JPS61181544A - Method and apparatus for moistening rice - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a rice grain humidifying method and a rice grain humidifying device that improve the taste of cooked rice by humidifying the rice grains to a required moisture content to prevent them from bursting. .

Prior art and its problems It is generally believed that the moisture content of white rice is an important factor in the taste of cooked rice. White rice that contains about 15% moisture does not cause moisture cracks even when soaked in water in a pot, so it is cooked perfectly into grains.2) Viscosity, which is an element of taste,
The S degree is maintained at a suitable level and the taste is good, but the moisture content is 14%.
When cracked white rice absorbs water too quickly during soaking, the rice grains instantaneously crack, and soon penetrating cracks develop in the inner grains of the rice.Water is absorbed into the cracks, and when the rice is cooked, glue gushes out from the cracks, resulting in sticky rice. 2) The rice grains are broken, resulting in low-quality rice that is neither chewy nor sticky. In short, in order to improve the taste, rice grains must be humidified to a water content of around 15%, which is the government's testing standard, but it is essential that the rice grains do not crack during this humidification process. Regarding the natural water absorption rate of rice grains, humidification by adding 0.3% water per hour is the maximum water addition rate that does not cause cracks in the rice grains. In other words, if an excessive amount of water is added by 0.3% per hour, the excess water relative to the natural water absorption rate will remain on the surface of the rice grain and wet the surface of the rice grain, causing the surface layer of the rice grain to absorb water and expand rapidly. This causes distortion in the inner part of the rice grain and causes cracks.2) Even if the added moisture content is a small amount of excess water, it will cause cracks similar to those caused by immersion in water. Even brown rice that has been cracked has penetrating cracks in the rice grains.

As one of the conventional rice grain humidifiers, it can be used for a short time (about 2 seconds).
After adding water inside the tank, rest for a long time (about 15 minutes) (
In humidifiers that alternately repeat the process of tempering (tempering), even if the water addition rate is commonly known as 0.3% per hour, the water addition time is 2 to 30% per hour.
Since the duration is 3 seconds, the net addition rate at the time of addition is huge, about 00033% per second, and there is a danger that the surface of the rice grains will become wet in an instant, so the water addition rate is slightly lower than the target moisture addition rate. It is customary to operate the machine at a certain speed (2), which reduces work efficiency.

In contrast to the rice grain humidifying device that adds moisture intermittently, for example, the polished rice humidification method described in JP-A No. 56-26164 continuously adds moisture to rice grains in small amounts. If the final stage is 0.3% per hour, the addition of water is a very small amount of 0.00083% per second.
This is the highest standard humidification method that does not wet the surface of the rice grains at the maximum natural water absorption rate of the rice grains and does not cause cracks in the rice grains. This method has the problems of requiring a long time, or increasing the size of the device and increasing the manufacturing and equipment costs.

Purpose of the Invention The present invention, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, adds water to rice grains at a rate higher than the natural water absorption rate of the rice grains, humidifies the rice grains without wetting the surface of the rice grains, prevents cracking, and reduces the humidification processing time. It is an object of the present invention to provide a rice grain humidifying method and a rice grain humidifying device capable of shortening the process to the shortest possible time, miniaturizing the device, and reducing manufacturing and equipment costs.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to achieve the above-mentioned technical problems, the method of humidifying rice grains of the present invention comprises storing rice grains in a storage chamber under a pressure lower than that of the atmosphere and deaerating air from the inner part of the rice grains. The method is characterized in that water is added to the rice grains, and then the water is pressured and infiltrated into the inner part of the rice grains under a pressure higher than that of the atmosphere, thereby humidifying the rice grains.

In addition, the rice grain humidifying device of the present invention is provided with air-blocking on-off valves in the rice grain supply section and the discharge section of the rice grain storage chamber to ensure airtightness in the storage chamber, and the air pressure reducing device and the air pressurizing device are connected to each other. It is characterized by a structure in which it is connected to the rice grain storage chamber via an air pipe, and a moisture addition section of a moisture supply device is installed inside the storage chamber.

