JPH03180162A - Expansion-formed food - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prepare an expanded instant food giving natural and luxury appearance by including a liquefied gas in a food slurry and subjecting the food to heat-expansion and drying. CONSTITUTION:A food slurry such as a scrambled egg, preferably a slurry at least containing an undenaturated heat-coagulable protein and having a water-content controlled to a quasi-bound water region, is mixed with a liquefied gas such as liquefied carbon dioxide gas to impart the slurry with moldability by the viscosity-increase caused by cooling. The cooled slurry is formed and the formed product is heated, expanded and dried e.g. by microwave dielectric heating to obtain the expanded food.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to an instant dry food expanded by liquefied gas, and more particularly, to a food slurry containing undenatured protein adjusted to a semi-bound water region. By mixing liquefied gas and dissolving it in the semi-bonded water in the slurry, and at the same time rapidly cooling it, the viscosity of the slurry is increased to make it easier to mold, and the resulting molded product is heated to release the inherent gas. The present invention also relates to a puffed and molded food that takes on a natural appearance due to the puffing pressure of the generated water vapor.

(Prior art and problems) Conventionally, food slurry was mixed with liquefied gas to form a molded product.
There was no ready-to-eat food that was heated, puffed and dried.

The present inventors first adjusted the moisture content of a food to the semi-bound water region and then applied microwave induction heating to instantly generate high bound heat of 120°C or more, which was previously impossible under normal pressure. He discovered that it is possible to simultaneously expand, sterilize, and dry foods in a short period of time, and proposed a method for heating and drying various foods.

However, even if you try to make a highly instant scrambled elag using a slurry-like food dough, for example, the degree of swelling is low and a large amount of additives are required. The disadvantage was that the desired appearance, shape, flavor, and texture could not be obtained.

(Means for Solving the Problems) As a result of intensive research in search of a puffed and molded food with a natural appearance, the inventors of the present invention have developed a natural food slurry that incorporates liquefied gas and heats it to expand and dry it. I learned that it is possible to obtain various puffed and molded foods that look great.

The present invention incorporates liquefied gas into a food slurry.

This invention relates to a puffed molded food product that is heated, puffed, and dried.

In addition, the present invention mixes liquefied gas with a food slurry containing at least undenatured thermocoagulable protein and adjusting the moisture content to a semi-bound water region to incorporate the gas, and improves moldability by increasing viscosity by cooling. This invention relates to a puffed and dried food product, which is prepared by applying the powder, molding it, and heating the molded product to expand and dry it.

The food slurry whose water content has been adjusted to the semi-bound water region to be mixed with the liquefied gas according to the present invention may be of any kind, but preferably contains at least an undenatured thermocoagulable protein that retains its activity. Any undenatured protein may be used as long as it is thermocoagulable, but it usually includes raw meat from seafood and meat, eggs and milk, plant proteins from grains, beans, and algae, and single-cell proteins. For example, in the case of seafood, the flesh and reproductive rays of various fish, fresh surimi, frozen surimi, and the internal and internal organs of cephalopods, crustaceans, and shellfish are used. In livestock meat, by-products such as meat parts, internal organs, collagen, blood cells, and plasma are used. For eggs, fresh, frozen, or dried whole eggs, egg yolks, and egg whites are used. Milk products such as dairy products, casein, and lactalbumin are used. For plants, products containing soybean protein, wheat protein, spirulina, chlorella, etc., products purified from these, and protein compositions interacted with starch etc. can be used. As single-cell proteins, proteins made from hydrocarbons such as crude oil, gas, and pulp waste liquid are used using microorganisms such as various bacterial cells and yeast.

These protein-containing foods are made into a slurry by adding seasonings, starches, additives, etc., and then being crushed, mixed, crushed, and kneaded in the usual way. It is preferable to form a slurry in a semi-bound water region composed of semi-bound water and bound water. In the moisture region containing a large amount of free water, there are problems such as decreased formability, reduced gas force, and wasted microwave energy, and in the bound water region, the dielectric heating efficiency is extremely low. This is because there is.

