Mixed tempura production apparatus and mixed tempura production method

Abstract

To provide a mixed tempura production apparatus capable of preventing mixed tempura batter from adhering to pushers.SOLUTION: A mixed tempura production apparatus for producing mixed tempura comprises: a batter supply unit that supplies mixed tempura batter obtained by mixing ingredients and coating liquid; a mold frame that receives the mixed tempura batter supplied from the batter supply unit; a pusher that has a batter pressing surface and shapes, by the batter pressing surface, the upper surface of the mixed tempura batter placed in the mold frame while in oil; a mold frame moving unit that moves the mold frame beneath the batter supply unit and the pusher; and a lifting / lowering unit that, when the mold frame is moved beneath the pusher by the mold frame moving unit, lowers the pusher which awaits at a standby position where the batter pressing surface is arranged in oil to a position capable of shaping the upper surface of the mixed tempura batter, and then raises the pusher back to the standby position.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a tempura-fried food producing apparatus for producing tempura-fried food, and a tempura-fried food producing method using the tempura-fried food producing apparatus. [Background technology]

[0002] In small and medium-sized factories that produce kakiage, many processes are carried out manually. However, because the environment is harsh, with nighttime operations, high temperatures, and the risk of burns, there is a need to automate the processes of inserting and removing the kakiage mold into the oil and shaping the top surface of the kakiage dough using compact equipment that can be easily installed even in small and medium-sized factories.

[0003] Patent document 1 describes a kakiage tempura manufacturing device that is a large device but is equipped with a moving means for moving a receiving plate (formwork) and a leveling means for lightly pressing down and leveling the kakiage dough that has been poured into the receiving plate. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-225063 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] Incidentally, in the manufacturing apparatus described in Patent Document 1, when forming the deep-fried dough, a pusher (pressing plate) having a size slightly smaller than the opening of the mold is used. When forming the deep-fried dough, before the deep-fried dough in the mold solidifies due to thermal denaturation, the pusher touches the deep-fried dough, and as the solidification of the deep-fried dough progresses, the deep-fried dough adheres to the pusher. This deposit grows each time the deep-fried dough is leveled, and the grown deposit inhibits the leveling of the deep-fried dough by the pusher. Furthermore, the grown deposit peels off from the pusher irregularly, and this peeled deposit may mix into the deep-fried dough. The mixing of the deposit not only greatly changes the amount of deep-fried food, but also partially changes the texture and flavor of the deep-fried food because the deposit has been oil-cooked for a long time, which is inappropriate for the quality of the deep-fried food. Therefore, it has been necessary to prevent the adhesion of the deep-fried dough to the pusher.

[0006] An object of the present invention is to provide a deep-fried food manufacturing apparatus capable of preventing the adhesion of deep-fried dough to a pusher, and a deep-fried food manufacturing method using the deep-fried food manufacturing apparatus.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0007] The deep-fried food manufacturing apparatus of the present invention is a deep-fried food manufacturing apparatus for manufacturing deep-fried food, comprising: a dough supply unit for supplying deep-fried dough obtained by mixing ingredients and batter; a mold for receiving the deep-fried dough supplied from the dough supply unit; a pusher having a dough pressing surface for forming the upper surface of the deep-fried dough introduced into the mold on the dough pressing surface in oil; a mold moving unit for moving the mold below the dough supply unit and the pusher; and a lifting unit for lowering the pusher that waits at a standby position where the dough pressing surface is disposed in oil when the mold is moved below the pusher by the mold moving unit to a position where the upper surface of the deep-fried dough can be formed, and then raising it to the standby position.

[0008] In addition, the deep-fried food manufacturing apparatus of the present invention includes an extrusion pusher that extrudes the deep-fried food in the mold frame that has been molded by the pusher from the mold frame. The mold frame moving unit moves the mold frame above the extrusion pusher. When the mold frame is moved from below the pusher to above the extrusion pusher by the mold frame moving unit, the extrusion pusher is raised to the mold frame and then lowered, which is characterized by including an extrusion pusher lifting and lowering unit.

