JPS6188846A - Method and apparatus for heat-treatment of cereal - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable the heat-treatment of cereals, eliminating the restriction of the raw material, and preventing the deformation or breakage of the material, by heating cereals in a closed pressure vessel under pressure, transferring to another closed vessel maintained to the pressure and taken out of the vessel after cooling. CONSTITUTION:The cereals supplied by the feeder 4 are transferred with a screw conveyor 1 through a closed pressure vessel 3, heated in the vessel 3 with high-pressure steam under pressure, and delivered with the delivery device 5 to another closed pressure vessel 6. The cereals in the closed pressure vessel 6 are cooled by supplying a coolant such as chilled air from the refrigerator 7, and discharged continuously from the system by the discharging device 8.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Field of Application of the Invention] The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for heat treatment of grains, which does not significantly damage the original shape of grains.

[Problems to be solved by the prior art and the invention] In recent years, when heating grains (raw materials) such as rice and soybeans, it has become possible to heat the grains (raw materials) such as rice and soybeans by increasing the heating temperature and processing them for a short time. It is recognized that it is important to improve the nitrogen utilization rate of soybeans, and there is a trend to increase the steaming pressure accordingly.

However, when the Hg pressure is increased, g9. Generally, G-type products are steamed to a soft state, so it is very difficult to discharge them while maintaining their original shape, and most of them often swell or crumble and lose their original shape. If the original shape of the grains after heat treatment is damaged in this way, it will be difficult to uniformly absorb water, mix with other raw materials, dry, or cool the grains during use, which will impede workability. It also has disadvantages such as poor texture due to its physical properties.

For this reason, there is a strong desire to develop a heat treatment method that minimizes the loss of the original shape of grains, and although several methods and devices for this purpose have been proposed, none of them are yet satisfactory. hard.

A method has been proposed in which grains are stored in a sealable container such as an autoclave, heated under pressure using stalk air in batches, and then taken out by slowly depressurizing the grains. It is not efficient because it cannot be heated continuously.

In addition, there are two upper and lower levels of boiling cans that communicate with each other, and raw materials are introduced into the upper boiling can through the raw material introduction rotary valve and steamed at 1.4 kg/cl. Transfer to boiling can, boiling at about 0.7 kHz / ctM, and then draining with a discharge rotary valve, etc. to make the pressure difference between the upper and lower boiling cans Q, about 7 kg/cal. A device has been proposed to somewhat reduce the crumbling of lightly boiled grains (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 58294/1983), but this device requires that the pressure in the upper and lower cans be set to specific pressures selected respectively. Therefore, pressures and other temperature conditions other than those listed above cannot be used. Furthermore, with this device, 39 can be made into two cans.
If the process has to be carried out in several batches, the quality of the raw material may deteriorate, such as overcooking, overcooking, or excessive denaturation.

Furthermore, in the exhaust rotary valve of a steam can that continuously boils raw materials, a deaeration hole is provided in the peripheral wall of each chamber of the steam can to discharge only the air, so that only the pressure air can be discharged while the rotor is rotating. Method for preventing crumbling of steamed raw materials by discharging them to the outside (Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 50-58294 and 49-749)
However, if this method is operated continuously for a long period of time, the deaeration holes tend to become clogged and the deaeration becomes insufficient midway through the work. Since the raw material is momentarily released from the state where it is held, the raw material is likely to be damaged.

Furthermore, there is a method in which the soybeans that have been pressure-cooked are directly put into sealed water and then taken out into the open air (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5
See Publication No. 2-79091! However, in this method, the sealed water comes into direct contact with the stalks inside the can and is heated to a high temperature, so the soybeans taken out of the water must be cooled and then dried. It also has the disadvantage that it cannot be used for grains that should avoid contact with water.

[Means for solving problems]

The present inventors have developed a technology that has no restrictions on the raw materials to be used, allows pressure and heating conditions to be set arbitrarily, is efficient even when heat-treated at high temperature and pressure, and reliably prevents the original shape of the raw materials from being distorted. As a result of various research aimed at developing a heat treatment method for grains that can produce 59. grains that are introduced into a high-pressure sealed container and heat-treated with water stalks or other gas under pressure, and then heat-treated in a pressurized sealed container with the same pressure or a small pressure difference as the pressure during this heat treatment. By introducing a system and forcibly cooling the grains, the high-temperature moisture in the grains that causes puffing will be cooled, and the moisture will not evaporate when it is discharged outside the system, thus preventing the grains from puffing. g that suppresses or adjusts and maintains the original shape, size, etc. of grains = 't9.
The present invention was completed based on this knowledge.

