JPH02307411A - Automatic bread making device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To allow proper control of a fermentation process for a good bread baking by controlling the subsequent fermentation process based on the gas content detected by a gas content detector before the first venting operation in the fermentation process. CONSTITUTION:A condition judgement part 29, in the primary fermentation process after the kneading process is finished, controls energization to a lower heater 3 so as to keep the temperature in a heating drum 5 at about 28 deg.C for instance through a temperature control part 31, thereby to maintain the temperature in a container 1 at a given temperature for fermentation. Then the condition judgement part 29, after the primary fermentation is performed for a setup time, is input the gas content in the container 1 at the time as the output Va from a gas detector 23, then the first venting operation is performed for a given time. Moreover, the condition judgement part 29 obtains the secondary fermentation time tc, and fermentation completion time ta with an information previously stored based on the output Va. Then the secondary fermentation and forming fermentation are performed successively, and the condition judgement part 29 controls each fermentation time in accordance with the obtained time tc, ta.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Purpose of the invention] (Industrial application field) The present invention relates to an automatic bread maker.

(Prior Art) With the increase in bread consumption in recent years, various types of bread makers have become increasingly popular in the market.

In a bread maker, bread is made by kneading the ingredients, such as flour, yeast, a small amount of butter, sugar, etc., with water for primary fermentation, degassing, and then secondary fermentation.
The bread is then degassed, molded and fermented, and then baked to finish.

By the way, among the bread manufacturing processes, the fermentation process in particular is an important process in order to give the bread an appropriate amount of rise, as well as to advance the ripening of the dough and give it a good texture. In addition, degassing during the fermentation process is
This is also an important process, as it has the effect of making the texture of the dough finer.

Regarding the number of degassing times, it is better to make better bread by degassing twice or more than once, but if you do it too many times, the dough will get damaged and the quality of the bread will deteriorate, so the degassing time, rotation The number of times may need to be adjusted depending on the number of times. Therefore, in the fermentation process, the fermentation speed is affected by seasonal and regional differences in temperature and humidity, initial material temperature, yeast fermentation power, type of materials, composition, etc.
It is necessary to control the process in consideration of these factors.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) However, in the method in which humans perform the fermentation process by adjusting the fermentation time and amount of yeast, it is virtually impossible to make adjustments in advance based on the factors mentioned above. In determining this, subjective methods were used, such as visually judging the increase in volume, or making a hole in the bread dough with a finger and judging by how well the hole returned. For this reason, it was difficult and time-consuming to always make bread of uniform quality. In addition, in automatic bread makers, fermentation is generally controlled only by temperature and time, and the above-mentioned factors are not considered, resulting in under-fermentation or over-fermentation.
There was a possibility that the quality of the bread would not be good.

The present invention has been made in view of the above, and an object of the present invention is to provide an automatic bread maker that appropriately controls the fermentation process and makes it possible to make good bread.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, an automatic bread maker that automatically produces bread from bread ingredients through a fermentation process that includes at least multiple degassing operations. , the present invention provides a gas concentration detection means for detecting the concentration of gas generated from the bread material during each step of fermentation and baking, and a gas concentration detection means for detecting the concentration of gas generated from the bread material during each of the fermentation and baking steps, and a gas concentration detection means for detecting the gas concentration detected by the gas concentration detection means before the first degassing operation in the fermentation step. The gist of the present invention is to have a control means for controlling subsequent fermentation steps based on the concentration.

The present invention also provides an automatic bread maker that automatically produces bread from bread ingredients through a fermentation process that includes at least a plurality of degassing operations. a concentration detection means; a control means for controlling the subsequent fermentation process based on the gas concentration detected by the gas concentration detection means before the first degassing operation in the fermentation process; The gist of the present invention is to include a modification means for modifying the control content of the control means based on the gas concentration detected by the detection means.

(Function) In the automatic bread maker according to the present invention, in a fermentation process that includes multiple degassing operations, the concentration of gas generated from the bread material before the first degassing operation and the rate of progress of fermentation can be adjusted. Focusing on the fact that there is a correlation between the two, the fermentation process is controlled based on the detection result of the gas concentration before the first degassing operation.

