JPS5811832B2 - Food steam processing method - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a processing method in which processed foods such as squid and other marine products, beans, meat, vegetables, and grains are irradiated with microwaves and steamed in a hermetically sealed environment. .

Microwaves ranging from several megahertz to several thousand megahertz have traditionally been used to heat a variety of foods, and have the advantage of being able to heat food from deep inside, as well as being highly efficient and can be cooked in a short amount of time, making it an energy-saving option. It is also beneficial.

The present invention aims to further improve the steam processing of foods using microwaves having such characteristics and to significantly expand the range of application of the cooking process.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In the figure, 1 is a cylindrical pressure-resistant sealed container made entirely of glass fiber reinforced plastic (FRp) so that microwaves can easily pass through the container, and flanges 3 and 3' are integrally formed on the outer peripheral surface of the container. A cylindrical end body 4 is formed at the bottom so that the pressure-tight airtight container can be placed in an upright position, and a ring body 5 is fixed to the outer periphery of the upper opening edge by a stop shaft 6. The upper end of the opening edge of the pressure-resistant sealed container is folded back to have an inverted U-shape in cross section, and engaging portions 7, 7, . . . that partially protrude inside the container are formed at regular intervals.

Reference numeral 8 denotes an opening/closing lid of the pressure-resistant sealed container, and projections 9, 9... are formed on the peripheral edge of the container, and the projections 9, 9... are connected to the engaging portion 7, 9, etc.
When the opening/closing lid 8 is rotated through the interval 7..., the protrusions 9, 9... will engage with the lower side of the engaging portion 7. so that it can come into airtight contact with the opening edge of the pressure-tight airtight container.

Reference numeral 11 denotes a check valve attached to a part of the opening/closing lid 8 for blowing compressed air or steam into the pressure-resistant airtight container, and the inlet 12 has a spherical valve body 13 as shown in FIG. is pressed by the elasticity of the coil spring 14.

15 indicates an aeration strainer in which a sponge is housed.

The pressure regulating valve 16 is also attached to a part of the opening/closing lid 8, and as shown in FIG. The amount of compression of the coil spring 18 can be adjusted by adjusting the amount of engagement of the adjustment screw 20.

21 is a ventilation strainer provided in the pressure regulating valve.

22 is a barometer also attached to a part of the opening/closing lid 8.

23 is a cylindrical end body integrally formed on the outside of the opening/closing lid;
A handle hole 24 is formed, and the check valve 11, pressure regulating valve 15, and barometer 22 are housed within the cylindrical end body.

FIG. 5 shows the pressure-resistant sealed container 1 placed horizontally on a cart 25. As shown in FIG.

This trolley 25 has wheels 26, 2 as shown in FIG.
A pair of rotating shafts 29, 29 are provided in parallel with each other on an underframe 27 having both ends rotatably supported by bearings 28. A guarded motor 31 is provided inside the radio wave shield box 30, and a sprocket 32 is fixed to the output shaft of the guarded motor 31.
and a sprocket 33 fixed to the rotating shafts 29, 29.
．． 33 are connected by an endless chino 34.

Reference numerals 35 and 35 denote sliding rings fixed to the outer peripheries of the rotating shafts 29 and 29, and one of the flanges 3 of the pressure-resistant sealed container 1 is positioned between the sliding rings 35 and 35 to close the pressure-resistant sealed container 1. Both rotating shafts 2
9, 29 horizontally.

Then, the endless chino 34 is operated by the geared motor 31.
The rotary shafts 29, 29 are rotated in the same direction via the rotary shafts 29, so that the pressure-resistant sealed container 1 thereon can be rotated.

FIG. 7 shows the entire microwave oscillator, in which 36, 36, 36 are microwave oscillators with an output of 10 kW, 37 is an irradiation chamber, and the irradiation chamber and each of the oscillators are connected to a waveguide 38. Microwaves generated by each oscillator are collected in the irradiation chamber 37 via each waveguide 38.

Reference numeral 39 denotes an impeller provided on the ceiling of the irradiation chamber 37 to diffuse the microwaves.

Now, the food to be processed 2 is stored in the pressure-tight airtight container 1, and a compressor or a steam generator (not shown) is connected to the air inlet 12, and the valve body 13 of the check valve 11 is adjusted to the elasticity of the coil spring 14. On the other hand, when the container is pushed open, compressed air or steam is blown into the pressure-tight sealed container 1, and the pressure inside the pressure-tight sealed container 1 is increased to one atmosphere or more.

Then, the pressure-resistant airtight container 1 is placed horizontally on a cart 25, introduced into the irradiation chamber 37, and irradiated with microwaves while rotating on the cart 25.

For this reason, the food to be processed in the pressure-tight airtight container 1 is irradiated with microwaves, the dyeing liquid is heated, and the temperature inside the container increases.

If there is a part of the food to be processed in which the temperature rises quickly, the heat of vaporization is taken away from that part by evaporation of moisture, and the steam moves within the pressure-resistant sealed container 1, heating the part where the temperature rises slowly. The entire area can be heated evenly.

