JPH11151A - Freezing of food - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method for freezing foods, while extremely effectively using the inner space of a freezing chamber and freeze the foods with a high freezing efficiency and productivity, by freezing the foods with a freezer, in whose freezing chamber one or plural rails each continuously having horizontal portions and bent portions in a zigzag state and having a carrying function are set. SOLUTION: Foods 5 such as porous water-containing wheat flour foods are frozen with the freezer, in whose freezing chamber 1 one or plural rails 2 each having horizontal portions 3 and bent portions 4 in a zigzag state and having a carrying function are set. The foods 5 are charged into specific shape molds, which are connected to each other in a spit-like form. Both the ends or the end of the spit are mounted on a pair of the rails or the rail set in the freezing chamber 1, and the spit can be carried in the freezing chamber 1 and simultaneously frozen.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a method for freezing food. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method for refrigerating foodstuffs that uses the internal space of a freezing room extremely effectively and has excellent freezing efficiency and productivity.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years,
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Due to the spread of microwave ovens, improvement of frozen preservation technology, simplicity, etc., the number of frozen foods eaten by heating in a microwave oven is increasing. Various foods such as cooked foods and semi-cooked foods are commercially available. In this type of food, it is necessary to freeze the food in as short a time as possible from the viewpoints of flavor, quality maintenance and production efficiency. Conventionally, the following methods are known as a general method of freezing food. Air freezing method that freezes in low temperature still air Air blast method that freezes in cold air Contact freezing method that freezes with scissors between cold plates or belts Immersion freezing method that immerses and freezes in low temperature liquid Liquid nitrogen, Liquefied gas freezing method using liquefied carbon dioxide etc. Vacuum freezing method In either of these methods, freezing is generally performed in a freezing room, but the internal space in the freezing room is limited, and the refrigeration efficiency and production From the viewpoint of performance (installation space, processing amount, etc.), it is desirable to be able to freeze as much food as possible in a space of the same volume.

Conventionally, as such a freezing device,
Various types, such as a vertical type, a spiral type, and a tunnel type, are commercially available, but have not been able to respond to the above demands.

On the other hand, porous hydrated wheat flour foods such as breads are relatively bulky compared to their weight, and are difficult to distribute and store.
There is a problem of taking up space. Such a problem has become serious in terms of cost due to an increase in consumption of breads in recent years, but no proposal for solving the problem has been made so far. The present inventors have solved the above-mentioned problems, and aimed to reduce costs in distribution and storage of porous hydrated flour foods, and in stores, restaurants, and homes, porous hydrated flour having a taste close to freshly baked at any time. As a result of intensive studies to provide flour foods, the technology has been to reduce the bulk after once producing porous hydrated flour foods such as bread by means such as baking, and to restore the bulk by reheating after storage. Attention was paid to the invention of a porous hydrated wheat flour food product whose bulk has been reduced after the heat treatment and which has the characteristic that the bulk can be restored by reheating. WO96 /
28036). This kind of porous water-containing flour food requires a considerable space for compression and freezing, and it is necessary to improve the production efficiency during freezing by the freezing device.

[0005]

Means for Solving the Problems The present inventors have made intensive studies on a method of freezing foodstuffs that uses the internal space of a freezing room extremely effectively and has excellent freezing efficiency and productivity, and as a result, completed the present invention. I came to. That is, in the freezer compartment, the horizontal portion and the bent portion meanderingly continuous, one or more rails having a transport function having a freezer is installed using a freezer freezing method characterized by freezing, and Put the food in a mold of a specific shape, connect the mold in a skewer shape, attach both ends or one end of the skewer to a pair or one rail installed in the freezing room, and freeze while transporting in the freezer room. It is a method of freezing food which is a feature.

[0006]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a method for freezing food according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. As described above, the present invention is particularly effective for compressing and freezing porous water-containing flour food products. FIG. 1 is a schematic elevation view showing the inside of a freezing room used in the method for freezing food of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view thereof. In the freezer compartment 1, one or a plurality of rails 2 having a transport function in which the horizontal portion 3 and the bent portion 4 meander continuously are provided. The rails 2 are provided vertically and horizontally in the freezer compartment 1 and are preferably continuous from the upper part to the lower part of the freezer compartment. Since only the rails 2 are basically installed in the freezer compartment 1, the space inside the freezer compartment can be used to the maximum. The rail 2 is connected to a food (porous water-containing flour food) 5 to be frozen, and a horizontal portion 3 of the rail.
While passing through the bent portion 4 from the upper portion in the freezing room 1 to the lower portion. Incidentally, the horizontal portion 3 of the rail may have a slight downward slope so that the food 5 to be frozen is automatically conveyed downward by its own weight.

