JPS5853903B2 - potato chips - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for producing fried potato chips, so-called potato chips, etc., which comprises supplying potato flakes to an oil tank.

In the industrial production of fried potato flakes (hereinafter referred to as potato chips), heated oil and potato flakes are simultaneously supplied to a frying oil bath.

The oil and potato flakes travel along the frying oil tank, and when the potato flakes are scooped up by a wire mesh belt conveyor, the oil falls off the potato flakes.

The temperature of the oil is approximately 180° C. when the potato flakes and oil come into contact, but this temperature decreases while the potato flakes remain in the oil bath.

Due to the high temperature of the oil, explosive boiling occurs in the first part of the oil bath, so that the vapor pressure in the potato flakes causes the cell walls to rupture, resulting in the formation of a large number of pores in the potato flakes.

When almost all the water contained in the potato slices is expelled, these pores become filled with oil.

This causes potato chips to contain a high percentage of oil.

The purpose of the present invention is to provide potato chips with low oil content and to reduce oil consumption.

Another object of the present invention is to reduce the amount of oil that disappears with the exhaust steam, and thereby provide potato chips with a lighter color, a lower free fatty acid content, and a longer shelf life in the final product. It is to obtain.

Multiple areas maintained at a constant temperature from about 135°C to about 150°C, or multiple areas heated sequentially from the above temperature to a maximum temperature of 175°C for each area in the direction of travel of the potato slices. The above object is achieved by passing the potato slices through a provided oil tank and treating the potato slices immediately after being discharged from the oil tank with superheated steam having a minimum temperature of 110° C. or higher.

According to the present invention, an apparatus for producing potato chips includes a frying oil tank divided into at least two regions whose oil temperature can be adjusted separately, a means for conveying potato flakes through the frying oil tank, and a means for heating the potato chips. The temperature of the upper (inlet side of the potato flakes) region in the frying oil bath is maintained at or below the temperature of the succeeding lower region, and the temperature of the upper region (inlet side of the potato flakes) in the frying oil bath is maintained at a temperature equal to or lower than the temperature of the following lower region, The device is arranged directly connected to the point where the potato flakes are discharged from the frying oil bath.

Specific examples of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a potato chip manufacturing plant according to the present invention, which has a frying oil tank 10 for holding heated oil.

The oil tank 10 has a supply port (on the left side of the drawing) and a discharge port (on the right side of the drawing) for potato flakes.

The oil tank 10 is also equipped with a conveying means (not shown) and has four oil supply pipes 11 and four oil discharge pipes 12, thereby establishing four temperature zones in the oil tank 10.

The discharge pipe 12 is connected to the supply pipe 1 by another pipe 13.
1.

A circulation pump 14 is arranged in the pipes of the first three regions to circulate oil to the supply pipe 11.

The discharge pipe 12 is connected to a common recovery pipe 15, and the recovery pipe 15 is connected to a heat exchanger 19 via an external circulation pump 18.
A heat exchanger 19 opening into a filter 16 connected to the feed pipe 11 is connected via a conduit 20 to the supply pipe 11 .

The regulating valve 21 is connected to the supply pipe 1 of the conduit 20 and the pipe 13.
1 is located in the supply pipe 11 at a location between the connection point to 1.

The steam supply pipe 22 connected to the heat exchanger 19 is a conduit 20
It is equipped with a regulating valve 23 controlled by a thermostat 24 which senses the temperature of the oil therein.

The oil reservoir 25 is connected by a pipe 26 which has a shutoff valve 27 in the region located closest to the outlet of the oil reservoir 10 .

A bypass 28 with a shutoff valve 29 is arranged between the conduit 20 and the recovery pipe 15.

Post-processing device 3 for processing potato chips with superheated steam
0 is connected to the discharge side end of the frying oil tank 10.

The device 30 is provided with means for directing steam towards a conveyor 32 carrying potato chips as indicated by arrow 31.

An oil recovery tank 33 for receiving oil is located directly below the conveyor and is connected to the recovery pipe 15 by a pipe 34 with a pump 35.

The apparatus described above is operated as follows.

A required amount of oil at an appropriate temperature is supplied to a frying oil tank 10.

This oil is heated by a heat exchanger 19 and passed through a conduit 20 and four oil supply pipes 11 to the frying oil tank 10.
is supplied to

Amount of oil supplied from heat exchanger 19 and circulation pump 1
By suitably adjusting the amount of oil internally circulated by 4, the four temperature zones are established in the frying oil tank 10.

Since there are no partition walls between each region, there will be no clear boundaries between them.

As can be seen from FIG. 1, the region closest to the outlet of the frying oil tank 10 is not equipped with the circulation pump 14.

This is because heated oil is continuously supplied to this region from the heat exchanger 19.

This is because you want the oil temperature to be at its highest in this range.

Although the thermostat 24 regulates the temperature of the supplied oil, it will be appreciated that other sensing devices (not shown) may be placed in the pipe and/or the oil reservoir 10 to maintain the desired temperature.

Now, potato thin pieces are supplied from the supply port of the frying oil tank 10 as indicated by the arrow 36.

The temperature of the oil in the region closest to the supply port of the oil tank 10 is preferably 135° C. to 150° C., and this temperature is maintained approximately constant in the following two regions as well.

In the fourth region, closest to the outlet of the oil tank 10, the temperature of the oil is increased to about 160°C.

As a result, explosive boiling of the potato flakes as described above can be avoided, and the permanent vapor pressure in the flakes can be maintained higher than the ambient pressure.

