JP2000116316A - Method and apparatus for thawing frozen food - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method and an apparatus for thawing a frozen food capable of shortening the thawing time without enlarging the apparatus and not causing a sanitary problem. SOLUTION: In a conventional thawing method in which thawing containers 3a, 3b, 3c, 3d and 3e which can place materials 2 to be thawed and are equipped with flow holes 9 are housed in a box body 4, water is sprinkled from a water spray part 5 arranged above the thawing containers on the materials placed on the thawing containers to thaw the materials to be thawed, water flowing from the flow holes 9 is recovered, sent to the water spray part 5 by a pump 7 and water is circulated. On the other hand, open air introduced from the outside of the box body is brought into contact with water flowing from the flow holes 9 to control the temperature of the circulating water.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for thawing frozen food.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, fish and meat are often stored and transported in a frozen state. These frozen foods are frozen at an extremely low temperature of several tens of degrees below zero to several hundred degrees Celsius using frozen gas or the like. On the other hand, these frozen foods are thawed immediately before being sold, processed or eaten. Usually, it is often thawed at the end user or at the retail store.

In order to thaw the above frozen food, it is conceivable to leave it at room temperature and let it thaw naturally. However, the thawing time becomes extremely long, and meat juices and the like are leached to lower the taste. Therefore, it is often thawed in running water using tap water or the like. However, since a large amount of water is required, if thawing is performed in a state where tap water is discharged from a faucet, a water charge becomes extremely high.

[0004] In order to solve the above problem, a method of spraying tap water on frozen foods has been widely used, for example, as described in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 61-792 and Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 4-46558. I have. In these thawing apparatuses, in order to reduce a water bill, thawing is performed by circulating water to be used in the apparatus.

In the thawing apparatus described in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 61-792, a sprinkling tank having a sprinkling hole at the bottom and a thawing container having a bottom of a pen-like shape are alternately arranged vertically in the thawing box. At the same time, water is allowed to flow down from the top watering container to the lower thawing container and watering tank sequentially. The water that has flowed down is collected in a water storage tank provided below the box body, and is supplied to the uppermost water sprinkling tank by a pump, so that the water can be circulated and thawed.

In the thawing apparatus described in the above publication, water obtained by thawing the object to be thawed in the uppermost thawing container is
The thawing is performed by spraying water on the material to be thawed in the lower thawing container. However, since the temperature of the water decreases as it flows down to the lower thawing container, the degree of thawing differs between the thawing object stored in the upper thawing container and the thawing object stored in the lower thawing container. . For this reason,
It was necessary to replace the upper thawing container with the lower thawing container, or to take out the objects to be thawed in the upper thawing container in order. Therefore, there is a problem that the work is troublesome and the operation efficiency of the thawing apparatus is reduced.

[0007] The invention described in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 4-46558 has been devised to solve the above-mentioned problem, and divides water sent from a pump into each of thawing containers arranged vertically. In addition, the water flowing down from each thawing container is directly collected in the water storage tank and circulated.

In the thawing apparatus described in the above publication,
Since water of the same temperature can be sprayed on each thawing container, the objects to be thawed in the upper and lower thawing containers can be thawed substantially uniformly.

[0009]

Problems to be Solved by the Invention
In the thawing apparatus described in the publication, the same amount of water is branched and supplied to each thawing container to sprinkle water in order to equalize the thawing time of the objects stored in each thawing container. Make up. For this reason, if a pump having the same output as the conventional one is used, the amount of water sprinkled in each thawing container decreases, the amount of heat exchange becomes small, and the thawing time becomes very long.

On the other hand, in order to spray the same amount of water to each thawing container as before, the output of the pump must be increased in proportion to the number of thawing containers. That is, when installing a two-stage thawing container, a pump having three times the output is required to install a three-stage thawing container, but such a pump is required due to cost and size of the apparatus. It is not possible to employ a pump with a large output.

Further, since water is circulated and used in the apparatus, the temperature of the whole circulating water also decreases with use time, and when used for a long time, the thawing time increases.

Further, in the conventional thawing apparatus, since the recovered water is configured to be repeatedly circulated,
Water mixed with gravy and the like leached from the material to be thawed is repeatedly sprinkled. Therefore, if used for a long time, the circulating water will be concentrated, which will adversely affect the taste of the material to be thawed,
Hygiene problems occur.

