JPS6147498B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing packaged baking products.

BACKGROUND ART Food products such as bread, sweet bread, and sponge cakes that are manufactured by baking dough are packaged after conventional baking and cooling. As a result, it is impossible to prevent bacteria and mold from entering and multiplying inside the package, resulting in poor shelf life. In order to improve shelf life, they must be sealed in aseptic conditions, but this requires a sterile air supply device, which is expensive equipment and complicated to operate.

Therefore, attempts have been made to bake the package while it is sealed, but this has not been successful as the packaging material cannot withstand the thermal expansion of the internal air during baking and the pressure of the steam generated and bursts. To avoid this, it is possible to partially seal the inside of the package to provide an escape route for the air and water vapor before baking, and then immediately seal the package completely after baking is complete. Because the pressure is reduced, the contents may be crushed, or even if they are not crushed, the appearance is extremely poor and the product is of low commercial value. If the seal is completely sealed after it has cooled down to prevent depressurization, outside air will enter and become contaminated, so the drawbacks of the prior art will not be eliminated.

Prompted by the remarkable progress of heat-resistant packaging film materials in recent years, the present inventor discovered the problem of depressurization after cooling caused by baking and packaging foods at the same time in a packaging method that does not use a sterile air supply device. The research was conducted with the intention of solving the problem. As a result, changes in volume within the two heating-cooling systems are absorbed by connecting each package, and the inside of the package is filled with heat-sterilized air even during cooling. The present invention was conceived based on the idea that it would be sufficient to provide certain conditions.

The method for manufacturing packaged baked products of the present invention based on this idea consists of the following steps.

(i) Place the containers containing the dough in a continuous cylindrical packaging material at predetermined intervals, and partially seal the continuous cylindrical packaging material between adjacent containers, leaving an air passage, to form each pouch. (ii) introducing an area containing an arbitrary number of dough-filled containers surrounded by a cylindrical packaging material into a heating zone and baking it; (iii) transferring the baked area into a cooling zone. (iv) After cooling, performing a complete seal to close off the air passage portion to isolate each pouch from each other; and (v) cutting apart each pouch to obtain individual packages.

The method of the present invention will be explained below with reference to the drawings.

A film 1 made of a material that can withstand baking temperatures, such as polyethylene terephthalate, polycarbonate, or nylon, is rolled out, and the dough 3 is placed in a tray 2 that is also made of a material that can withstand heat, such as metal foil, heat-resistant paper, or plastics as described above. Arrange the items on top of it at specified intervals. A continuous cylindrical packaging material 4 is made by back sealing 11, and heat sealing 12 in a direction perpendicular to the back seal 11 is performed between each tray 2, 2, . . .
to form an unbaked pouch 21. This heat seal 12 leaves a ventilation path 13 so that the atmosphere can move between each pouch 21, 21...
Partial seal.

A series of pouches 21, 21, . . . , which are partitioned by partial seals but allow atmosphere to circulate, are introduced into the heating zone 6 in an area containing an arbitrary number of pouches 21, 21, 21, . The heating means is
Of course it is optional. The temperature and time vary depending on the type of food; for example, for bread or pound cake, it is 180 to 190℃ for 20 minutes, and for Danish pastries, it is 240 to 250℃ for 14 minutes, but bakery technicians It would be common sense for them.

Pouches 22, 22, ... that have completed baking are
Next, it is transferred to the cooling zone 7 and cooled by any method such as blowing cold air.

The heating-cooling described above was performed on partially sealed pouches 21, 21, ... (unbaked) and 22, 2.
2. (complete baking) can be carried out sequentially, moving at a constant speed across both zones, or alternatively, baking a fixed number of pouches in the series at the same time, then cooling them, It is also possible to bake the same number of products at the same time, and in practice the latter may be advantageous in terms of heating-cooling efficiency.

During heating and cooling, the pressure within each pouch sequentially increases and decreases due to the thermal expansion and contraction of air and the generation and condensation of water vapor. , there is always a flow of atmosphere from the higher pressure side to the lower pressure side, and when the two systems of heating and cooling are viewed as one, they are balanced. The air (and water vapor) entering the package in the cooling zone 7 is sterilized at high temperature in the heating zone 6.

