JP2895804B2 - Production method of cotton tofu - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for producing cotton tofu capable of continuously and automatically producing cotton tofu from soymilk.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art There are various methods for producing tofu. For example, a coagulant such as magnesium chloride, calcium chloride, calcium sulfate, and gluconodelta-lankton is added to soymilk obtained from soybeans, and the mixture is put into a coagulation box of about 10 to 15 liters, where it is coagulated, aged and further molded. After the process, there is a method in which the cut tofu is cut into an appropriate size, the cut tofu is cooled by cooling in cooling water, and then packed in a plastic container or the like.

[0003] Among such tofu, there are known silken tofu in which solidified tofu is solidified as it is, and cotton tofu in which solidified tofu is broken and solidified again. In order to produce this cotton tofu, the once solidified tofu is crushed, wrapped in a cloth and packed in a box. This is subjected to a molding (pressing) process, and then cut to produce cotton tofu.

[0004]

However, in such a method for producing cotton tofu, the production efficiency is low, and it is difficult to produce a large amount of cotton tofu in a short time because the method involves a manual process. There is a disadvantage that. In addition, there is a drawback that the manufacturing operation of cotton tofu is troublesome and it is difficult to stabilize the quality because it relies on a manual operation of crushing the once solidified tofu, wrapping it in a cloth, and packing it in a box. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a production method capable of continuously and automatically mass-producing cotton tofu of stable quality.

[0005]

In order to solve this problem, the invention according to claim 1 of the present invention is to supply soymilk to which a coagulant has been added from an inlet at an upper portion of a coagulation cylinder vertically erected. , Coagulates soy milk in the coagulation cylinder and flows naturally while aging
And send it to the outlet at the bottom , crush the tofu from the outlet ,
Then it is molded. The invention according to claim 2 provides a coagulation cylinder in which soymilk to which a coagulant has been added is erected vertically.
The supply from the top of the inlet portion, coagulated soy milk with coagulation cylinder, Mature
Let it flow down naturally and send it to the bottom outlet.
After crushing and weighing the tofu from
It is to be molded. Further, claim 1 or claim 2
In the invention described in the above, the soymilk can be heated in a coagulation cylinder, or the coagulated tofu may be pre-crushed and then crushed.

[0006]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below in detail.
FIGS. 1 and 2 show an example of the entire configuration of an apparatus suitable for carrying out the method for producing cotton tofu of the present invention. In the drawings, reference numeral 1 denotes a coagulation cylinder. The coagulation cylinder 1 is a cylinder made of a sanitary material such as stainless steel or strong plastic, and has a structure in which a heat insulating material 1b such as glass wool is arranged on the outer peripheral surface. The lid 2 at the entrance of the coagulation cylinder 1 is provided with a soymilk supply pipe 3 penetrating therethrough. The soymilk supply pipe 3 allows a mixture of soymilk and a coagulant for coagulating the soymilk to flow into the coagulation cylinder 1.

[0007] projecting into the coagulation cylinder 1 from the milk supply pipe 3
The mixed mixture flows down to the bottom of the coagulation tube 1 while coagulating and aging in the coagulation tube 1 to become tofu (silk tofu). At the bottom of the coagulation cylinder 1, the tofu enters a reduced diameter portion 1 a smaller in diameter than the central portion of the coagulation cylinder 1, is compressed, and enters a rotary valve 4 serving as a crushing means. The rotary valve 4 also functions as a supply mechanism for measuring a certain amount of tofu and supplying the same to a press machine described later. A preliminary crushing means (not shown) such as a net, a rod, and a wire mesh is provided between the reduced diameter portion 1a and the rotary valve 4. The tofu is lightly crushed by passing the tofu by its own weight through the preliminary crushing means. You. The tofu lightly crushed by the preliminary crushing means enters the rotary valve 4, where it is further crushed.

