JP2021153396A - Cooked frozen food - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a cooked frozen food allowing a large size and/or large amount of ingredients to be fixed with a smaller amount of fixation material such as sauce for prevention of missing of ingredients.SOLUTION: A frozen food comprises a staple food part, ingredients and a fixation material having a bulk density of 1.25 cm3/g or more, with the staple food part adhering to the ingredients through the fixation material.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to a cooked frozen food that becomes edible by microwave cooking, and more particularly to a frozen food that can suppress the loss of ingredients.

Frozen foods have been attracting attention in recent years due to their high convenience because they can be stored for a long time without using preservatives. In particular, there is an increasing demand for so-called cooked frozen foods that can be easily put into an eating state by microwave cooking, and the types are also diversifying.

For example, there is an integrated type in which the number of sachets for sauces is reduced to save resources and the sauces, sauces, sauces, etc. (sauces, etc.) are placed directly on the frozen staple foods such as rice and noodles. Demand for this integrated type is increasing because it is easy and does not require opening the pouch.

In recent years, the integrated type has been increasingly incorporating abundant ingredients in order to make it closer to restaurants and home-cooked dishes. Recently, a problem has been the damage or loss of ingredients during transportation or storage. In the past, problems such as damage to ingredients did not become apparent because the sauces for the ingredients were abundant, but problems such as damage to the ingredients became apparent due to the increase in ingredients and the relative decrease in sauces. It is becoming.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2018-121586

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and relates to a frozen food that can prevent the ingredients from being missing in the cooked frozen food.

The present inventors are frozen foods composed of a staple food portion, an ingredient, and a fixing material having a bulk specific gravity of 1.25 cm ³ / g or more, and the staple food portion and the ingredient are adhered to each other via the fixing material. It has been found that the above-mentioned problems can be solved by the frozen foods characterized by being present.

With the completion of the present invention, it becomes possible to prevent the ingredients from being missing in the cooked frozen food with a smaller amount of fixing material (sauce or the like).

It is a photograph which showed the state after performing the drop test about the test sample which the ingredient was not fixed enough.

The present invention is a frozen food composed of a staple food portion, an ingredient, and a fixing material having a bulk specific gravity of 1.25 cm ³ / g or more, and the staple food portion and the ingredient are adhered to each other via the fixing material. The frozen food is characterized by, more preferably, the fixing material contains at least fats and oils, water and a cellulose preparation. This will be described in detail below.

Staple food section The staple food section according to the present invention is prepared by cooking foods containing at least one kind of cereals, potatoes, or beans and making them edible. Examples of the staple food portion preferably used in the present invention include rice such as fried rice and pilaf, noodles such as pasta and Chinese noodles, and bread such as delicatessen bread and pizza. The frozen staple food section is a frozen staple food that can be stored for a long period of time.

Ingredients The ingredients according to the present invention may be any lumpy food that can be eaten as it is, and may be composed of a plurality of ingredients. Examples of the ingredients preferably used in the invention are vegetables, mushrooms, fruits, livestock meat, and seafood. Further, the shape is not particularly limited, and it may be a lump or a small piece, or a processed food obtained by mixing a plurality of foods such as a hamburger steak and a fish ball. The frozen ingredient is a material that can be stored for a long period of time by freezing the ingredient.

Regarding the size of the ingredients, the effect of the present invention is likely to be remarkably exhibited when the ingredients having a maximum delivery length of 5 mm or more and a minimum delivery length of 2 mm or more are used. In the case of an ingredient smaller than this, there is little need to use an interstitial material because water droplets adhering to the surface of the staple food portion serve as an adhesive. However, when a large amount of small ingredients are used, it is not possible to sufficiently bond them only with water droplets adhering to the surface of the frozen staple food portion, so that the need for using a fixing material increases.

Further, the effect of the present invention is likely to be remarkably exhibited when 5 or more parts of the ingredients are used with respect to 100 parts by weight of the staple food part. As in the case of using a small ingredient, when the amount of the ingredient is small, the water droplets adhering to the surface of the staple food portion serve as an adhesive, so that there is little need to use a fixing material.

On the other hand, there is no particular upper limit on the amount of ingredients. It is possible to achieve the purpose of the invention by increasing the number of fixing materials as much as the number of ingredients.

Fixing material according to the fixed member <br/> present invention is bulk density 1.25 cm ³ / g or more, more preferably 1.50 cm ³ / g or more.
By using a fixing material having a larger bulk specific gravity (lighter) than water, it is possible to cover more ingredients with a small amount of fixing material and fix them firmly. In addition, since the fixing material is dissolved by microwave cooking, it is possible to eliminate a sense of discomfort during eating.