The present invention has been conceived in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and solves the above-mentioned conventional problems. It is possible to shorten the thawing time without increasing the size of the apparatus, and to reduce the problem of hygiene. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and an apparatus for thawing frozen food which do not occur.

[0014]

Means for Solving the Problems To solve the above problems, the present invention employs the following technical means.

In the thawing method according to the present invention, the thawing container on which the material to be thawed can be placed and which has a water hole at the bottom is housed in a box, and the sprinkler provided above the thawing container is placed on the thawing container. The present invention can be easily applied to a conventional thawing method in which water is sprinkled on the placed object to be thawed to thaw the object to be thawed.

In the thawing apparatus, the temperature of the water drops because the heat of the sprinkled water is taken by the object to be thawed. Depending on the freezing temperature of the material to be thawed, the temperature may drop to near 0 ° C. For this reason, when water is circulated and used, as the thawing time elapses, the temperature difference between the object to be thawed and the water to be sprinkled becomes smaller, the amount of heat exchange decreases, the thawing efficiency decreases, and the thawing efficiency decreases. The time required will increase.

According to the present invention, the water flowing down from the water passage hole is collected and sent to the water sprinkling section by a pump to circulate the water, while the outside air introduced from outside the box into the water flowing down from the water passage hole. To adjust the temperature of the circulating water.

Usually, the thawing apparatus is installed in a cooking room or the like.
Therefore, the ambient temperature is higher than the water circulating in the thawing apparatus. Therefore, the temperature of the circulating water can be increased by bringing the air around the thawing device into contact with the water circulating in the thawing device.

Further, since the water flowing down from the water hole of the thawing container is in the form of a shower, heat can be efficiently exchanged with the introduced outside air.

On the other hand, since a heating device or the like for directly heating the circulating water is not required, the device can be simply configured and the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

Moreover, since the temperature of the circulating water does not rise above room temperature, the temperature of the circulating water is automatically adjusted. For this reason, there is no possibility that the object to be thawed is damaged by heat.

As a means for generating an air flow, an intake fan for taking in outside air into the box or an exhaust fan for discharging air from the box can be employed.

According to the invention described in claim 2 of the present application, a plurality of thawing containers are vertically arranged, and water flowing down from a water hole of an upper thawing container is placed on the lower thawing container. And thawed, and collects the water flowing down from the water hole of the lowermost thawing container.

When a plurality of thawing containers are vertically arranged and the lower thawing is performed by the water flowing down from each thawing container, the temperature of the water sprinkled in the lower thawing container decreases as the temperature decreases. No thaw could be performed uniformly with the device (1).

In the present invention, the temperature of the water flowing down from the water holes of each thawing container can be raised, so that the thawing efficiency is remarkably improved and the object to be thawed in each thawing container can be uniformly thawed. It becomes possible.

The outside air acting on the water flowing down from the water holes of each thawing container may be constituted so as to flow in each of the gaps formed between the thawing containers. Like, through the water hole of each thawing container,
It is also possible to flow from below the lowermost thawing container to above the uppermost thawing container.

In particular, according to the invention described in claim 3,
The highest temperature outside air can be applied to the water flowing down from the lowest thawing container having the lowest water temperature. In addition, the temperature of the outside air that acts as it flows upward decreases, and the amount of heat exchange decreases.On the other hand, the temperature of the flowing water increases, so that the temperature of the water sprayed to each thawing container is automatically equalized. The effect of being done can also be expected.

Therefore, it is possible to uniformly thaw the material to be thawed in each thawing container, so that not only the thawing efficiency is remarkably improved, but also the thawing time can be greatly reduced.
Further, since it is not necessary to replace each thawing container, the working efficiency is improved.

Moreover, since the outside air is made to flow using the water holes provided in each thawing container, the heat exchange between the outside air and the flowing water can be performed efficiently. Also, there is no need to apply special processing to the thawing container or the like.

In the invention described in claim 4 of the present application, thawing is performed while replacing a part of the circulating water. Since the circulating water can be exchanged during the operation of the device, the contamination of the circulating water can be prevented, and the hygiene can be improved. It is desirable that the amount of water to be replaced is configured to be adjustable by a valve or the like.

