JP4646635B2 - Tofu production method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention uses soy milk and a liquid coagulant preparation containing an inorganic salt-based coagulant as raw materials, and manufactures tofu using a continuous disperser as a device for mixing and dispersing by dispersing soy milk and the coagulant preparation. Regarding the method.

Bittern (bitter juice) is said to have good taste of tofu made from it, and has long been used as a coagulant for tofu. However, when bittern is added to soy milk, solidification occurs rapidly, which makes it difficult to obtain tofu with an industrially uniform structure.
Therefore, a coagulant composition for tofu (see, for example, Patent Document 1) characterized by containing an inorganic salt-based coagulant for tofu, polyglycerin fatty acid ester, and fats and oils, and an inorganic salt system having a maximum particle size of 50 μm A slow-acting bittern coagulant such as a coagulant composition for tofu (see, for example, Patent Document 2), wherein the coagulant is dispersed in an aliphatic fatty acid ester of a polyhydric alcohol that is sparingly soluble in water. Proposed.
The above-mentioned slow-acting bittern coagulant needs to be mixed and dispersed in soy milk using a disperser having high shearing force due to its characteristics, and the processing capacity as a disperser is required. From this point, a continuous disperser is preferably used.

  Generally, when tofu is manufactured industrially, the tofu production equipment includes a line for supplying soy milk, a line for supplying a coagulant, a line for mixing soy milk and coagulant in a filling machine, and a mixture of soy milk and coagulant. The line consists of a filling line that fills the mold box with a filling machine, an aging line that solidifies the filled soymilk, a packaging line that cuts and wraps the tofu, and a cooling line that cools the product. It is a production facility. However, the production of tofu is often carried out in the cottage industry, and each component line in such production equipment is not necessarily operated unattended as an automatically linked process, for example, a line for supplying soy milk. The line for supplying the coagulant and the line for mixing the soy milk and the coagulant in the disperser can be automatically connected and interlocked. For example, the mold box filling line and the packaging line are also of a batch type, Often requires human power. For this purpose, for example, a line for supplying soy milk, a line for supplying a coagulant, a line for mixing the supplied soy milk and the coagulant in a disperser is in operation, and soy milk per unit time of the total amount in the start line The amount of treatment with the coagulant is larger than the amount of treatment in the subsequent line such as an aging line or a packaging line, and the upstream line, in particular, the mold box filling line is not connected to the downstream line and is continuously operated. Better tofu is produced when the upstream line is operated intermittently. Such production facilities can be said to have adjusted the throughput corresponding to the processing capacity of the subsequent line by intermittently performing the upstream line including mixing of soymilk and coagulant and filling the mold box with the dispersion processing liquid. . Accordingly, when the above continuous disperser is used in such an existing tofu production line, it is necessary to make the continuous disperser compatible with intermittent filling. Therefore, if the soy milk and coagulant supply to the continuous disperser are cut off and the mold box is filled intermittently, the soy milk mixed with the coagulant remains in the continuous disperser and the filling pipe and enters the mold box. During the waiting time until the next filling, the coagulation reaction of the soy milk (soy milk mixed with the coagulant) remaining in the continuous disperser proceeds, so that the resulting coagulated product is mixed into the mold box after resuming the filling. The problem arises that tofu having a uniform structure cannot be obtained.

As a solution to the above problem, a system for producing tofu by intermittently filling a mold box with a treatment liquid in which a bitter liquid oil coagulant and soy milk are continuously dispersed, wherein the soy milk and coagulant before the coagulant is dispersed When intermittently feeding to a continuous disperser, 1) a liquid feed system that shuts off the supply of soymilk and coagulant to the disperser and shuts off the coagulant liquid feed for a predetermined time before shutting off the soymilk supply 2) A tofu production system (for example, see Patent Document 3) is known in which the time difference of interlocking operation is controlled to be longer than the residence time inside the disperser determined from the disperser internal capacity and the soymilk supply flow rate. However, in this system, soy milk that does not contain a coagulant remains in the disperser, and the soy milk is fed directly into the next mold box when filling is resumed. The soymilk is filled into the mold box gently from a hose or the like so that bubbles do not enter the coagulated product. As a result, in reality, soy milk mixed with coagulant and soy milk not containing coagulant are mixed in the mold box when filling is resumed, and the concentration of coagulant is not necessarily uniform, and the coagulant concentration is not necessarily uniform. Density unevenness occurs. Since the structure of the portion having a low coagulant concentration is insufficient in strength, tofu having a weak strength has been partially obtained, which has been a problem for a long time.
JP-A-10-57002 JP 2000-270800 A JP-A-11-346696