Further, it is preferable that the fixing material contains fats and oils, water, and a cellulose preparation. By adding a cellulose preparation as an emulsion stabilizer to fats and oils and water and stirring the mixture, a foamy fixing material having a large bulk specific density can be easily prepared.

In addition to the cellulose preparation, egg white and a combination of an emulsifier and a thickener can be considered as a material that brings about foaming property. However, as compared with the cellulose preparation, the amount of addition required to develop the foaming property is large, and the influence on the texture and flavor is large. In addition, the use of a cellulose preparation has the advantage that allergens such as egg white do not need to be used.

The fats and oils can be used without particular limitation as long as they are edible fats and oils. Specific examples thereof include vegetable oils and fats such as palm oil, coconut oil and soybean oil, animal fats and oils such as milk fat, beef tallow and lard, and these may be mixed and used. The oils and fats that are liquid at room temperature have better workability.

Cellulose preparations may be referred to as microcrystalline cellulose, methyl cellulose (hereinafter sometimes referred to as "MC"), hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose (hereinafter sometimes referred to as "HPMC"), and carboxymethyl cellulose (hereinafter sometimes referred to as "CMC"). ), As well as these salts.

Cellulose preparation has good foaming property, but has high viscosity in the high temperature region. Therefore, in the fixing material using the cellulose preparation, the foamy gel does not disappear and easily remains even after cooking in the microwave oven, and is easily recognized as a foreign substance. Therefore, when deciding the amount of the cellulose preparation to be used, whether or not the foamy gel disappears, in other words, the solubility of the foam (defoaming property) is an important factor. HPMC is the most suitable from the viewpoint of solubility. HPMC is characterized by a low storage elastic modulus in a high temperature region as compared with MC and CMC, and can achieve both foaming property and solubility.

Next, the optimum blending ratio of the fixing material will be described.
First, the weight ratio of fat and oil is preferably 10:90 to 40 to 60, and more preferably 15; 85 to 30:70. In order to realize the present invention, it is necessary to maintain a foamy state at least from the time when the fixing material is applied to the surface of the staple food portion and / or the ingredient until it is frozen. In this respect, when the amount of fat and oil is small (when the amount of water is large), it is difficult to maintain the foamy state, and the fat and oil and water are easily separated. On the other hand, when there is a large amount of oil and fat (when there is little water), the foamy state can be maintained, but the solubility tends to deteriorate, and the foamy gel tends to remain without disappearing after cooking in the microwave oven.

Next, the total amount of fats and oils and water is preferably 0.2 to 0.7 parts by weight, preferably 0.25 to 0.6 parts by weight, and 0.3 by weight, based on 100 parts by weight. It is extremely preferable to contain ~ 0.5 parts by weight. If the amount of the cellulose preparation added is too small, it is difficult to maintain the foamy state, and fats and oils and water tend to separate. On the other hand, if the amount of the cellulose preparation added is too large, the foamy state can be maintained as in the case of a large amount of fats and oils, but the solubility tends to deteriorate.

(Manufacturing method of fixing material)
Next, a method for manufacturing the fixing material will be described in detail with an example.
First, an aqueous phase and an oil phase are prepared. The aqueous phase is prepared by adding a cellulose preparation and, if necessary, other water-soluble components to water heated to 60 to 85 ° C. and dissolving the mixture. On the other hand, the fat and oil is heated to 60 to 80 ° C., and if necessary, other oily components are added and dissolved to obtain an oil phase. Next, an oil phase is gradually added to the aqueous phase to prepare an oil-in-water emulsion, and after cooling, aeration is carried out using a hand discharger or the like to adjust a foam-state fixing material.

Further, the cellulose preparation is dispersed in fats and oils, water is added thereto to adjust the emulsion, and further aerated to prepare the fixing material in a foamy state. This method is not suitable for preparing a high-concentration solution of a cellulose preparation, but is suitable for preparing a dilute solution of a cellulose preparation as in the present invention.

(Lamination of fixing material)
In the present invention, it is preferable to load ^{65 cm 3 or more of the fixing material having a bulk specific gravity of 1.25 cm 3} / g or more, and ^{more preferably 75 cm 3} or more with respect to 100 parts by weight of the ingredient. This is because if the amount of the fixing material is too small, the function of fixing the ingredients is deteriorated. There is no particular upper limit to the volume of the fixing material to be loaded, and it can be loaded without limitation. However, ^{even if a load of 200 cm 3} or more is loaded, the function of preventing the loss of ingredients is not so enhanced.