[0009] In addition, the deep-fried food manufacturing method of the present invention is a deep-fried food manufacturing method for manufacturing deep-fried food using a deep-fried food manufacturing apparatus, including a first moving step of moving a mold frame by a mold frame moving unit to a position below a dough supply unit that supplies deep-fried food dough in which ingredients and batter are mixed; a second moving step of moving the mold frame to a position below a pusher by the mold frame moving unit after the deep-fried food dough is put into the mold frame by the dough supply unit; a lowering step of lowering the pusher, which waits at a standby position where the dough pressing surface of the pusher is disposed in oil, to a position where the upper surface of the deep-fried food dough can be molded; a molding step of molding the upper surface of the deep-fried food dough in the mold frame in oil by the dough pressing surface; and a raising step of raising the pusher to the standby position after the molding step.

[0010] In addition, the deep-fried food manufacturing method of the present invention includes a third moving step of moving the mold frame by the mold frame moving unit above an extrusion pusher after the raising step, and an extrusion step of extruding the deep-fried food in the mold frame that has been molded by raising and lowering the extrusion pusher from the mold frame.

Advantages of the Invention

[0011] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a deep-fried food manufacturing apparatus that can prevent the adhesion of deep-fried food dough to a pusher, and a deep-fried food manufacturing method using the deep-fried food manufacturing apparatus.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0012]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0013] Hereinafter, the deep-fried food manufacturing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the schematic configuration of the deep-fried food manufacturing apparatus according to this embodiment. The deep-fried food manufacturing apparatus 2 according to this embodiment is an apparatus for manufacturing deep-fried food for cooked vegetables or frozen use. As shown in FIG. 1, it includes a fryer 3, a batter supply unit 6, a plurality of molds 8, a pusher 10, an extrusion pusher 13, a mold moving unit 14, a control unit 16, a first elevating unit 18, a second elevating unit 22, and a conveyor driving unit 24.

[0014] The deep-fried food batter 4 is obtained by cutting ingredients such as vegetables, applying flour to the cut ingredients, weighing them in the amount for one deep-fried food, and mixing with a batter liquid. The batter supply unit 6 supplies the deep-fried food batter 4 for one deep-fried food to the mold 8 located below the batter supply unit 6.

[0015] The plurality of molds 8 are arranged at equal intervals on a conveyor or the like constituting the mold moving unit 14 and in the oil 7 in the fryer 3 together with the mold moving unit 14. The mold 8 is a cylindrical shape of a size such that the deep-fried food after cooking becomes a cylindrical shape, and has an inlet through which the deep-fried food batter 4 supplied by the batter supply unit 6 is input on the upper surface, and receives the deep-fried food batter 4 supplied from the batter supply unit 6.

[0016] The pusher 10 has a circular pressing plate with a size slightly smaller than the inlet of the mold 8. The pusher 10 is located between the fabric supply unit 6 and the extrusion pusher 13. The pusher 10 forms the stir-fried dough 4 by pressing the upper surface of the stir-fried dough 4 introduced into the mold 8 with the dough pressing surface 10a of the pressing plate and spreading it in the oil 7.

[0017] Figure 2 is a diagram showing the schematic configuration of the pusher 10. Figure 2(A) shows the state where the pusher 10 is waiting, and Figure 2(B) shows the state where the pusher 10 is forming. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2(A), the pusher 10 waits at a standby position disposed above the mold 8 and in the oil 7 in the fryer 3. In this embodiment, the case where the entire pressing plate of the pusher 10 is immersed in the oil 7 is taken as an example, but at least the dough pressing surface 10a needs to be immersed in the oil 7.

