JP6188373B2 - Instant noodle manufacturing method and drying apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a method for drying instant noodles for obtaining instant noodles that are easily loosened.

  There are two types of instant noodles: fried noodles fried in oil and dried, and non-fried noodles dried without fried in oil. Non-fried noodles have a texture similar to raw noodles than fried noodles, but the noodle strings tend to bind to each other during drying and may not be loosened. There are several methods for drying non-fried noodles. Hot air drying is generally performed by applying hot air at a temperature of about 70 to 100 ° C. and a wind speed of about 5 m / s or less for about 30 to 60 minutes. There are a low-temperature drying method for drying at a low temperature for a long time, a high-temperature high-speed airflow drying method such as Patent Documents 1 to 3 in which a high-temperature and high-speed airflow of about 100 ° C. to 200 ° C. is applied to the noodle strings.

  Usually, in the case of fried noodles, the noodles are relatively bulky and the binding between the noodle strings hardly occurs because the noodles float in the frying oil and the water evaporates and the shape is fixed. In noodles, since the gelatinized noodles are put in a retainer and dried in the air, the noodle strings are compressed downward due to gravity and the noodle strings tend to come into contact with each other. Easy to bind. When noodle strings are bound together, they are not easily loosened during cooking and eating. Also, the bound part is difficult to receive hot water during cooking, and if there is not enough hot water, the part does not return to the hot water and the texture is poor.

  In particular, according to the drying method in which the noodle strings are expanded using a high-temperature and high-speed air current as in Patent Documents 1 to 3, since the high-speed air current is strongly blown from above, the noodle strings are pushed to the lower corner of the retainer, Noodle strings are likely to bind at this portion.

  On the other hand, in the technique for improving the loosening of non-fried noodles, Patent Documents 4 and 5 describe a technique for blowing air on a noodle string in a retainer. However, the unraveling effect of these devices is not sufficient, as it shifts the positions of the noodle strings and evenly disperses the noodle masses that are dense near the center of the retainer at the time of charging. It was.

JP-A-9-51773 JP-A-9-210554 WO2010 / 55860 No. 7-53508 Utility Model Registration No. 2515849

  An object of the present invention is to obtain noodles that have less binding, are easily loosened, and have no unevenness in restorability in non-fried instant noodles. In addition, the present invention uses a high-temperature and high-speed air flow in order to obtain such excellent noodles. However, it is an object of the present invention to prevent the noodle strings from jumping out from the retainer.

  As a result of the study by the present inventors, when the speed of the high-temperature and high-speed airflow to be sprayed is very fast and sprayed onto the noodle strings in the retainer from above the retainer, a part of the sprayed air is the bottom or side surface of the retainer, or Colliding with the noodle strings themselves, the noodle strings can dance in the retainer, and preferably behave like floating agitation. It has been found that noodle masses that are easily loosened may be obtained.

  However, if very strong air is blown from above, and the noodle strings are danced in the retainer and dried, a part or most of the noodle strings will shoot out of the retainer. . In particular, in the case of a structure in which the retainer is sequentially transported in the drying cabinet, strong air is blown from the front side in the traveling direction of the retainer being transported, and in this case, the noodle strings are strong enough to dance in the retainer. When the wind speed was reached, the noodle strings on the front side in the traveling direction of the retainer that had been conveyed were pushed by the air, and the rear side in the traveling direction was lifted up so that the noodle strings were easily ejected from the retainer.

  Therefore, the present inventors further studied, and firstly weakened the wind speed hitting the noodle mass in the retainer from above without causing a strong high-speed air current to act so that the noodle strings are not pushed out and pushed out. Then, it was found that the noodle strings can be dried in a state of being floated and stirred in the retainer so that the noodle strings do not jump out of the retainer and dance by continuously increasing the wind speed.

