Dry food producing method

Abstract

To provide a dry food producing method capable of producing a dry food which enables easy ingestion of a sufficient amount of protein and can securely and easily be restored to a consuming state.SOLUTION: In a dry food producing method (dry food producing process 1) for producing a block-like dry food restored to a consuming state by absorbing a liquid for restoration by performing a cooking step S1 for cooking a food raw material, a freezing step S3 for freezing a cooked food material cooked in the cooking step S1, and a drying step S4 for drying the frozen food material frozen in the freezing step S3 in this order, the cooked food material is generated by adding and stirring water-soluble protein within a range of 5 wt.% or more and 25 wt.% or less in the cooking step S1.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a method for producing a block of dried food that can be reconstituted to an edible state by absorbing a reconstituting liquid. [Background technology]

[0002] As a method for producing this type of dried food, the following patent documents disclose a method for producing dried foods such as freeze-dried scrambled eggs and freeze-dried scrambled egg soup, which can be restored to an edible state by pouring hot water over them (allowing them to absorb hot water). In this method, a scrambled egg is first produced by heating a solution containing indigestible dextrin to about 95°C and then cracking raw eggs and pouring in beaten liquid or the like, followed by solidification. Next, to produce freeze-dried scrambled eggs, the scrambled eggs produced as described above are vacuum freeze-dried on their own. Furthermore, to produce freeze-dried scrambled egg soup, the scrambled eggs produced as described above are mixed with other ingredients (soup ingredients) to produce egg soup, which is then vacuum freeze-dried. In this way, a block-shaped dried food is produced that can be restored to a fluffy scrambled egg state when eaten. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 6063769 (pages 3-8) Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, the dried food production method disclosed in the above patent document has the following problems that need to be improved. Specifically, the above dried food production method is characterized by producing scrambled eggs using a solution containing indigestible dextrin in a cooking step before the freeze-drying step. This makes it possible to produce dried foods that can be restored to a fluffy texture.

[0005] Meanwhile, the importance of protein intake has been reaffirmed from the perspectives of health and beauty, and foods that allow for easy intake of sufficient amounts of protein are desired. Therefore, the applicant experimentally produced a dried food product that allows for the intake of more protein than that contained in eggs by adding a sufficient amount of protein to the ingredients during the cooking process when producing freeze-dried egg drop soup (hereinafter simply referred to as "egg drop soup") according to the above-mentioned dried food production method. Here, the applicant confirmed that when a large amount of protein was added during the cooking process in order to increase the protein intake per meal, the dried food product was not absorbed by the hot water poured in before consumption, and the dried food product was not restored to its edible state. Furthermore, the applicant confirmed that, depending on the type of protein added, even a small amount of protein added may not restore the dried food to its edible state.

[0006] As such, in the dried food manufacturing method disclosed in the above patent document, depending on the amount of protein added and the type of protein added, it may be difficult to restore the food to its edible state, so it is desirable to improve this point.

[0007] The present invention was made in consideration of such problems that need to be improved, and its main object is to provide a method for producing dried foods that can easily produce dried foods that provide a sufficient amount of protein and can be reliably and easily restored to a consuming state. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the dried food manufacturing method described in claim 1 is a dried food manufacturing method that produces block-shaped dried food that can be restored to an edible state by absorbing a restoring liquid by carrying out, in this order, a cooking process for cooking food ingredients, a freezing process for freezing the cooked ingredients cooked in the cooking process, and a drying process for drying the frozen ingredients frozen in the freezing process, and in the cooking process, the cooked ingredients are produced by adding and stirring water-soluble protein in a range of 5% by weight to 25% by weight.

[0009] The dried food manufacturing method described in claim 2 is the dried food manufacturing method described in claim 1, in which in the cooking process, collagen peptide as the water-soluble protein is added in a range of 24% by weight or less and stirred to produce the cooked ingredients.

[0010] The dried food manufacturing method described in claim 3 is the dried food manufacturing method described in claim 1, in which whey peptides as the water-soluble protein are added in the cooking process in a range of 21% by weight or less and stirred to produce the cooked ingredients. [Effects of the Invention]

[0011] In the dried food production method of the present invention, a cooking step, a freezing step, and a drying step are carried out in this order to produce a block-shaped dried food that can be reconstituted into an edible state by absorbing a reconstitution liquid. In the cooking step, a water-soluble protein is added in a range of 5% by weight to 25% by weight and stirred. Specifically, in one example, collagen peptide as the water-soluble protein is added in a range of 24% by weight or less and stirred. In another example, whey peptide as the water-soluble protein is added in a range of 21% by weight or less and stirred. Therefore, the dried food production method of the present invention can produce a dried food that allows easy intake of a sufficient amount of protein without causing a situation where moisture is not absorbed during consumption, i.e., where reconstitution to an edible state becomes difficult. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0012] [Figure 1] 1 is a flowchart of a dried food manufacturing process 1. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0013] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the "dried food manufacturing method" will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0014] In the "dried food production method" according to the present invention, as an example, a "block-shaped dried food that can be restored to an edible state by absorbing a reconstituting liquid" is produced by a dried food production process 1 shown in Fig. 1. Hereinafter, as an example, a method for producing two types of dried foods, "egg soup A" and "egg soup B," as "dried foods" using this dried food production process 1 will be described.

