JPH055490B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Industrial Field of Application) The present invention relates to a steam-cooking device capable of cooking rice by exposing grains to steam.

(Prior art) There is a system in which grains are conveyed with a predetermined layer thickness on a single conveyor, and then treated with steam or the like during the conveyance (Japanese Patent Publication No. 31-2093). Public bulletin).

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, in the above method, since the grains undergo almost no vertical positional change from the start to the end of the process, the grains located at the top of the layer and the grains located at the bottom It causes uneven heating and water absorption between grains, resulting in poor quality.

(Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention provides a steam-cooking device that can improve quality, and takes the following technical measures.

Specifically, there is a primary steaming device that can supply steam to grains that have been soaked in water in advance, a hot water immersion device that can make the grains that have been subjected to the primary steaming process absorb high-temperature water, and grains that have been immersed in hot water. A secondary steaming device capable of supplying steam to each device is sequentially provided, and a conveying means capable of conveying grains to each of the devices is provided independently so that the grains can be continuously conveyed. The drop from the primary steaming treatment device to the bottom of the hot water tank 9 of the hot water immersion treatment device is set larger than the drop from the hot water tank 9 of the hot water immersion treatment device to the conveyor 17 of the secondary steaming treatment device, and the secondary steaming treatment is performed. The apparatus is characterized in that a crusher 20 is provided above the upstream side of the conveyor 17, which can blow the grains in the conveying direction, and a steam supply means can shower the thrown grains with high-temperature steam. It was designed as a steaming rice cooking device.

(Operation) The grains that have been moistened in advance are transported by the transport means of the primary steaming device and are exposed to steam during the transport. The steamed grains then fall from the end of the conveying means into the hot water tank 9 of the hot water immersion treatment device. Then, the grains absorb high-temperature water from the hot water immersion treatment device and are conveyed to the secondary steaming treatment device by the conveying means. Then, the water-absorbed grains fall from the hot water tank 9 of the hot water immersion treatment device to the conveyor 17 of the secondary steaming treatment device and are conveyed. In this conveyance process, the grains are blown in the conveyance direction by the crusher 20 on the upstream side of the conveyor 17,
The person is exposed to high temperature steam supplied by the steam supply means.