Particularly, the present invention provides a method for introducing grains into a high-pressure hermetic container of a continuous pressurizing and heating apparatus equipped with a high-pressure hermetic container and heat-treating the same under pressure. The present invention provides a heat treatment method for grains, which is characterized by introducing grains into a container, cooling them, and then discharging them outside the system.

Moreover, the present invention includes a continuous pressurizing and heating device and a continuous pressurizing and cooling device as an apparatus used for carrying out the above-mentioned Fg treatment method, and the continuous pressurizing and heating device includes a high-pressure closed container,
The continuous pressurized cooling device includes an introduction device that continuously introduces grains into the high-pressure hermetic container, and a delivery device that continuously delivers the grains from the high-pressure hermetic container, and the continuous pressurized cooling device includes: a pressurized PE airtight container maintained under pressure and into which the grains delivered from the delivery device are introduced; a cooling device for forcibly cooling the grains in the pressurized airtight container; ．． i9., characterized in that it is equipped with a discharge device that continuously discharges M out of the system; LA's 110 heat treatment equipment is provided.

Hereinafter, the grain heat treatment method of the present invention will be described with reference to an embodiment of the grain heat treatment apparatus of the present invention shown in the drawings.

In the present invention, first, grains are introduced into a high-pressure hermetic container of a continuous pressurizing and heating apparatus equipped with a high-pressure hermetic container, and are heat-treated with a heating medium under pressure.

The above grains include scrap rice, broken rice, small grain hard rice, immature rice,
Dead rice, damaged rice, rice flour (white bran), old rice and other low-grade rice, regular rice, brown rice and other rice, barley, wheat, rye, oat, pigeon barley and other wheat, chestnut, millet, high beam, millet, etc. Examples include millet grains, legumes such as soybeans, onion corn, and crushed and crushed products thereof, but the present invention allows gelatinization of starch or denaturation of protein without substantially damaging the original form of these grains. can.

In addition, examples of the heating medium include saturated steam, water vapor such as superheated water vapor, and other gases such as heated carbon dioxide gas, nitrogen gas, alcohol vapor, etc., but heating for the purpose of tM dragon For treatment, saturated steam and superheated steam are particularly preferred.

In addition, the conditions for pressurizing the grain 1 in the high-pressure airtight container using the heating medium include the type of grain ip, the particle size (size) and the purpose of heating, i.e. '4 gelatinization of flour, It may be selected appropriately depending on protein denaturation, sterilization, etc.

For example, in the case of pregelatinized rice, the pressurization pressure is usually set to l=I OKg/cA in gauge pressure, the heating l temperature is set to 120 to 260°C, and the heat treatment time is set to 2 to 2 seconds.
It is preferable to set it to 0 minutes. Further, the heating temperature and the heat treatment time are in an inversely proportional relationship, and it is preferable to shorten the heat treatment time when the roofing temperature is high, and to lengthen the heat treatment time when the heating temperature is low, for example. , when gelatinizing rice using saturated water, add 20 g/cII+ to 2.
It is preferable to set the time to 5 minutes at 4Kg/CII+ and 2 minutes at 6Kg/cnl.

Further, as the above-mentioned continuous pressure heating device, for example, the first
A continuous pressure and heating device 8 as shown in the figure can be used. The continuous pressurization and heating apparatus A shown in FIG. 1 includes a hollow high-pressure airtight container 3 equipped with a screw conveyor l inside and through which air is circulated through an air communication pipe 2.2. It is composed of an introduction device 4 consisting of a rotary valve that continuously introduces grains into the high-pressure hermetic container 3, and a delivery device 5 consisting of a rotary valve that continuously delivers the grains from the high-pressure hermetic container 3. The grains introduced from the introduction device 4 are conveyed in the high-pressure sealed container 3 by the screw conveyor 1 while being pressurized and heated by high-pressure water stalks, and the pressurized and heated grains are transferred from the delivery device 5 to a continuous pressurization system described later. It is designed to be delivered into a pressurized sealed container 6 of cooling device B.

Incidentally, the continuous pressure heating apparatus used in the grain heat treatment method of the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned one, and is, for example, the
- A device for manufacturing puffed foods described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 26695, a continuous steaming and puffing device for food raw materials described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 1549-1983, and a device for producing puffed foods described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 49-1549.
It is also possible to use an apparatus for producing a puffed food based on an air current heating method described in Japanese Patent No. 47.

In the present invention, the nE heat-treated as described above is then introduced into a pressurized sealed container of a continuous pressurized cooling device equipped with another pressurized sealed container maintained under pressure. Cooling.

