JP3007064B2 - Cooking method and apparatus for rice cooker and steam - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a so-called cooker-cooked ordinary rice cooked in a kettle and as it is, and a rice cooked in the same manner as steam-cooked rice instead of a steamed cooker instead of a rice cooker. And a method for selectively using rice in a pot and steam, and a device therefor.

[0002]

[Prior Art] Recently, rice is a catering catering business, a catering company,
It is produced and consumed in large quantities by various food service industries. At the same time, the specialized business of cooking a large amount of rice and supplying it to various fields has been steadily expanding, and apparatuses for automatically cooking a large amount of rice have become widespread.

[0003] Such an apparatus is of a batch type in which rice is charged while feeding a pot in which the material is charged continuously at a constant interval, and a continuous type in which immersion or steaming is performed while the material is continuously transported. Are roughly divided into

[0004] The rice cooked in the kettle is of a batch type and has a little lack of productivity, but it is of the same quality as cooked in a kettle at home. Are suitable. Steamed rice can be cooked continuously and with good productivity, and high-quality rice can be cooked depending on the steaming mechanism, making it suitable for sushi rice with strict quality requirements.

[0005]

At present, it has been desired to instantly freeze cooked rice and provide it as frozen food. However, in the case of the above-mentioned conventional pot-cooked rice, there is no problem with freshly cooked rice, but it is not suitable for use in a cycle where frozen food is eaten several days later. According to experiments by the present inventors, rice cooked in a pot as frozen food has a so-called white waxing phenomenon that becomes milky white, and even if this is regenerated with steam or a microwave oven, it becomes delicious as the original rice. Does not return. this is,
Rice cooked and cooked in a kettle is starchy α
The degree of progress of the conversion is sweet and the starchy tissue has not yet been sufficiently broken, so during the freezing operation and frozen storage, it returns to β-starch again and becomes white wax, which is probably due to the fact that it is difficult to re-alpha by regenerating rice. It is.

[0006] Steamed rice does not have such a problem depending on the type of the steaming mechanism used for cooking the rice. A type of steaming device that satisfies this is to first steam the rice after the first immersion and then perform the second steaming after the second immersion in warm water.
The steamed and cooked rice is pregelatinized and the starch tissue is completely broken, and does not return to β-starch even after freezing and freezing, and does not whiten. In addition, steam and microwaves make the rice plump and delicious. However, this type of steaming apparatus has a complicated mechanism and needs to satisfy various operating conditions, and is large and expensive.

[0007] The batch type rice cooker using the kettle and the continuous rice cooker using steaming are provided in parallel depending on the scale of the producer, and there is no problem in properly using them as needed.

[0008] However, it is not profitable for producers of medium or smaller scale. In particular, it is not suitable for small-scale producers who need or require high-mix low-volume production.

Therefore, the present inventors conducted further experiments on the state of cooked rice and made various studies. As a result, when rice cooked in a kettle was boiled up to the level of the conventional secondary steaming, it did not cause excessive water content. , Starch can be almost completely converted to α, it does not return to β starch even by freezing operation and frozen storage, it does not whiten, and it can be regenerated into rich and delicious rice by steam or microwave oven, and it will be high quality. Newly discovered.

[0010] An object of the present invention is to provide a method and an apparatus for selectively using a pot and steam, which is suitable for small-lot production of various varieties, based on such new knowledge, and which can selectively cook between a pot and a steam. It is in.

[0011]

In order to achieve the above object, a method of selectively using rice in a kettle and steam according to the present invention is to leave the ingredients in a kettle and cook them in a kettle, and then leave the ingredients for a predetermined period of time. Choose between the steaming process, where the rice is cooked and cooked, or the steaming process, in which steam is passed through the steamed rice after the steaming process.
One feature is to selectively obtain rice cooked after cooking in a kettle.

[0012] In such a configuration, by heating the pot into which the ingredients have been charged and cooking the pot, and then leaving the pot as it is, it is possible to obtain the conventional pot-cooked rice. By switching to the steaming finish, in which steam is passed through the rice without steaming, it is possible to obtain steamed rice that has been pregelatinized more fully than kettle-cooked rice. It does not whiten back and can be regenerated using steam or a microwave at a later date, and can be regenerated into plump, delicious high-quality rice.