Therefore, it is possible to reduce the number of pores that introduce oil, which could not be avoided in the past.

The fried potato flakes are immediately conveyed from the oil bath 10 to the device 30 where they are treated with superheated steam at a minimum temperature of 110°C.

The potato flakes are processed as they are transported on conveyor 32, and a flow of superheated steam (arrow 31) maintains the temperature of the flakes while removing oil from their surfaces.

This prevents oil from seeping into the potato flakes.

The removed oil collects in an oil recovery tank 33 and is supplied from there to recovery pipe 15 by pipe 34 and pump 35.

The processed potato slices are discharged in the direction indicated by arrow 37.

The uppermost part of FIG. 2 shows the temperature curve in the conventional potato chip manufacturing method.

In the conventional method, oil at 185° C. is supplied to an oil bath or frying vessel.

In this case, the aforementioned explosive boiling occurs and the temperature of the oil drops as shown by the curve.

On the other hand, the lower part shows an example of a temperature curve in the method of the invention carried out at a lower temperature than conventionally.

It can be seen that the potato slices are fed at an oil temperature of 145°C, maintained at that temperature for a predetermined period of time, and then raised to about 160°C in the final region.

The temperature is then lowered again to 145°C.

Since, according to the method of the invention, oil does not penetrate into the potato flakes at any point, a reduction in the oil content of the flakes and thus a reduction in the consumption of oil during boiling is obtained.

Since the boiling rate of the water is reduced, the amount of oil lost with the flying water vapor is relatively small.

These facts reduce the cost of producing potato chips.

The lower temperature and the fact that the superheated steam prevents oxidation results in potato chips that are lighter in color and more appetizing.

Furthermore, lowering the temperature reduces the content of free fatty acids in the potato chips, resulting in a longer shelf life of the final product.

In the following examples, potatoes with a dry solids content of 22% were used.

Example 1 Potatoes were peeled using a potato peeler and sliced into 1.4 mm thick slices, which were washed with cold water.

The fried potato flakes were fried according to the method of the present invention.

A karaage frying apparatus with three zones was used, and the temperature in each zone was maintained constant at 150°C.

Immediately after the completion of this frying operation, oil was removed from the flakes by direct application of a stream of superheated steam at 150°C.

The oil content of the final product was 24.0%.

The color was bright and the texture and flavor were satisfactory.

Example 2 Processed as in Example 1 except that the potato slices were not washed, in this case the oil content of the final product was 22.6%
Met.

The color was bright and the texture was satisfying.

On the other hand, the flavor seemed to be somewhat improved compared to Example 1.

Example 3 Potatoes were peeled, sliced into 1.4 mm thick slices and washed with cold water.

The flakes were then fried in the same manner as in Example 1, but the temperature was adjusted to 170°C in the first region, 160°C in the second region, and 150°C in the third region to imitate the conventional method. Set.

After boiling, the flakes were removed from the outlet according to conventional methods.

The oil content of the final product was 34.9%.

The taste and texture were judged to be inferior to those of the above-mentioned Examples.

As can be seen from the above examples, by applying the method of the present invention, the oil content can be reduced from 34.9% to 24.0% and 22.0%, while improving the quality of the final product. We were able to.

Since the invention primarily relates to the production of so-called potato chips, the description has been limited to the use of potato flakes.

However, it is clear that the method and device of the invention can also be applied very well to potatoes cut into other shapes, for example cubes.

In this sense, the term "potato flakes" should not be interpreted in a restrictive manner.

Furthermore, it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the accompanying drawings or examples.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a specific example of a potato chip manufacturing plant according to the present invention, in which 10 is a frying oil tank, 11 is an oil supply pipe, 12 is an oil discharge pipe, 19 is a heat exchanger, 3
0 represents a post-treatment device using superheated steam, and 33 represents an oil recovery tank. FIG. 2 is a temperature curve diagram for the conventional method and the method of the present invention.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A method for producing deep-fried potato flakes, which comprises supplying potato flakes to an oil tank and transporting and passing the potato flakes through the tank, wherein the plurality of potato flakes are kept at a constant temperature of about 135°C to about 150°C. The potato flakes are conveyed through an oil tank provided with a plurality of regions in which the temperature is sequentially raised from the above temperature to a maximum temperature of 175°C in each region in the direction of travel of the potato flakes, and discharged from the oil tank. The method for producing fried potato flakes as described above, which comprises post-treating the potato flakes immediately after they have been fried with superheated steam at a minimum temperature of 110°C or higher. 2. A frying oil bath divided into at least two areas, the temperature of which can be adjusted separately, means for conveying and passing the potato flakes through the frying oil bath, and a point at which the potato flakes are discharged from the frying oil bath. including a device for after-treating the discharged potato flakes with heated steam, directly connected and arranged, from the above, the temperature of the upper region in the frying oil bath is equal to or less than the temperature of the subsequent lower region; An apparatus for producing deep-fried potato flakes. 3. In claim 2, each of the regions has an oil supply pipe and an oil discharge pipe, and at least one of the regions has an internal circulation for transporting oil from the oil discharge pipe to the oil supply pipe. Equipped with a pump, the oil discharge pipes of each area are connected to a common collection pipe, from which the oil is circulated through filters, circulation pipes and heating devices to the oil supply pipes of each area. The fried potato flakes manufacturing apparatus, wherein the superheated steam post-treatment device connected to the circulation pipe system includes oil recovery means connected to the recovery pipe.