[0015] Note that Egg Soup A and Egg Soup B differ only in the type of protein added, and the other ingredients are the same. Specifically, as shown in the example below, in Egg Soup A, "collagen peptides," an example of a "water-soluble protein," are added to the ingredients, while in Egg Soup B, "whey peptides," an example of a "water-soluble protein," are added to the ingredients.

[0016] 1-1A. Ingredients used (Egg soup A) Eggs 9.0% Ingredients other than eggs (cabbage, green onions, carrots, etc.) 18.0% Powdered seasonings and starches, etc. 8.5% ·Liquid seasoning 6.0% Collagen peptide (protein powder) 15.0% ·Water 43.5% ("%" indicates the weight ratio of each ingredient to the total ingredients)

[0017] 1-1B. Ingredients used (egg soup B) Eggs 9.0% Ingredients other than eggs (cabbage, green onions, carrots, etc.) 18.0% Powdered seasonings and starches, etc. 8.5% ·Liquid seasoning 6.0% Whey peptides (protein powder) 15.0% ·Water 43.5% ("%" indicates the weight ratio of each ingredient to the total ingredients)

[0018] 1-2.Cooking process S1 Cracked eggs are dropped into boiling water to produce scrambled eggs. Next, ingredients other than the egg, powdered seasoning, liquid seasoning, and protein powder (collagen peptide or whey peptide powder) are added in sequence and stirred to produce egg soup (hereinafter, to distinguish it from the "egg soup" in the ready-to-eat state in which the finished dried food is reconstituted, the "egg soup" produced in cooking step S1 of this production method will also be referred to as the "raw material soup"). In this case, sufficient stirring is required to ensure that the added protein powder is evenly dispersed throughout the raw material soup, but stirring too vigorously or for a long period of time will crush the scrambled egg and other ingredients. For this reason, when producing foods that contain "ingredients that are easily crushed" such as scrambled eggs or "ingredients that are easily separated by stirring," the protein powder can be added to a small amount of water or liquid seasoning, stirred thoroughly, and then mixed with the other ingredients, thereby achieving a state in which the protein is dispersed throughout the raw material soup without crushing or separating the ingredients.

[0019] 1-3.Filling process S2 The raw soup material produced in the cooking step S1 is filled, for example, into a rectangular food tray measuring approximately 6.5 cm x 4.5 cm in plan view to a depth of approximately 2.0 cm.

[0020] 1-4. Freezing process S3 and drying process S4 In the filling step S2, the food tray filled with the soup ingredient is placed in a freezer to be pre-frozen, and then placed in a freeze-drying device to dry the frozen soup ingredient in the tray.

[0021] 1-5. Packaging process S5 The block of egg soup A or egg soup B, which is made up of a block of dried raw material soup, is removed from the tray, placed in a packaging container, and sealed. This completes the product.

[0022] When consuming the products manufactured according to the above procedure, Egg Soup A or Egg Soup B is removed from its packaging container and placed in a serving container such as a soup cup, and boiling water is poured into the container. The poured water is absorbed into Egg Soup A or Egg Soup B in about 60 seconds. After this, Egg Soup A or Egg Soup B can be consumed by gently stirring with a spoon or the like. As mentioned above, Egg Soup A or Egg Soup B contains 15% by weight of protein powder (collagen peptides and whey peptides) based on the total weight of the raw soup material. Therefore, by consuming Egg Soup A or Egg Soup B, it is possible to easily ingest a sufficient amount of protein.

[0023] Next, the relationship between the type and amount of "protein" added to the food material in the cooking step S1 in the dried food production process 1 and the reconstitution state of the dried food at the time of eating will be described.

[0024] Using a procedure similar to that of the dried food manufacturing process 1 described above, multiple egg soups (a) through (e) were prepared, each differing in the type and amount of "protein" added during cooking step S1. The reconstitution state of each soup when water was added was evaluated. The types and weight ratios of the "ingredients other than protein" used in preparing egg soups (a) through (e) were the same as those used in egg soups A and B described above. That is, for egg soups with a low amount of added "protein," the ratio of "ingredients other than protein" to the total ingredients was increased compared to the examples of egg soups A and B described above. For egg soups with a high amount of added "protein," the ratio of "ingredients other than protein" to the total ingredients was decreased compared to the examples of egg soups A and B described above. The ratio of "protein" to the total ingredients for each of egg soups (a) through (e) was adjusted accordingly. Furthermore, in this example, which is intended for evaluation purposes, packaging step S5 was not performed.