  In the production of tofu using a liquid coagulant preparation containing an inorganic salt coagulant, the present invention does not leave coagulant-free soy milk inside the continuous disperser, and does not cause coagulant unevenness. It aims at providing the manufacturing method of tofu which enables intermittent filling in a box.

As a result of earnest and examination on the above problems, the present inventor has continuously produced soy milk and a coagulant preparation in tofu production using soy milk and a liquid coagulant preparation containing an inorganic salt coagulant. When supplying to the disperser, the disperser is stopped for a certain time before the supply of the soy milk and the coagulant preparation is cut off. The time until the rotation is completely stopped is controlled so that the soymilk and the coagulant preparation stay in the disperser when the continuous disperser is operating substantially coincide with the total time. As a result, it has been found that the soy milk containing no coagulant preparation remains in the continuous disperser, and that the mixture of the soy milk and the coagulant preparation can be intermittently filled into the mold box. The present invention has been completed based on the above.
That is, the present invention comprises the following (1) and (2).
(1) (a) supplying a soy milk and a liquid coagulant preparation containing an inorganic salt coagulant to a continuous disperser;
(B) a step of mixing the soy milk supplied in the continuous disperser and the coagulant preparation in the continuous disperser;
(C) a step of intermittently filling a mold box with a mixture of soy milk and the coagulant preparation from a continuous disperser;
(D) a step of shutting off the supply in the step (a) after a predetermined time after the power of the continuous disperser is shut off;
(E) A tofu having a system including a step of replacing a mold box filled with a mixture of soy milk and the coagulant preparation with a mold box not filled with the mixture while the supply is shut off. A manufacturing method comprising:
The predetermined time in the step (d) is at least the time until the rotation of the rotating part of the continuous disperser is completely stopped after the power of the continuous disperser is shut off, and the continuous disperser includes the soy milk and the coagulant preparation. A method for producing tofu, characterized in that control is performed so as to substantially match the total time of the residence in the disperser when the is operating,
(2) The supply waiting time until the start of the supply of the next soymilk and the coagulant preparation after shutting off the supply of the soymilk and the coagulant preparation to the continuous disperser is within 5 minutes. A method for producing tofu.

  According to the production method of the present invention, uneven concentration of the coagulant in soy milk in the mold box is eliminated, and as a result, it is possible to produce high-quality tofu with a uniform structure, excellent flavor and texture. became.

  There is no restriction | limiting in particular as soymilk used for this invention, For example, the soymilk produced by the well-known method using IOM soybeans, binton soybeans, beacon soybeans, Chinese soybeans, etc. as a raw material may be sufficient. Moreover, as solid content in soymilk, the thing of the density | concentration of about 8-16 mass% normally is preferable.

Examples of the inorganic salt-based coagulant used in the present invention include magnesium chloride, magnesium sulfate, calcium chloride, and calcium sulfate. Preferred are fast-acting coagulants such as magnesium chloride, magnesium sulfate, and calcium chloride.
Examples of the magnesium chloride used in the present invention include a magnesium chloride-containing product obtained when, for example, seawater is concentrated to produce sodium chloride, a magnesium chloride hexahydrate obtained by further concentrating and purifying the magnesium chloride-containing product, and Examples include magnesium chloride hexahydrate obtained by dissolving magnesium carbonate in hydrochloric acid and concentrating and crystallizing. Magnesium chloride is preferably a non-white crystal or powder containing about 95.0% or more of magnesium chloride hexahydrate. Or flakes.

