JP3743150B2 - Granular gel production apparatus and method - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for producing a granular gel body, and more specifically, an apparatus for producing a granular gel body capable of efficiently molding gel food such as jelly and agar into a granule excellent in appearance and texture, and Regarding the method.
[0002]
[Prior art and problems to be solved by the invention]
A granular gel food is generally produced by heating and melting a gel body such as gelatin, pouring it into a spherical mold, cooling and solidifying it, and then removing it from the mold. Although this manufacturing method has the advantage that a product of a desired size can be obtained uniformly, it takes time and effort to open and close the mold, cool the molded product, take out the gel food, and the manufacturing cost is high. It was. In particular, when making a small spherical gel food having a diameter of about 2 to 12 mm, labor is required and the production efficiency is poor. Furthermore, the spherical mold is expensive, which has been a factor of increasing the cost.
[0003]
Further, as a method for producing a granular gel food without using a mold, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 48-103770, a heated molten raw material gel is dropped into oil at a predetermined temperature from an outflow hole. A method is described in which a spherical gel food product is produced by cooling it in a spherical gelled product and then dropping it into still water to remove the attached oils. Although this method does not require much labor and has an advantage that a spherical gel body can be produced uniformly and continuously, the conventional method and apparatus have a problem of poor productivity.
[0004]
That is, in order to spheroidize the heated and melted gel in oil, it is necessary for the gel that has fallen into the oil in a molten state to solidify while being spheroidized while falling in the oil. In other words, a certain amount needs to be dropped intermittently and spheroidized in oil within a certain period of time during which the heated and melted gel does not cool. However, in the case of dripping by natural dropping, if the flow rate is increased in order to increase the amount of dripping, the gel may flow continuously, and a columnar solidified product may be formed. Even if the dropping rate is intermittent, even if the dropping rate is slow, if the dropping rate is slow, it may solidify before being spheroidized in oil, resulting in the formation of a low-quality deformed gel. It was. For this reason, the range in which high quality spherical particles can be produced by dropping by natural fall is limited to those having a diameter of about 4 mm or less.
[0005]
In addition, the oil for cooling the gel needs to be cooled to a predetermined temperature range, and in order to obtain a spherical molded product, a state free from disturbance such as convection is preferable. However, in the conventional apparatus in which the outer periphery of the tank filled with oil is only covered with a jacket, large convection is generated in the entire oil layer, and thus the stability of the shape is impaired. Furthermore, since the water layer that removes oil from the molded gel food is deoiled by the free fall of the molded gel food in the water layer, a deep hydrostatic layer is required and the apparatus has been enlarged. .
[0006]
On the other hand, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 63-12253 discloses a method for producing jelly grains having a predetermined volume by flowing a jelly stock solution into a hardening liquid (solidifying agent) and cutting it at predetermined time intervals. Are listed. This method can be produced continuously even with relatively small spheres, but since the solidifying agent enters a large amount of gel food, the texture is far from the original one, and the quality may be degraded. was there. In particular, when frozen for storage or distribution, or when rapidly frozen, there is a drawback that the texture changes significantly.
[0007]
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and a method for producing a granular gel body, which can mass-produce high quality granular gel bodies at low cost and have a high degree of freedom in molding dimensions.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
To achieve the above object, the manufacturing apparatus of the particulate gel of the present invention, the conveyance path having a molded tank filled with cooling oil of a predetermined temperature, the tube type roller pump for conveying molten material gel to the molding tank When, and a nozzle for dropping a molten raw material gel in the cooling oil from the transport path, wherein the molding vessel, in the cooling oil, a plurality of cooling plates for maintaining the cooling oil to a predetermined temperature is immersed The nozzle is disposed at a position where the molten raw material gel is dropped between adjacent cooling plates .
[0009]
Furthermore, the manufacturing apparatus of the particulate gel of the present invention, the water in the lower part of the cooling oil before Symbol molding tank is filled, the molding tank is characterized by having a heat insulating structure. In addition, a collecting path for extracting the molded product solidified in the cooling oil with water from the bottom of the molding vessel, a solid-liquid separating section for separating the water moldings withdrawn to the recovery path, the solid a product collection tank for collecting the molded products separated by liquid separation unit, returning the solid-liquid and water recovery tank for collecting the separated water in the separation section, the water in the water recovery tank to the aqueous portion of the molding chamber and water circulation route, is characterized in that the oil was floated difference in specific gravity between the upper portion of the water recovery tank with an oil circulation path for returning the oil layer portion above the molding chamber.
