JPH0585154B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a method for cooking and sterilizing packaged foods sealed in heat-resistant containers or bags.

(Prior art) For example, by cooking a package filled with washed rice, etc. so that it can be shipped as a product as it is, it is possible to produce packaged cooked rice that can be sterilized without using the retort method and is fluffy and delicious. An example of such a device is shown in Japanese Patent Publication No. 14136/1983.

This device includes a storage body for storing food sealed in a bag, a supply section for the storage body on one side, a takeout section for the storage body on the other side, a high-temperature water tank containing boiling water, and a storage body. It includes a conveyance device that passes through the hot water from the supply section and conveys it to the takeout section, and a pipe that spouts high-temperature steam for heating the hot water.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, in the conventional device described above, since high-temperature steam is jetted into the hot water, the amount of hot water increases and there is waste in discharging it, and the boiling point of the water is 100°C.
Because of this, it is not possible to obtain a water temperature of 100℃ or higher,
A lot of energy was wasted as heat of vaporization, leading to high costs. Furthermore, it has the disadvantage that it is difficult to sterilize bacteria such as Clostridium potulinum at temperatures below 100°C.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above-mentioned problems, it is an object of the present invention to prevent waste of energy, effectively recover expensive high-temperature liquid, reduce costs, and improve the sterilizing effect.

(Means for Solving the Problems) As a means for achieving the above object, a container containing food sealed in a heat-resistant container or bag is used to store a high-temperature liquid that has a boiling point higher than that of water. The food in the storage body is passed through the high temperature liquid tank to cook and sterilize the food in the storage body, and then taken out from the storage body and the high temperature liquid, and the high temperature liquid adhering to the storage body is washed and returned to the high temperature liquid tank. That's what I did.

(Function) According to the present invention, since the liquid 28 is indirectly heated through the heating pipe body 41, there is no fear that the amount of the liquid 28 will increase unnecessarily or the amount of water will increase, thus saving energy. temperature stability as well as temperature stability.

Further, in the take-out section 46, the storage object 7 that has passed through the high temperature liquid 28 and is conveyed is transferred to the shower device 48.
The high temperature liquid 28 adhering to the storage body 7 is returned to the high temperature liquid tank 29 after being cleaned in advance.
Waste of high temperature liquid 28 can be prevented.

Since the liquid 28 has a high boiling point, it also has a great sterilizing effect during cooking.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described based on the drawings. In Figs. A packaging bag 5 made of heat-resistant plastic film (for example, heat-resistant polypropylene) is filled and sealed.

Reference numeral 7 denotes a storage body, in which a plurality of mold containers 8 in which the packaged food 1 is hermetically stored are provided along the longitudinal direction.
The molded container 8 is composed of a container body 9 and a lid 10, which are made of a thin metal plate such as aluminum and formed into a flat rectangular parallelepiped shape, so-called a lunch box shape. Also, the size of the mold container 8 is
The internal volume of the packaged food 1 is approximately equal to the volume of expanded cooked rice. A gasket 11 is provided around the inner periphery of the lid 10 and is used for sealing the lid 10 with the main body 9.

The storage body 7 includes a central storage body 12 and a pair of upper and lower rotating bodies 13 and 13' rotatably pivoted on both sides of the storage body 12, so that both upper and lower surfaces of the storage body 12 are rotated. Container bodies 9 are fixed to each of them at appropriate intervals in the longitudinal direction, while lids 10 are fixed to the rotary bodies 13 and 13' in correspondence with each other.

Reference numerals 14 and 14 designate a first hinge body that connects the housing body 12 and the upper moving body 13 on one side in the width direction, and the housing body 12 and the lower moving body 13' on the other side; A plurality of mold containers 8 are provided in the longitudinal direction of the mold container 8. And above
The lower movable bodies 13 and 13' are configured so that the lid 10 is fitted into the container body 9 by rotating about the pivot pin of the first hinge body 14 as a fulcrum.

Reference numerals 16 and 16 denote a second hinge body provided on the container body 12 on the opposite side of the hinge body 14 in correspondence with the first hinge body 14, and the L A letter-shaped presser metal fitting 17 is rotatably connected. A plurality of the presser metal fittings 17 are connected by connecting rods 20 as appropriate.
The presser metal fitting 17 is located at the left end and the right end in the third figure.
The presser metal fittings 17 located on the left and right sides of the - line in the same figure are provided with hook portions 18, and press the vertically moving bodies 13, 13'.
3 and 13', and the internal pressure of the mold container 8 is supported by the engagement between the hook part 18 of the presser metal fitting 17 and the hook metal fitting 19.