Furthermore, in the automatic bread maker according to the present invention, the control contents of the fermentation process, which are set based on the detection result of the gas concentration before the first degassing operation described above, are corrected based on the gas concentration detected during fermentation. It was designed to do so.

(Example) Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained in detail using the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a cross section of an automatic bread maker according to an embodiment of the present invention. Its feature is that it utilizes the correlation between the concentration of gas generated from the bread ingredients before the first degassing (-second degassing) performed at the end of the primary fermentation in the fermentation process and the rate of progress of fermentation. The second fermentation time and the time until the end of fermentation in the subsequent fermentation process are determined based on the gas concentration before the next gas release.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a container in which various ingredients for making bread are put into and the bread is manufactured through predetermined steps described below. It is fixedly installed on a support stand 7 provided at the bottom of the tank 5. The bottom of the container 1 is connected via a transmission mechanism 14 and a coupling device 16 to a rotating shaft 12 of a motor 11 installed in the main body 9 in parallel with the container 1, and is rotated as the motor 11 is driven. A blade 13 is provided for stirring the material. Furthermore, a circulation heater section 41 is provided on the upper outer wall of the heating tank 5 . This circulation heater section 41 includes a fan heater 43.degree. fan 45.degree. The configuration includes a fan motor 47, and when the fan motor 47 is driven, a heat circulation process is created in the heating tank 5 from the air outlet 49 formed in the heating tank 5 to the suction port 51. On the other hand, an inner lid 15 is disposed in a portion of the container 1, and forms a sealed space when the inner lid 15 is closed. This inner lid 15 is connected to an outer lid 17 constituting the main body 9 by a gas detection chamber 19, which will be described later, and is opened when the outer lid 17 is opened. Further, a hole 21 for exhaust is formed in a part of the inner lid 15, and a gas detection chamber 19 that also serves as a passage to a hole 22 of the outer lid 17 communicating with the outside is connected to the hole 21. It is formed.

Gas detection means 2 is located in the middle of this gas detection chamber 19.
3 is arranged to detect the concentration of a predetermined gas generated in the bread manufacturing process and output the detection result to the control section 25 provided in the main body 9. In particular, usually hole 22
Since a chopper 52 is provided that covers the hole 22 and releases steam from the hole 22 in an open state during baking, the gas detection means 23 can measure the concentration of gas generated during fermentation without being diluted by external air. Can be detected. The gas detection means 23 is, for example, a semiconductor type gas sensor, which is particularly sensitive to ethyl alcohol, carbon dioxide, and the like.

In addition, in FIG. 1, 27 is a temperature detection means for detecting the temperature inside the container 1, and the detection result is output to the control section 25.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the control section 25 and its peripheral circuit blocks. The control unit 25 controls the lower heater 3. based on the detection results from the gas detection means 23, the temperature detection means 27, etc.
Motor 11. Process control is performed by driving and controlling the fan heater 43, fan motor 47, and chopper 52.

In FIG. 2, reference numeral 29 denotes a state judgment unit that receives detection results from the gas detection means 23 and the like and judges the progress state of the process, that is, the fermentation state in the fermentation process and the baking state in the baking process. It consists of computers, etc. In particular, the state determining unit 29 determines the output Va of the gas detection means 23 during primary degassing as shown in FIG.
Secondary fermentation time for 1. and the outputs Va and v of the gas detection means 23 at the time of primary degassing and after the elapse of a set time after secondary degassing as shown in FIG.
It stores information on the change in the time from primary degassing to completion of fermentation (fermentation completion time) t with respect to b, and determines the secondary fermentation time te based on the output from the gas detection means 23.
It has a function of determining the fermentation end time t.

Further, 31 is a temperature detecting means 27 under the control of the state determining section 29.
This is a temperature control unit that controls the temperature of the lower heater 3 based on the detection results from the lower heater 3. Further, reference numerals 33 and 34 are motor control sections that respectively control the driving of the motor 11 and the fan motor 47 under the control of the state judgment section 29. Note that the temperature control method of the lower heater 3 by the temperature control unit 31 may be, for example, a method in which the lower heater 3 is turned on with the energizing voltage kept constant.
Off control etc. can be considered.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained using FIG. 5. In addition, FIG. 5 shows the lower heater 3 as the bread manufacturing process progresses.
．． Motor 11. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the state of energization to the fan heater 43° and the fan motor 47 and the state of change in the detection result in the gas detection means 23.