Also, as in the invention described in claim 5,
In the final stage of the thawing process, the surface of the thawing material and the circulating water in the thawing container are washed away by arranging that the fresh water supplied from the water pipe is sprayed on the thawing material, and the hygiene of the thawing material is achieved. Sex is greatly improved.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there are provided a plurality of thawing containers on which a material to be thawed can be placed and which has a water hole at the bottom, and a box body capable of vertically arranging these thawing containers so as to be able to be taken in and out. And a water sprinkling section for sprinkling water from the upper part of the box to the uppermost thawing container, a water tank for collecting and storing water flowing down from the lower water passage hole, and watering the water in the water tank. The invention relates to a frozen food defrosting apparatus having a pump and a pipe for supplying to a section, an outside air introduction port for introducing outside air into the box, an exhaust port for discharging air from the inside of the box, and outside air from the outside air introduction port. A fan is provided for taking in and flowing through the inside of the box and exhausting from the exhaust port, so that the flowing outside air is brought into contact with the water flowing down from the water holes of each thawing container.

The form, size, material and number of the thawing container are not particularly limited, and can be set according to the object to be thawed. In addition, the shape and number of the water passage holes are not limited, as long as at least the sprinkled water can flow downward without staying in the thawing container. In addition, it is preferable that the bottom of the thawing container is formed with irregularities and the like, and that water is allowed to flow down from below the object to be thawed through the water hole. Further, the form and material of the box are not particularly limited, and may be formed so that water that is sprinkled or flowing down does not leak.

The outside air introduction port and the exhaust port are arranged so that the outside air flowing therebetween can contact the water flowing down from each thawing container.

The outside air introduction port and the exhaust hole may be provided at an intermediate position in the vertical direction of each thawing container of the box so that outside air flows in the lateral direction. Also, while the outside air inlet is provided below the lowermost thawing container, an exhaust port may be provided at the top of the box to allow the outside air to flow upwardly of the box.

According to the present invention, the outside air inlet is provided below the lowermost thawing container, while the exhaust port is provided above the uppermost thawing container. An exhaust fan for exhausting air can be provided.

Further, as in the invention described in claim 8,
While the outside air inlet is provided below the lowermost thawing container, the exhaust port is provided above the uppermost thawing container, and an intake fan for introducing outside air into the box from the outside air inlet is provided. it can.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a water exchange means for exchanging a part of the circulating water with water supplied from a water pipe during operation of the apparatus.

The water refilling means is provided, for example, with a drain port provided at a portion of the storage tank having a normal water storage level so that the water is drained when the water level exceeds this height. A water supply pipe may be connected to the circulation path through a valve or the like so that tap water can be injected into the circulation path at a predetermined flow rate.

By providing the above-mentioned water changing means,
The same effect can be obtained as when the circulating water is replaced at regular intervals. For this reason, sanitary properties are significantly improved.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, a heating means for heating the introduced outside air is provided near the outside air inlet or the intake fan. When a large thawing device is configured, a decrease in water temperature can be prevented and thawing efficiency can be increased.

The heating means is not particularly limited as long as it can raise the temperature of the outside air flowing into the box. Since the circulating water is not directly heated, the heating means can be easily configured. Further, as the heating means, a heat exchanger or the like for discharging the heat of the refrigerating device can be easily used.

For example, as in the invention as set forth in claim 11, a box body is provided integrally with or adjacent to the frozen storage device for food, and the outside air passing through the heat exchanger of the frozen storage device is taken into the outside air. It can be configured to be introduced into the box from the mouth.

Since the waste heat generated from the freezing storage device or the like can be used, the efficiency of the thawing device can be increased without substantially increasing the cost. Further, an effect of preventing a rise in temperature in a room where the device is installed can be expected.

According to the invention described in claim 12 of the present application, an air filter is provided near the outside air inlet or the intake fan. Since it is possible to prevent dust and the like from flowing into the device, sanitation can be improved.

[0046]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, the thawing apparatus 1 includes thawing containers 3a, 3b, 3c, 3d, and 3e on which an object 2 to be thawed is placed.
And a box body 4 in which these thawing containers 3a, 3b, 3c, 3d, 3e are arranged vertically and can be stored in and out.
A water spraying unit 5 for spraying water from the upper part of the box 4 to the uppermost thawing container 3a; a water storage tank 6 for collecting and storing water sprayed on the object to be thawed; A pump 7 and a pipe 8 for supplying water to the water sprinkling section 5 are provided.

