JPH0541946A - Steaming of raw tea leaves - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent dew condensation and to improve the quality by storing raw tea leaves in an atmosphere of a cooling air of <= about 15 deg.C in a tea leaf-controlling unit and raising the temperature to >= the dew point before sending the tea leaves to a steaming unit. CONSTITUTION:In a unit for feeding raw tea leaves from a tea leaf-controlling unit containing a cooling unit or from a tea leaf-controlling unit 4 integrated in a cooling chamber to a tea leaf-steaming unit 5 of a working chamber 2 for tea making, the temperature of the raw tea leaves is raised at least to >=the dew point before the raw tea leaves reach the tea leaf-steaming unit 5 after charge thereof into the working chamber 2.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for steaming heat treatment of raw tea leaves, and more particularly, to precooling the cooled raw tea leaves before supplying them to a steamer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Raw tea leaves collected from a tea garden are transported to a tea factory and subjected to steam heat treatment, followed by rough kneading, kneading, middle kneading,
It is processed into rough tea after being subjected to treatments such as refining. In performing steam heat treatment, it is required that raw tea leaves, which are the raw material, be fresh and not withered. Therefore, the tea factory is equipped with a tea leaf management device, and the fresh tea leaves that have been brought in are placed in it for at least several hours to several tens of hours before being supplied to the tea leaf steaming machine, and the steam generated is removed. Therefore, it keeps freshness and stores while preventing withering. In recent years, there is an increasing tendency to suspend steaming work at night or on holidays, so the storage time of raw tea leaves has become longer, and it is sometimes necessary to store it for several days. Therefore, a method has been attempted in which a fresh tea leaf storage chamber or a tea leaf management device is provided with a cooling device to store the fresh tea leaf in an atmosphere of low temperature air so as to keep the freshness of the fresh tea leaf.

[0003]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Raw tea leaves are remarkably suppressed in activity in a low-temperature air atmosphere of about 15 ° C or lower,
Generation of dampness is extremely reduced. Therefore, the freshness of fresh tea leaves can be maintained for a long time, and fresh tea leaves in a fresh state can be supplied to the tea leaf steamer. However, in addition to the high-temperature work in the tea making process, steam is supplied from the boiler to the tea leaf steamer, so the inside of the work place is hot and humid, so when trying to supply cooled fresh tea leaves to the tea leaf steamer, Dew condensation occurs on the surface of the fresh tea leaves, and water drops are attached to the fresh tea leaves. for that reason,
Tea leaves are poorly steamed, which is a factor of deteriorating the quality of rough tea produced. In addition, the raw tea leaves and water drops remove the latent heat of steam in the tea leaf steamer, and the steaming effect is diminished, resulting in insufficient steaming of the tea leaves. For this reason, in the past, this method could not be realized, although it was necessary to store fresh tea leaves in an atmosphere of low temperature air. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method of storing raw tea leaves in an atmosphere of low temperature air in a tea leaf management apparatus and steam-treating the raw tea leaves without causing an adverse effect due to cooling.

[0004]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a tea leaf management apparatus having a cooling apparatus or a tea leaf management apparatus provided in a cooling chamber for feeding a fresh tea leaf to a tea leaf steamer in a tea making working room. Is configured to be able to raise the temperature of raw tea leaves to at least the temperature above the dew point temperature from the time when the tea leaves enter the tea making work room until they reach the tea leaf steamer, and they are plucked from the tea garden and transported to the tea factory. First, the fresh tea leaves are put into a tea leaf management device, stored in an atmosphere of cooling air of about 15 ° C or lower, and the raw tea leaves cooled by this tea leaf management device are heated to at least a dew point temperature or higher. The above object is achieved by a method in which the tea leaves are steamed and then supplied to a tea leaf steamer. The feeding device should be an open type conveyor, such as a net conveyor or a belt conveyor, with an appropriate length so that the raw tea leaves will contact the air in the tea making room for a certain period of time or more to raise the temperature to a predetermined temperature. Can be done. In addition, by attaching a blower to this conveyor, the air and warm air in the tea making work room is blown to the fresh tea leaves to enhance the temperature raising capability and shorten the conveyor, and further it does not affect the quality of the rough tea produced. Within the range, it is possible to raise the temperature of the raw tea leaves to evaporate the water droplets and enhance the steaming effect in the tea leaf steamer. It is desirable to raise the temperature of the raw tea leaves to a predetermined temperature before reaching the controller.