[0010]
In the method for producing a granular gel body according to the present invention, a plurality of cooling plates are immersed in an oil layer at the upper part of a molding tank filled with cooling oil and water in two layers, and the cooling oil is brought to a predetermined temperature. while maintaining the nozzle is located between the cooling plate adjacent to intermittently dropping a molten raw material gel conveyed by tube type roller pump, the water layer of the molded tank bottom and solidified into a spherical shape by the oil layer after settling, the molded article has solidified from the molding tank bottom subjected to solid-liquid separation is extracted with water, thereby recovering the separated molded article as a product, the separated water circulating back to the molding tank It is a feature.
[0011]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
1 and 2 show an embodiment of the granular gel body production apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a schematic system diagram, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional side view of the main part.
[0012]
This granular gel body manufacturing apparatus includes a molding tank 1 filled with cooling oil A and water W, gel bodies such as jelly and agar, and various additives such as sweetening ingredients and pulp as required. A raw material preparation tank 2 for preparing a raw material to which a solid content is added, a raw material storage tank 3 for primarily storing a molten raw material gel prepared in the raw material tank 2, and a molten raw material gel in the raw material storage tank 3 for the molding tank 1 A conveying path 5 having a tube-type roller pump 4 for conveying the liquid, a nozzle 6 for dropping the molten raw material gel conveyed by the conveying path 5 into the oil layer of the molding tank 1, and a cooling oil A in the molding tank. A plurality of cooling plates 7 for maintaining a predetermined temperature, a recovery path 8 for extracting a molded product (product) B together with water from the bottom of the molding tank 1, and a molded product B extracted to the recovery path 8 A solid-liquid separator 9 for separating water, and the solid-liquid separator 9 A product recovery tank 10 for recovering the separated molded product B, a water recovery tank 11 for recovering the water separated by the solid-liquid separator 9, and water in the water recovery tank 11 into the water layer portion of the molding tank 1 A water circulation path 12 for returning, an oil circulation path 13 for returning the oil component that has floated to the upper part of the water recovery tank 11 due to the difference in specific gravity to the upper part of the oil layer of the molding tank 1, and a refrigerant path for introducing and extracting the refrigerant to the cooling plate 14a, 14b.
[0013]
Hereinafter, the apparatus will be described in detail based on a method for producing a spherical gel body. First, a gel raw material and a desired additive are put into the raw material preparation tank 2, heated to a predetermined temperature and stirred by a stirrer 15 to prepare a molten raw material gel. The melted raw material gel passes through the path 17 by the pump 16, is primarily stored in the raw material storage tank 3, and then is sucked by the tube roller pump 4 and guided to the nozzle 6 through the transport path 5. The path including the raw material storage tank 3 and the tube-type roller pump 4 between the raw material preparation tank 2 and the nozzle 6 takes into consideration the temperature of the molten raw material gel, its solidification temperature, the temperature drop in the path, etc. The heated raw material gel is not solidified in the path by installing the heat insulating jackets 2a and 3a on the outer periphery of the raw material preparation tank 2 and the raw material storage tank 3, for example, Like that.
[0014]
The tube-type roller pump 4 is a pump that intermittently conveys the fluid in the tube by peristaltic movement of the flexible tube by the rotation of the rotary element. Can be intermittently dripped from the nozzle 6 by conveying toward the nozzle 6. The tube is made of a material having elasticity and heat resistance, for example, a tube made of silicon rubber. Moreover, the tube-type roller pump 4 can set arbitrarily the dripping amount and dripping space | interval from the nozzle 6 by setting the diameter of a tube and the rotation speed of a rotary element suitably.
[0015]
The nozzle 6 for dropping the molten raw material gel into the cooling oil A is the size required for the product granular gel body, that is, the molded product B, the type, composition and temperature of the raw material, the discharge amount and the discharge speed of the tube roller pump 4. The one having the optimum diameter and thickness is used depending on the conditions such as the above. The nozzle 6 may be mounted with a separate nozzle component at the tip of the transport path 5, or the tip of the transport path 5 may be used as a nozzle as it is. The nozzle 6 may be submerged in the cooling oil A or may be separated from the oil surface. However, in order to obtain a good spherical gel body, the nozzle 6 is installed 10 to 50 mm away from the oil surface. It is preferable.