  That is, the present invention includes an instant process including a step of introducing a gelatinized noodle string into a retainer and blowing a high-speed air current so that the wind speed at which the noodle strings in the retainer are exposed from above the retainer is 60 m / s or more. A method for drying noodles, characterized in that the high-speed air flow once sets the wind speed to which the noodle strings are exposed to 50 m / s or less, and subsequently sets the air speed to 60 m / s or more, It is.

  In this way, by blowing a high-speed airflow at a wind speed of 60 m / s or more from above, it is easy to take a behavior such that the noodle strings dance in the retainer. Preferably, the noodle strings are in a floating stirring state in the retainer. The noodle strings are dried while being loosened, and the noodle strings can be dried to a state where there is little binding between the noodle strings. On the other hand, as mentioned above, when a strong wind speed that blows the noodle strings is blown at a stretch, the noodle strings are likely to jump out. To 60 m / s or higher.

  As described above, when the retainer is sequentially conveyed in the drying chamber and a high-speed air stream is blown from above, air is blown in order from the front in the traveling direction of the retainer to be conveyed. In this case, the retainer Since a strong wind pressure is applied at the front in the traveling direction, the noodle strings are pushed at this portion and easily jump out from the rear side of the retainer. Therefore, in the present invention, when the retainer has a structure in which the retainer is sequentially transported under a high-speed air flow, the entire surface of the retainer is continuously covered with the air flow of 50 m / s or less after the retainer is transported. The wind speed is set to 60 m / s or more. Thus, in such a continuous drying apparatus, the noodle strings can be effectively prevented from popping out.

  More specifically, a high-speed air flow of 60 m / s or more and an air flow of 50 m / s or less are both air currents blown vertically downward from nozzles arranged above the transport path of the retainer. In the case of an apparatus that sequentially conveys under the nozzle, the position of the front end in the traveling direction of the retainer opening to be conveyed is 50 m / s or less when it is conveyed to under the nozzle that blows a high-speed air flow of 60 m / s or more. The nozzle that blows the airflow may have already reached the rear end side in the retainer traveling direction from the center position of the opening of the retainer.

  That is, when the front end of the retainer to be conveyed reaches under the nozzle that ejects a high-speed air flow of 60 m / s or more so that the noodle strings are ejected, a nozzle that already ejects a non-jumping air flow of 50 m / s or less. By reaching the rear end side from the center of the retainer opening and covering the entire opening of the retainer with an air flow of 50 m / s or less, it will be pushed out from the front end side of the retainer by the air flow of 60 m / s or more. This can be suppressed by pushing the noodle strings from the rear end side, so that the noodle strings are not easily popped out.

  Depending on the shape of the retainer and the amount of noodle strings, the noodle string can be prevented from popping out by setting it to about 50 m / s or less if it is a general shape of an instant noodle drying retainer. Therefore, the wind speed to be applied to the noodle strings on the retainer before the high-speed air flow of 60 m / s is preferably 10 m / s or more.

  In the present invention, the effect of preventing the binding of the noodle strings and improving the loosening is considerably achieved at the stage where the surface of the noodle strings is in a state where the stickiness is lost. Further, when the moisture content of the noodle mass is reduced to about 30% or less after further drying, the bulk of the noodle mass is almost determined. Therefore, after adopting the above drying method up to any one of these points, thereafter, the wind speed is lowered, the temperature is lowered, or another drying method such as a normal hot air drying method may be taken. it can.

  Further, in the present invention, the high-speed air flow is hot air of 100 ° C. to 150 ° C. as the temperature to which the noodle strings are exposed, so that the noodle string surface is quickly dried and the noodle strings are sticky. It is possible to lose its properties quickly, and it is preferable to be a noodle with a good feeling of cooking.

  According to the instant noodle drying method and drying apparatus of the present invention, once the air flow of 50 m / s or less is blown onto the noodle strings in the retainer, and then the wind speed is increased to 60 m / s or more, the noodle strings are removed from the retainer. While preventing the noodle strings from jumping out, the noodle strings can be dried so as to float and stir in the retainer, and the non-fried noodles with good looseness can be obtained.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail according to the manufacturing process.
In this invention, from kneading | mixing of a raw material to the gelatinization process of noodle strings, it can manufacture by the conventional method of the manufacturing method of a non-fried noodle.