  The liquid coagulant preparation (hereinafter simply referred to as coagulant preparation) containing an inorganic salt coagulant used in the present invention is designed so that the coagulation reaction of soy milk does not occur immediately even when added to soy milk. What is done is preferable. Examples of such a coagulant preparation include a coagulant preparation obtained by dispersing magnesium chloride in a liquid vegetable oil and fat; a coagulant preparation obtained by dispersing magnesium chloride in a mixture of a liquid vegetable oil and emulsifier; A coagulant preparation obtained by dispersing magnesium chloride in an aliphatic fatty acid ester of soluble polyhydric alcohol; or O / W type, W / O type or W containing liquid vegetable oil, emulsifier, magnesium chloride and water / O / W type coagulant preparation and the like. A dispersion type coagulant preparation or a W / O type coagulant preparation is preferred. These coagulant preparations are preferably used by being mixed in soy milk by a disperser having a high shearing force.

  The continuous disperser used in the present invention is preferably a continuous disperser having a high shearing force and capable of mixing and dispersing soy milk and a coagulant preparation in a short time. For example, Milder (Ebara Corporation) Product), TK pipeline homomixer (manufactured by Tokushu Kika Kogyo Co., Ltd.), Claremix (manufactured by M Technique Co., Ltd.), and the like. More preferably, it is a milder (manufactured by Ebara Seisakusho Co., Ltd.) having a structure in which air does not enter the disperser from the disperser outlet when waiting for filling from the disperser into the mold box. Moreover, TK pipeline homomixer, CLEARMIX, etc. can be similarly used preferably by installing hold piping at the disperser outlet.

  An outline of the tofu production system of the present invention is shown in FIG. Tofu is produced in the following order. First, soy milk is supplied from the soy milk tank 1 and a coagulant preparation is supplied from the coagulant tank 2 into the continuous disperser 3 from the continuous disperser insertion port 10. The soy milk supplied to the continuous disperser and the coagulant preparation are mixed in the continuous disperser. The mixed solution of the mixed soymilk and the coagulant preparation is filled into the mold box 8 through the filling hose 14 from the outlet 12 of the continuous disperser. The soymilk and coagulant preparation are continuously supplied to the continuous disperser and filled into the mold box until the end of filling, and the end of filling is performed by shutting off the supply of soymilk and coagulant preparation to the continuous disperser. Done. While the supply is shut off, the mold box filled with the mixture of soy milk and the coagulant preparation is replaced with an empty mold box. The mixed solution of the soy milk and the coagulant preparation filled in the mold box is preferably steamed at about 50 to 70 ° C. for about 20 to 30 minutes to become aged tofu. The obtained tofu is cut into 350 g / 1 pieces, for example, and cooled in a water bath of about 5 ° C., for example.

  There is no limitation on the structure in which the soy milk and the coagulant are supplied to the continuous disperser. For example, a structure capable of controlling the supply speed, supply and blocking, etc. using a liquid feed pump or the like is preferable. Further, a line configuration in which soy milk or a coagulant is circulated to each storage tank at the time of filling standby by using an air control valve or the like is also possible.

In the production method of the present invention, the time from the start of supply of soy milk and coagulant preparation to the continuous disperser until the supply is cut off is sufficient for one tofu production amount, that is, to be filled in the mold box. It is set based on the supply amount of soy milk and coagulant preparation. The supply of the soy milk and the coagulant preparation is blocked after a certain time after the power of the continuous disperser is cut off. Since the rotation of the rotating part of the continuous disperser does not stop immediately after the power is cut off, the soy milk and the coagulant preparation supplied to the continuous disperser are mixed in the continuous disperser until the rotation stops. For this reason, the soy milk and the coagulant preparation are kept in the continuous disperser at least for a period of time until the rotation of the rotating part of the continuous disperser completely stops after the continuous disperser is powered off. It is preferable that the time spent in the dispersing machine during operation is controlled so as to substantially match the total time. Accordingly, the predetermined time varies depending on the type of continuous disperser used, the residence time of soy milk in the disperser, and the like. For example, in the case of TK mixer AS-2 type (made by Tokushu Kika Kogyo Co., Ltd .: 250 mL), it is about 0.5 to 8 seconds, preferably about 1 to 7 seconds, and more preferably about 2 to 5 seconds. By controlling in this way, the mold box has a mixed liquid in which soy milk and the coagulant preparation are mixed until the supply of the soy milk and the coagulant is cut off even after the power supply of the continuous disperser is turned off. Filled in mold box. In addition, after the rotation of the rotating part of the continuous disperser is stopped, the soy milk and the coagulant preparation supplied in the continuous disperser remain in the continuous disperser without being mixed because the rotating part is stopped. The soy milk and coagulant formulation remaining in the machine are kept in the continuous disperser while the supply of soy milk and coagulant formulation is stopped with little or no coagulation reaction between them. Kept. The soy milk and the coagulant preparation remaining in the disperser are fed into the continuous disperser for filling the next exchanged empty mold box with the mixture of the soy milk and the coagulant preparation. At the same time as the supply is started, the mixture is stirred and mixed by the rotating part in the continuous disperser, discharged from the continuous disperser, and filled in the mold box. After the supply of soy milk and coagulant preparation to the continuous disperser is interrupted, the filling waiting time until the start of the supply of the next soy milk and coagulant preparation is desirably controlled within 5 minutes. When it exceeds 5 minutes, the supplied soymilk and the coagulant preparation are not mixed by the disperser, but coexistence in the disperser may cause the coagulation reaction of the soymilk to progress to some extent.
The tofu produced repeatedly and intermittently by the above control includes a part of the soymilk filled in the mold box, or a coagulum produced as a result of the coagulation reaction between the soymilk and the coagulant preparation in the continuous disperser etc. Without any problem, the tissue is uniform.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described using examples, test examples, and the like, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