[0016]
The melted raw material gel dripped from the nozzle 6 is granulated by the surface tension while falling in the cooling oil between the adjacent cooling plates 7 and 7 due to the difference in specific gravity, cooled and solidified, and dropped from the cooling oil into the water. To do. As shown in FIG. 2, a plurality of nozzles 6 can be provided side by side between adjacent cooling plates 7 and 7. The conveyance path 5 connected to these nozzles 6 may be branched corresponding to each nozzle 6 downstream of the tube-type roller pump 4, but in order to drop the molten raw material gel in a stable state, It is preferable to provide a transport path 5 for each nozzle 6.
[0017]
As shown in FIG. 2, the cooling plate 7 that maintains the cooling oil A at a predetermined temperature is provided with a refrigerant flow path 7a between two thin metal plates, and each cooling plate 7 is parallel at a predetermined interval. Is arranged. Refrigerant flowing from the inlet-side refrigerant path 14a toward the outlet-side refrigerant path 14b is supplied to the refrigerant flow path 7a, and the surface of the cooling plate 7 is cooled to a predetermined temperature by this refrigerant. In this way, by forming the cooling oil A so as to be maintained at a predetermined temperature by a plurality of cooling plates 7, the cooling oil A is maintained at a predetermined temperature by a cooling jacket provided on the outer periphery of the molding tank 1 as in the prior art. Compared with what to do, while being able to cool the whole cooling oil A efficiently, the temperature of the whole oil layer can be made uniform. Furthermore, since the molten raw material gel that has fallen into the cooling oil A from the nozzle 6 descends the portion partitioned by each cooling plate 7, the probability that the molten raw material gels adhere to each other is reduced.
[0018]
The temperature of the cooling oil A can be appropriately set depending on the kind of molten raw material gel, the dropping temperature, etc., but is usually set in the range of −2 to 35 ° C., preferably 0 to 25 ° C. What is necessary is just to set the temperature and flow volume of the refrigerant | coolant supplied to so that the cooling oil A can be maintained at preset temperature. In addition, any refrigerant can be used, but usually cold water can be used.
[0019]
In addition, it is preferable to provide a double-structured heat insulating wall 18 on the outer periphery of the molding tank 1, at least in a portion corresponding to the oil layer. The heat insulation wall 18 can be supplied with the same refrigerant as the cooling plate 7 to promote the cooling effect of the oil layer, but it is possible to adopt a heat insulation structure filled with air insulation, vacuum insulation, urethane foam resin or the like. it can. By forming such a heat insulating structure, heat intrusion from the wall surface of the molding tank 1 can be suppressed, so that the oil layer temperature can be easily maintained uniformly, and condensation can be prevented from occurring on the outer peripheral surface.
[0020]
The gel body (molded product B) solidified spherically in the cooling oil of the molding tank 1 descends from the cooling oil A into the water W at the lower part of the molding tank. A part of the oil adhering to the molded product B moves away from the surface of the molded product B in the water layer and moves into the water, and further rises to the upper oil layer due to the difference in specific gravity. The molded product B that has settled to the bottom of the molding tank 1 is extracted together with the water W into the recovery path 8 and sent to the solid-liquid separation unit 9 by the pump 19. By sending the molded product B together with the water W to the solid-liquid separator 9 through the recovery path 8 in this way, oil on the surface of the molded product can be removed even in the recovery path, so the length of the water layer in the molding tank 1 ( (Depth) can be reduced, and the equipment can be downsized.
[0021]
The solid-liquid separation unit 9 has a comb-like or fine mesh filter 9a having a smaller interval than the molded product B, and the molded product B separated by the filter 9a passes through the chute 9b and is shaped like a product collection tank 10. It is collected in the container 10a. The water and a small amount of oil that have passed through the filter 9 a flow down into the water recovery tank 11.
