This study aimed to elucidate the characteristics of cooking operations and procedures through a comparative analysis of the cooking behaviour of novices and experts. Participants were asked to cook a combination of two dishes twice: ginger-fried pork and boiled spinach in Japanese broth. We then examined the change between the first and second cooking operations.
Significant differences were observed between novices and experts in the following parameters: total cooking time, recipe reading time, frequency of reference to the recipe, total distance walked, cabbage cutting time, thickness of sliced cabbage, time to boil spinach, and softness of cooked spinach.
On comparing the cooking procedures of novices and experts, it was observed that the novices followed the procedures outlined in the recipe. The experts, however, were able to perform the procedures more efficiently. The experts were able to perform time-consuming operations first. The novices' skill levels began to approach those of the experts the second time around. In other words, in terms of cooking procedure, it was shown that self-cooking has a positive learning effect even when performed only once.

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In this study, we focused on the “particulate feeling” which is attributable to particles in foods. The effects of particle properties and dispersion medium on the particulate feeling were examined by using model food suspensions. By investigating microcrystalline cellulose and dried red bean paste of varying granularities, we found that the acceptance of particulate feeling was significantly correlated with the strength of particulate feeling, circularity, maximum coefficient of friction, standard deviation of the coefficient of friction, and median diameter of the particles. Thickened suspension decreased the strength of particulate feeling and increased the acceptance of the particulate feeling, although this effect was suppressed in high particle concentrations. The same trend was observed with sweet and salty dispersion media: the strength of particulate feeling was decreased and the acceptance of particulate feeling was increased. This pattern was not observed with sour, bitter, or umami dispersion media. According to these results, the particulate feeling is controlled by the viscosity and taste of the dispersion medium and various properties of the food particles.

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Cooking of frozen baby food is currently widespread among child-rearing parents.
We examined the effects of freezing and two methods of thawing (by boiling or using microwaves) the vegetables. Carrot and spinach samples were cut, boiled, and frozen in a household refrigerator. The frozen vegetables were thawed by either boiling or heating using a microwave oven.
Then, we examined the texture, weight change, and nutritional value of the defrosted food.
The weight change of carrot and spinach was higher after boiling than after microwave thawing. In addition, the hardness of the thawed food product was higher after boiling than after microwave thawing. Boiling led to a higher loss of nutritional value with respect to iron and water-soluble vitamins.
Thus, we confirmed that compared to boiling, microwave thawing is more desirable as a cooking method for frozen baby foods, in terms of retention of nutritional value and convenience.

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We investigated the effects of heating with a steam convection oven on the texture, taste and extent of diffusion of sodium ion (Na⁺) and glucose in five types of foodstuff (pumpkin, potato, konjac, heated egg white, and kamaboko).
The experiment was conducted using a combi steam mode (steam 100% and 160°C) for three different heating times (5, 10, and 20 minutes) to heat each sample in a solution of 3% NaCl and 10% glucose. We carried out sensory evaluation and measurement of weight, color tone, texture, and the concentrations of both Na⁺ and glucose.
(1) Texture analysis showed that the initial softening stopped after heating the pumpkin sample for 20 minutes and the potato sample for 10 minutes.
(2) The Na⁺concentration in each sample was similar in each type of food after 20 minutes of heating despite different initial concentrations. The glucose concentration differed for each of the five types of food; however, the extent of diffusion was almost the same for each sample after 10 minutes of heating.
(3) Sensory evaluation showed that the konjac sample was preferable to that of other samples after 10 minutes of heating.

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We conducted a questionnaire survey on the prevalence of boiled cooking and pressure cooker use among university and college students and households with nursery schoolers or kindergarteners in 2012, in Kansai. We compared our findings with the results of previous investigations. We found that the respondents attached more importance to convenience and time while cooking, than to health. There was a decrease in the frequencies of eating and cooking boiled dishes. The purchase of such foods also showed a marked decrease. Among the respondents, 43.8% had pressure cookers and the proportion was over 45% when limited to those over 30 years of age. The frequencies of eating and cooking boiled dishes were higher among respondents who had pressure cookers than among those who did not.

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