(Freezing process)
The freezing step is a step of freezing the staple food portion, the ingredients, and the fixing material. The freezing method is not particularly limited, but quick freezing is preferable. In the present invention, all the materials may be frozen together or may be frozen in a plurality of times. Specifically, the staple food portion and the ingredients may be adhered to each other by freezing the staple food portion and the ingredients in advance, and then applying and freezing the fixing material.

As a condition of quick freezing, it is preferable to freeze at −35 ° C. or lower. This is because when slow freezing is performed, the fixing material is missing before freezing, or the foaming is reduced and the bulk specific density is reduced. Further, in the case of slow freezing, it takes time to pass through the maximum ice crystal formation temperature range (between −1 to −5 ° C.), the structure of the food is destroyed, and the texture deteriorates.

(Prototype Examples 1 to 4)
0.5 part of HPMC (Metcell K4M, manufactured by Dow Chemical Co., Ltd.) was dispersed in 25 parts of rapeseed oil, and 75 parts of water was added and dissolved when it became uniform. Next, it was aerated using a hand mixer to produce a fixing material (prototype example 1) ^{having a bulk specific density of 1.6 cm 3 / g.} Further, the air content was adjusted as shown in Table 2 to produce Prototype Examples 2 to 4.

(Prototype Examples 6 to 10)
Further, the amount of HPMC added was changed as shown in Table 2 to produce Prototype Examples 5 to 10. For Prototype Examples 6 to 10, the bulk specific density ^{was adjusted to that of Prototype Example 1 (1.6 cm 3} / g), but for Prototype Example 5, the bulk specific density did not reach ^{1.6 cm 3 / g.} The evaluation was carried out after aerating as much as possible (after increasing the bulk relative density).

(Prototype Examples 11 to 15)
Further, HPMC was changed to MC (Metcell A4M, manufactured by Dow Chemical Co., Ltd.), and the addition amount was changed as shown in Table 3 to produce Prototype Examples 11 to 15. For Prototype Examples 12 to 15, the bulk specific density ^{was adjusted to that of Prototype Example 1 (1.6 cm 3} / g), but for Prototype Example 11, the bulk specific density ^{did not reach 1.6 cm 3} / g, so as much as possible. The evaluation was carried out after aeration.

(Prototype Examples 16 to 22)
As shown in Table 4, prototype examples 16 to 22 were produced by changing the ratio of fat (rapeseed oil) and water. For Prototype Examples 17 to 22, the bulk specific density ^{was adjusted to that of Prototype Example 1 (1.6 cm 3} / g), but for Prototype Example 16, the bulk specific density ^{did not reach 1.6 cm 3} / g, so as much as possible. The evaluation was carried out after aeration.

Details of HPMC and MC are shown in Table 1.

(Foamability)
The foaming property was evaluated according to the bulk specific density after stirring for 10 minutes using a hand mixer. The details are as follows.
As for Prototype Examples 2 to 4, since the air content of Prototype Example 1 was adjusted, the foaming property was not evaluated.
◯: The bulk specific gravity after stirring is 2 cm ³ / g or more.
Δ: The bulk specific gravity after stirring is 1.6 cm ³ / g or more and ^{less than 2 cm 3} / g.
X: The bulk specific gravity after stirring is less than ^{1.6 cm 3 / g.}

(Test sample)
37 g of freezing ingredients (5 g of banamei shrimp, 12 g of paprika (cut into strips), 8 g of spinach (cut into zaku), 6 g of zucchini (10 mm x 10 mm), 6 g of eggplant) on the upper surface of the frozen noodle mass (cooked, 200 g) in the retainer. , And 20 g of a fixing material (Prototype Examples 1 to 22) was loaded on the fixing material and frozen again to prepare a test sample. Tables 2 to 5 show the volume of the fixing material with respect to 100 g of the ingredient.

(Solubility test)
The test sample was heated in a 500 W microwave oven for a specified time (5 minutes and 30 seconds), and whether or not the fixing material was melted was visually evaluated. If the fixing material did not melt within the specified time, it was heated for another 1 minute and then visually evaluated again. This test was carried out 10 times for each prototype. It has been confirmed that by heating in a 500 W microwave oven for 5 minutes and 30 seconds, the frozen noodle mass is completely thawed and the temperature rises to 80 ° C.
As for Prototype Examples 2 to 4, since the air content of Prototype Example 1 was adjusted, the solubility was not evaluated.
◯: In all the tests (10 times), the fixing material (foam) was completely dissolved in the specified time.
Δ: Even when “◯” was not applicable in all or some of the tests, the fixing material was completely dissolved in all the tests by heating (500 W) for 1 minute additionally.
×: Does not correspond to “○” or “△”. * Even if heating is added, the fixing material does not melt in all or part of the tests.