The rice grains are stored in a rice grain storage chamber under a pressure lower than that of the atmosphere after being depressurized by an air decompression device, and the air that has entered the inner part of the rice grains is degassed by the depressurization effect, and the rice grain storage chamber is maintained in an airtight state. At the step, mist is sprayed from the moisture addition part of the moisture supply device to add moisture to the surface of the rice grains, and then the air pressurization device is activated to pressurize the rice grain storage chamber to a higher pressure than the atmosphere to remove the moisture added to the surface of the rice grains. The moisture added to the surface of the rice grain easily penetrates into the voids that have been degassed from the inner part of the rice grain due to the depressurizing action, and then the water added to the surface of the rice grain permeates into the voids that have been deaerated from the inner part of the rice grain due to the depressurizing action. By pressurizing and penetrating and humidifying the inner part of the rice grain, 2) the moisture difference between the surface layer and the inner part of the rice grain is equalized in a short time that is faster than the natural water absorption rate of the rice grain,
Even if the water addition rate is higher than the natural water absorption rate of the rice grains, the surface of the rice grains is not wetted, and the rice grains can be humidified without cracking.

Example An embodiment of the present invention will be described based on FIG.

An air-blocking upper opening/closing valve 4 and a lower opening/closing valve 5 are rotatably provided in the rice grain supply section 2 and rice grain discharge section 3 of the rice grain storage chamber 1 to ensure airtightness of the rice grain storage chamber 1. Inside the rice grain storage chamber 1, a spiral body 6 is rotatably mounted in a cylindrical body 7 with an open top and bottom.
A rice grain circulation conveyance device with a rice grain circulation system installed therein is installed upright, and an electric motor 110 is connected to the spiral body 6. An umbrella-shaped diffusion plate 11 is mounted above the conveyance device 8 .

Water supply stroke 15 in which electromagnetic pump 14 is interposed in water pipe 13 connected to water tank 12, and electromagnetic on-off valve 26 in pressure A moisture supply device 30 is formed by the air supply stroke 29 which is equipped with a regulating valve 27, a pressure gauge 28, etc., and a two-fluid spray nozzle is installed in the moisture addition section 31 at the end where the water supply stroke 15 and the air supply stroke 29 are merged. 16, and the two-fluid injection nozzle 16 is installed between the diffusion plate 11 and the rice grain discharge section 9 of the conveying device 8.

The air pressurizing device 23 includes a pressure regulating valve 18, a pressure gauge 19. An air filter 20 and the like are provided, and an electromagnetic on-off valve 22 is attached to the other pressurized air pipe 21a of the branch section 24, and the air pressurizing device 23 is connected to the rice grain storage chamber 1 through the pressurized air pipe 21. It is connected to. and hW3 of rice grain storage chamber 1
4 is opened to provide a decompression air port 32, and a decompression air electromagnetic on-off valve 33 connected to the decompression air port 32 is connected to an air decompression device 36 via a decompression air pipe 35.