The gas used can be any gas that has a high solubility in the semi-bound water in the slurry, and the molding machine can be used with any gas that does not easily diffuse into the gas phase outside the molded product, but must not be explosive, toxic, or cause glow discharge. It is preferable to use a gas that does not generate any gas, and liquefied N2, CO8, or air is usually used from the viewpoint of economy and effectiveness.

For example, the mixture of food slurry and liquefied gas is supplied from each tank to a hopper in the casing through a pipe, etc., and is thoroughly dispersed by a screw inside the casing. It can be molded and granulated using a depositor, molder, etc., or it can be freely molded using a depositor, molder, etc.

The mixing ratio of food slurry and liquefied gas depends on the heating and initial temperature of the slurry, and in order to reach the viscosity required for molding.
The amount of liquefied gas required to supply the cold energy required for cooling is determined by the latent heat of vaporization of the liquefied gas, that is, the refrigerant, and the loss factor. The amount is also determined by the need to dissolve gas in the semi-bound water of the slurry and incorporate air bubbles by entrapment in order to reach a desired expansion ratio.

The molded article is subsequently modified by heating, expanded and dried.

Heating can be done by normal external heating, but for slurries with low viscosity gradients and weak gas holding power at low temperatures, external heating, which slowly carries over heat from the outside to the inside, causes a large loss of internal gas and reduces the expansion volume. Microwave dielectric heating, which generates heat uniformly from the inside, is preferred because it tends to be small. In addition, with microwave dielectric heating, semi-bonded water that is bound by the slurry constituents does not lose latent heat in proportion to the rate of binding, so the excess heat that has been added has no place to escape, and the temperature instantly reaches 220°C. When the temperature reaches this high temperature, the internal gas and the generated moist heat gas rapidly expand from the inside of the mass, creating a capillary in which gas is lost, and the drying can be abruptly completed.

The obtained product has a uniform expanded cross section and can be easily restored by absorbing water from the gas escape capillary. This product has a soft texture and maintains a natural flavor, and also shows an extremely low number of general viable bacteria, less than 10 cells/g, and has a quality that far exceeds that of FD products. This is the result.

In addition, the appearance is regular for classification, and there is no loss under or above the sieve, and yet the appearance is of various irregular shapes, giving a soft and natural appearance.

In terms of production efficiency, the process from slurry to finish drying takes less than 3 seconds, compared to 250 minutes with FD and 16 seconds with conventional microwave heating, which has poor appearance and texture. and showed high production efficiency.

The present invention will be illustrated below with examples, where parts are by weight.

Example 1 (A) 49.6 parts of dry weight whole eggs, 13.2 parts of white sugar, 25 parts of starch
．． 7 parts, palm oil 1003 parts, salt 1.2 parts,
The mixture was emulsified using a ball cutter to produce a slurry-like egg dough containing semi-bound water with a water content of 25.5%. This was deposited in the form of particles of φ5 mm on a Teflon conveyor belt, and heated, expanded and dried using a far-infrared heater and a microwave heating device, respectively. The obtained product was in the form of solidified corn particles with an average diameter of 4 mm when exposed to far infrared rays, and had poor water absorption, so it could not be used as a product. In the microwave-heated product, it became regular shaped grains with an average diameter of 7 mm, and when boiling water was poured, it became egg grains with a strong texture in 180 seconds.

(B) Next, the egg batter is supplied to the hopper at a rate of 150 kg/hr and the liquefied carbon dioxide gas is supplied to the hopper at a rate of 30 kg/hr, and the liquefied carbon dioxide gas and food slurry are transferred by the rotation of the screw tightly attached to the casing. Mixed. As a result, the viscosity increases due to rapid cooling of the dough, which immediately becomes heavy viscosity, which causes carbon dioxide gas to be dissolved in the semi-bonded water inside the cooled material and causes air bubbles to be incorporated.
It was cut with a cutting blade at the extrusion outlet from the die at the tip of the casing and discharged, and the bottom was shaped into granules with a diameter of 5 mm.

Place this in a far infrared heater one-band oven for 300 yen.
kg/hr, and was heated to swell and dry for 1,080 seconds. The swelling rate of the obtained product is on average φ
When heated with 8mm heat rays, it absorbed water and recovered in 180 seconds, creating a scrambled erag with a natural appearance, flavor, and texture. This product was a significantly superior instant food compared to (A).

