JPH0446110B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

(Field of Application of the Invention) The present invention relates to a die for extrusion molding a regular textured food or food material having a supple texture. (Background) A processing method in which high-protein food raw materials or starchy raw materials such as hydrated defatted soybeans are heated and plasticized under high pressure and shear in an extruder, and then extruded from an orifice is called "extrusion cooking." It is well known that extrusion cooking has been industrialized for quite some time, and its products have been sold as snack foods, confectionery, meat substitutes, pet foods, etc.Especially in recent years, extrusion cooking has become more efficient than conventional single screw extruders. With the development of a twin-screw extruder, there is a strong desire to develop applications that take advantage of the organization and other characteristics of this processing method. (Problems with the current technology) However, the above In this method, the raw material is heated to high temperature (120-200℃) under high pressure in the barrel, and as soon as it passes through the orifice, the pressure is suddenly reduced to atmospheric pressure. Not only does the swelling of the raw material inevitably occur, but also the discharge of the raw material becomes unstable.For this reason,
As measures for suppressing swelling, the following methods have been proposed: extruding into a container kept at high pressure, cooling the raw material to be extruded in an extruder or die, and removing the die. However, in this method, in addition to the high equipment cost of the high-pressure chamber, the operation of the machine must be stopped and the extruded material taken out at regular intervals, making the work discontinuous and reducing productivity. There is a drawback that it decreases. In addition, in this method, when the area around the orifice is cooled, the back pressure increases rapidly, which tends to cause blockage, which can lead to explosive jetting and make the discharge condition unstable. (Products with an external shape corresponding to the internal shape of the extrusion passage)
is difficult to obtain. Although this drawback can be improved to some extent by reducing the amount of water added, on the other hand, the structure of the molded product becomes brittle due to partial cooling due to the heat of evaporation of water, making it difficult to obtain a shaped product. In the last method, because the product is delivered in the direction of rotation of the screw due to the structure of the machine, it is not possible to obtain a regular product. As outlined above, no matter which known method is employed, it is extremely difficult to stably produce a fixed-shaped non-swelled extruded product. (Object of the invention) The object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems in the production of non-swelled extruded products, more specifically, to
The object of the present invention is to provide a means for stably obtaining a non-expanded extruded product having a thickness or diameter of up to about 50 mm and having a supple fibrous structure. (Means for Solving the Problems) In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention improves the structure of a die attached to the front side of a food extruder, and the present invention improves the structure of a die attached to the front side of a food extruder. An enlarged diameter portion having an outwardly inclined wedge-shaped inner shape that gradually expands toward The sliding member is movably inserted, and an extrusion gap is formed between the inclined surface of the sliding member and the opposing inclined surface of the enlarged diameter portion. That is, the present invention relates to a food extrusion die constructed by combining the following elements. The die has an enlarged diameter portion having an outwardly sloping wedge-shaped inner shape that gradually widens from a constriction on the inlet side toward the outlet side. A wedge-shaped sliding member having a dense inclined surface similar to the inclined surface of the enlarged diameter portion is slidably inserted into the enlarged diameter portion, and the inclined surface of the sliding member and the opposing slope of the enlarged diameter portion are slidably inserted. A gap for extrusion must be formed between the surface and the surface. Each of the above elements will be explained below. Die (body of the die): The die (body of the die) is
an inlet side (die head) attached to the outlet side of the extruder; a narrowed part (throat) continuing from the inlet side;
and a wide diameter portion with an outwardly inclined surface that widens from the narrowed portion toward the exit side. The die head usually has a flange at its front end to be fixed to the front end of the extruder main body (barrel), and extends from the front to the rear narrowed part with an internal shape that is approximately equal to the front opening surface of the extruder. It has an inner shape that gradually narrows and widens again from the narrowed portion toward the rear (outlet side), with a narrowed intermediate wedge shape. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the upper enlarged diameter portion has a horizontal upper surface and an inclined lower surface, into which a wedge-shaped sliding member, which will be described later, is inserted, and the inclined lower surface of this sliding member and the enlarged diameter portion are inserted. The gap between the radial portion and the opposing inclined inner surface constitutes an extrusion passage. The lower surface of this extrusion channel (ie, the sloping inner surface of the opposing enlarged diameter portion) is usually flat, but may be formed into a groove shape with any internal shape if desired. Usually, the width of the main extrusion passage is designed to be a slit with a width of about 1 to 5 mm. Furthermore, depending on the case, (each) of the main sliding member and/or the enlarged portion
It is also possible to inscribe (corresponding) ribs or grooves on the inner surface. In a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention, a jacket is formed inside or below the inclined lower wall of the enlarged portion, and a conduit for conducting and discharging the refrigerant is arranged in the jacket. Preferably, the jacket is divided into several chambers, each chamber preferably provided with individual piping. Note that the upper jacket may be replaced and piping for direct refrigerant communication may be provided inside the inclined lower wall of the enlarged portion. Wedge-shaped sliding member: The wedge-shaped sliding member is configured to move forward and backward within the enlarged portion of the die body.