[0013] In the rice cooking method using a pot and steam according to the present invention, the pot cooking step and the rice drying step are performed in a series of lines for transporting the pot, and the steaming finishing step is completed in the series of lines for transporting the pot. It is also characterized in that the rice in the pot is transferred to another line and conveyed, and the steaming process is carried out by passing steam from around.

[0014] In such a configuration, the above-described cooking in a kettle and the rice mud step or the steaming step, which is optionally selected, are performed efficiently in a series of flows in the kettle or in a series of flows of rice transferred from the kettle. Can be produced well.

[0015] The rice cooker according to the present invention has a cooking rice cooking line for heating the cooking pot into which the material has been charged by the heating means provided around the conveying means while sequentially conveying the cooking pot by the conveying means. , While carrying the kettle that has passed through the kettle cooking line as it is by the transport means,
A steam line provided around the conveying means while transferring the rice cooked in the kettle in the kettle that has passed through the kettle cooking line at least to a spotting line that conveys to the position where the spotting is completed and conveyed by the conveying means. In accordance with the steam line, which finishes the steam by spraying steam from the spraying means, and the pot and steam selection instructions, transfer the pot that has passed through the pot cooking line onto the transport means of the spotting line, or transfer the pot from the pot cooking line. And distributing means for transferring the rice in the kettle that has passed through onto the conveying means of the steaming line.

[0016] In such a configuration, after the pot cooking step is performed, the rice cooked after the pot cooking step is made uneven until a predetermined state is maintained, and instead of this, the rice is steamed with steam. Can be automatically and continuously performed according to the selection instruction, suitable for high-mix low-volume production, and because the kettle cooking line is shared, the equipment is simple and inexpensive, and the installation space is small. It is suitable for small and medium-sized producers.

[0017]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a typical embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
This will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

The present embodiment will be described with reference to the work flow shown in the apparatus example of FIG.
After the pot cooking process A, which is put into the pot and cook it, put it in the same condition, that is, leave it for a predetermined period of time without opening the lid and finish the steaming rice cooking, or steam the rice after the pot cooking process A by steaming. The basic rice cooking method is to select and carry out the steaming finishing step C to be performed, and selectively obtain either rice cooked after cooking in the pot or cooked rice after cooking in the pot. In this way, the pot 1 into which the ingredients have been charged is heated in the pot cooking step A, and the pot is cooked as usual, and then the pot 1 is left open without removing the lid to obtain the conventional cooked rice. It can be done, and by switching to steaming finish in which steam is passed through the rice in the steaming finishing step C without performing steaming in the steaming step B after cooking in the kettle, the gelatinization has proceeded more fully than in the cooked rice. Steamed rice is obtained.
Therefore, even if this is cooled in the cooling step D and subjected to the freezing step and provided as frozen food, it can be stored frozen without returning to β-starch and whitening, and the steam or microwave oven can be used at a later date. It can also be used to regenerate and eat to make plump and delicious high-quality rice.

Such a basic rice cooking method may be achieved by various methods without using the apparatus as shown in FIG.
However, as shown in FIG. 1, the kettle-cooking step A and the boil-off step B are performed on a series of transport lines for transporting the kettle, and the steaming finishing step C is completed in the series of transport lines for transporting the kettle. When the rice in the pot 1 is transferred to another transfer line and then conveyed and the steaming finishing step C is performed by passing steam from the surroundings, the pot cooking step A is performed.
In addition, it is possible to efficiently produce, in the successive flow of the rice cooker 1 or the continuous flow of the rice transferred from the kettle 1, the rice drying process B or the steaming process C that is selected as a subsequent process. In addition, the cooling step D after the steam finishing step C can also be achieved by a series of flows. Further, in the present embodiment, the above-described rice cooking is performed by immersing rice in the kettle 1.
A transfer line for the material supply step E is also provided so that the metering can be performed along a series of flows. The transport line of the spotting process B and the transport lines of the steam finishing step C and the cooling step D are arranged in parallel, so that the plane space is reduced.

As shown in FIG. 3, the transport line in the material supply step E of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1 stores the rice in the immersion state while opening the valve 3 whenever necessary to discharge the rice.
And a hopper 5 for receiving the rice flowing out of the immersion tank 4. The hopper 5 is provided with a leveler 6 for detecting the rice storage level, and the valve is provided so that the rice level in the hopper 5 is constant. 3 is configured to open and close according to the detection state of the leveler 6. Since the level is kept constant from the hopper 5, the rice always flows out at a constant flow rate together with the immersion liquid. The outflowing rice is received by the input conveyor 7 and placed on the weighing device 8.
And put it into it. The space between the immersed rice grains is filled with water, and while the rice is being conveyed by the charging conveyor 7 composed of a mesh belt 7a or the like, the rice is drained to some extent by natural flow. However, the degree of this natural draining is not enough, and it varies from time to time. Even if rice and water are input while weighing with the weighing device 8, the amount of rice and the ratio of rice and water can be accurately determined. Unable to manage, making it difficult to cook the kettle as desired.