(Effects) The layered grain is removed from this layer when it falls from the primary steaming device to the hot water tank 9 of the hot water immersion device, and when it falls from the hot water tank 9 of the hot water immersion device to the conveyor 17 of the secondary steaming device. can be broken down. By increasing the drop from the primary steaming device to the bottom of the hot water tank 9 of the hot water immersion device, the layers tend to collapse, so uneven water absorption of the grains is eliminated. Furthermore, since the drop from the hot water tank 9 of the hot water immersion processing device to the conveyor 17 is made small, grains can be prevented from becoming sticky when falling. Moreover, since the fallen grains are blown in the transport direction by the crusher 20 on the upstream side of the conveyor 17 and are exposed to high temperature steam, the rice can be cooked into fluffy and high quality rice.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view showing an embodiment of a steaming rice cooking apparatus according to the present invention. First, rice that has been washed in the previous step and contains moisture is inserted into the rice throwing hopper 1. The washed rice is continuously fed into the hopper 1 by suitable means (not shown).
The rice in the hopper 1 is discharged from the bottom of the hopper in fixed quantities and sent onto the first net conveyor 3. The thickness of the rice 29 on the net conveyor 3 is about 10 cm in this embodiment, and the width of the conveyor 3 is about 1 m, but the thickness and width can be increased or decreased as appropriate. The net conveyor 3 is stretched between a pair of rolls 2, 2, and at least one of these rolls is rotationally driven in the direction of the arrow in the figure. The rice on the net conveyor 3 is transferred to a first steaming section 6 which has a steam blow-off pipe 4 on the lower side of this conveyor 3 and a cover 5 on the upper side of the conveyor 3, and the rice that is blown out from the steam blow-off pipe 4, e.g. 95℃
For example, rice is heated and steamed using low-pressure, high-temperature steam at ~100°C until the temperature of the rice core reaches around 90°C, at least to achieve the minimum amount of alpha necessary for cooking delicious rice. In this example, the thickness of the rice was 10 cm, so the heating and steaming time was selected to be about 5 to 7 minutes depending on the quality of the rice. The rice whose alphaning has been promoted in this way is transferred by the net conveyor 3 and fed to the hot water tank 9. A rice feeding bar conveyor 6, on which a large number of bars 5a are attached at predetermined intervals, is attached to a hot water tank 9, and a pair of rolls 7, 7 are connected to the rice feeding bar conveyor 6.
Although not shown, the hot water supply pipe is installed in a state where it is stretched between
Hot water is supplied at or near ℃. The rice feeding bar conveyor 6 is driven in the direction of the arrow shown in the figure by rotationally driving at least one of the rolls 7, and moves the rice 29 fed into the hot water tank 9 into the hot water tank in almost fixed amounts, and boils the rice 29 into the hot water tank. The rice is heated with boiling water to maintain its temperature, further promoting alpha conversion and allowing the rice to absorb water.
This water-absorbed rice is sent from the hot water tank 9 onto a second net conveyor 17 arranged adjacently with a small head. This second net conveyor 17 carries four rolls 10, 11, 12, 1 in the illustrated example.
3, and is driven in the direction of the arrow in the figure by rotation of at least one of these rolls. The reason why the drop between the hot water tank 9 and the top surface of the second net conveyor 17 is reduced is because the rice 2 from the hot water tank 9 is
This is to prevent the wires 9 from sticking to the surface of the net conveyor 17. The rice 29 on the net conveyor 17 first passes through the blow-off pipe 2 at the top of the conveyor 17.
Hot water or seasoning liquid supply device 23 sprayed from 3a
After being rehydrated with hot water at, for example, around 90°C, the body reaches the crusher 20. The crusher 20 is rotated in the direction of the arrow shown at a speed considerably faster than the moving speed of the net conveyor 17.
The rice on a net conveyor 17 sent by blades 20a attached at predetermined intervals around the periphery is blown forward and diagonally upward, and the rice is piled up in a fluffy state to a considerable thickness on the conveyor.
Therefore, the length of the blades 20a of the crusher 20 is selected so that their tips substantially contact or come very close to the surface of the net conveyor 17 during rotation. As mentioned above, rice is supplied to the boiling water tank 9 in a thickness of about 10 cm in this embodiment, so the rice is passed through the boiling water tank 9 to the second net conveyor 17.
The thickness of the rice that is fed to the top becomes slightly thicker than 10 cm because it absorbs moisture. This rice was further blown forward by the crusher 20 and piled up to a thickness of approximately 15 cm in this example. This loosely piled rice on the conveyor is then transferred to a second conveyor 17, which is equipped with a lid 19 on the upper side of the conveyor 17.
The steam is then sent to the steaming section 21, where it is finished steamed with low-pressure high-temperature steam of, for example, 100°C or slightly lower, which is blown out from the steam blow-off pipe 15 arranged below the conveyor 17. The final finishing section 22 is equipped with a cover 19.
sent to. In this final finishing (smoothing) section 22, the rice is sufficiently smoothed by the low-pressure high-temperature steam of 101°C or higher blown out from the steam blow-off pipe 16 placed below the conveyor 17, resulting in glossy, fluffy and delicious rice. Finished in. The reason why low-pressure, high-temperature steam was used was because, as a result of the inventor's experiments, the rice was cooked more deliciously than when high-pressure steam was used. Note that the maximum temperature of low-pressure steam is
Since the temperature is 100°C, a heater is used to raise the temperature to 101°C or higher, and the low pressure steam of about 100°C from the steam outlet 16 is heated to a suitable temperature of 101°C or higher, such as 110°C or 120°C. Alternatively, heat it to about 150°C and then apply it to the rice 29 on the net conveyor 17. After the delicious rice is finished in this way, it is loosened by the rice loosening crusher 25, and then delivered to, for example, the next rice serving process.