The above cooling in the pressurized sealed container is performed using air, nitrogen gas,
Flow a refrigerant such as carbon dioxide or water into the pressurized sealed container according to the purpose i1! + or by projecting, preferably the temperature of the heat-treated grain is 105°C or less, especially 10
Continue until the temperature is below 0°C. The temperature of the refrigerant at this time varies depending on the grain temperature, type, amount, type of refrigerant, etc., but -1
It is preferable to set it as 5-50"C.

By lowering the temperature of the grains in the pressurized sealed container in this way, the high-temperature moisture that causes puffiness instantly vaporizes when the grains are discharged from the pressurized sealed container to the outside (under normal pressure). The swelling of grains can be suppressed or regulated by controlling or regulating the above.

Moreover, the pressure in the pressurized airtight container is such that when the soft and highly swollen grains, which have been heat-treated by a geisha etc. in the continuous pressurization heating device, are introduced into the pressurized airtight container. , a high pressure that does not swell or break and hardly retains its original shape, i.e., a high pressure where the pressure difference with the above-mentioned Mr. C pressurizing and heating device is within 1 kg/cIII, preferably the same pressure. . By setting the pressure in various ways in a range higher than normal pressure and lower than the pressure of the continuous pressure heating device R, the degree of expansion in the order of f1 in the pressurized sealed container can be adjusted as desired. can do.

Further, as the continuous pressurized cooling device, for example, the first
A continuous pressurized cooling device B as shown in the figure can be used. The continuous pressurized cooling device B shown in FIG. , a cooling bag rj1.7 that forcibly cools the grains in the pressurized airtight container 6 with a refrigerant such as cooling air, and a discharge device 8 that continuously discharges the grains in the pressurized container to the outside. It is mainly composed of.

To explain the continuous pressurized cooling device B in detail, the pressurized sealed container 6 is hollow inside, and its upper part communicates with the delivery device W5 of the continuous pressurized heating device A, and its lower part communicates with the delivery device W5 of the continuous pressurized heating device A. The above-mentioned discharge device 8 consisting of a rotary valve is provided. A level meter 9 is provided on the peripheral wall of the pressurized hermetic container 6 to detect the grain capacity in the pressurized hermetic container 6.
The discharge amount (rotational speed) of the rotary valve 8 is controlled to adjust the hold amount of the i2 class in the pressurized sealed container 6, and the f51 class heated in the continuous pressurization and heating device A is heated. In the pressure-tight container 6, sufficient contact can be made with the refrigerant (cooling air). And also, pressurized airtight container 6
In addition, there is also a thermometer 10 for measuring the temperature of grains in the pressurized airtight container 6 and a thermometer 1 for measuring the upper space temperature in the pressurized airtight container 6.
1 is provided.

In addition, the cooling device 7 in the continuous pressurized cooling device B includes the aftercooler 1 in order from the air compressor 12.
3. A cooling air supply path 17 that passes through the air tank 14, a deodorizing filter 15, and a pressure reducing valve 16 to the lower circumferential wall of the pressurized sealed container 6, and an exhaust path 1G provided on the upper circumferential wall of the pressurized sealed container 6. and the cooling air supply path 1 between the deodorizing filter 15 and the pressure reducing valve 16;
7 and a pressure regulating valve 20 in the exhaust passage 18, the grains in the pressurized airtight container 6 are cooled as follows.

That is, in the cooling device 7, the air for cooling the grains is pressurized by the air compressor I2 (the wheat is cooled to room temperature, for example, by heat exchange in the aftercooler 13, and the air is
After k t+1 water is removed, the odor is removed through the air tank 14 and the deodorizing filter 15, the pressure is cut off by the pressure reducing valve 16, and the PI5 is expanded and cooled and pressurized as cooling air at the bottom of the pressurized closed container 6. It is fed into the vicinity and comes into sufficient contact with the grains in the pressurized airtight container 6, as described above, to lower the temperature of the grains to be rejected. At this time, fj in the pressurized airtight container 6,
What about the neck temperature? The y node is adjusted by the temperature and amount of the cooling air sent in as described in n1j, but the temperature of the cooling air can be adjusted by the aftercooler 13, and the 9th node is adjusted by the flow meter 19 Confirm and press RI with pressure regulating valve 20! You can l1ilqi. Then, a part of the cooling air that has come into contact with the grains in the pressurized airtight container 6 is removed together with the grains by the exhaust device 8, and the rest is regulated by entraining the cold air leaking from the continuous pressurizing and heating device A. Each of them is discharged to the outside of the system through a pressure valve 20.