The rice grain storage chamber 1 has a level meter of 37. A pressure gauge 38 and a moisture detection sensor 39 are installed, and a switching valve 42 is attached to a branch part 41 provided in a discharge passage 40 connected to a lower opening/closing valve 5 provided in the rice grain discharge part 3. A circulation channel 43 is connected to the rice machine 45, a raw material supply hopper 48 is attached to the supply section of the rice lifter 45, and the rice lifter 1145 is connected to a supply flow channel 46.
It is connected to a regulating hopper 47 which is connected to the upper opening/closing valve 4 of the rice grain storage chamber 1 via a. Rice grains are supplied to the next process by using the other branch part 41 as a discharge channel 44.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be explained. Raw rice grains are supplied from the raw material supply hopper 48 to the adjustment hopper 47, and the upper opening/closing valve 4 is operated to store the rice grains from the adjustment hopper 47 into the rice grain storage chamber 1. When the level meter 37 detects a predetermined amount of rice grain storage opening, the detection signal causes the upper opening/closing valve 4 to stop rotating and the decompressed air solenoid opening/closing valve 33 to stop rotating.
The electric motor 10 of the rice grain circulation conveyance device 8 and the air pressure reducing device 36 are operated to reduce the pressure in the rice grain storage chamber 1 to a pressure lower than that of the atmosphere, thereby reducing the internal pressure of the rice grains circulating and flowing in the rice grain storage chamber 1. The air that has entered the mass part is degassed, and the depressurized air solenoid on-off valve 33 and the air decompression device M34 are stopped before the degassing causes a drying effect, and then the air pressurization device 23 and the solenoid pump in the water supply stage 15 are stopped. 14 and the electromagnetic on-off valve 26 of the air supply stroke 29 are activated, and the water addition section of the moisture supply device 30 is applied to the rice grains that are lifted from the bottom of the rice grain storage chamber 1 to the rice grain discharge section 9 and discharged by the conveyance device 8. Water is added by spraying mist from the two-fluid injection nozzle 16 of 31, and the rice grains flow toward the bottom of the rice grain storage chamber 1, causing the moisture detection sensor 39
When it is detected that the moisture content is different from the moisture content of raw rice grains, the detected value is compared with a reference moisture increase rate provided in the control circuit, and the electromagnetic pump 14 is controlled based on the difference value to correct the moisture addition rate to increase or decrease. The detection signal from the moisture detection sensor 39 operates the electromagnetic on-off valve 22 of the air pressurizer @ 23 to supply pressurized air at a higher pressure than the atmosphere into the rice grain storage chamber 1 . In the rice grain storage chamber 1 under high pressure, while adding moisture to the surface of the rice grains and pressurized infiltration humidification into the interior of the rice grains, when the moisture detection sensor 39 reaches an arbitrary moisture increase rate set in the control circuit, Once a signal is sent to the electromagnetic bomb 23 and the electromagnetic on-off valve 26 2), water addition is stopped, and after an arbitrary period of time, the electromagnetic on-off valve 22 is stopped to stop the supply of pressurized air. The depressurized air solenoid on-off valve 33 is activated to depressurize the inside of the rice grain storage chamber 1 to a pressure lower than that of the atmosphere, and after deaerating the air from the inner mass of the rice grains, which has become saturated with the air that has entered with moisture, the depressurization is performed. The air electromagnetic on-off valve 33 and the air pressure reducing device 36 are stopped, and moisture addition and pressurized infiltration humidification using pressurized air are continued again.

To explain in detail the influence that various actions of depressurization, water addition, and pressurization have on rice grains during the above-mentioned operation, in the process before adding water to rice grains, water enters the inner part of the rice grains due to the depressurizing action of the air pressure reducing device 36. After the air inside the rice grain is degassed and voids are created in the inner part of the rice grain, water is added to the surface of the rice grain, so the water easily infiltrates into the rice part, and is further pressurized by the air pressurizing device 23. Since the water is pressurized by the action and permeates into the inner part of the rice grain, the difference in moisture between the surface layer and the inner part of the rice grain can be equalized in a short time that is faster than the natural water absorption rate of the rice grain, and the air that has penetrated into the inner part of the rice grain can be equalized. By deaerating the water, water can be continuously added and pressurized osmotic humidification can be carried out2), which exceeds the natural water absorption rate of rice grains of 0.1.3% per hour, which was the maximum water addition rate in conventional equipment. Even when added, the surface of the rice grains is not wetted, and the rice grains can be uniformly moistened with moisture in a short time that is faster than the natural water absorption rate of the rice grains without causing cracks in the rice grains.

When the moisture detection sensor 39 detects that the target moisture value has been reached by depressurizing the rice grains and repeating deaeration, moisture addition, and pressurized infiltration humidification multiple times, the operation of the moisture supply device 30 is stopped,
After an arbitrary period of time has elapsed, the operation of the air pressurizing device 23 is stopped, and the lower opening/closing valve 5 is operated to discharge the humidified rice grains from the discharge flow path 44 and to be supplied to the next process.

FIG. 2 shows a second embodiment of the present invention, in which the rice grain supply section 2 and the rice grain discharge section 3 of the rice grain storage chamber 1 are provided with an upper opening/closing valve 4 and a lower opening/closing valve 5 for shutting off air. Inside the chamber 1, there is a rice grain circulation conveyance device 8A connected to a spiral body 6A and an electric IIO.
An air pressurizing device 23 is connected to the device 2), and a two-fluid injection nozzle 16 of the moisture adding section 31 of the moisture supplying device 30 is installed on the rice grain discharging section 9 of the conveying device 8A. The cylinder body 7A of the intermediate stroke part 49 of the conveying device 8A is formed into a porous wall 50, and the porous wall 50 is surrounded by a wind cylinder 51, which is connected to an air pressure reducing device 52 via a pressure reducing air pipe 53. It is.