[0018] When the mold 8 moves below the pusher 10, the pusher 10 descends to the forming position (the position shown in Figure 2(B)), which is the upper surface of the stir-fried dough 4 in the mold 8. The dough pressing surface 10a of the pusher 10 spreads and forms the upper surface of the stir-fried dough 4 through the oil that coats the dough pressing surface 10a in the oil 7 without directly touching the upper surface of the stir-fried dough 4. Since the dough pressing surface 10a is always immersed in the oil 7 during standby and forming, the dough pressing surface 10a is always coated with oil, and it is possible to prevent the stir-fried dough 4 from adhering to the dough pressing surface 10a. Also, even if the dough pressing surface 10a of the pusher 10 were to directly touch the upper surface of the stir-fried dough 4, the temperature of the dough pressing surface 10a can be maintained higher compared to the case where the dough pressing surface 10a waits at a position not in the oil 7 (a position above the oil surface 9). Therefore, the upper surface of the stir-fried dough 4 can be instantaneously solidified without lowering the surrounding oil temperature, and it is possible to prevent the stir-fried dough 4 from adhering to the dough pressing surface 10a. After forming, the pusher 10 rises to the standby position.

[0019] The extrusion pusher 13 is located on the downstream side of the pusher 10, and pushes out the scraping 5 in the mold 8 that has been molded by the pusher 10 from the mold 8. Specifically, the extrusion pusher 13 waits at a standby position (the position shown in FIG. 1) below the mold 8. When the mold 8 moves from below the pusher 10 above the extrusion pusher 13, it ascends and pushes up the scraping 5 in the mold 8 from the hole provided in the bottom surface of the mold 8 above the mold 8, thereby pushing out the scraping 5 from the inlet of the mold 8.

[0020] The mold moving unit 14 is a conveyor that moves a plurality of molds 8 arranged at equal intervals, and intermittently moves by an inching operation that repeats driving and stopping at predetermined time intervals, so as to sequentially move the plurality of molds 8 below the dough supply unit 6, below the pusher 10, and above the extrusion pusher 13. Further, the mold moving unit 14 moves the mold 8 after the scraping 5 has been pushed out by the extrusion pusher 13 back below the dough supply unit 6 again.

[0021] The control unit 16 comprehensively controls each part of the scraping manufacturing apparatus 2. The control unit 16 is connected to a first elevating unit 18, a second elevating unit 22, and a conveyor driving unit 24. The first elevating unit 18 is configured to include, for example, an elevating cylinder, and raises and lowers the pusher 10 by expanding and contracting the elevating cylinder. When the mold 8 is moved from below the dough supply unit 6 to below the pusher 10 by the mold moving unit 14, the first elevating unit 18 lowers the pusher 10 from the standby position shown in FIGS. 1 and 2(A) (at least the dough pressing surface 10a is placed in the oil 7) to a position where the upper surface of the scraping dough 4 can be molded, and then raises the pusher 10 to the standby position.

[0022] The second elevating part 22 is configured to include, for example, an elevating cylinder in the same manner as the first elevating part 18, and raises and lowers the extrusion pusher 13 by expanding and contracting the elevating cylinder. When the mold 8 is moved from below the pusher 10 to above the extrusion pusher 13 by the mold moving part 14, the second elevating part 22 raises the extrusion pusher 13 to above the mold 8 in order to extrude the scraping 5 in the mold 8 located above the extrusion pusher 13, and lowers the extrusion pusher 13 after finishing the extrusion of the scraping 5. The conveyor drive part 24 drives the mold moving part 14 clockwise in the plane of the paper of FIG. 1.

[0023] Next, with reference to the drawings, a method for manufacturing takoyaki using the takoyaki manufacturing apparatus 2 according to this embodiment will be described. FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining the process executed by the control unit 16 to manufacture takoyaki.

[0024] First, the control unit 16 drives the mold moving part 14 via the conveyor drive part 24, and the mold moving part 14 moves the mold 8 below the dough supply part 6 that supplies the takoyaki dough 4 in which the ingredients and the coating liquid are mixed (step S10). The control unit 16 stops the drive of the mold moving part 14 via the conveyor drive part 24, and the takoyaki dough 4 is supplied from the dough supply part 6 while the mold moving part 14 is stopped (step S11).

