KR101759889B1

KR101759889B1 - freezing method and freezing system

Info

Publication number: KR101759889B1
Application number: KR1020150162146A
Authority: KR
Inventors: 정한혁
Original assignee: (주)에이치엔에이치
Priority date: 2015-11-18
Filing date: 2015-11-18
Publication date: 2017-07-20
Also published as: KR20170058213A

Abstract

A food freezing method is provided.
(a) inserting food into a mold having a groove formed body and a lid covering the groove;
(b) covering the lid and applying pressure to the food;
(c) subcooling the food product;
(d) freezing the food by releasing the pressure applied to the lid;
(e) pressurizing the food again by pressing the lid again before the frozen food rises to a temperature at which it enters the ice crystal formation table.

Description

The present invention relates to a freezing method and a freezing system,

The present invention relates to a food freezing method and a freezing system for rapidly freezing food for cryopreservation.

In freezing conventional foods, rapid freezing is generally carried out to quickly pass the maximum ice crystal generation zone.

The formation of iced crystals occurs at -5 ° C to 0 ° C. When the crystals are rapidly passed through the maximum ice crystal generation zone, the ice crystals are made finer, so that destruction of cells and food composition can be prevented. And the action of the enzyme can be suppressed as much as possible.

In general, in the method of freezing, cold air is directly sprayed on food to cool it, or a method of freezing and rapid freezing by putting food into liquid nitrogen or liquefied carbon dioxide which is a coolant of low temperature and freezing quickly by contacting with low temperature and freezing have.

However, in the freezing method in which cold air is sprayed directly onto food, the air pressure in the cooling device is lowered during the freezing process at low temperature, and water evaporates during freezing of food, and the food is deteriorated due to moisture evaporation.

Further, the freezing method such as liquid nitrogen and liquefied carbon dioxide is rapidly frozen when liquefied gas such as liquid nitrogen is brought into contact with food, but the outside is frozen and the inside is not frozen, temperature difference between inside and outside of food and rapid shrinkage occur, The surface is cracked, and the quality of the product is lowered. If the external freezing occurs rapidly, moisture loss occurs and the protein is denatured and the fat is soddened.

In another method, the contact type freezing device has the effect of directly contacting the food to the low-temperature metal plate and by freezing it, receiving the partial pressure when inflated, reducing the generation of freezing deflection, and relatively large food can be frozen. However, there is a disadvantage that the freezing time is very long if the contact is not good, and there is a disadvantage that the difference in temperature tends to be large until the temperature difference inside the outside is completely frozen.

Korean Patent Laid-Open No. 10-2006-0089134 (Frozen Method and Apparatus)

The present invention provides a food freezing method and a freezing system in which a food is cooled in a supercooled state in which freezing is delayed during the passage of ice during the freezing of food, and then the supercooled state is canceled to rapidly and simultaneously freeze the inside and outside do.

The present invention also provides a mold crimping method and a contact type freezing method in which products can be individually frozen and simultaneously shaped.

According to an aspect of the present invention,

(a) inserting food into a mold having a groove formed body and a lid covering the groove;

(b) covering the lid and applying pressure to the food;

(c) subcooling the food product;

(d) freezing the food by releasing the pressure applied to the lid;

(e) pressurizing the food again by pressing the lid again before the frozen food rises to a temperature at which it enters the ice crystal formation table.

According to another aspect of the present invention,

A conveyor device;

A mold which is movable on the conveyor device and is composed of a body having a groove and a lid covering the groove;

An inlet device for opening the lid and inserting food into the groove in a first section of the conveyor device;

A first pressing device for pressing the lid of the mold in the second section when the mold moving in the first section moves along the second section of the conveyor device;

A third section of the conveyor apparatus, which is a section for releasing the pressure applied to the lid while the mold moves along the second section;

A second pressing device for pressing the lid of the mold again in the fourth section when the mold moving in the third section moves along the fourth section of the conveyor device;

And a freezing device for cooling the food in the second section, the third section and the fourth section to a temperature at which the food can be frozen.

1 is a plan view of a refrigeration system according to an embodiment of the present invention;
2 is a side view of a refrigeration system according to an embodiment of the present invention;
3 is a perspective view of a mold of a refrigeration system according to one embodiment of the present invention.
4 is a view illustrating a refrigeration process according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 5 is a graph for comparing the refrigeration method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to the like elements throughout. And this does not mean that the spirit and scope of the present invention are limited.