[0022]
The water W in the water recovery tank 11 returns to the lower part of the molding tank 1 through the water circulation path 12 due to the head difference between the water recovery tank 11 and the molding tank 1 and floats on the upper part of the water recovery tank 11. Is returned to the upper part of the molding tank 1 through the oil circulation path 13. Thus, by circulating and using the cooling oil A and the water W, the cooling oil and water are not discharged wastefully, and the operation cost can be reduced. In addition, the connection part by the side of the molding tank 1 of the oil circulation path | route 13 is slightly from the oil level of the molding tank 1 so that the cooling oil in the molding tank 1 may not flow back into the water recovery tank 11 through the oil circulation path | route 13. Keep it at the top.
[0023]
The product recovery tank 10 is formed so that the oil remaining on the surface of the molded product B can be washed with water as needed by supplying flush water from the pipe 20 at the bottom and overflowing the tank from the top. . The molded product B in the zigzag container 10a is taken out as appropriate and sent to the next step. That is, it is stored and shipped through a process of packing as it is, dipping in a syrup solution, or freezing.
[0024]
Thus, by manufacturing a granular gel body, gel body foods, such as jelly and agar, can be shape | molded efficiently to a granular form. In particular, the tube-type roller pump 4 is used to convey the molten raw material gel in a pulsating state, so that the amount of dripping can be arbitrarily set as compared with the natural dropping method, and a desired amount of molten raw material gel can be obtained. It can be dropped intermittently into the cooling oil A from the nozzle 6. Thereby, the granular gel body whose diameter is 0.5-30 mm can be efficiently manufactured by setting the liquid feeding capability of the tube type roller pump 4 and the shape of the nozzle 6 appropriately. Moreover, since a larger-sized thing can be obtained than before, it is also possible to manufacture a strawberry-like confectionery, for example, by adding solids, such as a pulp, to a molten raw material gel. Furthermore, a crunchy confectionery can be produced by adding powdered rock sugar to the melted raw material gel and molding it before the molten sugar is dissolved in the gel.
[0025]
【Example】
Example 1
After the gelling agent composed of thickening polysaccharide, sugar and water are mixed at a weight ratio of about 1:10:30, the main raw material is dispersed by stirring at high speed with a pasteurizer, and heated to 80 ° C., About 1 part by weight of an additive prepared by mixing acidulant, flavor, colorant and fruit juice in a ratio of about 30: 1: 1: 30 by weight is added to 6 parts by weight of the main raw material, and molten jelly (melted raw material) Gel). This molten jelly was stored in a raw material storage tank having an internal volume of 80 liters which was kept warm by supplying hot water at 80 ° C. to a heat insulation jacket.
[0026]
The tube type roller pump was set to have three rotary elements and two units having 20 silicon tubes with an inner diameter of 4 mm, and to rotate at a speed of about 100 shots per minute. The nozzle had an inner diameter of 4 mm, and its tip was set about 5 mm above the oil level and set at 5 mm intervals.
[0027]
The molding tank was a box shape of 600 mm × 300 mm, and the lower part was shaped into a truncated pyramid shape. The depth of the oil layer was about 800 mm, and the depth of the water layer was about 400 mm. As the cooling oil, so-called salad oil was used, and the temperature was set to about 4 ° C. Five cooling plates having a size of 500 mm × 750 mm were installed at intervals of 30 mm, and water at 1 to 4 ° C. was allowed to flow through each cooling plate so that the cooling oil could be maintained at the above temperature. The temperature of the aqueous layer was room temperature (about 20 ° C.). In addition, the side surface of the molding tank has a heat insulating structure.
[0028]
As a result of operation under the above conditions, the oil adhering to the molded product (granular jelly) collected in the product collection tank from the solid-liquid separation part was about 0.1% by weight which is not different from the conventional natural fall method. It was. This molded product was washed with water at a flow rate of 2 liters per minute in a product recovery tank to remove oil on the surface. The obtained molded product was substantially spherical with a diameter of about 8 mm, and about 240,000 pieces could be produced per hour. In the case of the conventional natural drop method using a nozzle having an inner diameter of 4 mm, only a diameter of about 3 to 4 mm can be obtained, and the production amount with 20 nozzles is limited to about 60,000 per hour.
[0029]
The oil remaining in the molded product (product) after washing with water was only about 0.02% by weight, and the odor and taste of salad oil were not felt at all even when actually eaten. Furthermore, the texture, taste, and appearance were all superior compared to the same type of jelly produced by the conventional calcium manufacturing method. In addition, the texture, taste, and appearance after thawing, freezing, and thawing maintained the quality at the time of manufacture.