[0025] In this case, when producing Egg Soup A, collagen peptide powder (protein powder) was added as the "protein" in the range of 5% to 30% by weight. When producing Egg Soup B, whey peptide powder (protein powder) was added as the "protein" in the range of 5% to 30% by weight. When producing Egg Soup C, whey protein isolate powder (protein powder) was added as the "protein" in the range of 5% to 30% by weight. When producing Egg Soup D, casein protein powder (protein powder) was added as the "protein" in the range of 5% to 30% by weight. When producing Egg Soup E, soy protein powder (protein powder) was added as the "protein" in the range of 5% to 30% by weight. The results of these evaluations are shown in Table 1.

[0026] [Table 1]

[0027] As shown in Table 1, in the case of Egg Soup A, in which collagen peptide powder was added as the "protein" in the cooking step S1 in the range of 5% to 30% by weight, when the amount of collagen peptide added was 30% by weight, some parts of the block of Egg Soup A did not absorb the poured hot water and were not restored (i.e., not restored well). However, when the amount of collagen peptide added was 25% by weight, the entire block of Egg Soup A absorbed the hot water and restored well, although it took a long time (e.g., about 180 seconds). When the amount of collagen peptide added was 20% by weight, the entire block of Egg Soup A absorbed the hot water and restored well, although it took a certain amount of time (e.g., about 90 seconds). Furthermore, when the amount of collagen peptide added was 15% by weight or less (in this example, 15%, 10%, and 5% by weight), it was confirmed that the entire block of Egg Soup A absorbed the poured hot water in a short time and restored well.

[0028] In this case, the applicant has confirmed that when the amount of collagen peptide added is 24% by weight or less, good rehydration properties are obtained similar to those of Egg Soup A with an added amount of 15% by weight. It is also clear that when the amount of collagen peptide added is less than 5% by weight, the same rehydration properties as Egg Soup A with an added amount of 5% by weight are obtained, but this makes it difficult to achieve the original purpose of making it easy to ingest a sufficient amount of protein. Therefore, when using collagen peptide as the "protein," it is preferable to add and stir it in the cooking step S1 in a range of 5% by weight to 24% by weight.

[0029] Furthermore, in the case of egg soup b, in which whey peptide powder was added as a "protein" in the range of 5% to 30% by weight in cooking step S1, when the amount of whey peptide added was 30% by weight, some parts of the egg soup b block did not absorb the poured hot water and were not restored (i.e., not restored well). However, when the amount of whey peptide added was 25% by weight, the entire block of egg soup b was absorbed into the hot water and restored well, although it took a long time (for example, about 180 seconds). When the amount of whey peptide added was 20% by weight, the entire block of egg soup b was absorbed into the hot water and restored well, although it took a certain amount of time (for example, about 90 seconds). Furthermore, when the amount of whey peptide added was 15% by weight or less (in this example, 15%, 10%, and 5% by weight), it was confirmed that the poured hot water was absorbed into the entire block of egg soup b in a short time and restored well.

[0030] In this case, the applicant has confirmed that when the amount of whey peptide added is 21% by weight or less, good rehydration properties can be obtained, similar to that of Egg Soup B, which contains 15% by weight. Therefore, when whey peptide is used as the "protein," it is preferable to add and stir it in the cooking step S1 in a range of 5% by weight to 21% by weight.

[0031] In contrast, in the case of Egg Soup c, in which whey protein isolate powder was added as the "protein" in the cooking step S1 in the range of 5% to 30% by weight, it was confirmed that, regardless of the amount of "protein" added, the poured hot water was hardly absorbed by the block of Egg Soup c, and some parts of the block of Egg Soup c were not absorbed and did not reconstitute. Therefore, it can be understood that when whey protein isolate is added, it is not possible to produce an "Egg Soup" that can be reconstituted to its eating state.

[0032] On the other hand, in the case of Egg Soup d, in which casein protein powder was added as the "protein" in the cooking step S1 in a range of 5% to 30% by weight, it was confirmed that when the amount added was 10% by weight or more, the poured hot water was hardly absorbed by the block of Egg Soup d, or parts of the block of Egg Soup d were left unrestored without absorbing the poured hot water. Therefore, it can be understood that when casein protein is added in an amount of 10% by weight or more, it is not possible to produce an "Egg Soup" that can be reconstituted to an edible state. In this case, it was confirmed that even in the case of Egg Soup d, in which casein protein powder was added as the "protein," by adding an amount of 5% by weight, the hot water was absorbed into the entire block of Egg Soup d, and the block was reconstituted to an edible state, although it took a long time (for example, about 180 seconds). However, the reconstituted soup contains unintended floating matter (coagulated bodies resulting from the addition of casein protein), and although the purpose of ingesting protein is achieved, the appearance and texture are not good, which reduces the commercial value of the soup.

