JP2001314165A - Apparatus for maintaining shape, of tofu and apparatus for forming tofu - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Problem] To prevent the entrapment of air by storing raw tofu together with free water in a shape-retaining cylinder, and to maintain the shape by utilizing the pressure due to its own weight, thereby achieving quality. To reduce the pressure (pressurizing time) in the subsequent pressurization and dehydration process to prevent collapse of the tofu and to produce soft tofu with a soft texture. Provision of molding technology. SOLUTION: This is a tofu preservation device A provided with a shape preservation cylinder 1 in which raw tofu broken in a semi-solid state is accommodated together with free water. The shape-retaining cylinder is provided to extend in the vertical direction so as to promote the binding of the raw material tofus by the pressure of the stored raw material tofu by its own weight. Further, a pressure dehydrator B is provided continuously with the lower end port 14 of the shape-retaining cylinder, and after the shape-retaining tofu comes out of the shape-retaining cylinder, dehydration is continuously performed by the pressure dehydrator.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a tofu for preserving a raw material tofu as a pretreatment step of a pressure dehydration step when producing cotton tofu, tofu fried dough, fried dough and the like. The present invention relates to a shape keeping device and a tofu molding device that can be manufactured continuously using the tofu shape keeping device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When producing cotton tofu or the like, a coagulant is mixed with soymilk, and the semi-solidified raw material tofu is subjected to pressure dehydration and molded. In this case, conventionally, a cotton cloth or a synthetic fiber cloth is laid in a flat mold (bucket), and the raw tofu that has collapsed in a semi-solid state is filled therein, and then the raw material tofu is subjected to pressure dehydration by a press machine to remove the raw tofu. It was supposed to bind. After the molding, the tofu is taken out of the mold, the cotton cloth or the like is peeled off, cut into a size of one product tofu, and packed in a pack. Also, in recent years, a forming tank is continuously provided in a coagulation tank, and raw tofu semi-solidified in the coagulation tank is subjected to pressure dehydration while being conveyed by a net conveyor in hot water of the forming tank to bind the raw material tofu. What has been proposed.

[0003]

However, in the former method, the raw tofu is packed in a flat mold and then bound while dehydrating under pressure. In addition, there is a problem that a difference occurs in the degree of dehydration between the central portion and the peripheral portion of the mold, and that the quality varies. In addition, since dehydration molding is performed each time using a mold, continuous dehydration molding cannot be performed.
For example, laying a cotton cloth or the like every time, it takes time and labor to set up, and there is a problem that work efficiency cannot be improved.

[0004] In the latter method, the binder can be bound by continuous dehydration under pressure. However, there is a problem that the tofu is easily attached to the net conveyor and the tofu is broken when the tofu is peeled off. Therefore, in order to prevent this collapse, the pressing force is increased to bind the tofu firmly, so that only hard tofu can be produced, and to produce soft tofu with a soft texture Had the problem of being technically difficult.

[0005] Further, in both conventional methods, the raw tofu in a semi-solidified state is dewatered under pressure immediately after filling, so that the air mixed at the time of filling is entrapped inside the raw tofu by pressurization. There is a problem that the nest is formed as bubbles and the commercial value is low in terms of quality and storage.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems. Before the raw material tofu is dehydrated under pressure, the raw material tofu is stored in advance in a shape-retaining cylinder together with free water so that air can be removed. Prevents entanglement and maintains the shape by utilizing the pressure of its own weight, thereby stabilizing the quality uniformly and reducing the pressing force (pressing time) in the subsequent pressurizing and dewatering process. A tofu keeping device capable of producing a soft tofu having a soft texture while preventing the collapse of tofu, and a tofu forming device capable of producing tofu continuously using this tofu keeping device The challenge is to provide

[0007]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a tofu-shaping apparatus according to the present invention (Claim 1) has a shape-preserving method in which raw tofu broken in a semi-solidified state is accommodated together with free water. A cylinder is provided, and the shape-retaining cylinder is configured to be vertically extended so as to promote the binding of the raw material tofus by the pressure of the stored raw material tofu by its own weight.

