JPH1033372A - Continuous rice cooker - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] To provide a continuous rice cooker that combines the advantages of the rice cooker method and the advantages of the mesh belt conveyor method. [Configuration] The rice cooking process is heated by a plurality of gas burners provided below the rice cooker. The rice cooker 7 is formed in the pot type rice cooker 7 for cooking rice, and in the subsequent step of the pot reversing step 15, the rice cooked in the pot type rice cooker 7 is placed on a mesh belt conveyor and steamed again with heated steam. A belt-type rice cooker 22 for cooking rice was connected.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a continuous rice cooker capable of continuously cooking rice in large quantities.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a continuous rice cooker for continuously cooking a large amount of cooked rice, a large number of rice cookers (rice cookers) are filled with washed rice and cooked water, and these are filled with a chain conveyor or the like. A device in which a gas is burned and cooked by a gas burner provided below a rice cooker while being suspended and transferred in one direction by a transfer means (for example, see Japanese Patent Publication No. 50-3386,
Hereinafter, the rice cooker method will be used. ) Or a method in which immersed rice is placed on a mesh belt conveyor in a fixed pile, and cooked and cooked with heated steam blown out from a steam pipe while being transported by the mesh belt conveyor (for example, Japanese Utility Model No. 7-30923). No. 2, pp. 139-334, hereinafter referred to as a mesh belt conveyor system).

[0003]

By the way, the former rice cooker system and the latter mesh belt conveyor system have the following problems.
There are advantages and disadvantages in cooking and handling of cooked rice.

[0004] Regarding the cooking method of cooked rice, for example, when the cooked cooked rice is used for seasoning rice such as for sushi, rice ball or gomoku-meshi, seasonings such as vinegar, salty liquid, broth, and seasoning oil are used. Addition is required. In the addition of this seasoning, in the former rice cooker method, it is possible to add in both the immersion step before cooking or the unraveling step after cooking,
In the latter mesh belt conveyor system, it can be added only in the loosening step after cooking rice. That is, in the rice cooker method, the rice cooker is filled with washed rice, water for immersion, and an appropriate seasoning, and the immersion step is performed, and the seasoning is also sprayed in the mashing step after the rice is cooked. can do. In contrast, in the mesh belt conveyor method, steamed rice is cooked by heating steam blown out from a steam pipe while transferring immersed rice on the mesh belt conveyor.
It is difficult to add a seasoning before cooking, and it is usually practiced to spray the seasoning in the form of a mist in a loosening step after cooking.

The addition of the above-mentioned seasoning depends on the type of seasoning, the timing of addition, the number of additions, etc., depending on the type of seasoned rice. Is preferred to use a rice cooker method, and a mesh belt conveyor method is preferable for obtaining smooth rice without stickiness such as sushi rice.

[0006] Concerning the cleaning of the continuous rice cooker, in the mesh belt conveyor system, rice is adhered to the inside of the conveyor and the rice cooker because heating steam is directly blown on the conveyor to cook rice, so that cleaning is troublesome. Although there is a drawback such as this, on the other hand, in the rice cooker method,
It takes time and effort to clean a large number of rice cookers. However, if a kettle washer is installed on a rice cooking line, there is an advantage that many rice cookers can be automatically cleaned and labor can be saved.

In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a continuous rice cooker having both the advantages of a rice cooker system and the advantages of a mesh belt conveyor system.

[0008]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a rice cooker placed on a conveyor, and a rice washing / weighing step, an immersion step provided at an appropriate position on the conveyor.
A rice cooker, a steaming step, and a continuous rice cooker that sequentially passes through a kettle reversing step, wherein the rice cooker step is formed in a pot type rice cooker that heats and cooks by a plurality of gas burners provided below the rice cooker. In the subsequent step of the pot reversing step, the cooked rice cooked in the pot type rice cooker is placed on a mesh belt conveyor and steamed again with heated steam.
Technical measures were taken to connect a belt-type rice cooker for cooking rice.

