The Actual Situation and a Problem Associated with Cooking Rice in Food Service Facilities

Abstract

  A survey was conducted regarding the food services of elderly care facilities, hospitals, and nursery schools in the southwestern region of Hyogo Prefecture, to examine a variety of care service recipients, including the elderly, infants, and patients, as well as to discuss associated problems. The survey also included questions regarding the use of steam convection ovens. The food services provided the care service recipients with several types of cooked rice including soft cooked rice and gruel, and also used heating devices other than rice cookers. A problem discovered in elderly care facilities was that when rice was cooked using pots and stoves, the hardness of the cooked rice varied markedly. More than 50％ of the food services used steam convection ovens to cook a variety of dishes. Although few facilities used steam convection ovens for cooking rice, approximately 30 to 40％ of survey respondents answered that they would like to do so. Through this survey, the current situation of various ways of rice cooking in food services facilities was made clear, and it was learned that many facility staff are interested in cooking various types of rice simultaneously using steam convection ovens.