Oven

Abstract

To provide an oven suitable for a narrow space capable of easily controlling temperature and humidity according to a baking condition of a heated object.SOLUTION: The oven of the present invention is provided with the steam generating tank disposed above the heater and the lid of the steam generating tank, a part of which is formed of the mesh member, and the moisture flowing into the steam generating tank is reliably filled as the steam without dropping into the oven as the water droplets, and the minute water component uniformly covers the surface of the bread dough which is the object to be baked. As a result, a portion to be a crust (skin) of the bread can be always kept in a wet state in the high-temperature steam, and the crust of the hard bread can be well stretched to largely swell the bread dough. A part of the heat rays from the heater can brown the surface of the bread dough by the punching member installed at the lower part of the heater, and the inside of the bread dough can be slowly heated by increasing the heat exchange rate and equalizing the heat quantity in the oven by storing the radiation heat.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an oven used for baking or moist baking bread, Western confectionery, etc., and in particular to a deck oven suitable for narrow spaces that is used to bake using heat from a heater. [Background technology]

[0002] Deck ovens (hereafter referred to as "ovens") have traditionally been used to bake bread and other foods. Bread types are classified according to the composition of the dough ingredients and texture. In terms of texture, breads are classified into hard types, which have a crispy crust but a chewy interior, soft types, which have a soft and fluffy texture, and semi-hard types, which are soft but also have a firm texture, somewhere between hard and soft. The difference between a crispy and hard texture and a soft, soft texture is determined by the heating method (temperature, time, and humidity) used during baking, and the oven used must be appropriately controlled.

[0003] While ovens used in large stores are typically installed in the kitchen, and each type of bread is designated for a specific oven, in retail stores, the ovens are often stacked vertically, with one oven used to bake multiple types of bread, as there is not enough space for ovens in the store.

[0004] Because the optimal heating method for bread varies depending on the type of bread, it is particularly difficult to use a single oven to bake multiple types of bread, requiring delicate adjustments that require experience. This adjustment can sometimes be made by controlling the temperature using a programmable control device, but it has been pointed out that this has the drawback of requiring a very narrow practical range and requiring a great deal of time and running costs to preheat or change the set temperature (Patent Document 1 below). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 09-271447 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] When installing ovens in the narrow spaces of retail stores, they must be compact, and multiple types of bread are baked in parallel when the ovens are stacked vertically. However, the ovens can reach high temperatures and leak a lot of heat, creating a thermal impact between the upper and lower ovens, making it difficult to control the temperature and humidity.

[0007] In addition, ovens equipped with complex programmable control devices are unsuitable for practical use due to their ease of use and high cost. It is desirable to be able to easily control the temperature and humidity by modifying the oven mechanism.

[0008] SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention aims to provide an oven suitable for narrow spaces, which can easily control the temperature and humidity in accordance with the baking conditions of various objects to be heated. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] In order to solve the above problems, the oven according to the present invention is an oven in which a plurality of oven units are stacked vertically, and is at least equipped with an electric heater for heating a heating chamber from above, a water supply tank for supplying water to the oven unit from the outside, a steam generating tank and a lid for covering the steam generating tank installed above the electric heater, a metal punching member having a plurality of holes installed below the electric heater, and heat insulating materials installed on the top and side of the oven unit and in the gaps between the top and bottom of each oven unit, one end of the lid for the steam generating tank being made up of a partial mesh member, the steam generating tank being inclined towards the side of the partial mesh member, The steam generation tank is heated by an air heater, and water is injected from the water supply tank onto the side of the steam generation tank where the partial mesh member is not present. Only the water vapor generated as it moves through the inclined steam generation tank passes through the partial mesh member, while the water components that do not become water vapor are drained to the outside of the oven unit. The metal punching member functions as a heat storage material that allows some of the heat rays from the electric heater to pass through the multiple holes to directly irradiate the baked item, and receives the heat from the heat rays that do not pass through the multiple holes without reflecting it. Air layers are provided between the insulating material and the oven unit housing, and between the top and bottom of the oven unit.