Further, in a post-process of the belt-type rice cooking section,
The belt-type rice cooking unit includes a seasoning addition unit that sprays seasoning on the transferred rice, a room-temperature cooling unit that blows room-temperature air on the transferred rice, and a low-temperature cooling unit that blows low-temperature air on the transferred rice. It is preferable to share the same mesh belt conveyor as the above and to integrally arrange them.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view schematically showing the whole continuous rice cooker, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing each step of the continuous rice cooker, and FIG. 3 is a schematic vertical sectional view showing a pot type rice cooker. FIG. 4 is a schematic longitudinal sectional view showing a steaming cooler including a belt type rice cooking section, a seasoning addition section, and a cooked rice cooling section.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, reference numeral 1 denotes a measuring device for weighing the washed rice which has been sent by a rice washing facility (not shown). The measuring device 1 and a water supply means (not shown) determine a predetermined amount. Is poured into the empty rice cooker 2. When serving with seasoned rice such as for sushi, rice balls, or gomeshi, seasonings such as vinegar, salty liquid, broth, and seasoning oil may be supplied by the seasoning supply device 3. Reference numeral 4 denotes an automatic lid covering device, which covers the rice cooker 2 into which white rice, water and seasonings have been put, with the lid 5. Then, the rice cooker 2 is transferred to the three-dimensional immersion device 6 by a transport conveyor, performs an immersion process for a predetermined time, and then heats and heats the gas by a gas burner.
The rice is transferred to the rice cooker 7 for cooking rice. This rice cooker 7
Will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

The rice cooker 7 shown in FIG. 3 is heated and cooked by a large number of gas burners 8 provided below the rice cooker 2, but two sets are provided for heating and cooking the rice cooker 2 continuously. Is provided. That is, the rice cooker 7
An unheated portion near the hook-in portion 9 and the hook-out portion 10 is formed by a roller conveyor 11, and a portion heated by a number of gas burners 8 is formed by a chain conveyor 12. Then, the rice cooker 2 is operated by the chain conveyor 12.
Is heated and cooked by a number of gas burners 8 while being transported rightward in the drawing. The thermal power of each gas burner 8 is
The temperature is controlled by the heating power changing means and the like in the boiling reaching step, the boiling maintaining step, and the baking step, thereby enabling uniform and uniform rice cooking.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the continuous rice cooker will be described.
It has a shelf-like shape and has a heat retaining function, and can keep a large number of rice cookers 2 after the rice cooking process of the rice cooker 7 completed. Code 14
Reference numeral 15 denotes an automatic lid removing device, and reference numeral 15 denotes a hook 17 for engaging and disengaging the handle 2B of the rice cooker 2, and an endless elevator 1.
And 8 (see FIG. 4). The rice cooker 2 that has passed through the three-dimensional steaming device 13 is
The rice cooker 2 is placed on an automatic kettle reversing machine 15 and lifted upward by an endless elevator 18, and then the rice cooked by being vigorously inverted is transferred to a belt-type rice cooker in the next process. . Figure 4 about this belt type rice cooker
This will be described in more detail.

A belt-type rice cooker for re-steaming and cooking with heated steam is connected to the subsequent step of the automatic kettle reversing machine 15, and an example of this belt-type rice cooker is shown in FIG. Belt-type rice cooking section 22 and seasoning addition section 23
And steaming cooler 16 that integrates rice cookers 24 and 25
It is convenient for practical use.

The steaming cooler 16 has a loosening hopper 19 for receiving the inverted rice from the automatic kettle reversing machine 15.
And an endless cooked rice transport conveyer 20 having a starting end below the unraveling hopper 19 and transporting cooked rice as a main part, and the tempering section 2 in order from the front side in the cooked rice transport direction.
1, a belt-type rice cooking section 22, a seasoning addition section 23, a normal-temperature cooling section 24, and a low-temperature cooling section 25 are provided.