  Specifically, wheat flour, starch, buckwheat flour, and other flours are added to make the main raw material powder, and additional ingredients such as salt, citrate, polymerized phosphate, egg white, gluten, emulsifier, and fat are required. Add according to the conditions and knead well with kneading water. The auxiliary material may be added as a powder to the main material, or may be added in addition to the kneading water. After kneading well to create a noodle dough, mold it into a noodle strip using a compound noodle strip machine, etc., pass it through a rolling roll several times, make it the final noodle strip thickness, and then cut it out with a cutting blade roll Make noodles. In machine-made noodles, the noodle strings are usually cut out as described above, but a method such as extruding with an extruder to make noodle strings, such as spaghetti, may be used.

  The raw noodle strings produced in this manner are steamed or boiled, or a combination of both of them is pregelatinized. The pre-gelatinized noodle strings are sprayed or dipped in salt or a seasoning liquid containing salt as necessary, cut into one serving, and then dried into a retainer.

  The retainer for drying instant noodles used in the present invention is preferably a retainer having a plurality of small holes (vent holes) on a substantially horizontal bottom surface, and has a flat side surface with no small holes. The size of the small holes on the bottom surface is such that the noodle strings thrown into the retainer do not fall off, have a diameter of about 0.5 to 6 mm, are equally distributed on the bottom surface, and are formed at equal intervals. Is preferred.

  In the present invention, a high-speed air current is blown from above to the retainer conveyed in a substantially horizontal direction, and the noodle strings are dried while dancing in the retainer, but the noodle strings are lifted in the retainer. Therefore, although it depends on the shape of the retainer, according to the experiments of the present inventors, the wind speed at which the noodle strings are exposed to the normal amount of noodles is generally 60 m / s or more. It was. Particularly preferably, by blowing so that the maximum wind speed at which the noodle strings are exposed is about 70 m / s, the noodle strings can be suspended and stirred in the retainer. When dried, there is little binding between the noodle strings, and a loose and bulky noodle mass is formed.

  In addition, in order to make the noodle strings easier to dance in the retainer and to make it easier to float and stir in this way, the aperture ratio of the plurality of small holes on the bottom surface of the retainer is reduced, or the bottom surface of the retainer The shape of the retainer can be devised, for example, by attaching a specific R to the transition part from side to side. Specifically, when the total area of the small holes on the bottom surface of the retainer is 10 to 30% (opening ratio) of the area of the retainer bottom surface, most of the airflow blown from above the retainer is reflected without exiting from the small holes. Therefore, it is easy to take a behavior that the noodle strings are suspended and stirred. Moreover, if the transition part from the bottom surface of the retainer to the side surface is a curved surface having a curvature radius of 5 to 15 mm, the noodle strings are not pressed against the peripheral edge and the center of the bottom surface of the retainer, and the noodle strings are suspended and agitated by the air flow that changes direction on the curved surface. It is easy to take such a behavior.

The bottom surface of the retainer referred to in the present invention is a portion where the tangent angle of the curved surface is 45 ° or less with respect to the retainer bottom surface (horizontal plane) when the transition portion from the bottom surface to the side surface is formed by a curved surface. And Also, the side surfaces (side walls) of the retainer are preferably formed with curved corners so that the noodle strings are not pressed against the airflow, and are most preferably circular in top view. Also, if the side (side wall) has a mortar-like opening, the noodle strings inside the retainer will jump out, so the upright or taper angle with respect to the bottom surface (the angle that forms a line perpendicular to the bottom surface of the retainer) ) Is preferably about 20 °. Moreover, as a retainer size for one serving, specifically, a capacity of about 400 to 500 cc and a bottom area of about 40 to 150 cm ² can be exemplified.