(Drop test)
The test sample was freely dropped horizontally onto a stainless steel tray from a height of 90 cm while being frozen, and the proportion of scattered ingredients was measured. This test was carried out 10 times for each prototype, and the average value was used as the evaluation result.
◯: Scattered ingredients are less than 1% by weight △; Scattered ingredients are 1% by weight or more and less than 3% by weight ×: Scattered ingredients are 3% by weight or more Yes, but this was not included in the evaluation.

The volume of the fixing material has a great influence on the drop test. In the present invention, since the bulk specific density of the fixing material is different for each sample, the volume of the fixing material loaded on the noodle mass is also different, which is considered to have a great influence on the result of the drop test.

(Prototype example A)
Consider a fixing material consisting only of ice.
First, prepare ice with an average major axis of 30 mm and dry ice with an average major axis of 30 mm. Next, ice and dry ice were put into the hopper of an ice shaving machine (Hoshizaki Ice Crush & Slicer, manufactured by Hoshizaki Electric Co., Ltd.) at a ratio of 5: 1 to produce shaved ice (fixing material) with ^{a bulk specific density of 2.0 cm 3 / g.} .. Normally, it is not easy to make shaved ice with a small bulk specific density because part of the ice melts while making shaved ice, but since dry ice is also used, the ice does not melt and is bulky. We were able to obtain shaved ice with a low specific density.

37 g of frozen ingredients (5 g of whiteleg shrimp, 12 g of paprika (cut into strips), 8 g of spinach (cut into zaku), 6 g of zucchini (10 mm x 10 mm), 6 g of eggplant) on the upper surface of the frozen noodle mass (cooked, 200 g) in the retainer. Was placed on top of it, and shaved ice was placed on top of it to freeze it again. Since water was sprayed on the shaved ice to adjust the bulk specific density of the shaved ice, the final bulk specific gravity of the fixing material was 1.6 cm ³ / g, and the total weight of the solid material was 20 g.

Solubility and drop tests were confirmed in the same manner as in Prototype Example 1. The evaluation results are shown in Table 5.

It can be seen that the ingredients can be firmly fixed with a small amount of the fixing material by setting the bulk specific density of the fixing material to 1.25 cm ^{3 / g or more (Prototype Examples 1 to 4).} It can also be seen that the loss of the ingredients is reduced by setting the fixing material to 65 cm ^{3 or more with respect to 100 g of the ingredients.}

When HPMC is contained in the fixing material, when the total amount of fats and oils and water is 100 parts by weight, it is preferable to contain 0.2 parts by weight or more of HPMC from the viewpoint of foaming property, and it is 0.3 parts by weight or more. It turns out that is more preferable. Further, from the viewpoint of solubility, it is preferably 0.7 parts by weight or less, and more preferably 0.5 parts by weight or less. (Prototype Examples 5 to 10)

On the other hand, when the fixing material contains MC, when the total amount of fats and oils and water is 100 parts by weight, it is preferable to contain 0.2 parts by weight or more of MC from the viewpoint of foaming property, and 0.3 parts by weight or more. It can be seen that is more preferable. Further, from the viewpoint of solubility, it is preferably 0.4 parts by weight or less, and more preferably 0.2 parts by weight or less. Therefore, it can be seen that when MC is used, it is difficult to achieve both foaming property and solubility as compared with the case where HPMC is used. (Prototype Examples 11 to 15)

It can be seen that the ratio of fat and water of the fixing material is preferably 10:90 to 40; 60, and more preferably 20:80 to 30:70. Within this range, both foaming property and solubility can be achieved at the same time. (Prototype Examples 16 to 22)

It can be seen that when the fixing material is ice (without additives), the solubility is good, but the function of preventing the ingredients from being chipped is inferior. (Prototype example A)

Claims (5)

It is a frozen food composed of a staple food part, ingredients, and a fixing material having a bulk specific density of 1.25 cm ^{3 / g or more.}
A frozen food characterized in that the staple food part and the ingredients are adhered to each other via a fixing material. The frozen food according to claim 1, wherein a fixing material of 65 cm ^{3 or more is loaded on 100 parts by weight of the ingredient.} The frozen food according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the fixing material contains at least an oil, water and a cellulose preparation. The frozen food according to claim 3, wherein the weight ratio of the fat and oil of the fixing material to water is 10: 90 to 40 to 60. The frozen food according to claim 3 or 4, wherein when the total amount of fat and oil and water is 100 parts by weight, the cellulose preparation is contained in an amount of 0.2 to 0.7 parts by weight.

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