When binding the raw tofu, a certain coagulation time is required. As the coagulation progresses, the curd gradually hardens and extra moisture inside is released. In this tofu storage device, the raw material tofu is supplied together with the free water from the upper end of the shape storage cylinder and stored therein, and since the shape storage tube is provided extending vertically, the stored raw material tofu is provided. The pressure due to its own weight promotes the binding between the raw tofu. In this case, the raw tofu is initially suspended in free water when housed in the shape-retaining cylinder, during which time the air entrained at the time of storage escapes as bubbles, so that during the subsequent binding, It is possible to prevent the occurrence of nests due to bubbles without entrapping air in the air. The raw tofu floating in the water progresses in binding due to the contact between the raw tofu, and since its specific gravity is slightly larger than that of water (generally 1.03), the raw tofu gradually sinks to form a shape-retaining cylinder. Is deposited at the lower end of the cylinder, and is bound in a long state extending upward in the shape-retaining cylinder by the pressure of its own weight as the solidification progresses.

As described above, in the tofu preservation apparatus, unlike the apparatus in which the pressure is applied mechanically, the raw material tofu is condensed by the pressure of its own weight as the coagulation progresses. It can prevent air from being entrapped, and can be bound to a certain degree of hardness with uniform and stable quality while separating water. Therefore, by setting the shape keeping process by the tofu preserving device as a pretreatment process in the subsequent pressure dehydration process, the pressing force (pressure time) in the pressure dehydration process can be reduced, and Adhesion to the conveyor is eliminated, and it becomes possible to produce soft tofu having a soft texture while preventing collapse of the tofu.

Next, the tofu molding apparatus of the present invention (Claim 2)
Is a tofu molding apparatus using the above-mentioned tofu preservation apparatus, wherein a pressurized dehydration apparatus is provided continuously at the lower end of the shape preservation cylinder, and the pressurized tofu after the shape preservation comes out of the shape preservation cylinder is continuously pressurized. The dehydration apparatus was configured to perform dehydration molding. In this tofu forming apparatus, the pressure dehydrating apparatus includes upper and lower porous conveyors for conveying the tofu after the shape retention, and a press device for pressing the tofu after the shape retention from above the porous conveyor (claim) There is item 3).

[0011] Therefore, in this tofu molding apparatus, the tofu-shaped tofu coming out of the lower end of the tofu-shaping apparatus is conveyed while being sandwiched between the upper and lower perforated conveyors. It is pressurized by the apparatus, whereby the free water can be formed into a completely bound state while being sufficiently dehydrated. The tofu molded by the tofu molding apparatus is cut into a size of one product tofu by a cutter and packed in a pack.

As described above, since the shape preserving step by the tofu preserving apparatus is a pretreatment step in the subsequent pressure dehydrating step, the pressing force (pressing time) in the pressure dehydrating step can be reduced. Then, the tofu is prevented from sticking to the net conveyor, and a soft tofu having a soft texture can be produced while preventing the collapse of the tofu.
In addition, the raw material tofu is supplied from the upper end of the shape-retaining cylinder, and the tofu is taken out from the lower end of the shape-retaining tube, so that the tofu can be continuously maintained in shape. Therefore, tofu can be manufactured by consistent and continuous molding.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is one embodiment of the present invention, and is a schematic explanatory view of a tofu molding apparatus provided with a tofu preservation apparatus.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a shape-retaining cylinder constituting the tofu-shaping apparatus A, which is formed in a rectangular tube shape having a cross-sectional shape of the size of one tofu, the lower end of which is directed horizontally. Then, it is vertically raised from the lower end horizontal portion 10 through the R corner portion 11, and the upper end 13 of the vertical rising portion 12 is formed.
Is provided with a raw tofu supply device 2.