A stirring blade 26 is provided at the bottom of the loosening hopper 19 to enable the inverted rice to be loosened in the hopper 19. The rice-cooking conveyor 20 stretches a ventilable endless belt such as a mesh belt conveyor between a pair of left and right large-diameter pulleys 27, 27.
A plurality of auxiliary pulleys 28 are arranged between the shafts 7 and 27, and the upper conveyor 20A, which is a forward path, is run rightward in the drawing by a driving device (not shown).

The tempering unit 21 loosens cooked cooked rice by the stirring blades 26 in the hopper 19 and then makes the cooked rice transport conveyer 20 a uniform layer thickness to perform a steaming process at room temperature. This allows
The rice is finished without stickiness and sent to the belt-type rice cooker 22 in the next step.

The belt-type rice cooking section 22 is a step of steaming cooked rice with heated steam from a steam pipe 29 provided below the cooked rice transfer conveyor 20, and the heated steam jetted from the steam pipe 29 is transferred with a constant layer thickness. Sprayed on rice,
The exhaust heat is exhausted outside the machine from an exhaust hood 30 provided above the conveyor 20.

The cooked rice that has passed through the belt-type rice cooking section 22 is sent to a seasoning addition section 23, which is provided with a plurality of seasoning addition nozzles 31.
By using the residual heat of the transferred cooked rice, the seasoning liquid uniformly penetrates the whole cooked rice layer. Next, the cooked rice that has passed through the seasoning addition unit 23 is transferred to the low-temperature cooling unit 25 via the room-temperature cooling unit 24.

The room temperature cooling unit 24 is provided with an air collection chamber 32 for blowing room temperature air, and the room temperature cooling unit 25 is provided with an air collection room 33 for blowing cooling air, respectively. A duct 34 having an air filter and the like is connected to take in the outside normal temperature air, and an air filter 35, a fan 36, and a cooling coil 37 are provided above the air collecting chamber 33.
Is connected. Suction air outlets 39 and 40 are provided below the conveyor 20, and the suction fan 4 is further connected to the suction air outlets 39 and 40.
1 and 42 are connected respectively. This allows the wind collection chamber 32,
The air in the conveyor 33 is conveyed to the conveyor 2 by suction fans 41 and 42.
The rice is blown on the rice above the foreground, and the exhaust air is forcibly exhausted from below the conveyor 20 to the outside of the machine.

Reference numeral 43 denotes a stirring blade, which is a product discharge port 4.
In the vicinity of No. 4, the cooled rice is loosened to discharge high quality products. Reference numeral 45 denotes a high-pressure washing nozzle for scraping off the leftovers adhering to the rice-cooking conveyor 20, and reference numeral 46 denotes an air blow nozzle for removing adhering water attached to the conveyor 20 by the high-pressure washing nozzle. Further, reference numeral 47 denotes an ultraviolet sterilizing lamp for sterilizing the washed rice transport conveyor 20.

Next, the operation of the steam cooler 16 configured as described above will be described.

The cooked rice cooked by the cooker-type rice cooker 7 is supplied to the automatic cooker reversing machine 15 together with the rice cooker 2, lifted by the endless elevator 18, and then inverted, and the cooked cooked rice is loosened one after another. Supplied to

When the cooked hopper 19 receives cooked rice in a lump state, the cooked rice is released to the cooked rice transfer conveyor 20 below the hopper 19 while the cooked rice is loosened by rotation of the stirring blades 26 provided at the bottom. Next, the cooked rice discharged on the cooked rice transfer conveyor 20 is transferred to the tempering unit 21 with a uniform thickness. The tempering unit 21 performs a steaming process at room temperature, and can finish the cooked rice cooked in the pot-type rice cooker 7 into sticky rice.

Next, the cooked rice is transferred to the belt-type rice cooker 22. In this transfer process, the heated steam spouted from the steam pipe 29 provided below the cooked rice transfer conveyor 20 is fed to the conveyor 20.
Through the perforated plate, the rice cooked into the cooked rice layer, and the cooked rice is steamed and cooked again. The temperature of the steam in the belt-type rice cooker 22 is about 100 ° C., and the steaming time is suitably about 4 to 5 minutes, but the grain size, texture (stickiness, hardness, elasticity, etc.) of the finished cooked rice, etc. Can be appropriately changed in consideration of the above.