[0005]

The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the illustrated embodiments. In the figure, reference numeral 1 is a cooling room, and 2 is a tea making work room. The cooling chamber 1 is provided with a cooler 3 for cooling the air in the chamber to a predetermined temperature of about 15 ° C. or lower. In addition, a tea leaf management device 4 is provided in the room, and raw tea leaves that have been plucked in a tea garden and carried to a tea factory are put into this and stored. In the tea making work room 2, a tea leaf steamer 5, a rough kneading machine, a kneading machine, a middle kneading machine, a fine kneading machine and the like, which are not shown, are installed, and a boiler 6 is connected to the tea leaf steaming machine 5 to produce fresh tea leaves. It is designed to be processed into rough tea. A feeding device 7 such as a lattice conveyor, a belt conveyor, or a vibration conveyor is provided between the tea leaf management device 4 in the cooling chamber 1 and the tea leaf steamer 5 in the tea making work chamber 2, and a controller 8 is provided in the middle of the feeding device 7. The fresh tea leaves that are attached and stored in the tea leaf management device 4 are supplied to the tea leaf steamer 5 in predetermined amounts. In particular, the feeding device 7 is configured to raise the temperature of the raw tea leaves cooled in the cooling chamber 1 to at least the dew point temperature or more during the time from when the raw tea leaves enter the tea making working chamber 2 until they reach the tea leaf steamer 5. Has been done. Feeder 7 such as Nveya
Is provided, and the controller 8 is attached in the middle thereof so that the raw tea leaves stored in the tea leaf management device 4 are supplied to the tea leaf steamer 5 by a predetermined amount.

When performing the tea making operation, first, the cooler 3 is started to cool the inside of the cooling chamber 1 to a predetermined temperature.
Raw tea leaves that have been brought into the tea factory are put into the tea leaf management device 4 and stored. Next, this raw tea leaf is fed into the tea leaf steamer 5 by a predetermined amount, steam is also supplied from the boiler 6 at the same time, and this is steam-heat treated, and the treated steamed tea leaf is further subjected to a rough kneading machine, a kneading machine, a middle kneading machine, Then, it is sequentially sent to a refiner, and given a predetermined treatment to be processed into rough tea. Then, in this step, the raw tea leaves supplied from the tea leaf management device 4 to the tea leaf steamer 5 are heated by being brought into contact with the air in the working chamber as soon as they are put into the tea making working chamber 2 by the feeding device 7, After raising the temperature to at least the dew point temperature or higher, it is put into the tea leaf steamer 5.

[0007]

As described in detail above, according to the present invention, the raw tea leaves cooled by the tea leaf management device are heated to at least the dew point temperature or higher and then supplied to the tea leaf steamer, so that the tea plant can be used in a tea factory. Now, the fresh tea leaves that have been delivered to can be stored in an atmosphere of cooling air below 15 ° C. As a result, fresh tea leaves can be kept fresh and stored for a long time, making it easy to adjust the time during which tea is made, and moreover, always processing fresh tea leaves with high freshness. Therefore, there is an advantage that a high quality product rough tea can be obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Cooling Room 2 Tea Making Work Room 3 Cooling Machine 4 Tea Leaf Management Device 5 Tea Leaf Steaming Machine 6 Boiler 7 Feeder 8 Controller

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. Raw tea leaves that are plucked from a tea garden and transported to a tea factory are put into a tea leaf management device having a cooling device or a tea leaf management device provided in a cooling chamber, and the tea leaves are kept at about 15 ° C. or lower. Stored in an atmosphere of cooling air, when supplying the cooled raw tea leaves to the tea leaf steamer by the feeding device, at least from the time when the raw tea leaves are put into the tea making steamer to the tea leaf steamer, at least A method for steaming heat treatment of raw tea leaves, which comprises raising the temperature to a temperature above the dew point temperature. 2. The feeding device is an open type conveyor having an appropriate length such as a net conveyor or a belt conveyor, and the raw tea leaves placed in the tea making work room are brought into contact with the air in the tea making work room for a certain time or more. The method for steaming heat treatment of raw tea leaves according to claim 1, wherein the temperature is raised to a predetermined temperature by means of. 3. The steam-heat treatment method for raw tea leaves according to claim 2, wherein a blower is attached to the feeding device, and the raw tea leaves are heated by blowing air or warm air from the tea making chamber to the raw tea leaves.