This is a wedge-shaped block, preferably having a dense sloped surface forming a supplementary angle to the sloped surface of the enlarged part of the die body, and optionally holding the block along the sloped surface of the former. It is constructed so that it can be moved forward or backward at will with a certain gap between it and the lower surface. Accessory equipment: A hole for press-fitting an auxiliary material is provided, if necessary, through the wall of the die body between the narrowed part of the die inlet. These holes serve as passages for pressurizing liquid oils, seasonings, colorants, etc. into the material to be extruded. Extruder: The extruder in the present invention may be a single-screw or a twin-screw. However, in general, a two-screw type, especially a type that rotates in different directions, is more efficient because there is less winding and backflow of the material to be extruded. Furthermore, the length-to-diameter ratio (L/D ratio) of the barrel is also at least
It is desirable that the number is 10 or more, especially 15 or more in order to improve the degree of kneading and extrusion efficiency. (Function) When the extrusion screw is rotated to extrude the material, the material is subjected to shearing force along the flow direction while passing through a long slit-shaped passage, and is gradually cooled while passing through the passage in the die. It is organized into a fibrous structure. During this time, the material generates heat due to the shearing force and is slowly cooled while maintaining its fluidity, so there is no risk of clogging, and therefore steady continuous operation is possible. In particular, if a cooling jacket or the like, which is a preferred embodiment of the invention, is provided, in addition to being able to control the extrusion temperature as desired, the pressure drop will be gradual and the extrusion state will not only be more stable, but also swelling will be prevented. As a result, fibrous organization along the extrusion direction occurs, resulting in a shaped non-expanded fibrous extrudate with a very pliable texture, e.g. squid sashimi-like texture. This product has extremely high utility value as a new food material that provides a texture similar to, for example, squid or squid sashimi. An important feature of this extrusion method that should be noted is that stable extrusion can be performed even when the water addition rate is more than twice that of the raw material. It was /2.
(Therefore, only amorphous puffed foods could be produced)
It can be said that this is a revolutionary advance compared to the previous one. In the above, if the die head has a hole for liquid injection, additives such as seasonings, flavors, fats, oils, proteins, pigments, vitamins, amino acids, etc. that are press-fitted through the hole are directly added into the barrel. Since the product is not subjected to the severe thermal history that occurs when the product is extruded, it is possible to obtain a product of superior quality compared to conventional extrusion molded products. (Example) Hereinafter, an example of implementing the invention and an example of its use will be described using an example. However, this example is of course for illustrative purposes and is not intended to limit the spirit of the invention. FIG. 1 is a somewhat schematic vertical bisect sectional view along the longitudinal direction of an example of the die of the present invention, and FIG.
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line XX, FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view also taken along line Y-Y, and FIG. 4 is an overhead perspective view of the sliding member. The whole 1 is a similar rectangular parallelepiped having at one end a pair of upper and lower flanges 2, 2' to be fixed to a flange f at the opening edge of the extruder E. The upper plate 3 is a plate-shaped body with left and right frames that first extends slightly forward and downward from the upper flange 2 and then extends horizontally, and is provided with a flange 5 at the other end. The lower plate 9 is a plate-shaped body with left and right frames that extends from the lower flange 2' upward in the front, then horizontally, then downward in the front, and finally horizontally again, and faces the first horizontal part. There is a narrowed part 10 between the horizontal part of the upper plate 3, and the left and right sides of the narrowed part (when facing the drawing).