In this embodiment, meat is described as an example of food, but other kinds of foods such as fruits and seafood are also included in the scope of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a refrigeration system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a side view of a refrigeration system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a view showing a refrigeration process according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a graph for comparing and comparing the refrigeration method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In the refrigeration system 100 of the present embodiment,

A conveyor device (10);

A mold 20 comprising a body 21 on which a groove 211 is formed and a lid 22 covering the groove 211, the mold being movable on the conveyor apparatus 10;

A feeding device 30 for opening the lid 22 and inserting meat into the groove 211 in the first section 10A of the conveyor apparatus 10;

When the mold 20 having moved in the first section 10A moves along the second section 10B of the conveyor apparatus 10, the lid of the mold 20 in the second section 10B (22);

A third section 10C of the conveyor apparatus 10 which is a section for releasing the pressure applied to the lid 22 while the mold 20 moved in the second section 10B is moved;

When the mold 20 having moved in the third section 10C moves along the fourth section 10D of the conveyor apparatus, the lid 22 of the mold 20 is moved in the fourth section 10D A second pressurizing device (42) for pressurizing again;

And a refrigerating device 50 for supplying cold air to the meat in the second section 10B and supplying cold air to freeze the meat in the fourth section 10D.

The conveyor apparatus 10 of the present embodiment is a device capable of continuously moving the mold 20 after the mold 20 is placed on the upper side. The conveyor device 10 is a widely used device in food and industry. The conveyor apparatus 10 is conveniently partitioned into a first section 10A, a second section 10B, a third section 10C and a fourth section 10D. have.

The mold 20 is a container capable of containing food such as meat and comprises a body 21 formed with a groove 211 and a lid 22 covering the groove 211.

The dosing device 30 is located in the first section 10A of the conveyor device 10. The dispensing device 30 opens the lid 22 coupled to the mold 20 and inserts the meat into the groove 211. The configuration of the charging device 30 may be configured by a combination of a robot arm, a motor, and a gear. The dispensing device 30 can close the lid 22 after opening the lid 22 coupled to the mold 20 and inserting the meat. This process takes place in the first section 10A of the conveyor apparatus 10. [

The second section 10B of the conveyor apparatus 10 is positioned after the first section 10A. The first pressurizing device 41 presses the lid 22 of the mold 20 moved to the second section 10B. The second pressurizing device 41 may be another type of conveyor device which is located above the second section 10B of the conveyor device 10 and which rotates at the same speed as the conveyor device 10. [ When the mold 20 on the conveyor apparatus 10 moves, the first pressurizing device 41 pushes and moves the lid 22 of the mold 20.

The freezing device 50 supplies cold air to the second section 10B. The freezing device 50 supplies the cold air so that the meat inserted into the mold 20 in the second section 10B is supercooled. Since the meat in the mold 20 is in a pressure-applied state, even if it is cooled below the temperature of the ice crystal producing stand, the meat is supercooled without being frozen. That is, in the case of meat in the pressurized state, even if the temperature becomes -5 ° C or less in the second section 10B, the temperature is continuously lowered through the ice crystal generation zone.

The expansion of the volume is essential for water to be phase-converted into ice. By the way, when pressure is applied to the meat, the water is prevented from being phase-converted into ice, and even if it is cooled below the phase-transformable temperature, the water does not change into ice. This phenomenon is called "supercooling".

The third section 10C of the conveyor apparatus 10 is located after the second section 10B. When the mold 20 is moved to the third section 10C, the pressure applied to the lid 22 of the mold 20 is released. When the pressure applied to the mold 20 is released, the inside and the outside of the meat are temporarily frozen in a supercooled state. At this time, water is phase-converted into ice to absorb external heat, and the temperature inside and outside of the meat increases.

The fourth section 10D of the conveyor apparatus 10 presses the lid 22 of the mold 20 again to freeze the meat.

The second pressurizing device 42 presses the lid 22 when the mold 20 having moved the third section 10C moves along the fourth section 10D of the conveyor apparatus. The freezing device 50 supplies cold air that can freeze the meat in the fourth section 10D. At this time, it is preferable that the conveyor apparatus 10 move the mold 20 to the fourth section 10D at a sufficiently high speed such that the temperature does not rise from the third section 10C to the ice crystal formation table. In the fourth section 10D, the meat is frozen again.

A method of freezing meat using the refrigeration system 100 of the present embodiment is performed in the following order. Will be described in detail with reference to Figs. 1 to 3 and Fig.

S11 is a step of inserting meat into the mold 20 composed of the body 21 formed with the groove 211 and the lid 22 covering the groove 211. When the lid 22 is joined to the mold 20, the inside of the mold 20 becomes a closed space. The steps 1 and 2 of FIG. 4 explain this step. The worker may manually input manually, or may be automatically input using the input device 30.

S12 is a step of covering the lid 22 and applying pressure to deliver the pressure to the meat. When pressure is applied to the lid 22, pressure is transferred to the meat inside the groove 211. Step 3 of FIG. 4 is this step, and freezing may also start simultaneously in this step. As an example of meat, the mold 20 can be cooled to a temperature of minus 40 degrees Celsius to minus 20 degrees Celsius. At this time, the applied pressure varies depending on the kind and condition of meat,

Lt; / RTI >

S13 is a step of subcooling the meat. When the cool air of the freezing device 50 is delivered to the mold 20, the meat inside the mold 20 is supercooled. Since the meat inside the mold 20 is in a pressurized state, the water inside the meat is hardly phase-transformed into ice. Therefore, even if the ice is cooled to a temperature below the ice crystal formation zone, the water inside the meat is not frozen. This ecology is referred to as "supercooled state ". If the center temperature of the meat is between minus 7 degrees Celsius and minus 1 degree Celsius, it can be supercooled. The state is the same as the process 4 of FIG.

S14 is a step of releasing the pressure applied to the lid 22 to freeze the meat. When the pressure applied to the lid 22 is released, the pressure applied to the meat is simultaneously released. In this case, the internal water of the "supercooled state" suddenly changes phase. Therefore, the water inside and outside of the meat turns into ice at the same time. In addition, such ice crystals are fine to minimize tissue damage to the meat. On the other hand, when the phase change occurs, the temperature of the inside and the outside of the meat is increased. If left unchanged, the temperature rises to the ice crystal formation zone, and ice is grown in the ice crystal formation zone. Therefore, preventing ice from growing is an important problem in frozen meat. This step is the same as step 5 of FIG.

Step S15 is a step of pressing the lid 22 again to re-apply the pressure to the meat before it is raised to the temperature at which the frozen meat enters the freezing vocal cords. Before the meat has already undergone the freezing process, the lid 22 is pressed against the meat to maintain the frozen state, and the meat is rapidly frozen again. Steps 6 and 7 of Fig. 4 are the same as this step.

S17 is a step of releasing the pressure applied to the lid 22 and discharging the meat. After the steps 8, 9, and 10 of FIG. 4, quick-frozen meat is completed.

The freezing process of the present embodiment is the same as the (C) of the graph of FIG.

FIG. 5 (a) is a graph of the temperature of meat, which generally occurs when the cold air is delivered from the outside to the meat. The external cold air is slowly transferred to the inside of the meat, and at the melting point of the ice, the water turns into ice and phase transformation occurs. At this time, since the heat is absorbed, the internal temperature of the meat no longer falls. When exposed to such ice crystals for a long time, the size of the ice increases and the meat is pressurized and the water inside the meat escapes and the ice grows, thereby deteriorating the overall quality of the meat product.

Fig. 5 (b) is a graph of the temperature change inside the meat when the meat is supercooled in a pressurized state, and then the pressure is released and then cooled again. After the meat is pressurized, there is a supercooled section such as b1 when cooled. Ice does not form in the meat in section b1. However, when the pressure is released, the temperature rises sharply and the temperature rises to the melting point of the ice crystal, and then the water is phase-converted into ice to absorb heat and ice is grown.

5 (c) is a graph showing the internal temperature of the meat when it is frozen by the freezing method of the present invention. If meat is pressurized and cooled in section c1, and then the pressure is released in section c2, the temperature of the meat rises sharply. At this time, when the temperature of the meat is pressurized and frozen again before reaching the ice crystal formation stage, the temperature of the meat is lowered as in the c3 section. 5 (c), the ice crystals are small because the meat is not exposed in the ice crystal formation stage for a sustained period of time. In addition, since the pressure is released in the supercooled state (c1 section), the inner and outer portions of the meat are rapidly frozen, so that the ice quality is small and uniform, minimizing damage to the meat tissue.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. Modifications and additions by those skilled in the art to an equivalent range based on the embodiments will also fall within the scope of the present invention.

Refrigerating systems (100) Conveyers facilities (10)
The mold (20) charging device (30)
The first pressurizing device 41, the second pressurizing device 42,
Refrigerating equipment (50)

Claims

A conveyor device;
A mold which is movable on the conveyor device and is composed of a body having a groove and a lid covering the groove;
An inlet device for opening the lid and inserting food into the groove in a first section of the conveyor device;
A first pressing device for pressing the lid of the mold in the second section when the mold moving in the first section moves along the second section of the conveyor device;
A third section of the conveyor apparatus, which is a section for releasing the pressure applied to the lid while the mold moves along the second section;
A second pressing device for pressing the lid of the mold again in the fourth section when the mold moving in the third section moves along the fourth section of the conveyor device;
And cooling the food to a temperature at which the food can be frozen in the second section, the third section and the fourth section.

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