In addition, if the pressure-resistant airtight container 1 is rotated during microwave irradiation, the microwave can be irradiated uniformly, and the stirring action of the processed food inside the pressure-resistant airtight container 1 accompanying the rotational movement is also added, making it ideal. This enables uniform heating.

The pressure inside the pressure-tight airtight container 1 further increases as the temperature rises, but when it reaches a certain pressure, the valve body 17 of the pressure regulating valve 16 moves against the elasticity of the coil spring 18, and steam is released from there. The gas will be discharged and the pressure will no longer increase.

Then, when the water vapor pressure eventually becomes equal to the air pressure inside the pressure-resistant sealed container 1 at that time, steam bubbles are generated from inside the water, causing a so-called boiling phenomenon.

The generation of air bubbles between the processed food causes the microwave to penetrate deeply into the fibrous tissue of the food.

The boiling temperature at that time is of course controlled to a desired temperature of 100° C. or higher.

In this way, the boiling temperature can be further increased by increasing the pressure inside the pressure-resistant sealed container 1.

In other words, if water is boiled at a relatively low temperature without increasing the pressure, the water will evaporate while the temperature remains low, before the temperature inside the pressure-resistant airtight container 1 rises to the temperature required to soften the food. However, in the present invention, the boiling temperature can be set to a high level by adjusting the pressure regulating valve, so that evaporation of water until the boiling temperature is reached is suppressed.

For this reason, the required high temperature is obtained and the fiber structure of the food is destroyed, making it possible to cook the food tenderly.

Immediately after microwave irradiation for a predetermined period of time, when the pressure inside the pressure-resistant hermetic container 1 is still high, the opening/closing lid 8 is opened and the pressure inside the pressure-resistant hermetic container 1 is suddenly lowered to atmospheric pressure. Since foaming occurs in the process, porous processed foods can be prepared and have an unprecedented flavor.

Note that steaming is not possible in a dry state, so even in the above case, the processed food is moistened with an appropriate amount of moisture in advance so that it has the amount of moisture necessary to saturate the inside of the pressure-resistant sealed container 1 with steam.

FIGS. 8 and 9 show an example of continuous microwave irradiation for a large number of pressure-tight airtight containers 1, where 40 is a charging port, 41 is an irradiation area, 42 is an extraction port,
Reference numeral 43 indicates a waveguide provided in the irradiation area, and reference numeral 44 indicates an impeller.

The pressure-resistant sealed container 1 charged from the charging port 40 is connected to the motor 45.
Two parallel round bar-shaped rails 4 rotated by the power of
The extraction port 4 is placed horizontally on the rail 46 and pushed in the direction of the arrow by the forward and backward movement of the piston rod of the cylinder 47, while being rotated and irradiated with microwaves.
2.

The food to be processed in the pressure-resistant airtight container 1 is ideally and uniformly heated by microwave irradiation, as in the case of FIG. 7 described above.

Foods to be processed include not only those with hard fibers such as beans and grains, but also marine products such as kelp, squid, bone-in fish, and hard meat chunks and bone-in meat. Some of the hard foods that were unavoidably discarded due to the lack of suitable cooking methods can now be effectively used as they can be made soft by the steaming process of the present invention.

Note that the air pressure inside the pressure-resistant sealed container 1 naturally increases due to microwave irradiation, so in the present invention, the air pressure inside the container 1 does not necessarily need to be increased to one atmosphere or more in advance as shown in the embodiment. .

As explained above, in the present invention, processed foods are irradiated with microwaves in a pressure-tight airtight container with a fixed volume or an airtight microwave irradiation chamber with a pressure-tight structure. It is possible to uniformly heat processed foods to a high temperature, and it is possible to cook various foods to a softness that was previously unimaginable.

Furthermore, microwave energy has various beneficial effects, such as heating processed foods in a short period of time, so that food can be cooked without losing its nutritional value.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show an embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 1 is a partial longitudinal cross-sectional view of a pressure-resistant sealed container, and FIG. 2 is a plan view thereof. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the check valve, Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of the pressure regulating valve, Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a pressure-tight sealed container placed horizontally on a cart, and Fig. 6 is a side view of the cart. , FIG. 7 is a partially sectional side view showing the entire microwave oscillation device, FIG. 8 is a longitudinal sectional view showing an example of a continuous processing device, and FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken along the line X--X. 1... Pressure-resistant airtight container, 2... Processed food, 8... Opening/closing lid, 11... Check valve, 16... Pressure regulating valve. 25... Cart, 29... Rotating shaft, 36... Microwave oscillator, 48... Microwave irradiation chamber, 50... Pressure booster,
60... Container.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A pressure-regulating valve is attached to an airtight pressure-tight container with an opening/closing lid made of a microwave-transparent material, the food to be processed is placed in the pressure-tight container, and the pressure-tight container is exposed to microwaves. A food steam processing method in which the microwave is irradiated while rotating, and after the microwave irradiation for a predetermined period of time, the pressure inside the pressure-resistant sealed container is suddenly lowered to atmospheric pressure.