  In the present invention, the apparatus is not particularly limited as long as it is a device capable of blowing a high-speed airflow as described above from the upper side to the retainer in the vertical downward direction. It is possible to preferably employ a system that injects at a higher wind speed. For example, a thin tube-like injection nozzle or slit-like injection nozzle is provided as the ejection part, and a large number of these nozzles are arranged above the retainer in the warehouse, and hot air is vigorously blown toward the retainer that moves downward from the nozzle. A device for injecting can be exemplified. Specific examples include high-temperature airflow drying apparatuses used for expanding and drying snacks, baking various processed foods, and roasting as described in JP-A-9-47224 and JP-A-2003-90680. .

  In the present invention, such a strong airflow is blown vertically downward from above to the noodle strings in the retainer (if blown from below or obliquely, even if the wind speed is low, the noodle strings are blown into the retainer). In order to take a behavior like dancing, the wind speed at which the noodle strings are exposed is preferably 60 m / s or more, more preferably about 70 m / s. However, if such a high-speed air flow is suddenly blown at once, a part or all of the noodle strings are likely to jump out of the retainer at a normal retainer depth. In particular, when the retainer has a structure in which the retainer is sequentially transported in a substantially horizontal direction under a high-speed air stream, the air stream is blown from the front side of the retainer in the transport direction, and at this time, the noodle strings can be danced at once or can be floated and stirred. When such a strong wind speed is applied, the noodle strings in the retainer are pushed rearward by the wind pressure applied to the retainer front side at a stretch, and are likely to jump out.

  In order to solve the problem of noodle strings popping out due to such initial wind pressure, in the present invention, the noodle strings in the retainer are first subjected to an air flow of 50 m / s or less at which the noodle strings do not pop out, and then the wind speed. Is increased to 60 m / s or more. Specifically, in the case of a drying apparatus in which a high-speed air current is ejected from the nozzle as described above and the retainer is transported below the nozzle, the position of the front end in the traveling direction of the one retainer that dances moves the noodle strings. The wind speed at which the noodle strings do not jump out from the opposite side (rear end side of the retainer in the advancing direction of the retainer) so as not to be pushed out by the high-speed airflow when it is conveyed under the high-speed airflow nozzle of 60 m / s Just hold it down.

  That is, a nozzle that blows an air flow of 50 m / s or less at which the noodle strings do not pop out is arranged on the entrance side of the drying chamber with respect to the nozzle of 60 m / s or more, and the retainer is placed under the nozzle of 60 m / s or more. When the front end portion reaches, the nozzle of 50 m / s or less has reached the rear end side in the retainer moving direction from the center position of the opening of the retainer, so that the entire opening of the retainer has an air flow of 50 m / s or less. It only has to be covered. Thereby, even if a wind pressure of 60 m / s or more is applied to the front end portion in the traveling direction of the retainer opening, it is possible to prevent the noodle strings from popping out due to the pressing force from the rear end side.

  In addition, as a preferable wind speed of the airflow blown before blowing a high-speed airflow of 60 m / s or more, although depending on the shape of the retainer and the amount of noodle strings input, in the case of a retainer having a general shape for instant noodle drying In consideration of the fact that the noodle strings do not easily pop out at a wind speed of approximately 50 m / s or less, the wind speed applied from the rear end side of the retainer is preferably 10 m / s or more, particularly preferably 30 m / s. It can be proposed to be s-50 m / s.

  As a specific device capable of such control, the nozzles are arranged densely in rows and rows on the top surface of the retainer transport path, and the first nozzles on the inlet side of the drying chamber of these nozzles. A structure in which one row or a plurality of rows from the front row is a nozzle that blows an air flow of 50 m / s or less, and the subsequent rows are nozzles that blow an air flow of 60 m / s or more. Moreover, as a mechanism for blowing an air flow of 50 m / s or less, in addition to lowering the wind speed ejected from the nozzle by a damper or the like, it is possible to respond by shortening the nozzle length or increasing the nozzle opening diameter. You can also.