(C) In addition, 300 kg of the molded product was placed in a normal pressure Teflon conveyor type microwave heating device with a microwave output Look%+/hr.
/hr, the quasi-bonded water reached 120°C in 0.3 seconds due to the strong electric field strength, released the carbon dioxide gas and generated water vapor, and after 3 seconds, due to the gas release pressure, the average The expanded body had a diameter of 11 mm. This product had a killing bacteria count of 4 or less per g and was used as an instant scrambled elag with a moisture content of 10%. When boiling water was poured into the product, it absorbed water and recovered in 60 seconds, giving it a natural appearance, flavor and texture.

Example 2 The molded product of Example 1 (B) was automatically supplied to a vacuum microwave heating device with an output of 50 kw/hr at a rate of 150 kg/hr, and was microwave-dried at a vacuum degree of 17 tools, and after 210 seconds, the moisture content was 10 % instant scramble error got. This product has a swelling volume of 1.36 compared to the example construction.
When it doubled in size and was restored by water absorption, it became a half-boiled scrambled erag with a softness never before seen.

Example 3 10 parts of chopped onions, 2 parts of sliced shiitake mushrooms, and 20 parts of red snowflakes were added to the egg batter of Example 1 (B), and a similar slurry containing liquid carbon dioxide gas was kept cold. Thickness 5mm with Tsutsu depositor.

After forming a molded product with a diameter of 50 mm, it was subjected to microwave heating at the same flow rate and half the microwave output per unit area as in Example 1 (C) to temporarily solidify it. Heat this between hot heaters and brown the surface, then Example 2
Dry with vacuum microwave heating at half power. This product has a moisture content of 8%, and when boiling water is poured into it, it becomes a soft, natural-tasting and textured Furong crab.

Example 4 Bork chops were minced using a φ2.8+++m die, a curing agent was added thereto, and the mixture was degassed using a ball cutter. Separately, 2 parts of common salt and 0.2 parts of pyrophosphate were added to 100 parts of arm meat minced using a 0.8 mm dice, and ground, and 7 parts of isolated soy protein, 25 parts of egg white powder, and 50 parts of lard were added and emulsified. 5 parts of starch, 4 parts of balk extract, 0.2 parts of onion powder, and the cured meat were dispersed in this to form a semi-bound water region with a moisture content of 38%.

The mixture is kneaded and cooled while adding liquefied carbon dioxide to 3°C, at which point it is easy to mold.The gas is then incorporated into the mixture, which is then molded into particles of φ15 mm using a depositor. Immediately heated by microwave dielectric, the mixture is swollen and dried to a moisture content of 10%. I forced it. This one is φ2
The meatballs were 5 mm long and shaped like a ball with wrinkles on the surface, making them suitable as a delicacy when eaten as is, and when reconstituted with boiling water, they became meatballs with a natural appearance.

Example 5 0.8 m of purple squid peeled with proteolytic enzyme
Add 0.00% phosphate to 250 parts of squid surimi minced using a size 100 m dice.
6 parts, 100 parts of Sukemune surimi, 15 parts of salt, 4 parts of squid extract.
Add 4 parts of squid meat slurry, and disperse 25 parts of caster sugar, 8 parts of squid oil, and 30 parts of starch to make squid meat slurry in the semi-bound water region. Add 50 parts of liquefied carbon dioxide to this, and while cooling. Built-in gas bubble vine. This was molded into granules of φ15mm+ and steam tunneled at 96°C.

The mixture was heated and expanded by passing through a fryer at 140° C. to obtain spherical objects of φ21+am and φ23 old, respectively. Steamed food is dielectrically heated under normal pressure, and fried food is dielectrically heated under reduced pressure and then expanded and dried.

The former was an instant squid ball with a diameter of 24 mm, and the latter was an instant squid ball with a diameter of 26 mm.

When soaked in Japanese-style soup stock, this product absorbed water in 130 seconds, creating delicious squid balls with a natural texture.

Example 6 70 parts of Sukemune surimi was coarsely ground by adding 2 parts of common salt, and 20 parts of starch and 5 parts of palm oil were added thereto and mixed.