The cooked rice cooked and cooked by the belt rice cooker 22 is sent to the next seasoning addition unit 23 while remaining on the rice transfer conveyor 20. In the seasoning addition section 23, while maintaining the state of having residual heat at the time of steaming, an appropriate seasoning is added by the seasoning addition nozzle 31. That is, seasoned rice can be obtained by spraying vinegar, salty liquid, broth, seasoning oil, and the like adjusted to a predetermined concentration and a spouting amount on cooked rice. At this time, since the cooked rice is in a high temperature state having the residual heat of steam from the belt-type rice cooker 22, and in order to perform the two-stage addition of the seasoning with the seasoning addition device 3 of FIG. The seasoning easily penetrates and the seasoned rice becomes uniform and of high quality.

Next, the cooked rice is transferred to the room temperature cooling unit 24. While the cooked rice passes through the room temperature cooling unit 24, the room temperature air of 25 to 28 ° C. taken into the air collecting chamber 32 is blown onto the cooked rice, and the cooked rice is forcibly cooled from about 90 ° C. to about 45 ° C. You. The normal temperature air from the air collection chamber 32 is discharged outside the machine by the suction fan 41 through the cooked rice, the perforated plate of the cooked rice transfer conveyor 20 and the suction air outlet 39.

The cooked rice passed through the room temperature cooling unit 24 and cooled to about 45 ° C. as described above is transferred to the low temperature cooling unit 25, and while passing through the low temperature cooling unit 25, the air collecting chamber The cooling air at 18 to 20 ° C.
It is forcibly cooled to about 5 ° C. Cooling air from the air collecting chamber 33 is supplied to the rice-cooking rice transfer conveyor 2 in the same manner as the normal-temperature air.
The air is discharged to the outside of the apparatus by the suction fan 42 through the perforated plate 0 and the suction exhaust port 40.

Then, the cooked rice that has passed through the low-temperature cooling section 25 is transferred to the end of the cooked rice transfer conveyor 20, and discharged as a product from the product discharge port 44 while being loosened by the stirring device 43.

When the rice transport conveyor 20 runs round from the large-diameter pulley 27 near the end of the forward path, the rice transport conveyor 20 returns. When high-pressure water is jetted from the high-pressure washing nozzle 45 provided on the return path, the rice transport conveyor 20 The remaining rice grains and gelatinized matter clogged in the eye are washed off. Further, the air blow nozzle 4 provided in the next process of the high pressure cleaning nozzle 45
Air is blown out by 6 to remove attached water. Further, the cooked rice transport conveyor 20 cleaned by the ultraviolet sterilizing lamp 47 is sterilized, circulated to the start end of the outward path, and the above-described operation is repeated again.

According to the embodiment, since the continuous rice cooker has both the pot type rice cooker 7 and the belt type rice cooker 22, the size and texture of rice grains can be freely changed depending on the use of cooked rice. be able to. This will be described with reference to Table 1.

[0032]

[Table 1] Table 1 shows a comparison between cooked rice cooked by the pot-type rice cooker alone and cooked rice cooked by the belt-type rice cooker alone. The comparison items were the size of cooked rice grain, the whiteness of cooked rice, and the texture (stickiness, (Balance, cohesion, hardness). As a result, the cooked rice cooked in the belt-type cooker has a longer rice grain length than the cooked rice cooked in the kettle-type cooker, and is a sticky but soft cooked rice suitable for seasoned cooked rice for sushi. Therefore, when seasoned cooked rice for sushi is required, rice can be cooked only by the belt type rice cooker 22 without igniting the gas burner 8 of the rice cooker 7.
When sticky cooked rice is required, rice may be cooked only in the cooker rice cooker 7 without operating the belt cooker 22. Further, the size and texture of the cooked rice grains may be changed according to the purpose of cooked rice by changing the steam temperature, the steaming time, and the like of the belt-type rice cooking unit 22.

