Energy Consumption during Non-isothermal Cooking of Spaghetti

Abstract

Dried foods are often cooked in boiling water prior to their consumption. Dried spaghetti is one such food. The normal cooking method for dried spaghetti is to rehydrate it in boiling water, which consumes energy during heating. Here, we sought to find ways to minimize this energy use. Changes in moisture content and force-deformation curve over time were measured when spaghetti was placed in water at room temperature and heated at various power levels using an induction heater. These changes were also measured during the normal cooking method. The energy consumed by different power levels was compared when spaghetti with an initial diameter of 1.6 mm was cooked to 1.6 g-H₂O/g-d.m. The lower the power level of the induction heater, the less energy was consumed and the lower the force at breaking deformation. When cooked non-isothermally at 935 W, the highest power level of the induction heater used, the force at breaking deformation was almost the same as that of spaghetti when cooked normally in boiling water. However, the energy consumption was greatly reduced, by about 60%, during the non-isothermal cooking. This suggests that energy consumption could be reduced when cooking spaghetti by placing it into water at room temperature and rapidly heating the water rather than cooking the spaghetti in boiling water.