Furthermore, coaxial support shafts 22 that project in the same direction are provided at both longitudinal ends of the container body 12, and guide elements 23 that project on both sides in the radial direction are provided at the tip of each support shaft 22. , both guide pieces 23 are out of phase by 90°.

Reference numeral 26 denotes a sterilization device for cooking, which includes a conveyance device 27 for conveying the storage body 7, a high temperature liquid tank 29 containing a high temperature liquid 28, and a heating device 30 for heating the high temperature liquid 28. , conveyance device 27
consists of a pair of left and right endless chains 33 that span a pair of left and right sprockets 31 and 32 that are rotatably attached to both ends of the liquid tank 29, respectively, and the middle part of the chain 33 is submerged within the liquid 28. It is supported by a chain guide 34. 35 is a drive device, one sprocket 32
The chain 33 is connected to the chain 33 and is configured to rotate the chain 33.

Two fork-shaped attachments 36 are attached to the chain 33 at predetermined intervals, and one of the two forks (on the front side in the direction of movement of the chain 33) has a short protrusion. This attachment 3
The vicinity of the base of the support shaft 22 of the storage body 7 is detachably and rotatably attached to the storage body 6 at the support shaft 22, and the storage body 7 is installed horizontally between the left and right chains 33.

Further, guides 37 that intermittently come into contact with the guide 23 provided at the tip of the support shaft 22 of the storage body 7 are provided at predetermined positions on both left and right sides of the inside of the liquid tank 29. Horizontal sliding portions 38 through which the child 23 can pass when in a horizontal state and recesses 39 through which the guide child 23 can pass in a vertical state are provided alternately at a predetermined interval, and the other guide 37 is configured such that the horizontal sliding portion 38 corresponds to the recessed portion 39 and the recessed portion 39 corresponds to the horizontal sliding portion 38. Then, the guide element 23 is inserted into the recess 3 of the guide 37.
9 to the horizontal sliding part 38, the vertical guide 23 contacts the end of the horizontal sliding part 38 and is rotated 90 degrees, and this contact is performed alternately on the left and right, so that the storage body 7 is moved to a predetermined position. Rotates in cycles.

The high temperature liquid 28 is a mixture of water and glycerin, and the boiling point of the liquid 28 is higher than that of water.

The heating device 30 includes a heating pipe body 41 arranged to pass through the liquid 28, and a boiler 42 as a heat source supply device that supplies high-temperature steam as a high-temperature heat source into the heating pipe body 41. This is a so-called indirect heating method in which the liquid 28 is heated through 41.

A storage tank 43 is arranged to collect water liquefied by high-temperature steam from the boiler 42.

44 is a vapor recovery hood, which includes a liquid tank 29, a supply part 45 of one storage body 7, and a take-out part 4 of the other storage body 7.
Except for 6, the ducts 47 are provided to cover the upper part of the liquid tank 29, are connected to the storage tank 43 by a duct 47, and are configured to recover liquefied vapor into the storage tank 43.

48 is a shower device, and the storage body 7 is
The liquid discharged from the shower device 48 is returned to the liquid tank 29. Also, the liquid used in the shower device 48 is stored in the storage tank 43.
A pump 49 supplies the liquid to be used.

In addition, on both sides of the liquid tank 29, a storage body 7 is placed in a supply section 45.
A supply robot 50 is provided to supply the attachment 36 of the chain 33, and a take-out robot 51 is provided to take out the storage body 7 at the take-out part 46.

Next, the rice cooking process using the device 26 will be described. Each packaged food 1 is stored in each type container 8, and the latch 15 is engaged to seal the lid. Next, the supply robot 50 sequentially loads the materials from the supply section 45 onto the attachment 36 of the chain 33. The storage body 7 thus set is transferred together with the chain 33 and moves submerged within the high temperature liquid tank 29. At this time, the storage body 7 is intermittently rotated at a predetermined period by the guide 23 and the guide 37, the packaged food 1 is stirred inside, and the packaging bag 5 in the mold container 8 is rotated intermittently at a predetermined period.
It adapts to the shape of the rice, prevents the washed rice 2 from shifting to one side, and uniformly heats the rice. As the food is heated in this way, the washed rice 2 and air 4 inside the packaged food 1 expand, creating high pressure inside the packaging bag 5, but the molded container 8 is firmly held by the latches 15. Lid 10
There is no risk that the packaging bag 5 will come off or the packaging bag 5 will burst.