The supply device 2 is provided at the upper end of the tofu coagulation device 3. In the tofu coagulation device 3, the coagulant is mixed with the soy milk to break the semi-solidified raw material tofu into chunks.
The agglomerated raw material tofu is supplied together with free water into the shape-retaining cylinder 1 from the upper end 13.

At the lower end port 14 of the shape retaining cylinder 1,
The pressure dehydrator B is provided continuously. The pressurized and dewatering apparatus B includes an upper and lower net conveyor 4 for transporting the tofu after the shape retention from the lower end port 14 of the shape retention cylinder 1 from above and below.
0, 41, and a press device 42 for pressurizing the tofu after shape keeping from above the upper net conveyor 40 to perform dehydration molding. At the end of the pressurized dewatering device B, a cutting and packaging device 5 for cutting and packing the tofu into packs is continuously provided.

Next, the operation of the tofu molding apparatus will be described. In this tofu molding device, the raw material tofu is preserved by the shape retaining cylinder 1 constituting the tofu retaining device A, and the shape retaining process by the tofu retaining device A is pre-processed by the pressure dehydrating device B by the pressure dehydrating device B. Process. At the time of use, first, the raw material tofu in the semi-solidified state in the tofu coagulation device 3,
While being broken down into a lump by the supply device 2, the lumped raw tofu is supplied into the shape-retaining cylinder 1 together with free water from the upper end port 13. In this way, the tofu raw material accommodated in the shape-retaining cylinder 1 initially floats in free water, and during this time, the air entrained at the time of accommodation escapes as bubbles, so that during the subsequent binding It is possible to prevent air bubbles from being trapped in the raw material tofu, thereby preventing the occurrence of nests due to bubbles.

The raw tofu floating in the water is
As the binding progresses due to the contact between the raw tofu, it gradually sinks and accumulates at the lower end of the shape-retaining cylinder 1, and the inside of the shape-retaining cylinder 1 is extended upward by the pressure of its own weight with the progress of solidification. It is bound in a state. In this way, in the tofu preservation device A, the raw material tofu is bound by the pressure of its own weight as the coagulation progresses, so that the entrapment of air can be prevented in this shape preservation process, and the water can be stably evenly separated. Quality.
It can be bound to a certain degree of hardness. In addition, the free water in the shape-retaining cylinder 1 is discharged by flowing out from the lower end port 14, and in this case, in the middle of the shape-retaining cylinder 1 (one or more locations).
Alternatively, a drain hole (not shown) may be formed by a number of small holes, and free water may be drained from this drain hole.

The shape-retained tofu to which the raw material tofu has been bound by the shape-retaining cylinder 1 as described above is subsequently received by the pressure dehydrator B. In this case, the post-shape tofu coming out of the lower end port 14 of the shape-retaining cylinder 1 is transferred to the upper and lower net conveyors 4.
The upper net conveyor 40 is pressurized by a press device 42 during the conveyance, and the free water is completely bound while being sufficiently dehydrated. Molded. The tofu molded by the tofu molding device is cut into a size of one product tofu by a cutter in the cutting and packaging device 5 and packed into a pack.

Therefore, in this tofu molding apparatus, the shape preservation step by the tofu preservation apparatus A is a pretreatment step in the subsequent pressure dehydration step. It is possible to reduce the amount of the tofu and to prevent the tofu from sticking to the net conveyors 40 and 41, thereby making it possible to produce a soft tofu having a soft texture while preventing the collapse of the tofu.

Further, in the tofu-shaping apparatus A, since raw tofu is supplied from the upper end 13 of the shape-retaining cylinder 1 and the tofu is taken out from the lower end 14, the tofu can be continuously shaped. Subsequently, the tofu is formed by the pressurized dewatering apparatus B, so that the tofu can be manufactured by consistent and continuous forming. In addition, the supply device 2 of the raw material tofu is a lower end port 1 of the shape-retaining cylinder 1.
4 so as to correspond to the amount of tofu after shape retention taken out from
The supply amount of the raw material tofu is set, whereby the supply amount of the raw material tofu and the take-out amount of the tofu after shape retention are balanced,
Since the pressure due to the weight of the raw material tofu in the shape retaining cylinder 1 is constant, uniform quality without unevenness in binding of the raw material tofu can be obtained.

Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described with reference to the drawings, the specific structure of the present invention is not limited to this embodiment. For example, the shape-retaining cylinder may be extended in the vertical direction, and the extending direction is not necessarily required to be vertical, and is preferably inclined at an angle of 45 degrees or more from horizontal. Also, regarding the extension amount and height of the shape retention cylinder, the type of tofu to be produced, for example, cotton tofu,
It can be appropriately determined according to the type of tofu, fried dough, etc. Also, the cross-sectional shape is not limited to a square, but may be a circle, an ellipse, a triangle, a polygon, or the like. It may be formed in a cross-sectional area extended in the direction, and cut into a size of one product tofu by a cutter in the cutting and packaging device 5 which is the final step.

As for the porous conveyor of the pressure dehydrating apparatus, a cotton cloth, a punching metal, a synthetic fiber belt, a metal mesh belt, a plastic mesh belt, or the like can be used in addition to the net conveyor.

Further, the tofu preserving device does not necessarily need to be used as a pretreatment step of the pressure dehydrating device, but cuts the tofu after the shape preservation taken out from the lower end as it is into a predetermined size.
It can be packed into a product tofu.

[0025]

As described above, in the tofu preservation apparatus of the present invention (claim 1), the raw tofu is stored together with the free water in the preservation cylinder, so that a simple structure is provided. Nevertheless, the shape of the tofu is prevented by preventing the air from being trapped, and the shape is maintained by utilizing the pressure of its own weight. .

Further, the tofu molding apparatus of the present invention (claim 2,
In 3), since the shape preserving step by the above-mentioned tofu preserving apparatus is a pretreatment step, the pressing force (pressurizing time) in the pressure dehydrating step can be reduced. Therefore, there is no sticking to the perforated conveyor, and it is possible to produce soft tofu with a soft texture while preventing the collapse of tofu, and produce tofu by continuous continuous molding from shape keeping to dehydration molding of tofu can do. Further, the flat space is smaller than that of the conventional flat mold, and the installation space for the device is small. Further, setting work such as laying a cotton cloth or the like is not required, and the workability can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic explanatory view of a tofu molding apparatus according to an embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Shape-retaining cylinder 13 Upper end port 14 Lower end port 2 Supply device 3 Tofu coagulation device 40 Net conveyor (multi-hole conveyor) 41 Net conveyor (multi-hole conveyor) 42 Press device 5 Cutting and packaging device A Tofu preservation device B Pressure dehydration device

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Yasuhiko Fujino 18 in Yanagiya Co., Ltd., 189, Oza, Ube-shi, Yamaguchi Pref. F-term (reference) 4B020 LB02 LC04 LC09 LP09 LP23 LR04

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A shape-retaining cylinder for accommodating raw tofu collapsed in a semi-solidified state together with free water, the shape-retaining cylinder being pressurized by the weight of the contained material tofu,
A tofu preservation device characterized by being provided extending vertically so as to promote the binding of the raw material tofu. 2. A tofu forming apparatus using the tofu-shaping apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a pressurized dewatering device is provided continuously at a lower end of the shape-holding cylinder, and the shape-preserving form comes out of the shape-holding cylinder. A tofu molding device in which post-tofu is subsequently dehydrated and molded by a pressure dehydrator. 3. The tofu molding apparatus according to claim 2, wherein
A tofu forming apparatus comprising: a pressurizing and dehydrating apparatus including upper and lower perforated conveyors that convey and hold tofu after shape retention, and a press device that pressurizes the tofu after shape retention from above the perforated conveyor.