[0010] Furthermore, the metal punching member of the oven according to the present invention is coated with paint having a high heat-receiving effect, the steam generating tank has a shape in which its peripheral edge is recessed inward, and the air layer is formed by a gap between two hollow plates. [Effects of the Invention]

[0011] The oven of the present invention includes a steam generating tank installed above the heater and a lid for the steam generating tank, part of which is made of a mesh member. This ensures that moisture flowing into the steam generating tank fills the heating chamber inside the oven as steam without dripping into the oven chamber as water droplets, and the surface of the bread dough to be baked is uniformly covered with minute amounts of water. This allows the part that will become the crust of the bread to stay wet in the high-temperature steam, allowing the crust of hard bread to stretch well and the bread dough to rise significantly. Furthermore, by appropriately changing the amount of moisture flowing into the steam generating tank, the amount of steam inside the oven and the time the bread is covered by steam can be adjusted, allowing for appropriate baking of both semi-hard and soft breads.

[0012] In addition, the punching member installed below the heater allows some of the heat rays from the heater to brown the surface of the dough, while also storing radiant heat, increasing the heat exchange rate and equalizing the heat amount inside the oven, allowing the inside of the dough to be heated slowly. According to the oven of the present invention, temperature and humidity control can be performed by mechanisms provided above and below the heater, even without the need for a complex program-based control device. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0013] [Figure 1] 1 is an overall external view of an oven according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the layout of some of the components inside the oven. [Figure 3] This is a view of the steam generation tank of the upper oven with the lid removed so that the steam generation tank can be seen in plan view. [Figure 4] FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining the state of radiant heat irradiated onto bread dough. [Figure 5] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating the air layer around the oven. BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

[0014] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is an overall external view of an oven 100 according to this embodiment. The oven 100 has a multi-tiered configuration in which an upper oven 1 and a lower oven 2 are stacked inside a housing, which is the main body. On the front side of the upper oven 1, there are provided a door 3 for opening and closing the oven chamber, a control panel 4 used to perform various controls such as temperature and humidity settings inside the chamber, and an operation knob 5 for venting steam inside the chamber. The structure of the lower oven 2 is the same as that of the upper oven 1, so a description thereof will be omitted. Note that, although the upper oven 1 and the lower oven 2 have the same structure in this embodiment, each part, including the steam generation tank 10, the steam generation tank lid 11, and the punching member 15, which will be described later, may have a different structure.

[0015] A water tank 6 is placed next to the oven 100, storing water to be flowed into the upper oven 1 and lower oven 2. A pump 7 pumps the water from the water tank 6 and drains it into the steam generating tank 10 inside each oven. In commercial ovens, water is often drawn in directly by connecting to a water pipe without installing a water tank 6. However, ovens designed for small spaces are restricted from being connected to a water pipe, so a water tank 6 as shown in the figure is installed. In this embodiment, a water tank is installed in each of the upper oven 1 and lower oven 2, but a water tank common to multiple ovens may also be installed, or a single pump 7 may be used for common use. A drainage tank 8 is also provided to collect any water remaining in the oven that does not fill the oven as steam.

[0016] FIG. 2 is a diagram of the oven interior components showing the relative positions of the steam generating tank 10 of the upper oven 1, the lid 11 of the steam generating tank, the electric upper heater 13, the punching member 15, and the like. As shown in Figure 2, above the upper heater 13 is a steam generation tank 10 made of metal (for example, SUS, etc.), and above that is a lid 11 for the steam generation tank, also made of metal (for example, SUS, etc.). Part of the underside of the lid 11 for the steam generation tank is made of a mesh member 12, and the peripheral edge of the lid 11 is inclined inward. In other words, instead of making the lid 11 a flat plate, the peripheral part of the lid 11 is recessed inward, so that water droplets on the lid 11 will flow to the steam generation tank 10 and will not enter the interior of the upper oven 1.

[0017] Water in the water tank 6 is sucked up by the pump 7 and drips through the water inlet 17 into the steam generating tank 10. FIG. 3 is a plan view, a front view, and a side view showing part of the interior structure of the upper oven 1, with the water inlet 17 positioned on the side of the lid of the steam generating tank 10 where the mesh member 12 is not present (the upstream portion). When the steam generating tank 10 is sufficiently heated by the upper heater 13, some of the water dripping into the steam generating tank 10 pops. The popped water is a large water molecule (water droplet), and when this comes into contact with the bread dough, it causes bumps on the surface known as pear skin. To avoid this, the upstream portion of the lid 11 of the steam generating tank 10 is a closed lid rather than a mesh member 12, preventing the water from falling into the oven interior.

