JPS61259975A - Vessel containing fast food for electronic oven - 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] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention enables solid instant foods such as instant fried noodles and instant macaroni to be restored to good texture in a short time by cooking them in a microwave oven, and after cooking, The present invention relates to a microwaveable instant food container that does not require the hassle of discarding water.

[Conventional technology]

Traditionally, when eating instant yakisoba, you first add a large amount of boiling water, heat it with this heat to restore it, throw away the excess hot water after restoration, and then add the attached seasoning liquid or powder soup. things are being done. Therefore, in the cooking operation of the instant food of the above type, the surplus hot water must be discarded after the food is reconstituted, which is complicated. Furthermore, since the food is heated only by adding hot water and oil, the restorability of the food is poor and the texture of the food is not good. Therefore, instant noodles with thick noodle strings, spaghetti, etc., noodles with a chewy texture, etc.
I couldn't cut it and cook it.

Therefore, when cooking instant noodles with thick noodle strings or spaghetti as mentioned above, it is necessary to boil the noodles while loosening them in a container such as a pot. The cooking operation was very complicated, as it took at least 8 to 15 minutes to prepare, and the boiling water spilled out of the container during cooking.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

An object of the present invention is to provide an instant food that can restore solid instant food such as instant noodles to a good texture in a short time, and that can be easily prepared without the need to discard excess hot water after cooking. The goal is to provide a container.

[Means for solving problems]

The present inventors have made the following findings as a result of intensive research to achieve the above object.

1) By placing a solid instant food and water in a container that can be sealed or nearly sealed, and heating this in a microwave oven, the inside of the container will reach a strong boiling state and the surface of the boiling water will rise above the surface of the instant food. To be able to completely and uniformly reconstitute instant foods in an extremely short period of time.

2) Furthermore, the above effects can be achieved even if the amount of water contained in the container is relatively small. Therefore, by making the amount of water contained in the container sufficiently slippery to restore the ready-to-eat food to an edible state, the water will be almost completely absorbed into the ready-to-eat food during heating, and there will be no need to discard the water after heating. thing.

The present invention has been made based on these findings. That is, the present invention stores a solid instant food that restores itself to an edible state by absorbing water inside a container that is composed of a container body and a lid that can seal or substantially seal the inside of the container, and Water absorption of solid food from 100 to 155
To provide a container containing an instant food for a microwave oven for cooking in a microwave oven in the presence of % by weight of water.

The container used in the present invention is composed of a container main body having an opening at the top for taking out and taking out the contents, and a lid that covers the opening and can make the inside of the container airtight or substantially airtight. The container body and lid are preferably made of a heat-resistant material that is transparent to microwaves and can withstand heating in a microwave oven. As the material that transmits microwaves, for example, polyethylene, polypropylene, polycarbonate, polysulfone, polyphenylene oxide, polyester, nylon, paper, and laminates thereof are preferably used. Further, a material that does not transmit microwaves may be used, such as metal materials such as aluminum, nickel, chromium, iron, zinc, tin, and alloys thereof. However, in this case, it is necessary to provide at least a portion of the container with a portion that can transmit microwaves.

The structure of the container may be cup-shaped, tray-shaped, or the like.

Further, the shape of the container can also be an inverted truncated cone shape, a cylindrical shape, a square shape, etc. The structure of the joint between the container body and the lid prevents the contents from boiling over when heated in a microwave oven, and keeps the inside of the container in a sealed state (nearly airtight) so that the inside of the container is filled with steam. It is necessary to create a structure that allows for

Examples of the above structure include, for example, a screw-in structure,
For a removable fitting structure, a heat-shrinkable film is provided at a position surrounding the joint, and this heat-shrinks when heated in a microwave oven, fixing the lid to the container body. can. Furthermore, the lid can be provided with an opening for regulating the internal pressure of the container and preventing the container from bursting due to an extremely high internal pressure during heating. On this occasion,
The ratio of the openings to the area of the upper opening of the container body is 0,
It is desirable to set it as 0.005 to 1%.