The operation of the second embodiment will be explained. The upper opening/closing valve 4 is operated to store a certain amount of rice grains in the rice grain storage chamber 1, and the electric motor 10 of the conveying device 8A and the air pressure reducing device 5 are activated.
2 is activated, rice grains flow into the conveying device 8A from the bottom of the rice grain storage chamber 1 and are lifted toward the rice grain discharge section 9.

When the air pressure inside the air 11i 151 is reduced to low pressure by the air pressure reducing device 52 for the rice grains flowing upstream from the intermediate stroke section 49 of the rice lifting device 8A, the air that has entered the inner mass of the rice grains is deaerated and released into the rice grains. At the same time, the rice grains are discharged to the rice grain discharge section 9 with voids formed in the rice grains, and at the same time, a mist is sprayed from the two-fluid injection nozzle 16 of the moisture addition section 31 to add moisture to the rice grain surface. Moisture penetrates into the voids in the inner part of the rice grain, and is pressurized and permeated into the inner part of the rice grain by the pressurizing action of the air pressurizing device 23. Moisture is added to the rice grains and the rice grains are stored in the rice grain storage chamber 1.
In the process of flowing down to the bottom of the rice grain, the moisture difference between the surface layer and the inner part of the rice grain is equalized, and the air that has entered the inner part of the rice grain along with the moisture is lifted again by the conveyor @ 8A in the intermediate stroke part 49. In the process, air is degassed from the inner part of the rice grain, creating voids, creating conditions that allow moisture to easily enter the inner part of the rice grain.

When the moisture detection sensor 39 detects that the rice grains have reached the target moisture level after the vacuum degassing, moisture addition, and pressurized osmosis humidification processes are repeated several times, the operation of the moisture supply device 30 is stopped at an arbitrary time. After the elapse of time, the air pressurization device 23 and the air pressure reduction device 52 are stopped, and the lower opening/closing valve 5 is operated to discharge the humidified rice grains from the rice grain storage chamber 1. In this second embodiment, an air valve for shutting off reduced pressure air and pressurized air is not provided. 2) The rice grains act as an air valve to satisfy the pressure reduction effect by the pressure reducing device 52 in the wind cylinder 51 of the intermediate stroke section 49 of the transfer device 8A. It is. In this way, each operation of vacuum degassing, water addition, and pressurized osmosis humidification processing can be carried out in a series, so that efficient humidification processing can be performed.

FIG. 3 shows a third embodiment of the present invention 2), in which the rice grain supply section 55 and the rice grain discharge section 56 of the rice grain storage chamber 54 are provided with an upper opening/closing valve 57 and a lower opening/closing valve 58 for shutting off air. , a rice grain storage chamber 5 located between the upper opening/closing valve 57 and the lower opening/closing valve 58
4 are formed into symmetrical conical cylinders 59A and 59B, and the conical cylinder 5
An air cutoff control valve 60 is installed between 9A and 598, and one rice grain storage chamber 54, which is divided into two, is connected to a depressurizing air pipe 61.
The rice grain storage chamber 54 is connected to the air decompression device @ 62 via the air decompression device @ 62 and connected to the air degassing storage chamber 63 for the rice grains, and the other rice grain storage chamber 54 is connected to the air pressurization device 64 via the pressurization air pipe 65. The moisture adding section 67 of the moisture supply device 66 is formed in a humidification storage chamber 68 so as to face the inside of the storage chamber.

The raw rice grains temporarily stored in the rice grain adjustment tanks 69A, 69B, and 69C are transferred to the belt conveyor 70 and the fried rice 11171.
．． The rice grains are switched to a branch part 74 of the discharge passage connected to the lower opening/closing valve 58 of the rice grain storage chamber 54 so that the rice grains are supplied to the regulating hopper 73 connected to the upper opening/closing valve 57 via a flow passage such as a downflow gutter 72. A valve 75 is provided, and one branched flow path is used as a circulation flow path 76 to communicate with a return rice lifter 77. A two-way switching valve 78 is provided at the rice grain outflow part of the returned fried rice e177, one of which connects to the supply part of the fried rice 1fi71 to form a circulation process, and the other of the two-way switching valve 78 connects to the conveyor 79.
via either adjustment tank 69A, 698.69G
It is intended to be supplied to The other channel of the branch section 74 is used as a discharge channel 80 and is connected to a rice lifting machine 81 that transports the rice grains to the next stage. Storage chamber 63 for air deaeration of rice grains and storage for humidification! 68 are each equipped with a level sensor 82, 83 (2), and each of the level sensors 82, 83 and an upper opening/closing valve 57. Air cutoff control valve 60. Each of the lower opening/closing valves 58 is connected to each other via a control device 842), 85, 86, and 87 are moisture detection sensors, and 88 is a rice grain spreading device in which a spreading plate 90 is attached to an electric motor 89. .