[0025] After a predetermined time has elapsed (after the takoyaki dough 4 is put into the mold 8 by the dough supply part 6), the control unit 16 drives the mold moving part 14 via the conveyor drive part 24, and the mold moving part 14 moves the mold 8 below the pusher 10 (step S12).

[0026] After the step of step S12, the control unit 16 stops the drive of the mold moving part 14 via the conveyor drive part 24, and lowers the pusher 10 that waits at the standby position (the position shown in FIGS. 1 and 2(A)) where at least the dough pressing surface 10a is disposed in the oil 7 via the first elevating part 18 to a position where the upper surface of the takoyaki dough 4 can be formed (step S13).

[0027] When the pusher 10 descends in step S13, the upper surface of the fried dough 4 in the mold 8 is spread by the dough pressing surface 10a in the oil 7, so that the fried dough 4 in the mold 8 is formed in the oil 7 (step S14). After the forming by the pusher 10 is completed, the control unit 16 raises the pusher 10 to the standby position shown in FIG. 1 (step S15).

[0028] After the process of step S15, the control unit 16 drives the mold moving unit 14 via the conveyor driving unit 24, and the mold moving unit 14 moves the mold 8 above the extrusion pusher 13 (step S16). Next, the control unit 16 raises and lowers the extrusion pusher 13 to extrude the fried dough 5 in the mold 8 that has completed forming from the mold 8 (step S17). Specifically, the control unit 16 stops the driving of the mold moving unit 14 via the conveyor driving unit 24, raises the extrusion pusher 13 via the second lifting unit 22, and pushes up the fried dough 5 from the hole formed in the bottom surface of the mold 8 through the inlet of the mold 8. The fried dough 5 extruded from the mold 8 is picked up from within the fryer 3. The control unit 16 repeats the processes of steps S10 to S17.

[0029] Although the processes executed by the control unit 16 to manufacture one fried dough 5 have been described, the control unit 16 simultaneously repeats the same processes for manufacturing the next fried dough 5 at each pitch (every time the fried dough 4 is supplied to the dough supply unit 6). That is, simultaneously with the processes of steps S16 and S17 for manufacturing the nth (n is a natural number) fried dough 5, the processes of steps S12 to S15 for manufacturing the (n + 1)th fried dough 5 and the processes of steps S10 and S11 for manufacturing the (n + 2)th fried dough 5 are started.

[0030] According to the deep-fried food manufacturing apparatus 2 and the deep-fried food manufacturing method according to this embodiment, while manufacturing the deep-fried food 5, the pusher 10 (dough pressing surface 10a) for forming the deep-fried dough 4 is always disposed in the oil 7 regardless of whether it is in a standby state or a forming state. Therefore, the oil always coats the dough pressing surface 10a, and the upper surface of the deep-fried dough 4 is formed by spreading it through the oil that coats the dough pressing surface 10a in the oil 7, so that the deep-fried dough 4 can be prevented from adhering to the dough pressing surface 10a. Further, even if the dough pressing surface 10a of the pusher 10 directly touches the upper surface of the deep-fried dough 4, the temperature of the dough pressing surface 10a can be maintained higher compared to the case where the dough pressing surface 10a waits at a position not in the oil 7. Therefore, the upper surface of the deep-fried dough 4 can be instantaneously solidified without lowering the surrounding oil temperature, and the deep-fried dough 4 can be prevented from adhering to the dough pressing surface 10a.

[0031] In addition, in the deep-fried food manufacturing apparatus 2 according to the above-described embodiment, the case where one pusher 10 for forming the upper surface of the deep-fried dough 4 is provided has been described as an example. However, the upper surface of the deep-fried dough 4 may be formed using two or more pushers arranged in series. In this case, all the pushers may be always disposed in the oil 7, but at least the pusher that first forms the deep-fried dough 4 is always disposed in the oil 7 (the other pushers do not have to be disposed in the oil 7 during standby).