Make fish meat dough, inject liquefied carbon dioxide and liquefied air into it, cool it until it becomes thick, and mold it with an automatic molder to φ40n.
+m, after forming into a disk shape with a thickness of 3 mm, 1 part w10.
Swelling and drying with strong microwave density of 09kg, φ7
A pure white disk with a diameter of 5 mm, a thickness of 5+ am, and a moisture content of 13% was obtained.

When poured with hot bonito stock, this product absorbed water and became soft and smooth in 90 seconds.

Example 7 80 parts of water in which 2 parts of Ca sulfate was dissolved were added to 100 parts of full-fat soy milk powder, and the mixture was emulsified and mixed using a ball cutter to obtain a slurry of semi-bound water. Liquefied carbon dioxide gas was rapidly ejected from the nozzle to solidify and vaporize the mixture. The gas turned into solid carbonic acid (dry snow) and cooled the slurry, making it thick and viscous, resulting in an average particle size of φ5III1 at a temperature of -4°C.

Put this into a fryer with an oil temperature of 130℃ and make a φ12am
After "stretching" it, heat it with oil at 180℃ and "
The pellets were subjected to "individuation" to obtain expanded fixed grains with a diameter of 11 mm. When this product was poured with boiling water, it became nine-grain fried tofu, and when dried vegetable chips were mixed in and treated in the same way, it became instant Hiryuji.

Next, the slurry was deposited from a φ3II11 nozzle, heated at a microwave density of 1 kv/l kg (hr), temporarily solidified, and heated to 30 torr.
Dry by dielectric heating under reduced pressure of r, moisture 8%, φ12+
White puffed spheres of mm in size were obtained. This product turned into hemp tofu in 160 seconds by pouring hemp tofu mixture dissolved in boiling water and mixing.

Example 8 A kneading liquid made by emulsifying 140 parts of water, 8.5 parts of salt, 0.3 parts of canned sugar powder, and 1.8 parts of guar gum was mixed into powder, 250 parts of wheat flour, 40 parts of whole egg powder, and pregelatinized starch. Add 20 parts to make a dough, add liquefied carbonic acid to it and cool it.
Incorporate gas, make noodles in a gas cooling and heating atmosphere, seal in a Teflon container, and immediately apply microwave dielectric heating to improve heat circulation with the generated gas while causing protein thermal denaturation and foaming expansion. Subsequently, air drying or dielectric heating was performed to finish drying to a moisture content of 5%. When poured with hot water, this non-fried noodle absorbs water and returns to its original form in one minute, and has a natural flavor and texture that has never existed before.

Example 9 50 parts all-purpose flour, 50 parts cornstarch, 20 parts whole egg powder,
Mix 100 parts of water with a homomixer to make a batter in the colloidal semi-bound water region, add 3 parts of burdock chips, 5 parts of chopped onions, 4 parts of chopped carrots, and 2 parts of cherry shrimp, disperse, and then add the batter. 20% as bulk specific gravity
of liquefied nitrogen was dispersed therein, and the mixture was cooled to -3°C until half solidified.

This was punched out into a circular thin piece using a three-roller, passed through an infrared oven while being transferred on a chocolate net conveyor to temporarily solidify the surface, and then dried to a moisture content of 10% or less in a microwave fryer at an oil temperature of 130°C.

Separately, the formed batter is heated in a microwave oven to swell to 10% moisture, dry and fix, and then fried for 30 seconds at an oil temperature of 130°C to absorb the fried oil from the surface and absorb moisture. The product is 8% or less.

Both can be mass-produced, have a natural appearance, float well, and have excellent shape retention, which are contradictory problems that have made industrial production difficult in the past, but have been solved by the present invention.

The resulting product was instant kakiage tempura with a fragrant and natural appearance.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A puffed and molded food made by incorporating a liquefied gas into a food slurry, heating, puffing and drying the food. 2. A food slurry that contains at least undenatured heat-coagulable protein and whose moisture content has been adjusted to a semi-bound water region is mixed with liquefied gas to incorporate the gas, and is molded by increasing viscosity upon cooling to impart moldability. Expanded molded food made by heating, expanding and drying the molded product. 3. The puffed and molded food according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the heating, puffing and drying is microwave dielectric heating under normal pressure and/or reduced pressure.