Moreover, due to this high temperature and high pressure, the packaging bag 5 is brought into close contact with the inside of the mold container 8, and the packaged food 1 is molded into a flat shape. As the heating progresses further, the inside of the mold container 8 becomes high temperature and high pressure and expands into the washed rice 2, the water 3 is completely absorbed into the washed rice 2, a part of the air 4 is also absorbed into the washed rice 2, and the rest is left between the rice grains. remain. In this way, the washed rice 2 becomes cooked rice and occupies the entire packaged food 1. After the rice has passed through the high-temperature liquid 28 for a predetermined period of time and cooking has been completed, the container 7 is washed by the shower device 48 in the take-out section 46, and then taken out to a predetermined position by the take-out robot 51. , by removing the latch 15 of the storage body 7 and opening and rotating the rotating body 13, as shown in FIG.
A finished product of packaged food 1 is obtained. This finished product has the same flat shape as the molded container 8, and is a very suitable shape for packaging, transportation, store display, etc.

The embodiment of the present invention is constructed as described above, and since a mixture of water and glycerin is used as the high-temperature liquid 28, the boiling point is higher than that of water, and at a high temperature of 100°C or higher, packaged food 1 can be heated and cooked.

In addition, although the above-mentioned example described heating cooking using washed rice as cooked rice, there is also a case where already cooked food sealed in a heat-resistant container or bag is heat sterilized by the apparatus of the present invention, and the above-mentioned high temperature By using the liquid 28, the sterilizing effect can be improved.

Also, compared to the conventional method of directly jetting high-temperature steam into hot water, this method indirectly heats the liquid 28 through the heating pipe body 41.
There is no fear that the amount of liquid 28 will increase unnecessarily or the amount of water will increase, so energy savings and temperature stability can be achieved. Furthermore, since the liquid recovered by the vapor recovery hood 44 is returned to the liquid tank 29 using the shower device 48, evaporated glycerin is also removed even though expensive glycerin is used. can be collected effectively,
Cost reduction can be achieved.

Furthermore, the high-temperature liquid 28 that passes through the high-temperature liquid 28 and adheres to the conveyed storage body 7 is also removed from the shower device 4.
8 and returned to the high-temperature liquid tank 29. From this point of view as well, the liquid 28 containing expensive glycerin can be effectively recovered and costs can be reduced.

Note that if the amount of liquid evaporated from the liquid tank 29 is appropriately adjusted so that it is returned from the shower device 48 into the liquid tank 29, a predetermined amount of liquid 28 can always be ensured and there is no waste.

In addition, although the liquid recovered by the steam recovery hood 44 and the drain water from the boiler 42 are used as the liquid used in the shower device 48, tap water may be added and used as appropriate. good. 52 is a valve on the tap water side.

In the above embodiment, the packaged food 1 contains rice, but it may be udon noodles, oden, etc., and is not limited to the packaged food 1 in the embodiment.

Also, 1 part by weight of glycerin is added to 1 part by weight of water.
When the weight part of glycerin is 2, the boiling point temperature is 113°C. When the glycerin weight part is 3, the boiling point temperature is 117°C. When the glycerin weight part is 4, the boiling point temperature is 123°C. When the glycerin weight part is 5, the boiling point temperature is 129°C, when the glycerin weight part is 6, the boiling point temperature is 135°C, and when the glycerin weight part is 7, the boiling point temperature is 142°C, which is a relatively stable boiling point temperature. The obtained mixture may be used as desired.

(Effects of the Invention) A container containing food sealed in a heat-resistant container or bag is passed through a high-temperature liquid tank containing a high-temperature liquid having a boiling point higher than that of water, and the food in the container is After cooking and sterilizing the liquid, it is taken out from the storage body and the high-temperature liquid, and the high-temperature liquid attached to the storage body is washed and returned to the high-temperature liquid tank, which saves energy. Since the expensive high-temperature liquid that adheres to the body is recovered, there is no waste and costs can be reduced. Furthermore, it has a great cooking sterilizing effect.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is an overall explanatory diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the packaged food, Fig. 3 is a plan view of the storage body, Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line shown in Fig. 3; 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line taken from FIG. 1, FIG. 6 is a partial side view of the conveying device, FIG. 7 is a partial side view of the liquid tank, and FIG.
The figure is a perspective view showing a finished packaged food product. 1... Packaged food, 5... Packaging bag, 7... Storage body, 26... Heat sterilizer, 27... Conveyance device,
28...High temperature liquid, 29...High temperature liquid tank, 30...
Heating device, 41... heating pipe body, 42... boiler, 43... storage tank, 44... steam recovery hood, 45... supply section, 46... take out section, 48...
...Shower device.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A container containing food sealed in a heat-resistant container or bag is passed through a high-temperature liquid tank containing a high-temperature liquid having a boiling point higher than that of water, and the food in the container is heated and cooked. A method for cooking and sterilizing packaged foods, which comprises removing the packaged food from the container and high-temperature liquid after sterilization, washing the high-temperature liquid adhering to the container, and returning the packaged food to the high-temperature liquid tank.