The continuous pressurized cooling device used in the present invention is not limited to the one described above, and for example, in place of the air compressor 12 of the illustrated continuous pressurized cooling device B, non-condensable gas such as nitrogen gas may be used. A gas source can be used to cool the grain with non-condensable gas. In addition, a condenser for dehumidifying used high-temperature air and an auxiliary air compressor for replenishing used air leaking from the exhaust device 8 are installed in the exhaust passage 18, respectively, so that the exhaust passage 18 and the cooling By connecting the air supply path 17 to form a circulation path, the used air can be reused without being discharged outside the system, and the load on the air compressor 12 can be reduced. I can do it.

Further, instead of the after-cooler 13, the air can be cooled to -5 to 5°C using chiller water from a refrigerator.

In the present invention, finally, the grains that have been cooled to an appropriate temperature as described above are discharged from the system.

The above-mentioned discharge can be carried out by the discharge device 8 of the continuous pressurized cooling device B in a predetermined number of nine times as described above, and since almost no moisture evaporates from the grains thus discharged, According to the present invention, it is possible to obtain a heat-treated grain product in which the original shape is almost intact, or the original shape is properly rounded.

In addition, a shock absorbing material such as a sponge is installed diagonally upward in the falling passage of the grains discharged from the discharging device 8 so as to block the passage, and a cushioning material such as a rubber notebook is placed around the shock absorbing material. A device may be provided.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, the method for heat treatment of grains of the present invention will be explained in more detail with reference to Examples.

Example 1 Polished rice was continuously introduced into the high-pressure sealed container 3 at a rate of 100 +r per hour via the introduction device (introduction rotary valve) 4, and the pressure was increased to 6Kg/cd・G using saturated water vapor. ,
After being pressurized for 2.5 minutes at a temperature of 164°C, it is continuously delivered via a delivery device 5 into a pressurized sealed container 6 maintained at a pressure of 6 g/-.G with compressed air. Here, the product is brought into sufficient contact with compressed air to cool down to 98°C, and then continuously discharged from the bottom of the pressurized sealed container using a discharge device (discharge rotary valve) 8 outside the system. A converted rice (product of the present invention) was obtained.

In addition, t'AM of the compressed air is the air compressor 1.
After compressing to 1 OKg/e+J -G at 2, it was cooled to 20°C with an aftercooler 13, and then adiabatically expanded to 5Kg/cd-G with a pressure reducing valve 16, and cooled to -10°C. . In addition, a pressurized airtight container 6 for compressed air
The amount of air supplied to the pressurized airtight container 6 is determined by a pressure regulating valve 20 provided in the middle of the exhaust path 18.
Joint and adjust, 5 ONn every hour? It was adjusted to

On the other hand, as a comparative example, the same polished rice as the above-mentioned polished rice was introduced into a high-pressure airtight container, heated under the same pressure and heating conditions as above, and then instantly discharged to the outside of the yarn through a discharge rotary valve. Pregelatinized rice (control field) was obtained.

The swelling degree (the ratio of the gelatinized rice to the volume of the polished rice) was determined for the two types of gelatinized rice thus obtained. The results are shown in Table 1.

Table 1 From the results in Table 1, it can be seen that with the method of the comparative example, the rice puffs up well and loses its original shape, but according to the method of the present invention, the puffing of rice is suppressed and the degree of puffing is extremely low. It is possible to obtain pregelatinized rice whose original shape is almost intact.

Example 2 In Example 1, instead of polished rice, water t3 was used after washing.
Did you go for 120 hours? I'/R absorption nine soybeans were used, and the cooling temperature of the boiled soybeans in the pressurized sealed container 6 was set at 40°C.
Steamed whole soybeans (
A product of the present invention) was obtained.

On the other hand, as a comparative example, soaked and absorbed whole soybeans, which are the same as the soaked and absorbed whole soybeans described above, were introduced into a high-pressure sealed container, heated under the same pressure and heating conditions as above, and then instantly discharged into the system via a rotary valve. Steamed whole soybeans (control field) were obtained by discharging to the outside.

Regarding the two types of soybeans obtained in this way,
The degree of collapse was inspected. The results are shown in Table 2.

From the results shown in Table 2, it can be seen that according to the method of the present invention, steamed whole soybeans with almost no crumbling can be obtained.

Example 3 The saturated water boiling in Example 1 was replaced with superheated water boiling, and the pressurized water conditions were 5 kg/-.G at a pressure of 6 kg/-.G and a temperature of 205°C.
The present invention was carried out under the same conditions as in Example 1, except that the treatment was carried out for 1 minute, and the amount of compressed air supplied to the pressurized airtight container 6 was changed to 15 ONr/hour. It's 14.