The solid instant food to be stored inside the container may be any food as long as it absorbs water and restores its shape when heated and becomes edible.Specifically, it may be yakisoba, fried udon, spaghetti, macaroni, rice noodles, etc. Examples include instant noodles such as pasta, instant gratin, instant rice, and seasoning ingredients for seasoning these.

Here, pasta is, for example, something made from wheat flour or a mixture of wheat flour and rice flour and shaped into rice grains (length about 4 to 6 mff1, wall thickness about 0.6 to 0.7 mm). This includes items that can be eaten like rice after being restored. In addition, the instant food referred to in the present invention is not limited to those that can be reconstituted simply by pouring hot water, but also includes those that can be reconstituted by conventional boiling operations. Moreover, the instant food is not limited to a completely dry smoked product, but may be a semi-raw product.

As the above-mentioned instant noodles, both fried noodles and non-fried noodles can be used. These instant noodles are, for example,
A noodle mass is formed by a conventional method and placed in the container described above.

Methods for forming this noodle mass include a method in which the noodle strings that have undergone the steaming process are housed in a retainer of an appropriate size and shape, and then dipped in hot oil or dried by hot air drying, etc. can be mentioned. In addition, it is desirable that the thickness of the above noodle mass be 35 mm or less, and if the thickness of the noodle mass exceeds 35 mm, the upper central part of the noodle mass should be lowered or It is preferable to construct the mass by providing a vertical through hole in the center of the mass. In this way, when heating in a microwave oven, boiling water easily spreads to all parts of the noodle mass, allowing the noodles to be completely and uniformly restored. Seasoning that can be used in the present invention Ingredients include vegetables such as cabbage, onions, carrots, and green peas; meat such as beef, pork, and chicken; fish and shellfish such as shrimp, squid, kamaboko, chikuwa, and clams; dried products such as processed fish and shellfish products; Examples include raw foods, raw foods, and mixtures thereof.

The instant food container of the present invention containing the solid instant food described above can be heated in a microwave oven in the presence of water in an amount of 100 to 155% by weight (hereinafter abbreviated as %) of the water absorption amount of the food. It is used for cooking. here,
Hot water can be used instead of water, and seasoning liquid can also be used. And the amount of water is 10 of the water absorption amount of instant food.
It is 0 to 155%, preferably 100 to 132%.

The amount of water mentioned here includes most of the seasoning liquid.

Here, the amount of water absorbed by the instant food is the moisture content retained when the instant food is properly reconstituted minus the moisture level I of the instant food before heating. If the amount of water exceeds 155% of the water absorption of the instant food, a large amount of hot water may remain inside the container after the instant food has been heated for a period of time to restore it well, eliminating the need to dispose of the hot water. Moreover, the texture of the instant food after reconstitution is high in moisture and tends to be sticky.

On the other hand, if the amount of water is less than 100%, the absolute amount of water will be insufficient and the food will not be restored well. The moisture content retained when the instant food is well restored is, for example, 57 to 62% in the case of instant fried noodles and instant yaki udon, 60 to 65% in the case of instant spaghetti and instant macaroni, and 60 to 65% in the case of instant rice. In this case, it is 62-67%.

When the food container of the present invention is heated in such a state using a microwave oven, the container is in a sealed or nearly sealed state, so the boiling water level inside the container reaches the top of the instant food. This results in a strong boiling state, and the container is sufficiently filled with steam to completely and uniformly reconstitute the instant food in a short period of time. In other words, since the inside of the container is filled with steam, heating efficiency is high, and in the latter half of heating,
Even if the instant food absorbs water and the boiling water level drops, the instant food can be uniformly restored without drying out the upper part of the instant food.