An inlet portion 11 and an enlarged portion 12 are formed in each of the portions. The water cooling jacket 13 is buried inside the inclined part 9a of the lower plate 9, and is connected to several partition walls 14,
It is divided into several small chambers by 14, and each chamber is connected to a water conduit 15 with a water pipe 16 and a drain pipe 17. The sliding member 18 has a wedge-shaped outer shape, and a handle 19 is attached to the top side 18a of the wedge shape.
0, and an adjustment handle 21 is fixed to the screw. The main sliding member 18 has an inclined surface 18 whose front part from the central part is similar to the inclined part 9a of the enlarged part 12 of the lower plate 9.
c, and an extrusion passage 22 is formed between the opposing surfaces of the lower plate 9. In this case, the step portions 9a at both ends of the lower plate 9 in the width direction, which face each other via the ribs 18b, 18b at both ends in the width direction,
9a, and is slid along the longitudinal direction of the die body by rotation of the handle 21,
This changes the length of the extrusion passage 22. The hole 23 for press-fitting liquid penetrates the wall surface of the lower plate 9 constituting the inlet part 11 and opens into the inlet part,
A pipe 24 connected to the pressure pump (not shown) is connected to the hole.
is connected. The product guide 25 is fixed to a flange 26 fixed to the front end of the lower plate 9, and guides the product extruded from the front end 22a through the extrusion passage 22. (Example of use) The above die is used in a twin screw extruder (KOWA KEI−45,
It is attached to the tip of a barrel with a screw diameter of 46 mmφ and L/D 15), and the protein raw materials and water shown in the table below are supplied through the hopper and water injection hole (not shown) of the extruder, and non-expanded extruded products are manufactured under the conditions shown in the table below. did. The results of this test are also shown in the table below.

[Table] The above products are suitable, for example, as a substitute ingredient for Chinese bamboo in instant noodles. (Effects) The specific effects of the invention explained above are summarized and listed as follows: - It is possible to stably and continuously obtain a non-expanded extrusion molded product having a uniform fibrous structure. can. Molding operations can be carried out continuously and stably under highly hydrated conditions, which is unimaginable under conventional extrusion molding techniques. Due to the above-mentioned effects, the present invention can contribute to improving the eating habits of the people by providing a novel extrusion molded product.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a somewhat schematic vertical bisect sectional view along the longitudinal direction of an example of the die of the present invention, and FIG.
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line XX, FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view also taken along line Y-Y, and FIG. 4 is an overhead perspective view of the sliding member. The meanings of the main symbols in each figure are as follows:- 1: Whole die of the present invention; 3:1 upper plate of main body, 10:1 narrowing part, 11:1 inlet part, 1
2:1 enlarged diameter part; 2:3 mounting flange;
5:3 sliding member 18 mounting flange, 9:1
The lower plate of the main body; ... 2':9 mounting flange,
23:9 hole for liquid injection, 26:product guide 2
5 Mounting flange; 4:23 Liquid press fitting pipe; 13: Water cooling jacket; 14:1
Partition wall 3, 15: Water pipe, 17: Drain pipe... 16: 15 knob; 18: Sliding member; 19: 18 handle, 20: Reverse screw for adjustment, 21: For adjustment Handle, 22:19 notch; ・22: Extrusion passage, 23: Hole for liquid press-in:
25: Product guide; E: Extruder; ... f: E barrel flange, s: E screw.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A die attached to the front surface of a food extruder, the die having an outwardly sloping wedge-shaped inner shape that gradually widens from a narrowed part on the inlet side toward the outlet side. A wedge-shaped sliding member having a dense inclined surface similar to the inclined surface of the main enlarged diameter portion is slidably inserted into the enlarged diameter portion, and the inclined surface of the sliding member and the enlarged diameter portion are slidably inserted. 1. A die for extruding a shaped food product, characterized in that the die is configured such that an adjustable extrusion gap is formed between the opposing inclined surfaces of the parts. 2. The die according to claim 1, wherein the inside of the inclined surface of the enlarged diameter portion includes a hollow chamber for conducting refrigerant. 3. The die according to claim 1, wherein the cross-sectional shape of the flow path is cylindrical or slit-shaped.