The thawing containers 3a, 3b, 3c, 3d, 3
“e” is formed in a dish shape, and has a large number of water holes 9 at the bottom thereof through which sprinkled water can flow. These thawing containers are housed in the box 4 in a vertically arranged state so that they can be taken in and out by being locked by rail-shaped locking pieces 10 joined to the inside of the side wall of the box 4. .

In the present embodiment, since the outside air flows through the water holes 9, the circulated water can flow downward without staying in each thawing container, and the outside air flows upward. The size and number of the air holes 9 are set to such an extent that the air holes 9 can flow.

The box 4 is formed of a plate material such as stainless steel in a rectangular cylindrical shape so that sprinkled water does not leak outside. A water tank 6 for collecting and storing sprinkled water is integrally formed below the box 4.

The lowermost thawing container 3e of the box 4
The lower side wall has an outside air inlet 13 through which outside air can be introduced and the flowing water does not leak. In the present embodiment, the plurality of opening portions 14 extending in a belt shape are formed by partially punching and bending the side wall portion of the box inward. Since the opening 14 is formed downward inside the box 4, the water droplets flowing down do not leak to the outside. The outside air inlet 13 is formed on each of the left and right side walls and the rear wall of the box 4.

On the other hand, an exhaust port 15 for discharging air in the box is formed above the box 4. The exhaust port 15 is provided with an exhaust fan 17 driven by a motor 16 to discharge air in the box 4 and at the same time introduce external air from the outside air inlet 13 to flow through the box. It is configured to be able to.

On the side of the water storage tank 6, there is provided a pump 7 for sending the water stored in the water storage tank 6 to the water sprinkling section 5, and a pipe 8 for supplying water from the pump 7 to the water sprinkling section 5. Is provided.

A valve 19 is provided at an intermediate portion of the pipe 8, and a tap water supply pipe 20 connected to a water pipe is connected to a downstream side of the valve 19. The tap water supply pipe 20 is provided with a valve 21 capable of adjusting a flow rate, so that tap water at a desired flow rate can be supplied.

A drain port 22 is provided at a predetermined height from the bottom of the water storage tank 6, and a drain pipe 18 is connected downward. When the storage height of the water stored in the water storage tank 6 becomes higher than the position of the drain port 22, the stored water is drained accordingly.
Thereby, a certain amount of water can be stored in the water storage tank 6.

The sprinkling section 5 according to the present embodiment is provided with a cylindrical, straight tubular sprinkling port, and is configured so that a large amount of water can be intensively sprinkled onto the material 2 to be thawed.

When the thawing device is operated, water is circulated and supplied from the storage tank 6 to the water sprinkling section 5 by the pump 7. The water sprinkled from the water sprinkling section 5 flows along the surface of the material 2 to be thawed, flows to the bottom of the defrosting container 3a, and flows down from the water hole 9 toward the defrosting container 3b below.

Water is supplied from the upper thawing container to a number of watering holes 9.
, It flows down to the thawing container below in the form of a shower.

On the other hand, when the exhaust fan 17 is operated, outside air enters the box 4 from the outside air inlet 13 and flows upward through the water passage hole 9.

Therefore, the water flowing from the thawing containers 3a to 3e and the outside air are efficiently heat-exchanged, and the temperature of the water sprinkled on the object 2 in each thawing container is raised. As a result, the amount of heat exchange between the flowing water and the object to be thawed increases, and the thawing time can be greatly reduced.

Further, in this embodiment, the water flowing down from the lower thawing container is brought into contact with the outside air having a higher temperature, so that the temperature of the water sprinkled in each of the thawing containers 3a to 3e can be made uniform. Becomes As a result, each thawing container 3a-
The thawing time of 3e can be made uniform, and the work efficiency can be greatly increased.

Moreover, since the temperature of the circulating water does not rise above the outside air temperature, there is no danger that the object 2 will be damaged by heat. In addition, since it is not necessary to use a device for heating water or the like, the device can be easily configured.

Further, in this embodiment, by opening the valve 21 during the operation of the thawing apparatus 1, the thawing operation can be performed while replacing part of the circulating water with fresh tap water. Excess water is discharged from the drain port 22, and a certain amount of water is circulated in the apparatus. Therefore, there is no possibility that the meat juice or the like oozing out of the material to be thawed 2 is concentrated, and the hygiene is extremely high.