Moreover, by adding the above amount of water, the water is almost completely absorbed into the food during cooking, and the excess water evaporates, which has the great benefit of saving the effort of discarding the water after cooking. In addition, according to the present invention, since the instant food is cooked in a state where it is simmered at a high temperature, it is possible to obtain a food that has the good texture and appearance that the food originally has, such as instant noodles. In some cases, it has an elastic texture and is transparent. Furthermore, even thick noodles can be restored well.

According to the invention, means can be provided inside the container body to indicate the level of water to be added. Also, at least a portion of the container body may be transparent and an indicator may be provided on the inner or outer surface of the container to indicate the level of water to be added. At this time, hard,
Usually, there may be a sign indicating softness. On the other hand, it is desirable to configure the instant food and the container so that the water level that collects at the bottom of the container before heating is approximately 30% or more of the height of the instant food. This can further enhance the effect of properly restoring the instant food. moreover,
When cooking instant noodles and seasoning ingredients at the same time, it is desirable to store the seasoning ingredients in a container so as to be located below the instant noodles. This is because it is possible to satisfactorily prevent the seasoning ingredients from burning during heating.

Adding an edible foaming substance to the solid ready-to-eat food before heating to bring it to a violent boiling state when heated in a microwave oven;
Or it can be added to the container. When a foaming substance is included in a ready-to-eat food, it is desirable to include it in the lower part of the ready-to-eat food in order to obtain intense boiling. Examples of edible foaming substances include emulsifiers with high HLB, such as sucrose fatty acid esters, sorbitan fatty acid esters, and foaming plant protein decomposition products. Among these, )IL
Emulsifiers with B of 8 or more are preferred, and sucrose fatty acid esters are preferred in order to obtain a very vigorous boiling state. Also,
The amount of these foaming substances added to the instant food is preferably 0.01 to 5% of the weight of the instant food after reconstitution, and may be within this range depending on the salt content of the instant food. can be any amount (as the salt content of the ready-to-eat food generally increases, the amount of foaming substance added needs to be increased). As mentioned above, the use of a foaming substance has the advantage that an excellent boiling state can be obtained even in a microwave oven with a low heating level.

On the other hand, some microwave oven models heat the container to a high degree, and the contents may boil over from the container during heating. It is advisable to apply an edible defoaming substance above the solid ready-to-eat food product. As a result, the boiling state inside the container is suppressed to some extent, the contents are prevented from boiling over, and the instant food can be reconstituted and cooked in a suitable boiling state. The antifoaming substances used here include emulsifiers such as sucrose fatty acid esters, sorbitan fatty acid esters, glycerin fatty acid esters, and propylene glycol fatty acid esters with a low HLB (preferably 3 or less), silicone resins, lecithin, and mixtures thereof. can be mentioned. Further, the amount of these antifoaming substances used is preferably 0.001 to 5% of the weight of the instant food after reconstitution. However, as for silicone resin,
It is limited to 0.005% or less due to the restrictions on usage under the Food Sanitation Act. The antifoaming substance can be applied to the lid and/or the container body in a conventional manner.

Furthermore, when a foaming substance and an antifoaming substance are used in combination, the boiling water is defoamed on the inside surface of the container coated with the antifoaming substance, and the contents do not boil over from the container. In this section, a strong boiling state is still achieved, so that the ready-to-eat food is recooked very quickly and well.

Although the instant food container of the present invention basically has the above structure, various modifications can be made within the scope of the present invention.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a cross-sectional view of a container 1 containing instant food according to the present invention, which shows a container body 2 and a lid 3 covering an upper opening thereof.
A dry instant food 4 is housed in a container consisting of.

The container body 2 and lid 3 are made of a 0.5 mm laminate material, with the inside of the container made of polypropylene and the outside made of paper. The diameter of the upper open part of the container body 2 is 120 m
It is approximately in the shape of an inverted truncated cone with an internal bottom diameter of 105 mm and a height of 64 mm. Furthermore, a member 6 is integrally formed at the bottom of the container body 2 to hold the contents upward with respect to the microwave table 5 (h,=9m+n). The lid 3 consists of a circular plate 7 with an outer diameter of 122 mm and an inner diameter of 121 ml, and a portion 8 projecting from the upper periphery to the side of the container body 2 (the vertical distance h2 of this portion is 12 mm). has been done.