In this embodiment, the rice 29 on the conveyor 17 is 15 cm thick by the rice crusher 20 described above.
It becomes thicker from front to back. As shown in FIG. 2, a pair of guides 26 are provided at both ends of the net conveyor 17 to prevent rice 29 from falling out. Therefore, the rice 29 on the conveyor comes into contact with these guides 26 and moves in order to expand due to being piled up and steam-cooked. Since rice is sticky, the frictional force caused by contact with the guide 26 causes cracks and slits in the rice on the 1m wide conveyor, causing uneven passage of steam and poor quality of the rice. There is a fear. Therefore, in this embodiment, the second steaming section 21 and the final finishing section 22 are provided with rice delivery bar rolls 27 and 28, respectively, as delivery means.
These bar rolls 27 and 28 are rotated slightly faster than the moving speed of the net conveyor 17, so that the rice is moved on the conveyor without cracks or cuts, and the rice is made to pass through the conveyor evenly and to improve the passage of steam. I have to. These bar rolls 2
7 and 28 are rotating shafts 27a and 2 as shown in FIG.
Bars 27b and 28b whose tips are bent in the rotational direction are attached at a predetermined interval to 8a, and at this time, the bars attached to each bar roll are made so that their axial attachment positions are not the same, and It is preferable not to overlap the mounting positions of the bars of the bar rolls, that is, all the bars of both bar rolls should be in contact with the rice at different positions in the width direction of the rice. The lengths of the bars 27b and 28b are preferably selected so that they penetrate from the top of the stacked rice 29 to a depth of 1/3 to 1/2 of its thickness, as shown in FIG.

In this embodiment, a preheating section 30 is further provided below the net conveyor 17 at a position where hot water is fed from the hot water tank 9. There is a steam blowing pipe 14 that blows out steam at a slightly lower temperature.
For example, when the quality of the rice is poor, steam is blown out and applied to the rice on the conveyor 17 to remove moisture from the surface of the rice and maintain the temperature of the rice. Therefore, although it is not necessary to provide the preheating section 30, it has the advantage that even if the rice is of poor quality, it can be cooked into shiny, fluffy and delicious rice. Of course, it has certain effects even when used with high quality rice.

Note that the steam blow-off pipes 4, 14, 15, and 16 are connected to a steam source (not shown) via a steam pipe 18 and valves 31, 32.

The rice is fluffy and glossy, which was previously unimaginable with continuous steaming, and there is almost no crumbling of the rice, and it is not chewy or chewy, and is no different from rice cooked in a rice cooker. , or even better.

In this way, the rice that is cooked with good whiteness, gloss, fluffy, and almost no crumbling is produced by heating the core of the rice to around 90℃ to promote alpha conversion. The rice is passed through boiling water to maintain its temperature and absorb water smoothly, then the rice is transferred onto a net conveyor with a small drop, and the rice on this conveyor is blown forward by a crusher. Pile the rice in a fairly thick and fluffy state to improve the passage of steam during the next final steaming and steaming.
The steam is made to pass through evenly and the rice that has become alpha is not turned into beta, and when finishing steaming, the second steaming section 21 is used to steam the rice with low pressure and high temperature steam at 100°C or less, and then the final finishing is done. This is thought to be due to uneven finishing in section 22 using low-pressure, high-temperature steam of 101°C or higher. According to the inventor's experiments, when the temperature of the hot water was lower than 60°C, the lower the temperature, the worse the absorption of the hot water became, and moreover, it turned into beta, making it impossible to cook delicious rice. The temperature of the hot water above is the value at normal pressure, therefore, 100°C hot water means the maximum temperature at normal pressure. On the other hand, even if only the temperature of the boiling water was limited, if the temperature of the steam during the final steaming was low, the rice would not be delicious. In other words, when the temperature of the steam in the final finishing section 22 is lower than 101°C, the above-mentioned whiteness is good, and the best rice is glossy and fluffy, with a soft inner and outer hardness that is delicious even when it gets cold. It wasn't cooked. There is no particular upper limit for the steam temperature, but the range of 101°C to 130°C is because there is virtually no change in the quality of the cooked rice even if the temperature is higher than 130°C, and the efficiency of steam is low. preferable. Furthermore, by adjusting the temperature of the boiling water and the temperature of the steam during the final steaming, you can change the state of the cooked rice to some extent (like slightly harder rice or slightly softer rice), so depending on the purpose. Another advantage is that you can set the temperature accordingly. In addition, the second steaming section 2
The above-mentioned delicious rice was cooked even without separating the finishing part 1 and the final finishing part 22 with a cover.