[0018] The steam generating tank 10 is inclined downward at an angle α toward the downstream portion where the mesh member 12 of the lid 11 of the steam generating tank 10 is located (see the enlarged view in Figure 3 ). Water and water droplets dripping into the heated steam generating tank turn into fine molecular steam (steam) as they move downstream. The steam passes through the mesh member 12 of the lid, located downstream, and enters the heating chamber inside the oven from the rear of the upper oven. If steam adheres to the dough surface during the final few minutes of baking, browning will progress. To achieve a desired coloring, the operating knob 5 is operated as needed to open the oven exhaust shutter (not shown), allowing the steam to exit the oven through the exhaust vent 9 via the oven exhaust pipe (not shown). In this embodiment, the oven exhaust pipe of the lower oven 2 merges with the oven exhaust pipe of the upper oven 1 inside the oven and is exhausted through the exhaust vent 9 at the top of the housing. However, separate exhaust vents 9 may also be provided. A ceiling panel 19 inside the oven is located above the lid 11.

[0019] In this way, the steam generating tank 10 of this embodiment is inclined at an angle, and the lid portion 11 is made of a mesh member 12 only on the lower side of the inclination, so that water droplets do not flow into the heating chamber of the upper oven, and only high-temperature water vapor with small molecular size enters and fills the heating chamber, covering the surface of the bread dough with water vapor. Water that does not pass through the mesh member 12 of the lid 11 of the steam generating tank 10 is discharged to the outside of the upper oven through the drain outlet 18 and collected in the drain tank 8.

[0020] As shown in FIG. 2, a punching member 15 is disposed below the upper heater 13. The punching member 15 is made of metal (for example, SUS, etc.) and has punched holes 15a on the entire surface. The punching member 15 may be a mesh plate, and the arrangement and size of the holes can be freely set. Some of the heat rays from the upper heater 13 pass through the punched holes 15a, while others are reflected by the punched members and the interior wall surfaces other than the punched holes 15a.

[0021] When the heat rays that pass through the punched holes 15a are directly irradiated onto the bread dough placed on the top plate 16 in the heating chamber, the high-calorie radiant heat burns the surface of the bread. In other words, the sugar and amino acid components contained in the dough are heated, causing the Maillard reaction, which results in coloring (brown) and flavor.

[0022] Meanwhile, to avoid wasting heat rays that do not pass through the punched holes 15a and are reflected in the heating chamber, the surface of the punched member 15 in this embodiment is coated with black paint. This black paint absorbs the heat rays from the upper heater 13, which would normally be reflected by a metal member, heating the punched member 15 itself and turning it into a heat reservoir. The radiant heat from the punched member 15 that receives the heat rays from the upper heater 13 has a lower calorific value than the heat rays that pass through the punched holes 15a and directly irradiate the dough, but this increases the heat exchange rate in the heating chamber inside the oven and equalizes the heat amount. This allows the radiant heat to slowly penetrate the dough and promote baking without causing the Maillard reaction.

[0023] Experiments conducted by the applicant have shown that when bread is baked without a punching member, the surface of the bread dough is baked unevenly. This is because the upper heater 13 has a thin, rod-like structure, and when baking bread, some areas are close to the upper heater 13 and some are a little further away. The heat rays emitted from the upper heater 13 spread as radiant light as they irradiate the surface of the bread, and as the distance increases, the density decreases and the amount of heat received decreases. To give an easy-to-understand example, as shown in Figure 4, the top surface of the bread dough has a wide elevation angle (a) and receives a large amount of heat rays, while the elevation angle (b) narrows as the dough approaches the sides, which is equivalent to the amount of heat received by the sides decreasing. In this way, the amount of heat from the upper heater varies throughout the heating chamber of the oven.

[0024] To solve this problem, the oven 100 of this embodiment has the punching member 15 installed below the upper heater 13. The punching member 15 is installed so as to cover the top surface of the heating chamber of the upper oven 1, so that the heat rays radiated from the heated punching member 15 are distributed approximately uniformly in the heating chamber. In summary, the punching member 15 having a plurality of holes divides the heat amount of the upper heater 13, (1) The surface of the dough is lightly browned to enhance color and flavor. (2) By slightly reducing the heat, the cooking time can be extended, allowing the dough to be cooked thoroughly to the inside without burning, resulting in a fluffy finish. There are two effects:

[0025] The black paint applied to the surface of the punching member 15 may be a far-infrared paint.

[0026] Furthermore, the temperature inside the upper oven 1 rises to over several hundred degrees Celsius, and a considerable amount of heat leaks outside, resulting in poor thermal efficiency, which is uneconomical and worsens the working environment. There is also a risk of burns if people come into contact with the high-temperature oven chamber. For this reason, the oven 100 of this embodiment is designed to cover the ceiling, left and right sides, and rear of the heating chambers of the upper oven 1 and lower oven 2 with insulating material. While increasing the thickness of the insulating material increases thermal efficiency and safety, it also has the disadvantage of increasing the size of the oven 100 and narrowing the interior.