First, at the start of bread making, when the required bread ingredients are put into the container 1 and a predetermined start switch (not shown) is operated, the state determining section 2 starts driving the lower heater 3 and By driving the motor 11, the blades 13 are rotated to knead this bread material for a predetermined period of time to form bread dough.

This is the so-called kneading process. In this kneading process, under the control of the condition determining section 29, the fan heater 43 and the fan motor 47 are driven to adjust the ambient temperature. Furthermore, during the kneading process, the motor 11, fan heater 43, and fan heater 47 are stopped for a predetermined period of time, except for the lower heater 3.
This is the so-called wakashi process.

When the primary fermentation process starts after the kneading process ends, the state determining unit 29 controls the power supply to the lower heater 3 via the temperature control unit 31 so that the temperature in the heating tank 5 is maintained at about 28°C, for example. The temperature inside the container 1 is maintained at a predetermined fermentation temperature. Then, after performing this secondary fermentation for a set time, the state determining unit 29 inputs the gas concentration in the container 1 at that time (t2) as the output Va from the gas detection means 23, and then performs primary degassing for a certain period of time. conduct. The state determining unit 29 uses the information shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 stored in advance based on this output Va to determine the subsequent secondary fermentation time tc and fermentation end time t.

Here, time 1. ．． 1. is determined for the following reasons. That is, in the fermentation process, ethanol gas generated by fermentation of bread ingredients and yeast is accumulated in the gas detection chamber 19 due to the presence of the chopper 52, but when the gas is removed, the output of the gas detection means 23 changes. . This is because CO2 is mainly produced in addition to ethanol during fermentation, but in the air bubbles inside the dough, most of the ethanol is adsorbed to the dough, and CO2 accounts for a high proportion of the gas composition. This is because when the refrigerator is filled with ethanol, the ethanol concentration in the refrigerator decreases as a result. Therefore, a stable output can be obtained before degassing or after the fluctuations have subsided. At the latter point, it is possible that fermentation has already finished for bread dough with a fast fermentation rate, and the gas concentration is stable and high at the value immediately before the next degassing, making it suitable for output detection. .

After this secondary degassing operation is completed, secondary fermentation and molding fermentation are sequentially performed, and the state determining section 29 controls each fermentation time according to the determined times tc and ta. Note that the gas sensor is adjusted to be most sensitive to the gas concentration of about Va in dough B, but for dough that ferments slowly, the gas concentration in container 1 before the primary degassing is low, so there may be an error in gas concentration detection. becomes larger. Moreover, since the time from the first and second degassing to the end of fermentation is longer than the first fermentation, which is more than six times, the variation in the yield of bread due to detection errors becomes large. Therefore, if Va is smaller than the set value Vx, the state judgment unit 29 determines that when the fluctuation in the gas concentration in the container 1 subsides during the forming fermentation after secondary degassing (the change in gas concentration is immediately before the next degassing). The fermentation end time t is corrected using the information shown in FIG. 4 based on the output vb from the gas detection means 23 at the time (to) when the slope has stabilized at approximately the same slope as the slope of . According to the above-described control of the fermentation process, the output of the gas detection means 23 and the transition of the bread manufacturing process over time are as shown in FIG. 6 due to the difference in the rate of progress of fermentation of the bread dough.

In FIG. 6, the fermentation rate is fast in case A, and the fermentation rate is slow in case C. The temperature of the lower heater 3 during molding fermentation is set to a slightly higher temperature (for example, 38° C.) than during the second and second fermentations.

