PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a rice cooker providing cooked rice with favorable eating quality even when white rice is deteriorated rice, with an appropriate amount of bran left in the white rice, and being usable for the general household.SOLUTION: The rice cooker includes: stirring wings and a stirring motor 104 for stirring the white rice placed in a rice kettle along with water a heating unit for heating an inner kettle and a control device 131 for controlling the heating unit and the stirring motor 104. The control device 131 sequentially performs the following steps before starting a heating step for heating the rice kettle with the heating unit: a deterioration level estimation step for estimating a deterioration level of the white rice a stirring time derivation step for deriving a stirring time suitable for the deterioration level based on the deterioration level of the white rice that has been estimated in the deterioration level estimation step a first stirring step for stirring the white rice with the stirring unit for the stirring time and a soaking step for purifying the water in the rice kettle by changing the water in the rice kettle or by using an absorbing material, and soaking the white rice that has gone through the first stirring step, in the water in the rice kettle.COPYRIGHT: (C)2012,JPO&INPIT【課題】精白米が劣化米であっても、精白米に適量の糠を残して、良食味の炊飯米を実現でき、一般家庭でも使用できる炊飯器を提供する。【解決手段】炊飯器は、炊飯釜内に水と共に入れられた精白米を攪拌する攪拌翼,撹拌モータ104と、内釜を加熱する加熱部と、加熱部および攪拌モータ104を制御する制御装置131とを備える。制御装置131は、精白米の劣化の程度を見積もる劣化レベル見積工程と、劣化レベル見積工程で見積もった精白米の劣化の程度に基づいて、この劣化の程度に合った攪拌時間を導出する攪拌時間導出工程と、攪拌時間、精白米を攪拌部で攪拌する第1攪拌工程と、炊飯釜内の水を入れ替えること、または、吸着材を用いることにより、炊飯釜内の水が浄化された後、第1攪拌工程を経た精白米を炊飯釜内の水に浸す浸し工程とを、炊飯釜を加熱部で加熱する加熱工程を開始する前に順次行う。【選択図】図2
