Sharp to Introduce Three New Superheated Steam Ovens

Sharp Corporation will introduce into the Japanese market three new models of its Superheated Steam Oven featuring a higher temperature of 340°C (330°C on previous model*2) for the superheated steam showered onto the food. These models also allow Super Low-Oxygen Cooking that reduces the oxygen concentration to 0.1%*1 (0.5% on previous model*2), creating an essentially oxygen-free environment inside the cooking compartment, which has been redesigned to seal more tightly.

In addition to improving the benefits offered by previous models, including better fat removal and greater salt reduction as well as vitamin C retention, these enhancements make it possible to preserve polyphenols, which are easily destroyed by oxygen. Polyphenols are abundant in vegetables such as green peppers and said to have antioxidant properties and be effective in strengthening the immune system.

Recently, people in Japan are growing increasingly aware of diet and nutrition, and roughly half the population feels that they would like to improve their current eating habits*3. In particular, consumption of vegetables, which are highly effective in reducing the incidence of adult lifestyle-related diseases, is on the decline and a great deal of attention is being given to how to get the recommended daily requirement of vegetables. According to the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, the recommended intake of vegetables for an adult is 350 grams per day.

Now, working in collaboration with Ms. Junko Takagi, a culinary expert, researcher and author, Sharp has developed four new Healthy Preprogrammed Settings. In particular, the "Vegetables Aplenty" recipes provide an easy way to consume 200 grams of vegetables, which is more than half the recommended amount, in a single meal. Also, customers say that vegetables cooked in the Superheated Steam Oven "retain their original, natural taste and flavor." This time Sharp has been able to determine the mechanism by which this palatability (delicious taste) of foods is preserved. Further, Sharp has developed a total of 354 automatic recipes*4, the most in the industry, that take full advantage of the functions of the Superheated Steam Oven to enable cooking a variety of foods at the same time.

Today, more and more people are becoming health conscious. In this light, Sharp has taken the evolution of the Superheated Steam Oven even further. These ovens, different from conventional steam ovens, cook using only superheated steam for heat, and offer a healthy eating lifestyle in which delicious, nutritionally balanced meals can be prepared simply and easily.-Sharp