JP2001029026A - Food impregnation method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a food impregnation method effective for shortening the impregnation time and preventing the collapse of the food during the impregnation process. SOLUTION: A food 9 is impregnated with an impregnation liquid 10 in a vacuum impregnation pot 1. The impregnation is carried out by using three steps comprising an evacuation step to evacuate the vacuum impregnation pot, an opening step to pen the evacuated vacuum impregnation pot 1 to air and return the pressure in the pot to atmospheric pressure, and a heating step to heat the vacuum impregnation pot keeping the opened state and repeating the above cycle. In the heating step, the heating is stopped before the boiling of the impregnation liquid and the maximum temperature of the impregnation liquid in each heating step is lowered according to the repetition of the impregnation cycle.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for impregnating food.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art It has been practiced to immerse foods in an impregnating liquid such as a sugar solution to impregnate the foods with sugar and the like. In the case of impregnation, a method has been adopted in which a plurality of impregnation tanks containing impregnation liquids of different concentrations are prepared, and the food is moved by a hoist or the like and sequentially immersed. Although the impregnation is performed by the difference in osmotic pressure, the concentration at the start of immersion is lowered and the concentration is gradually increased in order to prevent the food from being damaged.
For example, when immersing sequentially in three types of sugar solutions with different sugar content,
A low sugar content, a medium sugar content, and a high sugar content sugar solution are prepared in each of three impregnation kettles, and an impregnation pot containing a low sugar content sugar solution first, and then an impregnation pot containing a medium sugar content sugar solution, Finally, immerse in the impregnating kettle containing the sugar solution with high sugar content in order. Since the impregnation of food takes time, 4-8
Time or more was required, and the work was inefficient. Further, since the impregnating liquid is thinned by the impregnation, it is necessary to adjust the impregnating liquid every time, and the concentration differs between the upper and lower parts of the impregnation vessel, so that the concentration of the product sometimes varies.

For this reason, it has been practiced to improve the impregnation speed by evacuating the inside of an impregnation tank and performing impregnation in a vacuum state. When the inside of the impregnation pot is vacuumed, moisture and air are sucked from the food, and the exchange of the moisture in the food with the impregnating liquid is performed efficiently, so that the impregnation can be performed in a shorter time than when performed under normal pressure. Will be able to do it. Also, when the pressure in the impregnation vessel is reduced and heated, the impregnation liquid in the impregnation vessel is boiled and concentrated, so that the concentration of the impregnation liquid can be increased during the impregnation, and a plurality of impregnation liquids can be prepared. There is an advantage that there is no need to do this. However, in this case, there is a problem that the food impregnated collapses due to boiling of the impregnation liquid, and the impregnation time is shorter than before,
Further reduction in time was desired.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a method of impregnating food which can further reduce the impregnation time and prevent the impregnated food from breaking down. is there.

[0005]

Means for Solving the Problems In a food impregnation method in which food and an impregnating liquid are put in a vacuum impregnation tank, a vacuum step of depressurizing the inside of the vacuum impregnation tank is performed, and the inside of the vacuum impregnation tank in a vacuum state is opened to the atmosphere. Opening the atmosphere to return the pressure inside the vacuum impregnation tank to normal pressure,
The three steps of the heating step of heating the inside of the vacuum impregnation pot with the atmosphere open are defined as one cycle, and the cycle is repeated to impregnate the food. In the heating step, the heating is terminated before the impregnating liquid boils, and the temperature at which the impregnating liquid reaches the heating step is lowered each time the impregnation cycle is repeated.

[0006]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a vacuum impregnating kettle for carrying out the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a flowchart of an impregnation method according to one embodiment of the present invention. The vacuum impregnation vessel 1 is provided with a lid 2 on the upper part and a steam jacket 3 on the lower part, and a vacuum pipe 4 is connected to the inside of the vacuum impregnation vessel 1 from the upper part. The other end of the vacuum pipe 4 is connected to a vacuum generator (not shown), and an atmosphere release valve 6 is provided in the middle of the vacuum pipe 4. A steam pipe 7 is connected to the steam jacket 3, a steam valve 8 is provided in the middle of the steam pipe 7, and the other end of the steam pipe 7 is connected to a steam generator (not shown). The temperature sensor 5 is provided in the vacuum impregnating pot 1, and the temperature inside the vacuum impregnating pot 1 is detected by the temperature sensor 5.

The process of impregnating the foodstuff 9 such as sweet potato with molasses will be described. The impregnating liquid 10 is placed in the vacuum impregnating pot 1.
First, a sugar solution having a relatively low sugar content is prepared, and the food material 9 to be impregnated is put into the sugar solution. When the foodstuff 9 is a sweet potato, the foodstuff 9 is cut in advance into a required size such as a die (square), a slice (round slice), a stick, and boiled. After charging the foodstuff 9 into the impregnating liquid 10 in the vacuum impregnating pot 1, the lid 2 is closed and the impregnation process is started.

First, the vacuum opening process is started by closing the atmosphere release valve 6 and the steam valve 8 and opening the vacuum valve 11 and operating the vacuum generator. When the vacuum generator is activated,
The air in the vacuum impregnation vessel 1 is taken out through the vacuum pipe 4. As the pressure in the vacuum impregnating pot 1 decreases, air and moisture in the food are taken out from the food, and preparation for impregnation is performed.

