._ . ~ .._.__.......~"-':-~'"- .... "4

01~// I l I t I II I I I I
0 30 60 90 120 150 270 300 330 360 390
time (rain)
Figure 2. Energy loss from cooking yesw
334 S C Popali, N R Yardi and B C Jain

value, potatoes (1 kg) are put in the vessel. The temperature of water is maintained
at a more or less constant value by switching the heater on and off. The tempera-
ture is noted every 5 min till the potatoes are cooked.
The rate of energy loss to the surroundings is determined from figure 2. The
energy consumed in cooking potatoes is then determined from equation (1).

Im energy supplied
energy taken by w a t e r only
0.7
energy Losses

3=
0.6
energy token by potatoes
/---

/
J,t

~o.5
L
e
e-
I
9 0.4 II
o.
~ 0.3
/~._.j'----
...... .j~-..-----.-.-"J . j------
0.2
_....--- ---'11... . . . . ----]// " - - ....

0.1 cooked-~
/.,'=

0 i t i f w II I
0 30 60 90 120 150 270 300 330 360 390
time (min)

Figure 3. Energy requirements for cooking potatoes at 80-82~

0.8
energy supplied
energy taken by water only / J ~
0.7

0.6
o,oo,o,o.. ,j__J
0.5
' J l - - "

0.4
.. /'J'J~ . . . . .

0.3
E ,~ ..... -_.~.~..~:~ ,,--, ,..,- . . . .
u 0.2

/
0-1 /
9/ cooked
0 r t

0 3O 6~ 9~ ~zo 15o 270 300 330 360

time (rain)
Figure 4. Energy requircmon~forcooking potatoos at 85-87~
 Cooking at low temperatures 335

4. Results and discussion

In figure 3, the energy input, the increase in the sensible heat of water, the energy
losses to the surroundings, and the energy consumed in cooking potatoes at 80-82~
are plotted against time. Similar results obtained at 85-87~ are presented
in figure 4. The temperature of water is plotted against time in figure 5 for these
two cases.
It is seen from these figures that potatoes need 0.06 to 0.09 kWh/kg fol cooking.
The energy required for cooking at 80-82~ is 0.06 kWh/kg as against 0.09 kWh/kg
required at 85-87~ but the cooking time is 105 min at 80-82~ as against only
45 min at 85-87~ The energy required for cooking potatoes is approximately
equal to the increase in sensible heat of an equal weight of water when the water is
heated to the cooking temperature.
In experiments with rice and green vegetables (cabbage), the temperature distri-
bution was very non-uniform. This is because the heat is transferred within rice
or cabbage to a large extent by conduction, and rice and cabbage are bad conductors
of heat. The rice and cabbage were stirred to increase the uniformity of temperature

89
at as-aT"c
.... a t 80-82 "c
0 heater off
85 9 h e a t e r on

105

t
80
t

I
l
.u .=......o---o- -o--o- ..~
.=
D ,r

/
/
E
I
I
!
I
I
"Io'~- I
I
I
I
I

6s_ i I I l I I I I I
0 I0 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
time (rain)
Figure 5. Temperatureversus time for cooking potatoes at 80-82 and 85-87~
336 S C Popali, N R Yardi and B'C Jain

energy supplied
m - m
energy Losses
m . m
energy taken by cabbage

0.24
"2
~=~

Ol
t
0.20

o.~6 ? Y
0

. t
0.12
d

E
0.08 oked

0.04

0 50 100 150 200

time (rain)

Figure 6. Energy requirements for cooking cabbage at 75-88~

distribution. But, temperatures in rice still varied from 76~ in top layer to 98~
in the bottom layer. In cabbage the temperature varied from 82~ to 88~ Because
of the non-uniformity of temperature distribution, determination o f the increase in
the sensible heat of water and the energy loss to the surroundings was difficult.
Therefore, in these cases, the increase in sensible heat of water as well as the energy
loss to the surroundings are assumed to be the same as in experiments with potatoes
at more or less the same temperatures.
Potatoes and rice have a similar chemical composition and are therefore expected
to require the same energy for cooking. The results obtained following the above
procedure give the same values of cooking energy for potatoes and rice. This justi-
fies the procedure which has been adopted here.
The results obtained are tabulated in table 1.

Table 1. Cooking energy and time for potatoes, rice and cabbage.

Cooking Cooking Cooking

Item temperature
(~ time (min) energy kWh/kg

Potatoes 82 105 0"06

Potatoes 87 45 0"09
Rice 76-98* 30 0"08
Cabbage 82-88* 45 0"10

*The temperature distribution is non-uniform across the mass of rice and cabbage.
The values given are the lowest and highest ones measured.
 Cooking at low temperatures 337

5. Concinsion

The following conclusions can be drawn from the results obtained about the energy
and time requirements for cooking rice, potatoes and green vegetables.

(i) Rice, potatoes and green vegetables can be cooked in a reasonable time of
30 to 45 min at temperatures of 80-90~
(ii) The energy required for cooking rice, potatoes or green vegetables is about
0.06 to 0.10 kWh/kg.
(iii) The energy required for cooking is approximately equal to the increase in
sensible heat of the same amount of water when it is heated to cooking tem-
perature.
(iv) The energy required for cooking increases a little with the increase in cooking
temperature but the cooking time is considerably reduced.
(v) The energy required for cooking rice and potatoes is almost the same but
cabbage needs a little more energy.
(vi) It is feasible to use a solar hot water system using fiat plate collectors for
cooking rice, potatoes or green vegetables, since these can be cooked in a
reasonable time at easily obtainable temperatures of 80-90~ A cooking
scheme based on a solar hot water system can be worked out as follows.
Hot water at 80-90~ instead of cold water, is poured into the jacketed
cooking vessel. The material to be cooked is then added. This lowers the
overall temperature. The additional sensible energy necessary to raise this
temperature to 80--90~ as well as the cooking energy, is supplied by hot
water circulating through the jacket. All this energy can be supplied by a
solar hot water system. Presently, the first part of the scheme, i.e. using
hot water from the solar system in the cooking vessel, has been found to
lead to substantial savings in the fuel used for cooking in the Jyoti Canteen.

Pro. C--4