[0007] Foods 5 to be frozen can be connected to the rail 2 one by one. However, in order to improve the refrigeration efficiency and productivity, which is the object of the present invention, FIG. The food 5 is put into a mold having a specific shape as shown in (1), the mold is connected in a skewer shape, and both ends or one end (preferably both ends) of the skewer are installed in the freezer compartment in a pair or a single rail (preferably a pair). It is particularly preferable to mount on the rail) and freeze while transporting it in the freezer compartment. FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 are diagrams for explaining the case using the method using the skewer as described above. That is,
The foods 5 are put in a mold 9 having a specific shape, and the molds 9 are connected by a skewer 7 (the figure shows an example in which eight molds are connected, but the number is of course not limited). Both ends 8 of the skewer 7,
8 is mounted on a pair of rails 2 and 2 installed in the freezer compartment, and is conveyed as described above. In the example of FIG. 2 described above,
The figure shows a case where three pairs of rails are installed in a freezer compartment and three skewers are transported.

The shape of the mold 9 is not particularly limited, but a pair or more bowls provided with a mechanism capable of compressing and holding a porous hydrated wheat flour food, previously proposed by the present applicant as Japanese Patent Application No. 9-126758. A processing container formed of a cylindrical body, or an upper lid formed of a bowl-shaped body having a flange portion at a lower portion, and a lower plate provided with a locking portion capable of locking the flange portion of the upper lid. It is extremely effective to apply the freezing method of the present invention while performing a compression step using a processing container for compressing and holding a porous water-containing flour food with a lower plate. FIG.
Fig. 4 is a conceptual diagram showing a step of putting the baked or semi-baked porous water-containing flour food product 5 into a skewer-connected mold and introducing the skewer unit into the freezer compartment.

In the present invention, generally used means can be applied to the refrigeration means, and the refrigeration means 6 may be provided outside the freezing compartment 1. As the means, in addition to mechanical cooling such as a blast freezing method, liquid nitrogen, liquid carbonic acid, dry ice, etc. can be used,
What is necessary is just to select suitably the thing which can set the temperature below the freezing temperature of the target porous hydrated wheat flour foodstuff, and the freezing speed of the porous hydrated wheat flour foodstuff is not specifically limited.

[0010] The frozen food which is the object of the present invention means various foods which are generally commercially available, and is not particularly limited.
Specifically, meat (eg, beef), processed meat (eg, hamburger), processed fish (eg, Chikuwa), vegetables, cereals, processed cereals, other foods containing these, and flour-containing foods (eg, various types of bread) , Confectionery, noodles, other okonomiyaki,
Takoyaki, pizza, etc.).

As described above, the method of the present invention can be applied to a compressed and restored porous hydrated flour food product, and is particularly effective. Heretofore, this type of compressed and restored porous hydrated flour food has been frozen in a freezing room as it is after or at the same time as being compressed by a compression plate. Refrigeration function) was required, but by applying the present invention, the volume and heat load of the device can be reduced by half.

Hereinafter, such a compressed and restored porous hydrated flour food will be briefly described. Porous water-containing flour food in the present invention, of flour food, relatively high water content,
In addition, the food has a relatively large internal space volume. here,
Relatively high water content generally means that the water content is 10% or more,
In addition, a relatively large internal space volume generally means a space volume of 10% or more. More specifically, breads such as confectionery bread such as bread, coppe bread, roll bread, croissant, and anpan; cakes such as sponge cake, pound cake, and hot cake; manjus such as Chinese man; donut, pie, and castella Confectionery and the like. Even flour foods of the same type, such as cookies and biscuits, which have a relatively low water content and a relatively small internal space volume, have almost no bulk restoring power and are excluded from the subject of the present invention. In addition, the porous water-containing flour food of the present invention contains wheat flour as a main component, and contains barley, rye, corn flour, starch, egg, oil and fat, sugar, milk components, flavors, emulsifiers, and the like. Is not particularly limited. Also, the porous water-containing flour food, bake,
It becomes a semi-finished product or product by heat treatment such as frying or steaming. Here, taking breads as an example, generally, once baked and made into a product, the product is subjected to processing such as compression and freezing, but in some cases, in the first stage, a semi-baked state In this case, the product may be completely baked at the same time as reheating for restoring the bulk to obtain a product. The technology of the present invention can be applied to the freezing process of such a porous water-containing flour food, and is effective.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic elevation view showing the inside of a freezing room used in the food freezing method of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view showing the inside of a freezing room used in the food freezing method of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic elevation view showing a state in which a skewered unit of food is connected to a rail.

FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view showing a state in which a food skewered unit is connected to a rail.

FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram showing a process of putting a baked or semi-baked porous water-containing flour food into a skewer-connected mold and introducing a skewer unit into a freezer compartment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Freezer 2 Rail 3 Horizontal part of rail 4 Bent part of rail 5 Food 6 Freezing means 7 Skewer 8 Both ends of skewer 9 type

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A freezing method for freezing a food, wherein the freezing is performed using a freezer in which one or a plurality of rails having a transport function in which a horizontal portion and a bent portion meander continuously in a freezer compartment. Method. 2. The food is placed in a mold having a specific shape, the mold is connected in a skewer shape, and both ends or one end of the skewer are mounted on a pair or a single rail installed in the freezer compartment according to claim 1, A method for freezing food, comprising freezing while being transported indoors. 3. The method for freezing food according to claim 1, wherein the food is a porous water-containing flour food.