After performing the vacuum process for a predetermined time, the process shifts to the open-to-atmosphere process. When the vacuum valve 11 is closed and the air release valve 6 is opened, air enters the vacuum impregnation vessel 1 from the air release valve 6,
The pressure in the vacuum impregnated kettle 1 that has been reduced in pressure rises and returns to normal pressure. By returning the pressure in the vacuum impregnating vessel 1 from the reduced pressure state to the normal pressure, the impregnating liquid 10 enters the foodstuff 9 instead of the air or water taken out in the vacuum process. Done. Subsequently, the steam valve 8 is opened with the air release valve 6 kept open, and a heating step of introducing steam into the steam jacket 3 is performed. By introducing steam into the steam jacket 3, the bottom of the vacuum impregnating vessel is heated, and the impregnating liquid 10 is heated.
Temperature rises. In the heating step, the impregnating liquid is not boiled, and when the temperature rises to 70 ° C., the steam valve 8 is closed to end the heating.

When the heating step is completed, a second vacuum step is performed. In the case of the second vacuum step, since the temperature of the impregnating liquid 10 is raised by the immediately preceding heating step, if the boiling point of the impregnating liquid 10 is lowered by lowering the pressure in the vacuum impregnating vessel 1, the impregnating liquid 10 Boil at low temperatures. Impregnation liquid 1
By evaporating the water in 0, the impregnating liquid 10 is concentrated, and the sugar content of the impregnating liquid 10 increases. In addition, preparation for impregnation is performed by extracting air and moisture from the food material 9 by a vacuum process.

When the vacuum process for a predetermined time is completed, and the air release valve 6 is opened in the air release process, the impregnating liquid 1
An impregnation of 0 is performed. By the heating step and the subsequent concentration in the vacuum step, the impregnation liquid 1
Since the concentration of 0 is increased, the sugar content in the food 9 can be further increased.

When the open-to-atmosphere process is completed, the process proceeds to a heating process. When the moisture of the impregnating liquid 10 was evaporated in the previous vacuum process, the temperature of the impregnating liquid 10 was lowered because the heat of vaporization was taken off, and the vacuum impregnating liquid was heated so that the vacuum concentration could be performed again. I do. In the second heating step, 60 ° C. lower than the ultimate temperature of the impregnating liquid 10 in the first heating step
Ends the heating step. After that, as in the previous cycle, concentration of the impregnating liquid 10 by the vacuum process and impregnation by the atmospheric release process are performed. By repeating this cycle as many times as necessary, the impregnation of the foodstuff 9 is completed, and the foodstuff
Take out.

[0013]

According to the present invention, foodstuffs can be quickly impregnated by performing an open-to-atmosphere step of returning from a reduced pressure step to normal pressure, and the impregnation method of the present invention, in which a vacuum step, an open-to-atmosphere step, and a heating step are repeated, is adopted. Impregnation can be completed earlier than vacuum impregnation, and seasoning can be performed in about 1 hour and 30 minutes. When heating and depressurization of the impregnating liquid were performed at the same time, there was a problem that the foodstuffs collapsed, but the boiling state was suppressed by performing depressurization after heating, and the foodstuffs collapsed by performing heating and depressurization separately. Can be prevented.
Molasses browns when heated to a high temperature, but since the impregnating liquid is concentrated by boiling the impregnating liquid raised in the heating step at a low temperature during the vacuum step, the molasses does not brown. There was a problem that the more the foodstuffs were impregnated, the more easily the foodstuffs collapsed. However, by lowering the temperature reached in the heating step as the impregnation progressed, it is possible to prevent the foodstuffs that had been impregnated further from collapsing.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a vacuum impregnating kettle for implementing the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of an impregnation method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Vacuum impregnation pot 2 Lid 3 Steam jacket 4 Vacuum piping 5 Temperature sensor 6 Atmospheric release valve 7 Steam piping 8 Steam valve 9 Foodstuff 10 Impregnating liquid 11 Vacuum valve

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A method for impregnating a food, wherein a food and an impregnating liquid are put in a vacuum impregnating vessel, wherein a vacuum step of depressurizing the inside of the vacuum impregnating vessel, an atmosphere opening step of opening the inside of the vacuum impregnating vessel to the atmosphere, and a vacuum impregnation. A food impregnation method having a heating step of heating the inside of a pot. 2. A method for impregnating a food, wherein a food and an impregnating liquid are put into a vacuum impregnating vessel, wherein a vacuum step of depressurizing the inside of the vacuum impregnating vessel is performed, and the inside of the vacuum impregnating vessel in a vacuum state is opened to the atmosphere. The three steps of opening the atmosphere to return the pressure to normal pressure and heating the inside of the vacuum impregnating vessel while keeping the atmosphere open are defined as one cycle, and the cycle is repeated to impregnate the food. A method for impregnating a food, wherein depressurization is not performed simultaneously. 3. The method for impregnating food according to claim 2, wherein the heating step terminates the heating before the impregnation liquid boils. 4. The method for impregnating food according to claim 2, wherein the temperature at which the impregnating liquid reaches the heating step in the heating step is lowered each time the impregnation cycle is repeated.