In the baking step after forming and fermenting, the state determining unit 29 starts baking while controlling the temperature of the lower heater 3 to be maintained at a predetermined baking temperature (for example, 160° C.) which is higher than that during the fermentation step. By baking only with the lower heater 3, CO2, ethyl alcohol, etc. are generated inside the bread dough, so that the gas concentration increases and the bread dough expands (approximately 2 degrees open). Baking using only the lower heater 3 is carried out for a certain period of time (approximately 15 stitches), but after that, the state determining unit 29 starts driving the fan heater 43 and the fan motor 47 to start baking from the surface of the dough as described above. At the same time, monitoring of changes in gas concentration within the container 1 starts. For example, when the state determining unit 29 detects that the gas concentration has decreased by a predetermined amount ΔDb after reaching the maximum, the lower heater 3. By stopping the power supply to the fan heater 43 and the fan motor 47 and ending the baking process, bread production is completed. Alternatively, after detecting the maximum value of the gas concentration, the end of bread production may be detected by control using a timer or by the rate of change in the slope of the concentration.

The reason why the fan heater 43 and the fan motor 47 are not driven from the start of the baking process is to prevent the dough surface from browning and hardening, which will prevent the dough from expanding and cause baking defects inside the dough. This is for prevention purpose.

Therefore, according to this embodiment, the fermentation work can be carried out with a good balance between the secondary fermentation, the secondary fermentation, and the molding fermentation, regardless of various factors that affect the fermentation work, such as temperature and humidity due to seasonal and regional differences. can be carried out properly and can be done automatically in high-quality bread making.

In this example, the secondary fermentation time tc and the fermentation end time t were determined based on the output Va of the gas detection means 23 at the time of second degassing (L2), but the secondary fermentation time tc was fixed in advance. If the time is set, the status determination unit 29
The fermentation end time t for the outputs Va and vb as shown in FIG.

It is also possible to store information indicating changes in the fermentation end time t, and to obtain or correct only the fermentation end time t. According to the control of the fermentation process in this case, the gas detection means 2
The output of No. 3 and the transition of the bread manufacturing process are shown in FIG.

Further, although this embodiment has been described with reference to the case where degassing is performed twice in the fermentation process, it goes without saying that degassing may be performed twice.

Furthermore, in the case of the re-kneading method in which kneading is performed for several tens of minutes instead of the second degassing, the timing of the end of fermentation and the second degassing (rounding) is determined based on the output before re-kneading, and By modifying the control details based on the output at the set time after degassing, it is possible to produce high-quality bread.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, in a fermentation process having multiple degassing operations, the gas concentration generated from the bread crumbs before the first degassing operation and the fermentation process are The fermentation process is controlled based on the detection result of the gas concentration before the first degassing operation, focusing on the correlation between the progress speed and the gas concentration before the first degassing operation, as described above. The fermentation process control details are set based on the results.
Since the correction is made based on the gas concentration detected during fermentation, the fermentation process can be appropriately controlled, thereby making it possible to make good bread with uniform taste and size.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a control circuit block in the embodiment, and FIGS. 3 and 4 are diagrams for explaining control processing in the embodiment. , FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 are diagrams for explaining the operation of this embodiment, FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining the control process of another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining the control process of another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the embodiment. 1... Container 3... Lower heater 5... Heating tank 7... Support stand 9... Main body
11...Motor 13...Blade 15...
Inner lid 17... Outer lid 19... Gas detection chamber 2
], 22... Hole 23... Gas detection means 25
,...control unit 27...temperature detection means 29.
...Status judgment section 31...Temperature control section 33.34.
・Motor control section

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) In an automatic bread maker that automatically manufactures bread from bread ingredients through a fermentation process that includes degassing operations at least multiple times, gas concentration detection means for detecting the concentration of gas generated from the bread ingredients. and a control means for controlling the subsequent fermentation process based on the gas concentration detected by the gas concentration detection means before the first degassing operation in the fermentation process. (2) In an automatic bread maker that automatically manufactures bread from bread ingredients through a fermentation process that includes degassing operations at least multiple times, gas concentration detection means for detecting the concentration of gas generated from the bread ingredients. and a control means for controlling the subsequent fermentation process based on the gas concentration detected by the gas concentration detection means before the first degassing operation in the fermentation process,
An automatic bread maker comprising: a correction means for correcting the content of control in the control means based on the gas concentration detected by the gas concentration detection means during fermentation after the first degassing operation.