[0033] Furthermore, in the case of egg soup e, to which soy protein powder is added in the range of 5% to 30% by weight as the "protein" in cooking step S1, it achieves the same level of reconstitution as the above egg soups a and b, and the purpose of "protein intake" can be achieved by eating the reconstituted egg soup e. However, because the soy protein (powder) has low water solubility, it feels rough on the tongue (perception of the powder) when eaten, and the texture is reduced. Therefore, when soy protein is added, its commercial value is significantly reduced.

[0034] Thus, it can be seen that adding "water-soluble proteins" such as collagen peptides and whey peptides in the range of 5% to 25% by weight can produce dried foods with good rehydration properties and easy intake of sufficient amounts of protein. It has also been confirmed that even in Egg Soup A, in which the amount of collagen peptide added is 24% by weight or less, and Egg Soup B, in which the amount of whey peptide added is 21% by weight or less, when the blocks produced in the drying step S4 exceed 200 cm3 in size, particularly when the thickness of the thinnest part exceeds 30 mm, their rehydration properties (water absorption) upon consumption are somewhat reduced. Furthermore, when the blocks of Egg Soup A and B are smaller than 10 cm3 in size, particularly when the thickness of the thinnest part is less than 5 mm, the dried foods are prone to cracking and chipping when subjected to external force. Therefore, it is preferable that the size of the block-shaped dried food to be produced is in the range of 10 cm3 to 200 cm3 (preferably in the range of 25 cm3 to 100 cm3) and the thickness of the thinnest part is in the range of 5 mm to 30 mm.

[0035] Thus, in the dried food production method according to the dried food production process 1, at least the cooking step S1, the freezing step S3, and the drying step S4 are carried out in this order to produce a block-shaped dried food that is reconstituted to an edible state by absorbing a reconstituting liquid. In the cooking step S1, a water-soluble protein is added in a range of 5% by weight to 25% by weight and stirred. Specifically, as an example, in the cooking step S1, collagen peptide as the water-soluble protein is added in a range of 24% by weight or less and stirred. Also, as an example, in the cooking step S1, whey peptide as the water-soluble protein is added in a range of 21% by weight or less and stirred. Therefore, according to the dried food production method according to the dried food production process 1, a dried food that allows easy intake of a sufficient amount of protein can be produced without causing a situation in which moisture is not absorbed when eaten, i.e., a situation in which reconstitution to an edible state becomes difficult.

[0036] The "dried food manufacturing method" is not limited to the above-mentioned examples of manufacturing methods.

[0037] For example, a method for producing egg drop soup as a "dried food" (a block-shaped dried food that is restored to a state that can be eaten as egg drop soup by absorbing water) has been explained as an example, but egg drop soup is not the only "dried food" that can be produced. By adjusting the amount of "water-soluble protein" added in cooking step S1 to a range of 5% to 25% by weight (preferably a range of 5% to 24% by weight in the case of collagen peptides, and preferably a range of 5% to 21% by weight in the case of whey peptides), it is possible to produce various soups other than egg drop soup, various soups such as miso soup, pork soup, and kenchinjiru, as well as various liquid foods such as rice porridge and congee, as dried foods that allow easy intake of protein and have good reconstitution properties. [Explanation of symbols]

[0038] 1. Dried food manufacturing process S1 Cooking process S2 Filling process S3 Freezing process S4 Drying process S5 Packaging process

Claims

1. A method for producing a block-shaped dried food that can be reconstituted into an edible state by absorbing a reconstituting liquid, by carrying out in this order a cooking step of cooking food ingredients, a freezing step of freezing the cooked ingredients in the cooking step, and a drying step of drying the frozen ingredients frozen in the freezing step, A method for producing dried food, wherein in the cooking step, water-soluble protein is added in an amount of 5% by weight to 25% by weight and stirred to produce the cooked food material.

2. 2. The method for producing dried food according to claim 1, wherein in the cooking step, collagen peptide as the water-soluble protein is added in an amount of 24% by weight or less and stirred to produce the cooked food material.

3. 2. The method for producing a dried food product according to claim 1, wherein in the cooking step, whey peptides as the water-soluble protein are added in an amount of 21% by weight or less and stirred to produce the cooked food material.

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