The operation of the third embodiment will be explained below. The rice grains taken out from either the rice grain adjustment tank 69A or 698.69G are fried on a belt conveyor 79°. Downstream gutter 7
2 to the adjustment hopper 73, and the upper opening/closing valve 57
The air from the adjustment hopper 73 is depressurized to a lower pressure than atmospheric air by the air decompression device 62.
supply rice grains to When the rice grains supplied to the air deaeration storage ¥63 accumulate and the level meter 82 detects a predetermined amount of rice grains, the air cutoff control valve 60 and the moisture supply device 6 are activated.
6 is activated to supply rice grains into the humidification reservoir v68 which is pressurized to a higher pressure than the atmosphere by the air pressurizing device 64.

The air is supplied to the storage chamber 63 for air degassing until it is discharged by the air cutoff control valve 60.
The rice grains housed in 3 are subjected to a depressurizing action by an air decompression device 62 to deaerate the air contained in the inner part of the rice grains, and the rice grains with voids created in the inner part of the rice grains are supplied to the humidification storage chamber 68. At the same time, moisture is added from the moisture addition section 67 of the moisture supply device 66, and the moisture is pressurized and infiltrated into the voids of the endoplasmic part of the rice grain by the pressurizing action of the air pressurization device 64, and the moisture is added to the humidification storage chamber 68. When the level meter 83 detects that a predetermined amount of rice grains have been accommodated in the container, the detection signal causes the lower opening/closing valve 5 to be activated.
8 to discharge the humidified rice grains to the outside of the humidification storage chamber 68.

When the moisture detection sensor 86 in the air deaeration storage chamber 63 detects a moisture value lower than the detection value of the moisture detection sensor 85 provided in the adjustment hopper 73, the pressure reduction effect of the air pressure reduction device 62 is relaxed, and the pressure reduction effect is reduced. Prevents rice grains from drying out. When the rice grain moisture value detected by the moisture detection sensor 87 reaches the target moisture value, the switching valve 75 is operated to remove the rice grains from the discharge channel 80. The rice grains are transported to the next process via the rice lifting machine 81, and if the target moisture value has not been reached due to insufficient humidification of the rice grains, the rice grains discharged from the lower discharge valve 58 are transported to the next stage via the circulation channel 76. 2) by operating the 20,000 switching valve 78 at the rice grain discharge port of the return rice fryer 77.
, the rice grains are transferred again to the air degassing storage chamber 63 via the rice lifter 71.
In one case, the rice grains humidified by the two-way switching valve 78 are temporarily stored in the adjustment tanks 69A and 698.69G, and after an arbitrary period of time, the rice grains are again subjected to reduced pressure deaeration, moisture addition, and pressurized infiltration treatment. There is. This third embodiment is characterized in that the various operations of the humidification process described above are performed continuously 2), and is often used when performing humidification processes in large quantities.

Effects of the Invention As explained above, the rice grain humidification method of the present invention deaerates the air contained in the inner part of the rice grain by the depressurizing action of air at a pressure lower than that of the atmosphere to create voids, and then the rice grain surface is moistened. Moisture is added to the rice grain, and then the water added to the surface of the rice grain is pressurized and penetrates into the inner part of the rice grain to humidify it by the air pressure action under a higher pressure than the atmosphere, so the added water penetrates into the inner part of the rice grain. 2) Even if the water addition rate is higher than the natural water absorption rate of rice grains, the surface of the rice grains will not be wetted, and the surface layer of the rice grains will be absorbed in a short time, faster than the natural water absorption rate of rice grains, without causing cracks in the rice grains. equalizes the moisture difference between the inner and outer parts of the body,
．． Compared to the rice grain humidification method, which has a maximum water addition rate of 3%, this method has the remarkable effect of greatly improving the water addition rate and shortening the operating time.