In the final step of the thawing operation, the valve 19 on the pump side is closed and the valve 21 is opened, so that only fresh tap water can be sprinkled on the material 2 to be thawed. As a result, the object to be thawed 2 and the thaw container 3
It is also possible to wash out the circulating water from a to 3e, and sanitary properties are further improved.

FIG. 2 shows a second embodiment of the present invention.

The thawing apparatus 1b shown in FIG. 2 not only allows the outside air to flow through the water holes 9 of the thawing containers 3a, 3b, 3c, 3d, but also separates the outside air from the sides of the thawing containers 3a to 3d. Ventilation sections 26a, 26b, 26c, 26d are provided to allow the outside air to flow.

The ventilation sections 26a, 26b, 26c, 26
d is alternately formed for each step on the left and right sides of the box 4, and outside air flows in the box in the lateral direction and is brought into contact with water flowing down from each thawing container. Therefore, a large amount of water can flow down, and the thawing speed can be increased.

In the present embodiment, a sprinkling section 25 for sprinkling water supplied from a water pipe is separately provided above the box 4, so that circulating water and fresh tap water can be sprinkled independently. Make up. Thereby, a large amount of water can be sprinkled on the material to be thawed.

FIG. 3 shows a third embodiment of the present invention.

The thawing apparatus 1c shown in FIG.
The outside air inlets 26a, 26b, 26 are provided on the side walls of the box 4 corresponding to the gaps at the upper and lower intermediate portions of the a, 3b, 3c, 3d.
c, 26d are provided so that fresh outside air is brought into direct contact with the water flowing down from each thawing container.

Since high-temperature outside air can be brought into contact with water flowing down from each thawing container, thawing efficiency can be improved.

The water spraying section 5 has a shower-like water spray port 5a.
It is configured so that water can be evenly sprayed over a wide area of the thawing container.

FIG. 4 shows a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

In the thawing apparatus 1d shown in FIG. 4, the outside air inlets 27a, 27b, 27c, 27d, and 27e are provided on the side walls of the box 4 corresponding to the gaps between the thawing containers 3a to 3e. , Exhaust ports 28a, 28b, 28c, 28
d and 28e are provided. The exhaust hole is connected to an exhaust pipe 29 directed upward, and is connected to an exhaust fan 30 provided at an upper part of the box 4. By operating the exhaust fan 30, a large amount of outside air can be brought into contact with water flowing down from each thawing container. Further, the temperature of the flowing water can be increased regardless of the number of stages of the thawing container. Therefore, the present invention can be applied to a large-sized thawing apparatus having a large number of thawing containers.

FIG. 5 shows a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

The thawing apparatus 1e shown in FIG. 5 is provided with an outside air inlet 31 below the lowermost thawing container 3d and an intake fan 32 for sending outside air into the outside air inlet 31. At the top of the box 4, an exhaust port 33 is provided.
Is provided, and the same effect as in the above-described embodiment can be expected.

An air filter 35 is provided at the intake port 34 of the intake fan 32 so that dust and the like do not enter the box 4.

FIG. 6 shows a sixth embodiment of the present invention.

The thawing apparatus 1f shown in FIG.
The thawing efficiency is further improved by utilizing the exhaust heat of 0.

The object 2 to be thawed is usually stored in the freezer 40. Therefore, most users arrange the thawing device 1f and the freezing device 40 as a pair. Further, a condenser 42 (radiation fin) for releasing heat from the refrigerant compressed by the compressor 41 is provided outside the refrigerating device 40 behind the refrigerating device 40. The heat discharged from the condenser 42 is guided to the outside air inlet 44 via the pipe 43 so as to act on the water flowing down from each of the thawing containers 3a to 3d.

By utilizing the exhaust heat of the refrigerating device 40, the temperature of the introduced outside air is increased, and the heat exchange amount is greatly increased. Moreover, since the waste heat from the refrigerating device 40 is used, the efficiency can be improved without increasing the manufacturing cost of the thawing device. Also, the refrigeration system 4
Since the heat exhausted from zero decreases, the air temperature in the room where the refrigeration system is installed does not rise, and the energy required for the air conditioning equipment also decreases.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. In the embodiment, the present invention is applied to a thawing apparatus including four to five thawing containers 3a, 3b, 3c, 3d, and 3e. However, the number of thawing containers is not limited, and the number of thawing containers is not limited to one. The present invention can be applied to a thawing apparatus having three or six or more thawing containers.