Therefore, a suction box 9 is provided, for example, inside the transfer surface on the downstream side of the input conveyor 7, and a suction action is exerted on the conveyed rice from below to suck and remove the water between the rice grains and drain it by suction. Like that. The suction action does not escape as in the case of blowing air, and it spreads well between the rice grains in order, so that it can always be sufficiently drained to the fullest possible constant state, eliminating the effect of the remaining water. . In addition, the drive mechanism 10 of the charging conveyor 7 has a variable speed, and the speed at which rice is charged into the kettle 1 is set to a large value at the beginning to increase work efficiency, while maintaining a very low speed at the final stage of weighing. By switching to, and when the rice reaches a predetermined weighing value in a state where rice is input little by little, the input is stopped,
It is designed to control rice input with high precision.

The kettle 1 into which a predetermined amount of rice has been put on the weighing device 8 is supplied with water by a water supply means 11. Water supply is controlled by the value weighed by the weighing device 8, and can be accurately performed without the influence of residual water between the rice grains. The water supply means 11 first opens the valve 12a of the large flow path 12 to supply water at a large flow rate to increase the water supply efficiency.
2a is closed, the valve 14a of the small flow path 14 is opened to switch to water supply with a small flow rate, and when a predetermined weighing value is reached, the valve 14a is closed and water supply is stopped, so that the water supply amount is controlled with high precision. I can do it. The rice cooker 1 into which rice and water have been charged by weighing is carried out by the carry-out roller conveyor 8a of the weighing device 8, and sent to the next roller conveyor 15.

The transfer line for the cooking step A is shown in FIGS.
As shown in the figure, the shuttle 1 after the material is fed from the roller conveyor 15 is loaded by the loading roller conveyor 21, and the loaded shuttle 1 is transferred to the overhead chain conveyor 22.
After being heated by a burner 23 from below and cooked in a kettle while being horizontally conveyed at a low speed in the casing 20, it is lifted diagonally upward and conveyed in reverse, and finally by an unloading roller conveyor 24. Take it out. The drive mechanism of the overhead chain conveyor 22 is indicated by reference numeral 25 in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 1, the unloading roller conveyor 24 sends the kettle 1 to the sorting unit 25 for sorting the kettle 1 to the transport line in the mura processing step B and the transport lines in the steam finishing step C and the cooling step D. . The distribution unit 25 is shown in FIG.
As shown in the figure, the roller conveyor 2
6 by the rotation of the turntable 27, the feeding posture of the steaming finishing step C and the cooling step D shown in FIG. 1 into the conveying line, and the conveying of the unevenness step B rotated 90 ° clockwise in FIG. The direction can be switched between the feeding posture to the line. This direction switching is performed in the spotting process B or in the steaming finishing process C
Is performed in accordance with an instruction by a selection of whether or not to perform. Therefore, a large amount of rice is cooked efficiently in a kettle while sequentially transporting a large number of the kettles 1, and the pot 1 after the cooker cooking process A is performed.
As required at each time, a certain pot 1 is distributed and sent to a steaming step B, and a certain pot 1 is distributed and sent to a steaming finishing step C and a cooling step D to finish and supply rice according to various uses. Therefore, it is possible to appropriately cope with the production of various kinds and in a small amount without lowering or confusing the productivity.

As shown in FIG. 1, the transport line in the mura processing step B transports the shuttle 1 sent from the sorting unit 25 to a predetermined position by the roller conveyor 31 as it is, that is, with the cover, and during that time, Rice cooked in a pot is spotted and often used as freshly cooked white rice for lunch, lunch, and other uses. Nothing other than a conveyor is required for this transport line. However, if necessary, various things can be installed, and it can also be connected to the transport line in the heat retaining step.