[0030]
Example 2
A gelling agent (thickening polysaccharide), sugar and water are mixed at a weight ratio of about 1:20:60, the main raw material heated at 80 ° C. is cooled to 70 ° C., and then a sour and flavoring agent. , Colorant, fruit juice, and pulp were mixed at a weight ratio of about 30: 1: 1: 30: 5, and about 1 part by weight was added to 6 parts by weight of the main raw material to obtain a molten jelly. A granular jelly was produced under the same conditions as in Example 1 except that this molten jelly was used and the dropping temperature was 60 ° C. The obtained granular jelly was crunchy and had good taste.
[0031]
Example 3
Gelatin is used as the gelling agent, the main raw material in which the gelling agent, sugar and water are mixed at a weight ratio of about 1:20:60 is heated to 70 ° C., and the flavor and milk powder are mixed at a weight ratio of 2 : About 2 parts by weight of the additive mixed at a ratio of about 15 to 8 parts by weight of the main raw material was added to form a molten jelly, which was kept at 60 ° C. in the raw material storage tank.
[0032]
Two tube-type roller pumps having 16 silicon tubes having an inner diameter of 6 mm were used, and were set to rotate at a speed of about 100 shots per minute. The inner diameter of the nozzle was also 6 mm.
[0033]
Hereinafter, when the operation was performed under the same conditions as in Example 1, a white spherical jelly having a diameter of 13 mm was obtained. When actually eaten, it had a milk taste and did not feel the taste of oil, and the taste and texture were both good. The production amount was 180,000 pieces per hour.
[0034]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, the present invention uses a tube-type roller pump to transport and drop the molten raw material gel, so that a spherical gel body having a diameter of about 0.5 to 30 mm can be efficiently produced. Can do.
[Brief description of the drawings]
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a schematic system diagram showing an example of an apparatus for producing a granular gel body of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a sectional side view of an essential part.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Molding tank, 2 ... Raw material preparation tank, 3 ... Raw material storage tank, 4 ... Tube type roller pump, 5 ... Conveyance path, 6 ... Nozzle, 7 ... Cooling plate, 8 ... Recovery path, 9 ... Solid-liquid separation part, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Product collection tank, 11 ... Water collection tank, 12 ... Water circulation path, 13 ... Oil circulation path, 14a, 14b ... Refrigerant path, 18 ... Heat insulation wall

Claims (5)

A molding tank filled with cooling oil at a predetermined temperature, a nozzle for dropping a conveying path having a tube type roller pump for conveying molten material gel to the molding tank, the molten raw material gel in the cooling oil from the transport path A plurality of cooling plates for maintaining the cooling oil at a predetermined temperature are immersed in the cooling oil, and the nozzle is a molten raw material gel between adjacent cooling plates. An apparatus for producing a granular gel body, characterized in that the apparatus is provided at a position to drop the liquid. 2. The apparatus for producing a granular gel body according to claim 1, wherein the molding tank is filled with water below the cooling oil . The apparatus for producing a granular gel body according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the molding tank has a heat insulating structure . Separated by a recovery path for extracting the molded product solidified in the cooling oil together with water from the bottom of the molding tank, a solid-liquid separation unit for separating the molded product extracted from the recovery path and water, and the solid-liquid separation unit A product recovery tank for recovering the molded product, a water recovery tank for recovering the water separated by the solid-liquid separator, a water circulation path for returning the water in the water recovery tank to the water layer portion of the molding tank, and the water The apparatus for producing a granular gel body according to claim 2, further comprising an oil circulation path for returning an oil component floated due to a difference in specific gravity to an upper portion of the recovery tank to an upper part of the oil layer of the molding tank . A plurality of cooling plates are immersed in an oil layer in the upper part of the molding tank filled with cooling oil and water in two upper and lower layers to maintain the cooling oil at a predetermined temperature and positioned between adjacent cooling plates. From the nozzle, the melted raw material gel conveyed by the tube roller pump is dropped intermittently, solidified in a spherical shape in the oil layer and settled in the water layer at the bottom of the molding tank, and then solidified from the bottom of the molding tank. A method for producing a granular gel , wherein the molded product is extracted together with water to perform solid-liquid separation, the separated molded product is recovered as a product, and the separated water is returned to the molding tank and circulated .

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