The number of exhaust fans and intake fans is not limited, and a plurality of fans can be employed according to the size of the box or the thawing container.

The shape of the sprinkler is not limited, and various forms of sprinklers such as a cylindrical straight pipe sprinkler, a shower sprinkler and the like can be employed.

In the sixth embodiment, the thawing device 1
Although the f and the refrigerating device 40 are formed separately, they may be formed integrally.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a structure of a defrosting apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a structure of a defrosting apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing a structure of a defrosting apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing a structure of a defrosting apparatus according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing a structure of a defrosting apparatus according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing a structure of a defrosting apparatus according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Thawing apparatus 2 Thawed object 3a Defrosting container 3b Defrosting container 3c Defrosting container 3d Defrosting container 3e Defrosting container 4 Box 5 Sprinkling part 6 Water storage tank 7 Pump 8 Piping 9 Water hole 13 External air inlet 15 Exhaust port 17 Exhaust fan

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. A thawing container capable of mounting an object to be thawed and having a water hole at the bottom is housed in a box, and a sprinkling part provided above the thawing container is used to move the object to be thawed mounted on the thawing container. In the thawing method of thawing the object to be thawed by spraying water, the water flowing down from the water hole is recovered and sent to a water spraying section by a pump to circulate water, while the water flowing down from the water hole is circulated. A method for thawing frozen food, wherein the temperature of circulating water is adjusted by contacting outside air introduced from outside the box with the outside. 2. A method in which a plurality of thawing containers are arranged in a vertical direction, water flowing down from a water hole of an upper thawing container is sprayed on a material to be thawed placed in a lower thawing container to thaw, and The method for thawing frozen food according to claim 1, wherein water flowing down from a water hole of a lower thawing container is collected and circulated. 3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the outside air flows from below the lowermost thawing container to above the uppermost thawing container through the water holes of the respective thawing containers. A method for thawing frozen food as described. 4. The method for thawing frozen food according to claim 1, wherein the thawing is performed while replacing a part of the circulating water. 5. The method for thawing a frozen food according to claim 1, wherein fresh water supplied from a water pipe is sprinkled on an object to be thawed in a final stage of the thawing process. 6. A plurality of thawing containers on which a material to be thawed can be placed and provided with a water hole at the bottom, a box body capable of vertically arranging these thawing containers and storing them so that they can be taken in and out, and an upper part of the box body A water sprinkling unit for sprinkling water from the uppermost thawing container, a water tank for collecting and storing water flowing down from the lower water passage hole, and a pump and piping for supplying water from the water tub to the water sprinkling unit A frozen food thawing apparatus comprising: an outside air inlet for introducing outside air into the box; an exhaust port for discharging air from the inside of the box; an outside air that is introduced from the outside air inlet to flow through the box; An apparatus for thawing frozen foods, comprising: a fan that exhausts air from an opening; and configured to contact flowing outside air with water flowing down from a water hole of each thawing container. 7. An outside air introduction port is provided below the lowermost thawing container, an exhaust port is provided above the uppermost thawing container, and an exhaust fan for exhausting air in the box from the exhaust port is provided. An apparatus for thawing frozen food according to claim 6. 8. An outside air inlet is provided below the lowermost thawing container, an exhaust port is provided above the uppermost thawing container, and an intake fan for introducing outside air into the box from the outside air inlet is provided. An apparatus for thawing frozen food according to claim 6. 9. A water replacement means for replacing a part of the circulating water with water supplied from a water pipe during operation of the apparatus,
The thawing apparatus according to claim 6. 10. The thawing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein an intake air temperature adjusting means for adjusting the temperature of the external air to be introduced is provided near the external air inlet or the intake fan. 11. A box is provided integrally with or adjacent to a frozen storage device for food, and outside air passing through a heat exchanger of the frozen storage device is introduced into the box from the outside air inlet. An apparatus for thawing frozen food according to any one of claims 6 to 10. 12. The thawing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein an air filter is provided near the outside air inlet or the intake fan.