  In the present invention, the temperature of the airflow to be blown may be room temperature because it can be easily loosened if it is dried over a period of time even at room temperature. However, by raising the temperature, drying is fast and the texture becomes preferable with a feeling of cooking. Therefore, a particularly preferable temperature for obtaining such an effect is preferably about 100 ° C. to 150 ° C. .

  Further, in the case of the present invention, high-speed air current spraying eliminates stickiness on the surface of the noodle strings even when the surface of the noodle strings is dried, so that loosening can be considerably improved at this stage. Therefore, if the purpose is to improve the looseness to some extent, the drying method of the present invention is carried out for a short time, and when the noodle strings surface is in a dry state, another drying method such as a normal one is used. Finish drying can also be performed using a hot air drying method or the like used for non-fried noodles.

  Furthermore, when the water content of the noodle mass becomes 30% or less, the shape of the noodle mass is generally fixed and the degree of loosening is determined. Therefore, the drying after this point can be performed by other methods and finish-dried. As the final drying, any drying method can be used, but drying may be performed with hot air at a temperature of 70 to 120 ° C. and a few meters per second, which is general hot air drying.

  The instant noodles thus dried (non-fried noodles) are placed in a synthetic resin or paper cup container to form cup noodles, or packaged in a packaging bag to form bag noodles. In hot water reconstitution, cooking, and eating, there is no binding between the noodle strings, and the noodles are easy to loosen and have a good texture.

Test 1 <Test with changed wind speed>
150 g of starch was added to 850 g of wheat flour to make a main ingredient. To this was added 20 g of salt, 1 g of 3 g polymerized phosphate salt dissolved in 400 ml of water, and kneaded well with a mixer to form a 12 mm thick noodle band with a composite noodle banding machine. This noodle strip was passed through a roll mill to make the final noodle strip thickness 1.8 mm. This noodle strip was cut out with a cutting blade roll square blade No. 16 to make noodles, and raw noodle strings were obtained.

The cut raw noodle strings were transferred on a net conveyor, steamed for 2 minutes at a saturated steam temperature of about 100 ° C. and a steam flow rate of 240 kg / h, and then boiled for 10 seconds with boiling water. The pregelatinized noodle strings were dipped in a seasoning solution in which 5% salt and a small amount of seasoning were dissolved, and the noodle strings were cut, and 180 g serving was put into a retainer.
The retainer has a volume of 450 ml, an opening diameter (upper diameter) of φ137 mm, a height of 40 mm, a taper angle (angle opened outward with respect to a surface perpendicular to the bottom surface) of 20 °, and a corner between the bottom surface and the side surface (side wall). Using a retainer with a radius of curvature of R = 10 mm, a small hole diameter of 4.0 mm formed on the bottom surface of the retainer, and a total area of the small holes of 20% of the retainer bottom area, each is put into the retainer under the following conditions. The dried noodle strings were dried.

The dryer has about 240 thin cylindrical nozzles installed in 1 m ² on the top surface, and high-temperature and high-speed air currents are ejected from these nozzles. The retainer travels at a traveling speed of about 2.5 m / s in the horizontal direction.

The drying temperature was measured with a sensor placed at the nozzle outlet, and the wind speed was measured with a pitot tube installed near the top of the noodle mass at 140 ° C., and the wind speeds were 40 m / s, 50 m / s, 60 m / s, and 70 m / s, respectively. s for 72 seconds. In the meantime, it was observed whether or not the noodle strings protruded from the retainer.
Next, as a final drying, it was dried for 60 minutes at an internal temperature of 90 ° C. and 4.0 m / s with a normal hot air drier while being put in each retainer. The noodle weight after drying was approximately 90 g when measured by selecting noodle strings with little or no protrusion.
About the instant noodle mass produced in this way, 400 ml of hot water was poured and allowed to stand for 4 minutes.