Further, according to the rice grain humidifying device of the present invention, after the air contained in the inner part of the rice grain is deaerated by the depressurizing action of the air reducing device, water is added to the rice grain in which voids are created in the inner part of the rice grain. The added water is pressurized and permeated into the inner part of the rice grains at high speed by the pressurizing action of the air pressurizer, so even if the water addition rate is higher than the natural water absorption rate of the rice grains, the surface of the rice grains will not become wet. It is possible to equalize the moisture difference between the surface layer and the inner part of the rice grain in a short time, faster than the natural water absorption rate of the rice grain, without causing cracks in the rice grain, greatly increasing the water addition rate and shortening the operation time. This has the remarkable effect of improving efficiency, downsizing the device, and reducing manufacturing and equipment costs.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing an embodiment of the invention, FIG. 2 is a side view showing a second embodiment of the invention, and FIG. 3 is a side view showing a third embodiment of the invention. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1...Rice grain storage chamber, 2...Rice grain supply section, 3...Rice grain discharge section, 4...Upper opening/closing valve, 5...Lower opening/closing valve,
6゜6A...Spiral body, 7,7A...Cylinder body, 8,8A
. . . Conveyance device, 9 . Water supply process, 16
...Two-fluid spray nozzle, 17...Air pressurizer, 18
... Pressure adjustment valve, 19 ... Pressure gauge, 20 ... Air filter, 21° 21a ... Pressurized air pipe, 22.
...Solenoid on-off valve, 23...Air pressurization device, 24...
Branch part, 25... Air supply pipe, 26... Solenoid shut-off valve, 2
7... Pressure adjustment valve, 28... Pressure gauge, 29... Air supply stroke, 30... Moisture supply device, 31... Moisture addition section, 32... Air port for decompression, 33... ...Reducing air solenoid on-off valve, 34...Top wall, 35...Air pipe for reducing pressure, 3
6...Air pressure reducing device, 37...Level meter, 38...
・Pressure gauge, 39... Moisture detection sensor, 40... Discharge path, 41... Branch part, 42... Switching valve, 43...
・Circulation channel, 44... Discharge channel, 45... Rice lifter, 46... Supply gutter, 47... Adjustment hopper,
48... Raw material supply hopper, 49... Intermediate stroke section,
50... Porous wall, 51... Wind barrel, 52... Air pressure reducing device, 53... Air pipe for pressure reduction, 54... Rice grain storage chamber, 55... Rice grain supply section, 56...・Rice grain discharge section, 5
7... Upper on-off valve, 58... Lower on-off valve, 59A. 59B... Conical tube, 60... Air cutoff control valve, 6
1... Air pipe for pressure reduction, 62... Air pressure reduction device, 63
... Storage space for air deaeration, 64 ... Air pressurization device, 6
5... Pressurizing air pipe, 66... Moisture supply device, 67
. . . Moisture addition section, 68 . . . Humidification storage chamber, 69A.

Claims (6)

[Claims] (1) Moisture is added to the rice grains stored in a rice grain storage chamber under pressure lower than the atmosphere to remove air from the inner part of the rice grains, and then the water is added to the inner parts of the rice grains under higher pressure than the atmosphere. A rice grain humidification method that humidifies rice grains by infiltrating them under pressure. (2) The method for humidifying rice grains according to claim (1), wherein air deaeration within the rice grains, water addition, and pressurized infiltration humidification treatment are repeated multiple times. (3) An air cut-off on-off valve is provided in the rice grain supply section and the discharge section of the rice grain storage chamber, and an air pressure reduction device and an air pressurization device are connected to the rice grain storage chamber through air pipes, respectively. A rice grain humidifying device characterized in that a moisture adding part of a moisture supply device is installed inside a storage chamber. (4) The rice grain humidifying device according to claim (3), further comprising a rice grain circulation conveyance device provided inside the rice grain storage chamber. (5) The rice grain storage chamber is divided into two and connected to each other via an air cutoff control valve, one of the rice grain storage chambers is used as a storage chamber for air deaeration of rice grains, and the other storage chamber is used for air humidification. The rice grain humidifying device according to claim (3), which is formed in a storage chamber for rice grains. (6) The rice grain discharge section and the rice grain supply section of the rice grain storage chamber are formed in a circulation path for rice grains through a flow path and a conveyance process such as a rice lifter. 5) The rice grain humidifying device described in section 5).