In order to ensure the protection of this atmosphere and completely prevent re-contamination due to the ingress of external air, air from the heating zone 6 can be drawn through the ventilation channels at the ends of the cooled pouches 23, 23, ... leaving the cooling zone 7. All you have to do is make it deviate little by little. This can be done by blowing air in from the heating zone side to create a flow, but a simple way to do this is to temporarily close the seal part in the middle with pinch rolls to prevent the air from flowing back. This is achieved by pushing the atmosphere toward the exit side.

However, if air flows out along with the water vapor, the volume inside the package will inevitably decrease slightly after sealing, and excessive circulation of atmosphere will reduce both heating and cooling efficiency, which is undesirable. As a countermeasure against this, it is recommended that the seal portion 12A at the tip end that exits the cooling zone 7 closes the air passage as a complete seal, as in the illustrated example. As a result, there is no intrusion of outside air, and the entire atmosphere inside the package is once sterilized in the heating zone 6.

When the desired degree of cooling has been reached, that is, when the reduced pressure caused by subsequent cooling is no longer a problem even if the seal is applied, the partial seal 12 is completely sealed to eliminate the air passage 13, Each pouch 23, 23, . . . is shut off. Subsequently, the center of the sealed portion is cut to separate each package 24.

Complete sealing and cutting mentioned above means heat sealing/
It is best to do this at the same time using fusing technology.

According to the method for manufacturing packaged baked products of the present invention, the sterilization effect in the heating system is maintained in the cooling system, and a sterile air supply device is not required. Furthermore, since there are no problems caused by the reduced pressure inside the package during cooling, products with excellent appearance can be manufactured. In this way, according to the present invention, a hermetically packaged baked food product with high shelf life can be obtained at low packaging cost.

Example: Put pound cake batter into a paper cup,
Some parts are heat sealable polyethylene terephthalate 50μ film.
Extrusion-coated µ film, and partially laminated polycarbonate 50 µ film and unstretched polypropylene 50 µ film are used as packaging materials, and back seals and partial seals are applied according to the process shown in the drawings. After that, it was baked at 180°C for 20 minutes, and after cooling, it was completely sealed and cut to separate the package.

This baked and sealed pound cake was left at room temperature for 7 days, but no rotting or mold growth was observed. This means that this packaging method guarantees sufficient shelf life for a period suitable for consumption.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a partially sectional side view for conceptually explaining the method of baking and simultaneously packaging food according to the present invention. 2 and 3 are detailed views of the package in the section ˜ in FIG. 1, with FIG. 2 being a sectional view similar to FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 being a plan view. 1... Packaging material, 2... Tray, 3... Fabric,
6... Heating zone, 7... Cooling zone, 12...
Partial seal, 12A... Complete seal, 21... Pouch (unbaked), 22... Pouch (baked completed), 23... Pouch (after cooling), 24... Package.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A method for producing packaged baked products comprising the following steps. (i) Place the containers containing the dough in a continuous cylindrical packaging material at predetermined intervals, and partially seal the continuous cylindrical packaging material between adjacent containers, leaving an air passage, to form each pouch. (ii) introducing an area containing an arbitrary number of dough-filled containers surrounded by a cylindrical packaging material into a heating zone and baking it; (iii) transferring the baked area into a cooling zone. (iv) After cooling, performing a complete seal to close off the air passage portion to isolate each pouch from each other; and (v) cutting apart each pouch to obtain individual packages. 2. The manufacturing method according to claim 1, wherein the partially sealed pouch is continuously moved through a heating zone and a cooling zone. 3. The manufacturing method according to claim 1, wherein the air inside the cylindrical packaging material is slightly caused to flow from the heating zone side to the cooling zone side. 4. The manufacturing method according to claim 1, wherein the ventilation path is closed at the tip of the region in the cooling zone. 5. The manufacturing method according to claim 1, in which complete sealing and separation between each pouch are performed at the same time. 6. The manufacturing method according to claim 1, wherein the thing to be baked is dough for bread, Danish pastry, or pound cake.