[0027] Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5(B), the oven 100 of this embodiment has a heat insulating material 20 stretched around the upper oven 1 and the lower oven 2 and held down with fixing plates 21, and further has a panel 22 stretched around it. The oven housing is located around the panel 22. The panel 22 has a hollow two-plate structure in which a stainless steel material of a predetermined thickness that can maintain strength in relation to the weight of the upper oven is folded into a box shape and multiple holes are drilled on both sides of the cross section, creating an air layer between the upper and lower plates of the panel 22 through which air can pass (see FIG. 5(A)). FIG. 5(A) shows an example in which the holes are arranged in two alternating rows, while FIG. 5(B) shows an example in which the holes are arranged in a single row.

[0028] As shown in Figure 5(B), the air layer created by panel 22 functions as a heat shield between the insulation material 20 and the oven housing. In the case of a vertical multi-tier oven such as oven 100, heat from the lower oven is easily transferred to the upper oven, making temperature control of the upper oven difficult. Therefore, it is desirable to make the cross-sectional width of panel 22 between the upper and lower ovens larger than the cross-sectional width of panels 22 provided in other locations, such as on the sides. Air flow in the air layer is generated by a fan provided on the back side of the oven housing sucking air through a slit on the front side of the housing, but the fan may also draw air into the air layer. The air layer created by the panel 22 allows air to cool the area around the oven housing and between the upper and lower ovens, and also makes it possible to provide a safe and economical oven suitable for use in small spaces.

[0029] An electric lower heater 14 is installed below the top plate 16 on which the dough is placed in the heating chamber of the upper oven 1. In this embodiment, the top plate 16 is a flat metal plate, and the lower heater 14 heats this top plate, so that radiant heat is distributed uniformly from the bottom of the upper oven chamber, baking the bottom of the dough. When multiple lower heaters 14 are installed, it is preferable for the output of the lower heaters at the back of the chamber to be smaller than that at the front, in order to ensure uniform heating.

[0030] As described above, according to oven 100 of this embodiment, panels 22 provided around the oven housing and between the upper and lower ovens have a heat-blocking function, eliminating the need to thicken insulation material 20 and making it possible to reduce the size of oven 100. Furthermore, the special structure of steam generating tank 10 and its lid 11 means that when water is dropped, only the steam from the water fills the heating chamber inside the oven, and punching member 15 with multiple holes achieves two functions: increasing the heat output of upper heater 13 to brown the surface of the dough appropriately, and slightly reducing the heat output to heat the dough to the inside, thereby eliminating the need for complex programmable control equipment. [Explanation of symbols]

[0031] 1 Top Oven 2 Lower oven 6. Water tank 10 Steam generation tank 11 Steam generation tank lid 12 Mesh material 13 Upper heater 15 Punching material 20. Insulation 22 Panels 100 oven

Claims

1. An oven in which a plurality of oven units are stacked vertically, an electric heater for heating the heating chamber of the oven unit from above; a water supply tank for supplying water to the oven unit from the outside; a steam generating tank installed above the electric heater and a lid for covering the steam generating tank; a metal punching member having a plurality of holes and disposed below the electric heater; and heat insulating materials provided on the top and side surfaces of the oven units and in the gaps between the top and bottom of each oven unit. One end of the lid of the steam generation tank is made up of a partial mesh member, and the steam generation tank is inclined toward the partial mesh member side, With respect to the steam generating tank heated by the electric heater, water is poured from the water supply tank onto one side of the steam generating tank where the partial mesh member is not present, and only water vapor generated during the process of the water moving through the inclined steam generating tank passes through the partial mesh member, and water components that do not become water vapor are drained to the outside of the oven unit, The metal punching member functions as a heat storage material that allows a portion of the heat rays from the electric heater to pass through the plurality of holes, thereby directly irradiating the baked object, and that receives the heat of the heat rays that do not pass through the plurality of holes without reflecting it, The oven has air layers provided between the heat insulating material and a housing of the oven unit, and between the top and bottom of the oven unit.

2. 2. The oven according to claim 1, wherein the metal punching member is coated with a paint having a high heat-receiving effect.

3. 2. The oven of claim 1, wherein the steam generating tank has a peripheral edge that is recessed inward.

4. The oven according to claim 1 , wherein the air layer is formed by a gap between two hollow plates.

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