The conveying line of the steaming finishing step C is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 4, the roller conveyor 4 for receiving the shuttle 1 which is sorted and sent from the sorting unit 25.
The pot 1 carried by the roller conveyor 41 is lifted to a predetermined height by the reversing mechanism 42 shown in FIGS. 1 and 4 and turned over as shown in FIG. 4, and the rice cooked in the pot 1 in the pot 1 is meshed. It is transferred onto the steaming conveyor 43 using the belt 43a.

As shown in FIG. 4, the reversing mechanism 42 receives the flange 1a of the shuttle 1 in slits 45b provided in the holder pieces 45a on both sides and lifts and inverts the reversing arm 45.
Is supported by a chain 48 stretched between sprockets 46 and 47, and a shuttle lift position on the roller conveyor 41 in FIG.
The rice cooker 1 is turned upside down on the starting end of No. 3 and reciprocated vertically along the guide 40 between a turnover position where rice is transferred onto the conveyor 43. The pot 1 is manually unlocked to close the lid before lifting, and the lid is opened by its own weight when the pot 1 is inverted so that the rice inside falls on the conveyor 43. When the rice cooker 1 after the rice transfer is returned to the lifting position from the carry-in conveyor 41, the lid is automatically closed by returning to the upright posture. The pot 1 after the transfer of the rice is removed by hand and used for the next pot cooking. However, the handling of unlocking and removing the lid and the reuse of the shuttle 1 after use can be automated as necessary.

A receiving hopper 51 as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 is provided on the path of falling rice from the inverted kettle 1 onto the conveyor 43 as shown in FIG. The loosening pins 52 have a loosening pin 52 and are dropped onto the conveyor 43 while being loosened by two sets of loosening rollers 53 and 54 having different phases. As a result, the rice conveyed by the conveyor 43
When steam is blown from the steam pipe 57 in the casing 56 and steamed, the steam is easily distributed to each part of the rice.
A loosening roller 58 is provided at a position immediately downstream of the receiving hopper 51 of the conveyor 43. With these two-stage loosening operations, the rice is relatively dispersed, and steam can uniformly enter between the rice grains, so that the rice can be cooked efficiently and uniformly. Immediately downstream of the loosening roller 58, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 4, a steam hole punching mechanism 61 is also provided. The steam hole protruding mechanism 61 is connected to the conveyor 43.
The support bar 62 traversing the upper side has a large number of sticking rods 63 arranged in the width direction of the conveyor 43, and the sticking sticks 63 are pierced from above while being moved together with the rice layer conveyed by the conveyor 43, The steam holes are repeatedly pierced, and a large number of upright steam holes formed in the rice layer make it easy for steam to pass through each part of the rice layer from below to above, and the distribution of the steam between the rice grains is determined by these steam holes. It is also designed from steam passing through.
As a result, the rice cooked in a pot is steam-finished without a skewing process, and the starch structure is sufficiently broken. Therefore, the rice is not returned to β-starch by the subsequent freezing operation or frozen storage, and is regenerated into plump and delicious rice. You can do it. Reference numeral 55 in FIG. 4 denotes an electric motor that drives the steam hole punching mechanism 61.

The cooked rice is most suitable for sushi rice, pilaf rice and the like, and seasoning for these is performed at the subsequent stage of the conveyor 43 if necessary. Seasoning is performed by spraying a seasoning liquid from a spray 64, and loosening rollers 66 and 67 are provided at two places, that is, the seasoning portion and a downstream position thereof so that the seasoning solution can be well spread to each portion between rice grains. Each of the loosening rollers 65 to 67 is a separate electric motor 71 to 73
, The optimum driving conditions can be set for each, and the driving can be individually stopped. The transport conveyor 43 is driven by a dedicated electric motor 74 and shares a high load. The loosening rollers 53 and 54 of the receiving hopper 51 are independently driven by the electric motor 70 shown in FIG. 6 so that optimum conditions can be obtained. In place of or in addition to the flavoring liquid, a conditioning liquid containing a saccharide to prevent fatigue of rice may be sprayed.

A washing tank 75 is provided below the end of the conveyor 43 near the terminal end thereof.
The washing liquid in the inside is sprayed onto the mesh belt 43a, the inner surface of the casing 56, and the like by the shower pipe 77 or the like to perform washing. Various cleaning methods can be adopted.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, the transport line of the cooling step D is provided in a casing 81 following the casing 56 of the steam finishing step C, and the transport conveyor 4 of the steam finishing step C is provided.
3 has a conveyor 82 for receiving the cooked rice conveyed from 3. The transport conveyor 82 also uses a mesh belt 82a, and the steamed rice is cooled by cooling mechanisms 83 and 84 provided at two locations in the casing 81 in the transport direction.
By this cooling, it can be provided as sushi rice or pilaf rice as it is, and it is most suitable for instant freezing.