The tofu crushed by the rotary valve 4 falls into a hollow chute 5 connected to a lower portion of the rotary valve 4 by a predetermined amount, and is packed in a press box 6 along the chute 5. Here, as shown in FIG. 2, the chute 5 is partitioned into three chambers by a partition plate 5a, and the tofu crushed by the rotary valve 4 is uniformly dropped on the press box 6. The press box 6 is sent to a press machine (not shown) by a moving means 7 such as a belt conveyor.
This press machine presses and solidifies the tofu in the press box 6 to form it. Cut this tofu into a predetermined shape,
By packing this in a packaging container and sealing it, cotton tofu is packaged.

The rotary valve 4 is connected to an electric motor 9 via a coupling 8. By operating the electric motor 9, the rotary valve 4 shown in FIGS.
Is rotated. In the rotary valve 4, a central axis 11 is arranged in a substantially horizontal direction orthogonal to the tofu descending in the coagulation cylinder 1.
Is covered with a shaft ring 12, and a plurality of (eight in the figure) rotating blades 10 are mounted on the outer peripheral surface of the shaft ring 12. An O-ring 15 for sealing the inside of the rotary valve 4 is arranged between the side wall of the rotary valve 4 and the center shaft 11. The O-ring is made of natural or artificial rubber, synthetic resin, elastic body, or the like. Further, the shaft ring 12
The rotary blade 10 is made of a fluororesin such as polytetrafluoroethylene in order to prevent tofu from adhering.

The rotating blades 10 are arranged side by side at equal intervals on the outer peripheral surface of the shaft ring 12, and have a central shaft 11.
It is arranged along. Further, an air vent groove 14 for venting the air in the rotary valve 4 is formed in a peripheral wall of the rotary valve 4. This air vent groove 14
They are juxtaposed in a substantially horizontal direction and are formed substantially along a vertical direction. By forming these air vent grooves 14, the air caught in each rotary blade 10 escapes to the outside.

[0011] In order to produce cotton tofu with the apparatus having the above-mentioned structure, a coagulant is added and the temperature is 80 to 85 ° C.
Is supplied from the soymilk supply pipe 3 into the coagulation cylinder 1.
The soymilk in the coagulation cylinder 1 is coagulated by the coagulation action of the coagulant,
After aging, solidified tofu is formed at the bottom.
After a certain period of time, the lower layer of soy milk has solidified sufficiently,
When the tofu becomes, the electric motor 9 is operated to rotate the rotary blade 10 of the rotary valve 4 via the coupling 8.

Then, the soymilk (partially coagulated) in the coagulation cylinder 1 descends along the reduced diameter portion 1a by its own weight, and the lower layer is sufficiently coagulated into tofu and passes through the preliminary crushing means to each of the rotating blades. Fall between ten. At this time, the tofu is lightly crushed by the preliminary crushing means and enters the rotary valve 4. Further, the air caught in each rotary blade 10 escapes to the outside through the air vent groove 14 due to the pressure when the tofu drops. In the rotary valve 4, the tofu is further broken by the rotating blade 10, and a certain amount of the tofu is sent to the chute 5 by the rotation of the rotating blade 10.

That is, by rotating the rotary blade 10 intermittently and setting the rotation speed of the rotary blade 10 to, for example, one rotation, the amount of tofu sent to the chute 5 provided immediately below the rotary valve 4 is reduced. It is determined. And
The tofu falls by its own weight into the chute 5 and abuts against the partition plate 5 a, so that the tofu for one rotation of the rotary blade 10 is uniformly packed in the press box 6. The press box 6 is sent to the press machine by the moving means 7 and the tofu in the press box 6 is molded (pressed) to solidify the tofu. Then, the cotton tofu cut into a substantially rectangular parallelepiped is put in a packaging container, and the upper portion is sealed with a film. Thereafter, the above-described steps are sequentially repeated to continuously produce cotton tofu.