In addition, the lid 3 has a circular opening 9 with a diameter of 3.2+n+n.
Eight pieces are provided radially around the center of the lid 3 (
The porosity in this case is 0.57% of the area of the upper opening of the container body 2).

Since the diameter of the upper peripheral edge of the container body 2 and the inner diameter of the circular plate 7 of the lid 3 are approximately equal, the containers are connected in the illustrated state and the interior of the container is sealed. On the other hand, a part of the side wall of the container body is composed only of a propylene layer, and a mark (10° 10) indicating the level of water to be added is provided here.

Dry instant food 4 contains 70 parts of wheat flour, 30 parts of potato starch,
This is a noodle mass of fried noodles obtained by a conventional method using 32 parts of water, 0.3 parts of water, and 1 part of common salt as raw materials. The noodle block has a cylindrical shape with a diameter of about 100 mm and a height of about 30 mm, and its apparent volume is 235.5 m2 and its actual volume is 93.5 mm.
mj2, and the porosity is approximately 60%.

Below this dried instant food 4, a dried seasoning 11, that is, 4 g of dried cabbage, is placed.

Water (room temperature water) was added to the instant food container having the above structure up to the 12th line. In this case, the amount of water is 130 ml (approximately 130% by weight of the water absorption amount of the dry instant food 4 and the dry seasoning 11).
), and the height was 2 mm from the inner bottom of the container. Next, cover the container body 2 with the lid 3 to seal the container, place it in a microwave oven, and heat it for 5 minutes (strong heating: '500W).
)did. After heating, the container was removed from the microwave, the lid 3 was removed, and the condition of the noodles was examined. All of the added water was absorbed by the noodles and seasonings, and they were clear and excellent. Then, when we added 15g of liquid sauce, mixed it with the noodles, sprinkled with 0.5 of furikake (aonori), and ate the noodles (yakisoba), we found that the noodles had been fully and uniformly restored. It had the original good texture.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, an instant food prepared simply and quickly can be obtained simply by heating in a microwave oven, and there is no need to dispose of excess hot water. Furthermore, since it can be cooked by adding water, there is no need to boil water separately, making it extremely easy to handle. In addition, since the cooked food is restored to its original excellent quality, it can be widely used for a variety of food products.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows a cross-sectional view of the instant food container for use in a microwave oven according to the present invention. In the figure, 2...Container body, 4...Dried noodles, 10...Indication indicating the water level of water to be added, 1
1...Dried seasonings.

Claims (8)

[Claims] (1) A solid instant food that is restored to its edible state by absorbing water is stored inside a container composed of a container body and a lid that can seal or substantially seal the inside of the container,
A microwaveable instant food container for cooking in a microwave oven in the presence of water in an amount of 100 to 155% by weight of the water absorption amount of the solid food. (2) The instant food container according to claim (1), wherein the container body and the lid are made of a microwave-transmitting member. (3) The instant food container according to claim (1), wherein a mark indicating the level of water addition is provided on the side of the container body, and at least this portion is transparent. (4) The instant food container according to claim (1), wherein the solid instant food is instant noodles or instant noodles and seasoning ingredients. (5) The instant food container according to claim (4), wherein the seasoning ingredients are placed below the instant noodles. (6) The instant food container according to claim (4), wherein the instant noodles have a height of 35 mm or less. (7) The instant food container according to claim (1), wherein the solid instant food contains an edible foaming substance. (8) The container is one in which an edible defoaming substance is applied to the inner surface of the lid and/or the inner surface of the container body above the solid instant food contained therein.
Containers containing ready-to-eat foods listed in ).