An exhaust port 85 is provided at an appropriate position in the transport direction of the casing 81 so that the warm air in the casing 81 is released to the outside while cooling air is blown through a duct 87 into the outside air sucked by a fan 86 so that cooling can be performed efficiently. I have to. If necessary, the blown air may be forcibly cooled and supplied, or a transport line for the instant freezing step following the cooling step D may be connected.

A small loosening roller 91 is provided on the starting end of the conveyor 82 and is driven by a dedicated electric motor 92 in a timely manner. The cooling effect is enhanced by sufficiently loosening rice grains that are sprinkled and adhered to each other. The conveyor 82 is driven by a single electric motor 93.

[0034]

According to the present invention, the rice cooking method using the pot and steam according to the present invention comprises:
According to one feature, the pot in which the ingredients have been charged is heated to cook the pot, and then the pot is left as it is, so that the rice can be cooked as before, and the pot can be cooked as before. By switching to the steaming finish, in which steam is passed through the rice without steaming, it is possible to obtain steamed rice that has been pregelatinized more fully than kettle-cooked rice. It does not whiten back and can be regenerated using steam or a microwave at a later date, and can be regenerated into plump, delicious high-quality rice.

According to another feature of the cooking method for selectively using rice in a pot and steam according to the present invention, the above-mentioned cooking in a pot and an optional rice drying step or steaming step are transferred to and from a series of flows in the pot or from the pot. It can be produced efficiently in a series of changed rice.

According to one feature of the rice cooker of the present invention, after performing the cooking step, the cooking state after the cooking step is changed to a predetermined state. Instead of steaming rice with steam,
It can be automatically and continuously performed according to the selection instruction, suitable for high-mix low-volume production, and because the kettle cooking line is shared, the equipment is simple and inexpensive, and the installation space can be small, so , Medium and small scale producers.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 shows a shuttle according to a representative embodiment of the present invention.
It is a top view which shows the whole structure of a steam selective rice cooker.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing a pot cooking process part of the apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side view showing a material supply step of supplying a material to a pot cooking step of the apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a side view of a steam finishing step of the apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a side view of the receiving hopper in the steaming finishing step of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the receiving hopper of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a side view of a cooling step part of the apparatus of FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List A Cooking process B Cooking process C Steaming finishing process D Cooling process E Material supply process 1 Cooking machine 21 Loading roller conveyor 22 Overhead chain conveyor 23 Gas burner 24 Unloading roller conveyor 25 Sorting unit 31 Roller conveyor 41 Roller conveyor 42 Inverting mechanism 43 Transporting conveyor 56 Casing 57 Steam pipe

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-64-49512 (JP, A) JP-A-61-71016 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) A47J 27/14 A47J 27/16

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A cooking process in which the ingredients are put into a cooking pot and cooked, followed by a cooking process in which the rice is cooked after leaving the cooking for a predetermined period of time, or steam is passed through the steamed rice after the cooking process. A cooking method using a pot and steam, wherein the rice is cooked and cooked, and the rice is cooked and cooked after the cooking. 2. The cooking process and the steaming process are performed in a series of lines for transporting the kettle, and the steaming and finishing process is to separate rice in the kettle after the cooking process in the series of lines for transporting the kettle. 2. The cooking method according to claim 1, wherein the steaming finish step is carried out by passing steam from the surroundings while transferring and transferring to the line. 3. A kettle-cooking line for heating and cooking by a heating means provided around the transport means while sequentially transferring the kettle into which the material is charged by the transport means, and a kettle passing through the kettle-cooking line. The rice is transported by the transporting means, and the rice after the cooking is transferred from the rice cooker in the kettle, which has been passed through the kettle-cooking line, and the rice-cooking line, which is transported to the position where the washing is completed at least. The steaming line, which finishes the steaming by spraying steam from the steam blowing means provided around the transporting means, and the steaming line that transports the kettle that has passed through the kettle-cooking line according to the instructions to use the kettle and steam properly Distributing means for transferring rice on the means or transferring rice in the kettle which has passed through the cooking line to the conveying means of the steaming line; Rice cooker for different uses.