JPH0563149B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (a) Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a method for thawing and cooking frozen foods.

(b) Prior art Publication of Utility Model Publication No. 55-54319 discloses a method in which a magnetron irradiation section is arranged near a stirrer installed on the ceiling of a sealable furnace, and an infrared heater is arranged on the ceiling.
A food defrosting type that has a removable food storage shelf installed in the furnace, a removable tray for water, oil, etc. placed below it, and a heater such as gas or electric heat installed below it. The cooking furnace is disclosed, and is said to be an all-menu complete cooking machine that can eliminate the deficiencies of single-defrosting and single-cooking.

However, since such conventional devices are configured with a combination of heating means that have the function of raising the temperature, especially when thawing frozen foods, the temperature at the center of the food increases as the heating time elapses. However, the rise in surface temperature became large, and the surface temperature and internal temperature became non-uniform, making it impossible to achieve good thawing.

(c) Purpose of the Invention The present invention addresses the conventional drawbacks, eliminates the unevenness caused by changes in the surface temperature and internal temperature of frozen foods over time, and also improves the quality of frozen foods by preventing surface drying. The purpose is to perform quick thawing and short-time cooking after thawing.

(D) Structure of the Invention The present invention provides a method for thawing and thawing frozen foods in which a thawing process using far infrared rays emitted from a far infrared heater and low-temperature, high-humidity air is performed, and then a cooking process is performed using the far infrared rays. It is a cooking method.

(E) Embodiment FIG. 1 shows a system configuration diagram of a thawing and cooking device that implements the present invention. A far-infrared heater 5 is installed to radiate far-infrared rays to the frozen food 4 placed thereon, and an air outlet 6 is formed on one side wall facing the frozen food 4, and an exhaust port 7 is formed on the opposite side wall. is formed. Further, an air duct 8 is connected to the air outlet 6, and an exhaust port 7 is connected to the air outlet 6.
An exhaust duct 9 is connected to the air supply duct 8, and the air supply duct 8 is provided with an air supply damper 10, and the exhaust duct 9 is provided with an exhaust damper 11.
Also, what communicates with the thawing and cooking chamber 2 via the air supply duct 8 is a low-temperature, high-humidity air generation chamber 12 , which introduces external air into the generation chamber 12 and, as a result, passes the low-temperature, high-humidity air into the air supply duct 8 . It is equipped with a blower 13 for feeding air into the thawing/cooking chamber 2 through the refrigeration system, and an injection pipe 15 having an appropriate number of injection nozzles 14.
The injection pipe 15 is a water pipe 1 with a water pump 16 interposed therebetween.
It is connected to the cooling water tank 18 via 7,
The cooling water tank 18 and the inner bottom of the low-temperature, high-humidity air generation chamber 12 are connected to each other by a return pipe 19 . The cooling water 20 stored in the cooling water tank 18 is heated to a temperature close to the freezing point due to the configuration of the cooling pipe 21 disposed inside the tank 18, and the electric compressor 22 and condenser 23 connected to this externally. The temperature is controlled at an extremely low temperature of ~2°C.

Thus, the low temperature and high humidity air is combined with the air sent into the generation chamber 12 by the blower 13 and the water pump 16.
The cooling water 20 in the cooling water tank 18 guided to the injection pipe 15 and injected from the injection nozzle 14 is prepared by heat exchange with the cooling water 20, and the excess water falls to the bottom of the generation chamber 12 and passes through the return pipe 19. Cooling water tank 18
will be returned to.

By the way, the temperature of the far infrared heater 5 is 160 to 180
℃, the wavelength of infrared rays is approximately 6μ, and according to the infrared absorption rate of water shown in FIG. 2, water has a high absorption rate when it is approximately 6μ. Therefore, the far infrared heater 5 used in the example is set at 160 to 180°C.

Next, the thawing and cooking method of the present invention will be explained. First, the frozen food 4 is placed on the shelf 3, the air supply and exhaust dampers 10 and 11 are opened, and the far-infrared heater 5, the blower 13, and the water pump 16 are operated. The prepared low-temperature, high-humidity air passes through the air duct 8 and reaches the air outlet 6.
The far infrared rays are sent to the thawing/cooking chamber 2 and radiated to the frozen food 4 to start the thawing process.

Therefore, the low-temperature and high-humidity air can cause frozen food 4 as shown by the arrow.
, and is exhausted from the exhaust port 7 through the exhaust duct 9, thereby preventing the surface temperature of the frozen food 4 from rising and becoming extremely uneven with the internal temperature. Thus, the surface of the frozen food 4 is prevented from drying, and the far infrared rays promote the thawing of the frozen food 4. Note that, as described above, the embodiment uses the far-infrared heater 5 that emits a wavelength suitable for the frozen food 4 (having a large water absorption capacity), so efficiency is improved and thawing can be achieved in a short time.

Further, the experimental data shown in FIG. 3, which was conducted to prove that the thawing method of the present invention is effective, shows the relationship between heating time and the surface and core temperatures of the frozen bread dough after secondary fermentation. This is a characteristic diagram. According to this, the surface temperature and the center temperature were thawed while maintaining a substantially constant temperature difference, and the result was that an extreme rise in the surface temperature with respect to the center temperature was prevented. The bread dough taken out of the oven had finished thawing evenly without drying the surface.

Next, the cooking method will be explained. After thawing is completed as described above, the air supply and exhaust dampers 10 and 1 are
1 is closed, the blower 13 and water pump 16 are stopped, and the cooking process using the far-infrared heater 5 is started. Since the far infrared rays emitted from the far infrared heater 5 directly reach the food without any intermediary, the food can be cooked in a short time with good thermal efficiency.

In addition, since the apparatus for carrying out the method of the present invention is equipped with an air supply damper 10 in the air supply duct 8 and an exhaust damper 11 in the exhaust duct 9, it is possible to use low-temperature, high-humidity air that is extremely effective during thawing. This prevents water from flowing into the thawing/cooking chamber 2 during cooking, and also prevents heat leakage, thereby allowing efficient thawing and cooking.

(f) Effects of the invention According to the thawing and cooking method of the present invention, which includes a thawing process that uses both far infrared rays and low-temperature, high-humidity air, and a cooking process that uses far infrared rays, the rise in surface temperature of frozen foods is suppressed in the thawing process, and the following effects are achieved. This eliminates the extreme temperature unevenness between the surface temperature and the center temperature, and also prevents the surface from drying out, allowing for good thawing. This provides several advantages.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a system configuration diagram of a thawing and cooking device that implements the method of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a characteristic diagram showing the infrared absorption rate of water, and Fig. 3 is a diagram showing the heating time and surface of frozen food according to the method of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a characteristic diagram showing the relationship with center temperature. 5... Far infrared heater, 12... Low temperature and high humidity air generation chamber.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A method for thawing and cooking frozen food, which comprises performing a thawing step using a combination of far infrared rays from a far infrared heater and low-temperature, high-humidity air, followed by a cooking step using far infrared rays.