[0032] In the above-described embodiment, the dough pressing surface 10a of the pusher 10 spreads the deep-fried dough 4 once. However, the pusher 10 may be lifted and lowered two or more times to spread the deep-fried dough 4 two or more times. In this case, since the shaping of the deep-fried dough 4 is performed in two or more steps, the shaping time for each step can be shortened, and the effect of preventing the deep-fried dough 4 from adhering to the pusher 10 can be improved. Also, since the solidification of the deep-fried dough 4 progresses during the shaping after the second time, the possibility of the deep-fried dough 4 adhering to the pusher 10 during the shaping after the second time is lower than that during the first shaping. Therefore, the shaping time after the second time may be set longer than the shaping time of the first time.

[0033] In the deep-frying production apparatus according to the above-described embodiment, the extrusion pusher 13 is used to surely extrude the deep-fried product 5 from the mold 8. However, since the deep-fried product 5 naturally comes out of the mold 8 when it rises, the configuration of the extrusion pusher 13 is not essential. Also, the shape of the mold 8 can be changed as needed. Small holes for oil to enter and exit may be provided on the circumference of the mold 8, and the mold 8 may have a shape other than a cylinder. Further, in order to further prevent the deep-fried dough 4 from adhering to the pusher 10, the pusher 10 may have a shape such as an embossed surface. Also, in order to further prevent the deep-fried dough 4 from adhering to the pusher 10, the pusher 10 may be subjected to a desired surface treatment such as NIFGRIP (registered trademark).

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0034] 2... Deep-frying production apparatus, 3... Fryer, 4... Deep-fried dough, 5... Deep-fried product, 6... Dough supply unit, 8... Mold, 10... Pusher, 13... Extrusion pusher, 14... Mold moving unit, 16... Control unit, 18... First lifting and lowering unit, 22... Second lifting and lowering unit, 24... Conveyor drive unit.

Claims

1. A tempura manufacturing apparatus for manufacturing tempura, comprising: a batter supply unit that supplies tempura batter in which ingredients and batter liquid are mixed; a mold that receives the tempura batter supplied from the batter supply unit; a pusher having a batter pressing surface, for shaping the upper surface of the tempura batter introduced into the mold with the batter pressing surface in oil; a mold moving unit that moves the mold below the batter supply unit and the pusher; a lifting unit that, when the mold is moved below the pusher by the mold moving unit, lowers the pusher that waits at a standby position where the batter pressing surface is disposed in oil to a position where the upper surface of the tempura batter can be shaped, and then raises the pusher to the standby position; A tempura manufacturing apparatus characterized by comprising the above.

2. The tempura manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an extrusion pusher that extrudes the tempura in the mold after shaping by the pusher from the mold, wherein the mold moving unit moves the mold above the extrusion pusher, and the mold moving unit further comprises an extrusion pusher lifting and lowering unit that raises the extrusion pusher to the mold and then lowers the extrusion pusher when the mold is moved from below the pusher to above the extrusion pusher by the mold moving unit.

3. A tempura manufacturing method for manufacturing tempura using a tempura manufacturing apparatus, comprising: a first moving step of moving a mold by a mold moving unit to a position below a batter supply unit that supplies tempura batter in which ingredients and batter liquid are mixed; a second moving step of moving the mold by the mold moving unit to a position below a pusher after the tempura batter is introduced into the mold by the batter supply unit; a lowering step of lowering the pusher that waits at a standby position where the batter pressing surface of the pusher is disposed in oil to a position where the upper surface of the tempura batter can be shaped after the second moving step; a shaping step of shaping the upper surface of the tempura batter in the mold in oil with the batter pressing surface; a raising step of raising the pusher to the standby position after the shaping step; A tempura manufacturing method characterized by including the above.

4. a third moving step of moving the mold by the mold moving unit above an extrusion pusher after the raising step; an extrusion step of extruding the tempura in the mold after shaping from the mold by raising and lowering the extrusion pusher. The deep-frying manufacturing method according to claim 3, characterized by including

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