[Outline of tofu production system]
A system mag AT type (manufactured by Earth System 21) was used as a system for mixing soymilk and a coagulant preparation by dispersing them with a continuous disperser and filling the resulting treatment liquid into a mold box. The soy milk is fed from the soy milk tank to the continuous disperser by the Videl pump (manufactured by Miura Kogyo Co., Ltd.), and the coagulant preparation from the coagulant tank is continuously fed by the diaphragm pump (manufactured by Takumina Co., Ltd.). Done. TK mixer AS-2 type (manufactured by Tokushu Kika Kogyo Co., Ltd.) is equipped as a continuous disperser that disperses soymilk and coagulant preparation, and its internal capacity is about 240 mL, corresponding to about 250 g of soymilk. . Furthermore, in this test, a part of the system was modified, and a switch was installed so that the continuous disperser could be stopped arbitrarily.
The filling part of the continuous disperser has an L-shaped pipe rising up from the outlet of the continuous disperser so that air does not enter the continuous disperser, and a hose is connected to the tip of the pipe. Filled in mold box. An air vent valve is installed in front of the pipe and hose connection, which is activated when filling is completed, and soy milk in the pipe and hose is discharged within about 3.3 seconds.

[raw materials]
Soymilk: Canadian white-eye soybeans were used as raw soybeans, and soymilk prepared by a conventional method was used (soymilk concentration: 11.5% (solid content mass%), soymilk temperature: about 80 ° C.).
Coagulant preparation: Coagulant preparation (trade name: Legend of Nigari-501; manufactured by Riken Vitamin Co., Ltd.) was used (magnesium chloride hexahydrate content in the coagulant preparation; 50% by mass, addition amount of coagulant preparation to soy milk 0.6 mass%).

The liquid feed rate of the soy milk pump was adjusted to 41.7 kg / min, and the liquid feed rate of the coagulant pump was adjusted to 0.25 kg / min. Next, the supply and interruption of soy milk and coagulant supplied to the continuous disperser and the operation of the continuous disperser were controlled as follows. First, soy milk and a coagulant were simultaneously supplied to a continuous disperser, and the continuous disperser was operated at a rotational speed of 5500 rpm. About 13 kg of soy milk and coagulant dispersion treatment liquid discharged from a continuous disperser was filled in a 15.5 L mold box (commonly known as MK box) and steamed at about 60 ° C. for about 25 minutes. Sample 1) was cut to 325 g / piece and cooled in a water bath at about 5 ° C.
The operation of the continuous disperser was stopped after 16.7 seconds from the supply of the soy milk and the coagulant, and after 2 seconds, that is, from the time of supply of the soy milk and the coagulant, the soy milk was measured after 18.7 seconds. The supply of coagulant to the continuous disperser was cut off simultaneously.
After shutting off the supply of soy milk and coagulant, wait for about 180 seconds in this state (filling waiting time), replace the mold box filled with the above dispersion during the filling waiting time with an empty mold box, The operation of the continuous disperser was started again, and at the same time, the soy milk and the coagulant were supplied to the continuous disperser, and a series of repeated control was performed as described above. The system in which the above-described soymilk and the coagulant were mixed and dispersed and the mold box was intermittently filled was operated for about 3 hours. The production conditions are shown in Table 1.

