JPS609785B2 - Thawing device for frozen products - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] The present invention relates to a thawing device suitable for thawing frozen products.

Food products, especially fresh fish, are often frozen at 1:30 p.m., stored and distributed, and then thawed just before consumption due to the remoteness of production and consumption areas and the incompatibility between production and consumption. I have more things to do.

Conventionally, the simplest method for thawing frozen foods is to leave them in the air.

Although this method is simple and can be done anywhere, it is not hygienic because the thawing conditions change depending on the climate, making it susceptible to oxidation, drying, and loss of freshness.
Moreover, thawing cannot be stopped at the most desirable temperature,
There is also a large temperature difference between the inside and outside of the defrosted product, making it impossible to achieve the best taste. There is also a method of thawing using high frequency, but this method requires fairly large equipment in order to uniformly thaw a large amount of items to be thawed due to the unevenness of the high frequency.

Furthermore, when thawing a large amount of items at once, depending on the size of the item, it may be over-thawed and dry, or unthawed portions may remain, which is undesirable. There is also a method of thawing the food by pouring water at a certain temperature, but soluble proteins tend to come out of the food to be thawed, and water tends to get into the food, resulting in a loss of freshness and taste. This method also does not allow you to limit the thawing to your desired degree.
As a means of defrosting to overcome the drawbacks of the conventional method, we have previously developed a technique described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 12274/1983.

This uses the temperature difference between the low-temperature water circulating on the floor of the thawing chamber and the cold air held by the items to be thawed to generate water vapor from the low-temperature water, and the generated water vapor is transferred to the surface of the items to be thawed. The basic concept is to gradually thaw the food by using fog or frost to exchange heat, and it is possible to thaw fresh fish to the desired degree without sacrificing freshness or taste. This is an extremely good method for stopping the problem. The present invention has been made to further improve this point, and is characterized by providing a forced circulation passage for cold air in the thawing chamber, and providing a low-temperature water mist device in the passage.

All of the low-temperature water may be evaporated by this atomizing device, or a portion of the low-temperature water may be circulated to the floor of the thawing chamber as in the prior art described above. The present invention efficiently generates water vapor by atomizing low-temperature water into forcedly circulated cold air, thereby improving thawing efficiency.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained in more detail based on the embodiments shown in the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a plan view in which a cold air circulation path 2 is formed in a thawing chamber 1 by a partition 3, and a fan 4 is used to forcibly circulate the cold air in the room in the direction of the arrow.

A low-temperature water mist device 5 is installed in the circulation passage 2. In addition, in the figure, G is the item to be thawed, and W is the entrance/exit door.
The Korokiri device 5 is shown in the enlarged sectional view A-A in FIG. 2 and its B
As shown in FIG. 3, which is a sectional view of -B, an appropriate number of nozzles 6 are installed in the cold air circulation passage 2, and low-temperature water is atomized into the indoor cool air sent by the fan 4 to efficiently generate water vapor. urge After the water vapor is generated, water droplets fall onto the mirror-slanted spray water receiver 7 and are collected in the bit 8. The water collected in the bit 8 passes through a pipe 9, a circulation pressure pump 10, and enters a hot water heater 11, where it is brought to an appropriate temperature and is again supplied to the dawn misting device 5 through a pipe 12. in this case,
Measure the steam temperature and adjust the temperature of the low-temperature water appropriately based on the result. 13 is a water supply pipe that replenishes floor mist water that has decreased due to evaporation.

14 is a liquid level gauge that detects the amount of water and sends a signal to the water supply solenoid valve 15
to adjust the amount of water supplied.

Note that in the above, the nozzle 6 may be replaced with a shower. In this device, the product to be thawed G is put into the thawing chamber 1 through the entrance/exit door W, and thawing begins. However, the fan 4 is operated to circulate the cold air in the room through the circulation passage 2, and the low-temperature water is supplied from the mist device 5. The low-temperature water is evaporated and the generated water vapor is fogged and frosted on the surface of the thawed product G in the room to perform heat exchange and gradually thaw the thawed product G.

At this time, since the low-temperature water is in a mist state, it has a large surface area, and the contact area with the cold air increases, increasing the amount of water vapor generated, increasing the amount of heat exchange with the product to be thawed, and thawing the product. speed up the process. Therefore, the thawing speed can be faster than when low-temperature water is simply circulated over the floor, so it can be operated in an appropriate state depending on the desired thawing state of the product to be thawed, and fresh food can always be produced in the optimal thawing state. It will be done.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a plan view of one embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 2 is its A-
A is an enlarged sectional view, FIG. 3 is a BB sectional view of FIG. 2, and FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a low-temperature water circulation path. 1... Thawing chamber, 2... Circulation passage, 3...
- Partition, 4...Fan, 5...Light mist device, 6...Nozzle, 7. ．． ...Spray water receiver, 8...Bit, 9...Pipe, 10
......Circulation pressure pump, 11...Hot water heater, 12...Pipe, 13...Water supply pipe,
14...Liquid level gauge, 15...Water supply solenoid valve, G...Products to be thawed, W...Entrance/exit door. Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 In a thawing chamber isolated from external heat, water vapor is generated from the low-temperature water using the temperature difference between the cold air held by the item to be thawed and the temperature of the low-temperature water, and the generated water vapor is transferred to the surface of the item to be thawed. In a thawing device that gradually thaws the product by eliminating condensation and frost and exchanging heat, a forced circulation passage for cold air is provided in the thawing chamber, and a low-temperature water spraying device is provided in the passage. A thawing device for frozen products characterized by: