RU2150215C1 - Apparatus for producing edible granular caviar - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: food-processing industry, in particular, production of delicate capsulated food product, such as product identical to black granular caviar. SUBSTANCE: apparatus has vessel adapted for storage of basic component solution and provided with outlet pipes having jet-forming heads at their ends, gas pressure source connected to basic component solution vessel, cylindrical granulating vessel adapted for obtaining granulated food product and provided with branch pipe for removal of excessive portion of forming liquid. Granulating vessel is positioned in axial alignment with basic component solution vessel upstream of discharge branch pipes. Apparatus is further provided with compressor for pulsed supplying of gas into granulating vessel, and exhaust branch pipes connected via pipelines to compressor. Open ends of exhaust branch pipes are positioned in upper part of granulating vessel opposite to discharge branch pipes and are extending to center of granulating vessel. Upper part of granulating vessel is made funnel-shaped. Heating member is arranged about it and connected to control unit. Such construction allows standard size granules to be produced without contamination of product with pathogenic or opportunistic pathogenic bacteria in the process of preparing. EFFECT: increased efficiency, simplified construction and improved quality of product. 4 cl, 2 dwg, 2 tbl

Description

 The invention relates to a device for the production of a delicious encapsulated food product, mainly an analogue of black granular caviar, and can be used in the food industry.

 A device for the production of food granular caviar, containing a thermostatic container for a solution of the initial components of the caviar, a node for forming grains from the initial solution, including a vertical tank with a pipeline for supplying forming fluid, a container for forming fluid, a unit for separating grains from the molding fluid, washing and moisture removal (USSR copyright certificate N 441732, IPC A 23 L 1/328, publ. 1972).

A disadvantage of the known device is to obtain a significant number of granules of caviar with a deviation from the standard size, which requires additional calibration of caviar, which reduces the yield of the finished product. The non-standard nature of the formed granules is due to the fact that when the product jets are introduced into hot vegetable oil, they are crushed into grains that are in a chaotic (disordered) motion for quite a long time under temperature conditions (86-90 ^o C), which contribute to an uncontrolled change in the shape and size of the granules .

 A device for preparing products in the form of fish roe is known, which includes a droplet forming unit equipped with droppers for supplying an aqueous solution of sol, and a step capacity with a solution of a gelling agent having an outlet, and in which grains of the product are formed, as well as a unit for separating grains from forming liquid, washing and removing moisture (application of Japan N 60-52795, IPC A 23 L 1/328, publ. 21.11.85).

 A disadvantage of the known device is its low productivity, due to the small cross-section (0.1-0.2 mm) of the dropper channels, the finite number of these droppers and the low feed rate of the aqueous sol in the solution of the gelling agent.

 A device for the manufacture of simulated granular caviar, including a thermostatic sealed container for the initial solution, a container with forming liquid in the form of a narrow vessel equipped with a cooling jacket with a receiving funnel with a heating element in the upper part, a node for squeezing the initial solution from the container, made in the form of gear a pump with a pipeline or a cylinder with compressed gas, a device for the formation of metered droplets of the initial solution and their spraying relatively mobile forming fluid, a grain storage tank, a tank for washing grains from oil and a device with pipelines for transporting grains (USSR author's certificate N 276725, IPC A 23 L 1/328, publ. 1970).

 The disadvantage of this device is its low productivity, due to the small cross-section (0.1-0.2 mm) of the outlet for the initial solution, an unstable mode of grain formation, causing the formation of grains of various sizes, i.e. a significant amount of defective products.

 A device for the manufacture of simulated black granular caviar from natural products contains a sealed consumable container with a thermostatic jacket connected to a source of compressed air, a cylindrical vessel with a receiving funnel, a heating element and cooling jackets, between which an annular gap for forming liquid, nozzles, located above funnel and mounted on the lower part of the supply tank with the possibility of rotation, having at least two outlet openings, communicated e with a consumable capacity, a sealed storage tank enclosed in a cooling jacket and having a pipe placed therein for transporting grains and a pipe for maintaining the working level in the funnel of the forming tank (USSR author's certificate N 1732507, IPC A 23 L 1/328, publ. 1989).

 The disadvantage of this device is the unstable mode of grain formation, causing the formation of grains of various sizes, i.e. a significant amount of defective products.

A device is known for preparing simulated black granular caviar from food products, containing an open container for the initial solution with exhaust pipes, a container for forming liquid - vegetable oil, equipped with a heating element in the upper part, a container for separating grains from the forming liquid and cooling, a separation sieve with drain tank and pipelines for supplying chilled water and removal of forming liquid. The capacity for forming liquid is installed directly on the tank for separating grains from the forming liquid and cooling, and communicated with it, the pipeline for supplying chilled water is connected to the lower part of the capacity for separating grains from the forming liquid, and the pipe for draining the forming liquid is fixed in the middle part of the latter the boundary of the forming liquid is water. Both tanks are equipped with electric actuators, made in the form of blades, mounted with rotation in the middle of the filled containers, and drain valves for unloading grains. The capacity for the initial solution is a funnel, and the capacity for the forming liquid is equipped with a lid with holes located around its circumference at different distances from the center. The outlet tubes of the container for the initial solution have an internal diameter of 3-5 mm and their outlet ends are placed in the openings of the cap (RF Patent N 2029497, IPC ⁶ A 23 L 1/328, publ. 02.27.95).

The disadvantage of this device is the unstable mode of grain formation, caused on the one hand by a constant change (decrease) in pressure in the exhaust pipes as the level of the initial solution in the tank decreases, and on the other hand, by different trajectories and the nature of particle movement (different formation conditions) of the granules, which cause the formation of grains of various sizes, i.e., obtaining a significant amount of defective products due to the fact that the upper heated layer of the forming fluid (vegetable oil) with constant stirring by a mechanical stirrer, it intensively mixes with the cold part of the forming fluid and does not have a lower boundary (heat-cold), and the process of mixing the forming fluid itself has a vortex (unsteady) chaotic character. In addition, since the process of manufacturing eggs takes place at a temperature of +15 ^o C to +40 ^o C and periodic contact for several hours with an air containing bacteria, contamination of the product by some kind of pathogenic or conditionally pathogenic microflora can be observed, as a result, the shelf life of the product is reduced.

 The closest technical solution (prototype) is a device for the production of granular food caviar, containing a container with an initial solution of components, equipped with exhaust pipes with jet forming heads at the end, a gas pressure source connected to the specified container with an initial solution of components, a cylindrical granulator tank for forming granules of the product with a discharge pipe for the excess part of the forming fluid, mounted coaxially with the container with the initial solution of the components in front of the exhaust pipes and, moreover, around the container with the initial solution of the components and the cylindrical part of the container-granulator are placed water shirts for thermostating of these containers, and in the lower part of the container-granulator there is a hopper for accumulating finished granules (USSR author's certificate N 1782523, IPC A 23 L 1/328 , published on December 23, 1992).

The disadvantage of the prototype device is to obtain a significant number of granules of caviar with a deviation from the standard size, which requires additional calibration of caviar, which reduces the yield of the finished product. The non-standard nature of the formed granules is due to the fact that when the product jets are introduced into hot vegetable oil, they are crushed into grains that are in a chaotic (disordered) motion for a long time, collide with each other, stick together under temperature conditions (86-90 ^o C), contributing to an uncontrolled change in the shape and size of the granules. In addition, since non-sterile air is supplied to the container with the initial solution, which may contain bacteria in the vegetative and spore forms, there is a high probability of product contamination by some kind of pathogenic or conditionally pathogenic microflora, which reduces the quality and shelf life of the finished product.

 The objective of the invention is the creation of such a device for the manufacture of granular caviar, which would make it possible to produce granules of standard size without defects and reduce the possibility of product contamination by pathogenic or conditionally pathogenic bacteria in the process of its manufacture.

 This problem is solved by the fact that in the device for the preparation of food granular caviar, including a container with an initial solution of components, equipped with exhaust pipes with jet forming heads at the end, a gas pressure source connected to the specified container with an initial solution of components, a cylindrical container-granulator for forming granules product with a discharge pipe for the excess part of the forming fluid, mounted coaxially with the container with the initial solution of components in front of the exhaust pipes, and the tank with one component solution and the granulator tank are equipped with means for temperature control, and in the lower part of the granulator tank there is a hopper for accumulating finished granules, according to the invention it is equipped with a compressor for pulsed gas supply to the granulator tank and exhaust pipes connected via pipelines to the compressor, and the open ends of these exhaust pipes are placed in the upper part of the granulator tank opposite the exhaust pipes and are oriented horizontally to the center of the granulator tank, the upper part of the granulator tank is made expanding in the form of a funnel around which a heating element is installed connected to the control unit.

 The gas pressure source contains a sterile gas, for example carbon dioxide.

 The suction pipe of the compressor for pulsed gas supply is connected to a sterile gas source.

 Means for temperature control of the container with the initial solution of the components and the tank-granulator are made in the form of water jackets covering these containers.

 In FIG. 1 shows a diagram of a device for the manufacture of granules. In FIG. 2 - the same, a section along AA.

 A device for forming spherical granules is intended to perform the main operation for the manufacture of black granular caviar, in particular for forming spherical granules with a diameter of 1-3 mm from a protein mixture. Subsequent operations for the production of caviar - tanning, coloring, flavoring can be performed in ordinary dishes or special containers.

 A device for preparing granular food caviar includes a container 1 with an initial solution of components, equipped with exhaust tubes 2 with jet forming heads 3 at the end, a gas pressure source 4 connected to the indicated container 1 with an initial solution of components, a cylindrical container-granulator 5 for forming product granules with pipe 6 draining the excess part of the molding fluid, mounted coaxially with the container 1 with the initial solution of the components in front of the exhaust tubes 2. Capacity 1 with the initial solution of the components and cylin -parameter container portion granulator 5 equipped with means for its thermostatting. Means for thermostating are made in the form of water jackets 7 and 8, respectively, placed around the container 1 with the initial solution of the components and the cylindrical part of the granulator 5. In the lower part of the granulator 5 there is a hopper 9 for accumulating finished granules. In addition, the device is equipped with a compressor 10 for pulsed gas supply to the granulator tank 5 and exhaust pipes 11 connected via pipelines 12 to the compressor 10. The open ends of these exhaust pipes 11 are located in the upper part of the granulator tank 5 opposite the exhaust pipes 2 and are oriented horizontally to the center of the tank-granulator 5. The upper part of the tank-granulator 5 is made expanding in the form of a funnel 13, around which a heating element 14 is installed, covering the funnel 13 and connected to the block 15 management. The gas pressure source 4 contains a sterile gas, for example carbon dioxide.

 The suction pipe 16 of the compressor 10 for pulsed gas supply is connected to a sterile gas source (not shown in the drawings).

 Capacity 1 is designed to prepare the original protein mixture, maintain its temperature and ensure the release of jets of the protein mixture. In the exhaust pipes 2 there are locking-regulating bodies (not shown in the drawings), which are needles equipped with axial movement mechanisms (microscrews) and providing a change in the speed of the jets emerging through calibrated holes with a diameter of 0.4 mm of the jet forming heads 3.

 Granulator tank 5 is designed to produce spherical granules from a protein mixture and their subsequent cooling.

The control unit 15 provides for turning on and off the heating element 14 of the container-granulator 5 to maintain the temperature of the upper layer of the forming liquid (vegetable oil) in the range of 40-45 ^o C.

The productivity of the existing installation is up to 3.5 kg of granules per hour and can be increased by increasing the number of exhaust pipes and the geometric dimensions of the device itself. Air pressure or CO ₂ in tank 1 is from 0.2 to 2.0 kgf / cm ² . The maximum volume of protein mixture in the thermostat is 2.4 liters. The volume of vegetable oil in the granulator is 5 liters. Type of oil - corn or sunflower.

The device operates as follows. First, a mixture is prepared for forming granules in accordance with the examples given in table. 1. For this, edible gelatin or gelatin with starch is poured with boiled cold water, mixed and left to swell for 40-90 minutes. Then, a colloidal protein solution is poured into gelatin or gelatin with starch: cold soy milk, or a mixture of soy milk and colostrum, or colostrum, or a mixture of cow's milk and colostrum and heated with stirring to 50 ^o C. Next, the mixture for molding granules is poured into a container 1 , and create, and maintain a pressure of 0.2-1.0 kgf / cm ^{2 in it} by supplying sterile CO ₂ . The temperature in the tank 1 is maintained within the range of 40-45 ^o C. The granulator tank 5 is poured with corn oil and its temperature is maintained no more than 15 ^o C by means of a water jacket 8. The top layer of oil (in the funnel) with a thickness of 5-7 cm is heated to a temperature of 40 -45 ^o C and maintain the indicated temperature by means of an electric heating element 14, the operation of which is regulated by the control unit 15. Next, include a compressor 10, which feeds through the exhaust pipes 11 pulsating flows of sterile gas at a speed of 1.0-7.0 cm / s, directed along the surface of the forming fluid (oil) to the center of the granulator vessel 5. After opening the shut-off bodies of the exhaust pipes 2 the mixture for molding granules, having passed calibrated holes with a size of 0.4 mm of heads 3, is thrown out in the form of jets and, having passed an air gap of 60-100 mm, is deflected to the center of the granulator 5, crushed into drops and immersed in a layer of heated oil in the receiving funnel 13 containers-granulator 5. In this case, “laces” are formed in the oil, consisting of clusters of spherical granules with a diameter of 1-3 mm. The granules are tangentially twisted by pulsating air flows emanating from the nozzles 11. The granule size is controlled by the rate of expiration of the jets of the protein mixture or the temperature of the oil layer. Excessive overheating of the oil leads to a decrease in granules and an increase in the likelihood of adhesion of the granules.

 Below are examples of the composition of the mixture for the formation of caviar granules and the characteristics of the obtained granules (table. 1).

Further, the granules, rotating, pass a layer of heated oil with a thickness of 5-7 cm, acquire a spherical shape of almost the same size (in the range of 2.5-3.5 mm) and, under the influence of their own weight, move down, cool to the temperature of the oil, i.e. to a temperature not exceeding 15 ^o C, acquire a stable form and are lowered into the hopper 9.

After filling the hopper 9 with product granules, they are poured onto a sieve, where the remaining oil flows; the granules are washed thoroughly with a stream of cold water to remove the oil film from their surface. Next, the granules are kept in a sieve for 20-30 minutes to remove residual moisture from their surface. Then the granules are poured with tea extract for tanning and kept at a temperature of 15 ^o C for 20-40 minutes. After this, the tea is drained, the granules after tanning are washed with cold water for 5-10 minutes. The washed granules are kept in a sieve and stained, placing them in an extract of unripe walnut for 2-5 minutes, followed by removal of the dye and obtaining the color of the granules from dark gray to black with a gray tint. The colored granules are washed from dye residues, first with raw and then with boiled water. The moisture is again removed from the granules, poured with brine and incubated for 15-20 minutes. The brine is drained and allowed to drain the remaining brine. Then the granules with flavoring are mixed, the mixture is kept for at least 30 minutes. The mixture is transferred to a sieve and for 5-10 minutes the excess of flavoring is allowed to merge.

After that, the finished caviar is Packed in a container and stored at a temperature of not more than 7 ^o C for 5-7 days or at a temperature below minus 10 ^o C for 3-6 months. The table 2 below shows the indicators of the finished product.

The proposed technology allows to obtain caviar granules with ultimate grain strength at plus 20 ^o C in the range of 350-370 hPA and temperature stability at plus 27 ^o C for at least 5 hours. The yield of the finished product is 98.0-99.0%. The number of non-standard granules of the product does not exceed 1.0-2.0 wt.%.

 Industrial applicability. The invention can be used in small food enterprises in the production of small amounts of caviar, as well as in food plants for large-scale production of the specified dietary product.

Claims (4)

 1. A device for the preparation of food granular caviar, including a container with an initial solution of components, equipped with exhaust tubes with jet-forming heads at the end, a gas pressure source connected to the specified container with an initial solution of components, a cylindrical container-granulator for forming product granules with an excess discharge pipe parts of the molding fluid, mounted coaxially with the container with the initial solution of the components in front of the exhaust pipes, the container with the initial solution of the components and the tank the granulator is equipped with thermostatic control devices, and in the lower part of the granulator tank there is a hopper for storing finished granules, characterized in that it is equipped with a compressor for pulsed gas supply to the granulator tank and exhaust pipes connected via pipelines to the compressor, and open the ends of these exhaust pipes are located in the upper part of the granulator tank opposite the exhaust pipes and are oriented horizontally to the center of the granulator tank, the upper part of the granulator tank expanding formed as a funnel around which is mounted a heating element connected to the control unit.  2. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that the gas pressure source contains a sterile gas, for example carbon dioxide.  3. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that the suction pipe of the compressor for pulsed gas supply is connected to a sterile gas source.  4. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that the means for temperature control of the container with the initial solution of the components and the granulator tank are made in the form of water jackets covering these containers.

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