  Tofu (sample 2) was produced in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the production conditions were changed as shown in Table 1.

[Comparative Example 1]
Tofu (sample 3) was produced in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the operation of the continuous disperser was stopped and the soy milk supplied to the continuous disperser and the coagulant were blocked simultaneously.

[Comparative Example 2]
Tofu (sample 4) was produced in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the production conditions were changed as shown in Table 1.

[Test 1]
After completion of the production of each tofu of Examples 1 and 2 and Comparative Examples 1 and 2, the filled piping was disassembled, and the presence or absence of solidified substances in the piping was visually observed. The results are shown in Table 2.

[Test 2]
The state of occurrence of cracks or chips during cutting of each tofu obtained in Examples 1 and 2 (Samples 1 and 2) and Comparative Examples 1 and 2 (Samples 3 and 4) was visually observed, and the evaluations shown below Results were symbolized according to criteria. The results are shown in Table 3.
<Evaluation criteria>
○: Tofu with cracks or chips is less than 10%.
X: There are cracks or chips in 10% or more of tofu.

[Test 3]
The inner phase, flavor and texture of the tofu obtained in Examples 1 and 2 and Comparative Examples 1 and 2 were sensoryly evaluated by 20 panelists according to the evaluation criteria shown in Table 4, and scored for each item. The average score was obtained, and the evaluation results were symbolized according to the following criteria. The results are shown in Table 5.

  In the present invention, in the production of tofu using a liquid coagulant preparation containing an inorganic salt coagulant, uneven concentration of the coagulant in soy milk in the mold box is eliminated. As a result, the present invention is useful as a method for producing high-quality tofu having a uniform structure, excellent flavor and texture.

It is the schematic of the apparatus used for the tofu production system of this invention (however,-> shows the flow direction of soymilk and a coagulant | flocculant preparation).

Explanation of symbols

1: Soymilk tank 2: Coagulant tank 3: Continuous disperser 4: Soymilk feed pump 5: Coagulant feed pump 6: Air vent valve 8: Mold box 10: Continuous disperser insertion port 12: Continuous dispersion Machine outlet 14: Filling hose

Claims (2)

(A) (i) soy milk,
(Ii) a coagulant preparation obtained by dispersing magnesium chloride in a liquid vegetable oil; a coagulant preparation obtained by dispersing magnesium chloride in a mixture of a liquid vegetable oil and an emulsifier; a fat of a polyhydric alcohol that is sparingly soluble in water Coagulant preparation obtained by dispersing magnesium chloride in aliphatic fatty acid ester; and O / W type, W / O type or W / O / W type coagulant containing liquid vegetable oil, emulsifier, magnesium chloride and water feeding the solid agent formulation coagulation that is selected from the group consisting of the formulation in a continuous disperser,
(B) a step of mixing the soy milk supplied in the continuous disperser and the coagulant preparation in the continuous disperser;
(C) a step of intermittently filling a mold box with a mixture of soy milk and the coagulant preparation from a continuous disperser;
(D) a step of shutting off the supply in the step (a) after a predetermined time after the power of the continuous disperser is shut off;
(E) replacing the mold box filled with the mixed solution of soy milk and the coagulant preparation with a mold box not filled with the mixed solution while the supply is shut off, and the step ( A method for producing tofu having a system for repeating (a) to (e),
The constant time in the step (d) is at least the time until the rotation of the rotating part of the continuous disperser completely stops after the power of the continuous disperser is shut off, A method for producing tofu, characterized in that control is performed so that the time spent in the disperser when the is operating is substantially equal to the total time.   The tofu of the tofu according to claim 1, wherein after the supply of the soymilk and the coagulant preparation to the continuous disperser is cut off, the filling waiting time until the start of the supply of the next soymilk and the coagulant preparation is within 5 minutes. Production method.

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