In such a method for producing cotton tofu, the internal volume and height of the coagulation cylinder 1, the supply amount of soymilk, the supply interval, and the operation time of the rotary blade 10 of the rotary valve 4 are adjusted in advance. By doing so, tofu can be produced almost continuously and automatically. Further, by providing heating electrodes on the inner surface of the coagulation cylinder 1 so as to face each other, soymilk at a relatively low temperature, for example, 10 to 60 ° C., can be preferably used. Is applied to heat the soymilk to express the coagulating action of the coagulant, so that the soymilk can be coagulated and matured. Further, as the heating unit, a heating pipe through which a heating medium flows may be provided in a space in the main body 1.

According to such a method for producing cotton tofu,
The soymilk is coagulated and aged in the coagulation cylinder 1, and the coagulated and aged tofu is lightly pulverized through preliminary crushing means, and is further pulverized by passing it through a rotary valve 4. Since a certain amount of the tofu is supplied to the press box 6 by the rotating blades 10, it is not necessary to crush the tofu in the press box 6 manually. Therefore, in this device, cotton tofu can be continuously and automatically produced,
The manufacturing process can be further simplified.

Since a step of pressing (pressing) the tofu supplied from the rotary valve 4 is provided in the vicinity of the rotary valve 4, the tofu crushed by the rotary valve 4 is continuously and automatically formed. (Pressing), and the production workability of cotton tofu can be improved. Further, between the coagulation cylinder 1 and the rotary valve 4,
Since the pre-crushing means for lightly crushing the tofu in the coagulation cylinder 1 is provided, the tofu lightly crushed by the pre-crushing means can be further finely crushed by the rotary valve 4, thereby improving the workability of crushing the tofu in the coagulation cylinder 1. Can be. In addition, coagulation cylinder 1
In addition, if a heating unit for heating soymilk is provided, soymilk previously stored at low temperature can be used, and cotton tofu can be manufactured according to the demand amount of cotton tofu.

[0017]

[0018]

As described above, according to the method for producing cotton tofu of the present invention, soymilk to which a coagulant has been added is allowed to flow down while being gradually coagulated and aged in a coagulation cylinder, and the coagulated and aged tofu is removed. Since a certain amount is taken out by crushing, it is possible to produce cotton tofu almost continuously and automatically. Therefore, according to this production method, a large amount of cotton tofu can be produced, and unmanned operation is also possible. Therefore, for example, a large amount of tofu can be delivered to a mass retailer on the day of production.

If soy milk is heated in the coagulation cylinder, low-temperature soy milk can be heated, and soy milk stored in advance at low temperature can be used. Therefore, it is possible to produce cotton tofu in an amount corresponding to the demand immediately, according to the demand. Further, the crushing and molding (pressing) of the tofu can be automatically and continuously performed, and the workability of producing cotton tofu can be improved. Further, if the tofu lightly crushed by preliminary crushing is further crushed, the workability of crushing the tofu can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing one embodiment of an apparatus used in a method for producing cotton tofu of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a side sectional view showing the crushing means of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a side sectional view showing the crushing means of FIG. 2;

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Coagulation cylinder 4 Rotary valve (crushing means) 5 Chute

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A soymilk to which a coagulant has been added is erected vertically.
It is supplied from the upper inlet part of the coagulation cylinder, and the soy milk is coagulated in the coagulation cylinder, allowed to flow naturally while aging , sent to the bottom outlet, crushed tofu from the outlet , and then molded. Production method of cotton tofu. 2. The soymilk to which a coagulant has been added is erected vertically.
It is supplied from the inlet at the top of the coagulated cylinder, and the soymilk is coagulated in the coagulation cylinder, allowed to flow naturally while aging , sent to the outlet at the bottom , crushed tofu from the outlet , weighed, and then weighed into a molding box A method for producing cotton tofu, characterized by transferring the mixture to a mold. 3. The method for producing cotton tofu according to claim 1, wherein the soymilk is heated in a coagulation cylinder. 4. The method for producing cotton tofu according to claim 1, wherein the coagulated and aged tofu is preliminarily crushed and then crushed.