[0033]

As described above, in the continuous rice cooker according to the present invention, the rice cooking process is formed in a cooking rice cooker for heating and cooking by a plurality of gas burners provided below the rice cooking kettle, and after the cooking rice reversing process. In the process, a rice-cooked rice cooked in the pot-type rice cooker was placed on a mesh belt conveyor, and a belt-type rice cooker for cooking and cooking again with heated steam was connected. It is possible to change the size and texture of the rice, for example, even if you want rice that has been soaked in boiled liquid such as gomoku rice to the inside of the rice grain, it is a smooth rice without stickiness such as sushi rice It is possible to cook rice with a single continuous rice cooker even if the user desires.

Further, in the subsequent step of the belt type rice cooking section,
The same mesh belt as the belt-type rice cooker, comprising a seasoning addition unit for spraying the seasoning on the transferred rice, a room-temperature cooling unit for blowing room-temperature air to the transferred rice, and a low-temperature cooling unit for blowing low-temperature air. Since the conveyor is shared and disposed integrally, it is possible to reduce the installation space as compared with the case where the belt type rice cooking section, the seasoning addition section, and the cooked rice cooling section are provided alone.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view schematically showing an entire continuous rice cooker.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing each step of the continuous rice cooker.

FIG. 3 is a schematic longitudinal sectional view showing a rice cooker.

FIG. 4 is a schematic vertical sectional view showing a steam cooling device including a belt-type rice cooking section, a seasoning addition section, and a cooked rice cooling section.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Measuring device 2 Cooking rice cooker 3 Seasoning supply device 4 Automatic lid covering device 5 Lid 6 Three-dimensional dipping device 7 Cooking rice cooker 8 Gas burner 9 Kettle carry-in part 10 Kettle carry-out part 11 Roller conveyor 12 Chain conveyor 13 Three-dimensional steamer 14 Automatic lid Picking device 15 Automatic kettle reversing machine 16 Steam cooling machine 17 Hook 18 Endless elevating machine 19 Relaxing hopper 20 Rice conveyor 21 Tempering unit 22 Belt type rice cooking unit 23 Seasoning addition unit 24 Room temperature cooling unit 25 Low temperature cooling unit 26 Stirring blade 27 Large Diameter pulley 28 Auxiliary pulley 29 Steam pipe 30 Exhaust hood 31 Seasoning addition nozzle 32 Ventilation chamber 33 Ventilation chamber 34 Duct 35 Air filter 36 Fan 37 Cooling coil 38 Cooling device 39 Suction exhaust port 40 Suction exhaust port 41 Suction fan 42 Suction Fan 43 stirring blade 44 made Outlet 45 high-pressure cleaning nozzles 46 air blow nozzle 47 UV germicidal lamp

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A continuous rice cooker in which a rice cooker is placed on a conveyor, and sequentially passes through a rice washing / metering step, a dipping step, a rice cooking step, a steaming step, and a pot reversing step provided at appropriate positions on the conveyor. In addition, the rice cooking step is formed in a pot type rice cooking section that heats and cooks the rice with a plurality of gas burners provided below the rice cooking pot, and in the subsequent step of the pot inversion step, the rice is cooked in the pot type rice cooking section. A continuous rice cooker characterized by connecting a belt type rice cooker for placing cooked rice on a mesh belt conveyor and steaming and cooking again with heated steam. 2. A post-process of the belt-type rice cooking unit, a seasoning addition unit for spraying a seasoning to the transferred rice, a room-temperature cooling unit for blowing room-temperature air to the transferred rice, and a transferred rice The continuous rice cooker according to claim 1, wherein a low-temperature cooling unit that blows low-temperature air to the belt-type rice cooker is shared by the same mesh belt conveyor as the belt-type rice cooker.