The sensory evaluation was performed in five stages by five panelists, and samples with noodle popping out were evaluated with samples having a small popping amount. In the evaluation of unraveling at the time of eating, evaluation 5 is a state where the unraveling is very good, 4 is a state where it is lightly unraveled with chopsticks, 3 is a state where it is unraveled with chopsticks, and 2 is a place where it is somewhat difficult to unravel with chopsticks State 1 is a state where there are many bindings and it is difficult to loosen with chopsticks. It was.
The results are shown in Table 1.

Test 2 <Test on midway change of wind speed>
In Test 1, when the wind speed blown on the noodles was set to 60 m / s or more, popping out of the retainer was observed. s (Example 1), 70 m / s (Example 2), and 80 m / s (Example 3). Other conditions, such as the apparatus, temperature, and drying time, were all the same as in Test 1. The results are shown in Table 2.

Test 3 <Temperature test>
In Test 1, an experiment was conducted by changing the spraying temperature from 140 ° C. to 60 ° C. to 160 ° C. at a wind speed of 70 m / s. Other conditions, such as the apparatus, the wind speed, and the drying time, are all the same as in Test 1. The results are shown in Table 3.

Claims (6)

A method for drying instant noodles including a step of introducing a gelatinized noodle string into a retainer and spraying an airflow of different wind speed onto the noodle strings in the retainer from above the retainer,
The retainer is transported under the airflow of the different wind speeds,
The airflows having different wind speeds are a high-speed airflow of 60 m / s or more and 80 m / s or less , and an airflow of 30 m / s or more and 50 m / s or less,
The high-speed air flow of 60 m / s or more and 80 m / s or less and the air flow of 30 m / s or more and 50 m / s or less are air currents blown in the vertical downward direction from nozzles arranged only above the retainer conveyance path, respectively .
The nozzle is arranged such that the air flow of 30 m / s or more and 50 m / s or less is blown to the noodle strings in the retainer before the high-speed air flow of 60 m / s or more and 80 m / s or less,
When the position of the forward end of the retainer opening to be transported is transported under the nozzle that blows a high-speed air flow of 60 m / s or more and 80 m / s or less , the position is 30 m / s or more and 50 m / s or less. position of the nozzle for blowing airflow, that have reached the retainer traveling direction rear end side than the aperture center position of the retainer, the entire surface of the retainer opening has a so that covered in the following air flow 50 m / s How to dry instant noodles. The method for drying instant noodles according to claim 1 , wherein the noodle strings are further dried by another drying method after performing the step of blowing the high-speed airflow. The method for drying instant noodles according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the high-speed air flow is high-temperature hot air of 100 ° C to 150 ° C as a temperature to which the noodle strings are exposed. A drying device that blows high-temperature airflow at different wind speeds to the retainer into which the pre-gelatinized noodle strings that are transported in the chamber are placed ,
The retainer is transported under a nozzle arranged only above the transport path ,
Nozzles that blow an air flow of 30 m / s or more and 50 m / s or less are arranged at a plurality of positions from one row or the front row of the drying apparatus ,
The nozzle that blows a high-speed airflow of 60 m / s or more and 80 m / s or less is arranged after the nozzle that blows an airflow of 30 m / s or more and 50 m / s or less ,
When the front end of the retainer in the advancing direction reaches under the nozzle that blows a high-speed air flow of 60 m / s to 80 m / s, the nozzle that blows the air flow of 30 m / s to 50 m / s is the center of the opening of the retainer A drying device arranged so as to reach the rear end side in the retainer traveling direction from the position . The drying apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein the lengths of the nozzles in a plurality of rows from one row or the front row on the inlet side of the drying device are shorter than the nozzle lengths in the subsequent rows. The drying apparatus according to claim 4 or 5 , wherein the opening diameters of the nozzles of a plurality of rows from one row or the front row of the drying device are thicker than the nozzle opening diameters of the subsequent rows.