In addition, as a comparative example, the same polished rice was heated under the same pressure and heating conditions as above using superheated water stalks, and then instantaneously discharged from the system via the discharge rotary valve. ) was obtained.

For the two types of pregelatinized rice thus obtained, the degree of swelling (the ratio of the pregelatinized rice to the volume of polished rice) was measured. The results are shown in Table 3.

Table 3 From the results in Table 3, it can be seen that, as in Example 1, the method of the comparative example produces rice that is not good (swelled and becomes ring-shaped), but according to the method of the present invention, the rice is It can be seen that gelatinized rice with suppressed swelling, extremely low degree of swelling, and almost no tR ring shape can be obtained.

〔Effect of the invention〕

The effects of the present invention are listed below.

(1) Grain obtained by continuous heat treatment at high temperature and high pressure is immediately introduced into a pressurized sealed container, where it is forcibly cooled rapidly, and then discharged from the system. It is possible to efficiently obtain grains that have been heat-treated by means such as a steamer, while suppressing damage to the original shape of the grains or preventing the grains from being damaged.

(2) Since grains can be heated in just one heat treatment using a continuous pressurized heating device, conditions can be varied from severe to mild depending on the type and nature of HlQ and the purpose of heating. Arbitrary conditions can be selected, and compared to the conventional method in which the starting point is divided into two batches using two 3g cans, it is easier to set the heat treatment conditions such as steaming, and quality deterioration is less likely to occur.

(3) Heat-treated grains are temporarily held in a separate pressurized container, where the product temperature is forcibly cooled to a predetermined temperature.
Compared to the conventional method of preventing steamed grains from collapsing by discharging only the pressure steam to the outside while the discharge rotary valve is rotating, the effect of preserving the original shape of grains is more reliable, and the grain size can be adjusted from small to large grain size. You can use anything up to the point.

(4) Any refrigerant such as water, air, nitrogen gas, carbon dioxide gas, etc. can be selected for cooling the heat-treated grains depending on the type of grains and the purpose of heating, so the grains can be heated without sacrificing quality. can be processed.

(5) Grains obtained by placing grains in a sealed container, pressurizing them, and then rapidly releasing the pressure will cause the moisture contained in the raw materials to evaporate instantaneously and the grain tissue to swell into a spongy shape.
When using this as a raw material for various foods, uniformly
However, with the present invention, the pregelatinized grains provided by the present invention teeth,
It does not have such drawbacks and can be suitably used as a raw material for various foods for which its use is known, such as parboiled rice, Japanese sweets, rice crackers, and miso.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an embodiment of the grain heat treatment apparatus of the present invention used to carry out the grain heat treatment method of the present invention. A... Continuous pressure heating device B... Continuous pressure cooling device 3... High pressure sealed container 4... Introducing device 5... Delivery device 6... Pressurized sealed container 7...・Cooling device 8... Discharging device Patent applicant: Kikkoman Corporation, Kokomatsu February 27, 1985 Mr. Manabu Shiga, Commissioner of the Patent Office 2, Title of invention: Grain heat treatment method and apparatus 3, Amendment. Patent applicant (447) Kikkoman Corporation 4, Agent 601-601 Nogizaka, Nogizaka, 9-29 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo 6 Drawings subject to amendment 7 Contents of amendment

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) Grain is introduced into a high-pressure airtight container of a continuous pressurization heating device equipped with a high-pressure airtight container, heat-treated under pressure, and then introduced into another pressurized airtight container maintained under pressure. A method for heat treatment of grains, which is characterized in that the grains are heated, cooled, and then discharged from the system. (2) The method for heat-treating grains according to claim (1), wherein the pressure difference between the pressure in the pressurized sealed container and the pressure in the high-pressure sealed container is within 1 kg/cm^2. (3) Consisting of a continuous pressure heating device and a continuous pressure cooling device, the continuous pressure heating device includes a high pressure sealed container and an introduction device that continuously introduces grains into the high pressure sealed container. ,
A delivery device that continuously delivers the grains in the high-pressure airtight container, and the continuous pressurized cooling device includes:
A pressurized airtight container maintained under pressure and into which the grains delivered from the delivery device are introduced, a cooling device for forcibly cooling the grains in the pressurized airtight container, and the grains in the pressurized airtight container. 1. A heat treatment device for grains, comprising: a discharge device for continuously discharging grains to the outside of the system.