In addition, when cooking seasoned rice, the desired seasoning can be achieved by spraying seasoning liquid or flavoring liquid heated to around 90° C. instead of hot water from the hot water or seasoning liquid supply device 23 described above to replenish moisture. Alternatively, it can be cooked into flavored rice. In addition, a rice stacking crusher 20 and a second
A topping supplying device 24 is provided between the steamer and the steaming section 21, and by adding appropriate toppings to the rice being piled up, desired mixed rice can be cooked.

In the above embodiment, the blowing pipe 4 of the first steaming section 6 actually blows out low-pressure high-temperature steam of about 100° C. downward and directs it upward through the cover at the bottom, distributing the steam throughout the first steaming section 6. The structure is designed to keep the temperature of this area from dropping. However, the present invention is not limited thereto.

Further, in the above embodiments, the case where rice is cooked has been explained as an example, but the present invention can also be applied to the case where cooked rice, which becomes the dough for rice crackers such as rice crackers, is cooked. When making rice cracker dough, the water absorption rate of rice is about 10% lower than that of rice.
Since it is about 55%, the time to move the boiling water tank 9 is shortened and the water absorption rate of rice is lower than that of rice.
Set it to about 55%, and then cook it in the same way as the rice described above, and then knead the cooked rice in a separate process to make shinko. According to the method and apparatus of the present invention, even a large amount of waste rice can be cooked well, so there is no need to grind the rice into starch, and the cooked rice that becomes the dough for rice crackers can be cooked very efficiently. can.

As mentioned above, according to the embodiments, it is possible to easily cook a large amount of fluffy and delicious rice or cooked rice that becomes the dough for rice crackers in a short time without the need for any special incidental equipment. This eliminates the disadvantage of limited rice cooking capacity, is energy efficient, and does not require the use of many types of auxiliary equipment, making it economical. Furthermore, since it can be installed in a relatively narrow space, there is no problem with the installation location. Furthermore, it has many excellent advantages, such as being able to automatically prepare seasoned and flavored rice, mixed rice, and cooked rice that becomes the dough for rice crackers, resulting in considerable labor savings. Therefore, it can be applied to school lunch centers, large-scale cafeterias, rice crackers manufacturing industry, etc., and its effects are remarkable.

It should be noted that the above embodiments are merely illustrative of the present invention, and therefore, it goes without saying that various modifications and changes can be made as necessary. For example, washing rice is the first step.
Although the washed rice is heated while being transferred by the net conveyor 3 to promote alpha-ization, the washed rice is heated by other means such as a vertical steamer, and after being alpha-ized, it is sent to the boiling water tank 9 (belt conveyor, etc.). Of course, it is also possible to use the transfer means (or directly). Furthermore, even if the washed rice is directly fed to the boiling water tank 9 and heated, alpha-ized, and water-absorbed there, it is possible to obtain delicious rice or cooked rice that can be used as dough for rice crackers similar to the above embodiment. .
Further, although a bar conveyor was used in the boiling water tank to transfer the rice while soaking it in the boiling water, other means may be used. Furthermore, it goes without saying that the configuration, shape, and dimensions of the entire apparatus or the configuration, shape, and dimensions of each net conveyor, crusher, bar roll, etc. can be changed as necessary.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view showing an embodiment of the continuous steaming rice cooking apparatus according to the present invention, and FIGS. 2 and 3 are a plan view and a side view illustrating details of the bar roll shown in FIG. 1. 9 is a hot water tank, 17 is a conveyor, and 20 is a crusher.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A primary steaming device that can supply steam to grains that have been soaked in moisture in advance, a hot water immersion device that can make the grains that have been subjected to the primary steaming process absorb high-temperature water, and A secondary steaming device capable of supplying steam is sequentially arranged, and a conveying means capable of conveying grains to each device is provided independently so that the grains can be conveyed continuously. The drop from the steaming device to the bottom of the hot water tank 9 of the hot water immersion device is set to be larger than the drop from the hot water tank 9 of the hot water immersion device to the conveyor 17 of the secondary steaming device. Conveyor 17
This steam-cooking device is characterized in that a crusher 20 capable of blowing the grains in the transport direction is provided at an upper position on the upstream side of the rice cooker, and a steam supply means capable of showering the thrown grains with high-temperature steam is provided.