JP2002209536A - Method for producing cooked rice food held in container - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a new method capable of producing a cooked rice food held in a container, which has an excellent productivity and is suitable for packed cooked rice having a low cost and excellent flavor and palatability, especially a packed cooked rice suitably to be put in a lunch on sale at a convenient store, etc. SOLUTION: A template 1 having a recessed part 2 corresponding to a fixed shape is prepared and a heat-resistant plastic film 3 having heat resistance to resist heat in rice cooking and a size sufficiently larger than the total area of the inner sides and the bottom of the recessed part of the template is placed on the recessed part of the template. The heat-resistant plastic film is approximately stuck fast to the inner sides and the bottom of the recessed part of the template and formed into a container shape by using a heating and pressurizing plug 4 having a shape corresponding to the recessed part of the template. A mixture 5 of fixed amounts of rice and cooking water is packed into the recessed part 3a of the heat-resistant plastic film formed into the shape of the container and cooked by a routine procedure and the heat-resistant plastic film formed into the container shape is used as a container for the cooked rice food as it is.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for producing cooked rice food in a container.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when rice cooked in a lunch box sold at a convenience store or the like is served, rice washed and soaked rice is filled in a cauldron (for example, 5 to 15 kg capacity), and water is added to the cooked rice. After cooling, it was put on a predetermined portion of the lunch box (cauldron-cooking method).

[0003] In addition, it is also practiced to fill a tray with washed and soaked rice for each meal, add water, perform gas cooking and steaming, and store the whole tray in a predetermined location of a lunch box (individual cooking rice system). ).

[0004]

According to the cauldron rice cooking method, the rice is cooled after the rice is cooked and the rice is laid out in a cooled state. Therefore, even if the general viable bacteria can be killed in the rice cooking process at about 100 ° C., There is a high possibility that general viable bacteria are mixed in the process. In general, lunch boxes sold at convenience stores are required to be able to be stored at room temperature for about 24 to 48 hours, but it has been difficult for the cauldron rice cooker to satisfy this requirement. For this reason, at present, an antibacterial agent is added to cooked rice to improve the preservability, but this has been a cause of greatly impairing the original taste of cooked rice.

According to the individual-meal rice cooking method, a cooling step after cooking is unnecessary, and the above problem can be solved. However, a large number of individual-meal trays must be prepared, which only increases the production cost. Rather, the trays must be disposed of after meals, which is a major environmental health problem.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, the present invention solves the above-mentioned problems in the prior art, and is sold in a packaged cooked rice food product having good productivity, low cost and excellent taste and texture, especially at a convenience store. It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel method capable of producing cooked rice food suitable for putting into a packed lunch.

In order to achieve this object, a method for producing cooked cooked rice food according to the present invention comprises preparing a template having a concave portion having a predetermined shape, and having heat resistance to withstand heat during cooking and the template. A heat-resistant plastic film having a size sufficiently larger than the total area of the inner surface and the bottom surface of the concave portion is placed on the template concave portion, and the heat-resistant plastic film is formed using a heat and pressure plug having a shape corresponding to the template concave portion. Is formed into a container shape by being substantially closely contacted along the inner surface and the bottom surface of the template concave portion, and a predetermined amount of a mixture of rice and cooking water is filled into the concave portion of the heat-resistant plastic film formed into the container shape. It is characterized in that rice is cooked in a conventional manner and the heat-resistant plastic film formed into the container shape is used as it is as a container for cooked rice food.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, after cooking rice, the peripheral edge of the heat-resistant plastic film can be folded back to be closely polymerized on the cooked rice for packing. For example, in a state where the peripheral portion of the heat-resistant plastic film is turned over, a heating plug is used from above to tightly polymerize and pack the cooked cooked rice.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows a method for producing cooked cooked rice food according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 1
Is a template, and has a concave portion 2 corresponding to a shape to be molded as a container. Although one recess 2 is shown in the figure, the template 1 preferably includes a plurality of recesses 2. The recess 2 has a generally circular cross section. The template 1 is preferably conveyed along a predetermined conveying path by conveying means such as a belt conveyor or a chain conveyor.

Reference numeral 3 denotes a plastic film, which must have heat resistance enough to withstand the heating conditions during cooking (for example, about 100 ° C.), water resistance, oxygen impermeability, tensile strength, transparency, and printing. It is preferable that the material has excellent suitability. A preferred example of such a heat-resistant plastic film 3 is polypropylene, particularly a biaxially stretchable polypropylene (OPP) film. Laminate vinylidene chloride as needed,
A rolled metal foil layer blank laminated as a core layer between the front and back polypropylene layers may be used. The heat-resistant plastic film 3 has a size sufficiently larger than the total area of the inner surface and the bottom surface of the template concave portion 2 and is generally circular or rectangular.

As shown in FIG. 1A, the heat-resistant plastic film 3 is placed on the template recess 2. Since the heat-resistant plastic film 3 has a size sufficiently larger than the template recess 2 as described above, when the central portion is placed on the template recess 2, its peripheral edge is the template recess 2. Is placed on the upper surface of the template so as to widely cover the area around the template.

Next, as shown in FIG. 1 (B), a heating / pressing plug 4 having a shape corresponding to the template recess 2 is pressed into the recess 2 from above. The plug 4 is heated to a predetermined temperature by a heat source (not shown). The temperature of the plug 4 is lower than the melting temperature of the heat-resistant plastic film 3 and higher than a temperature sufficient to cause some softening or deformation. Therefore, under the pressure of the plug 4, the heat-resistant plastic film 3 is substantially softened or deformed and comes into close contact with the inner surface and the bottom surface of the concave portion 2, so that the concave portion 3a substantially corresponding to the shape of the concave portion 2 is formed. . The heat-resistant plastic film 3 loses its resilience by being heated and pressurized, and retains the shape of the recess 3a even when the plug 4 is separated. In the present invention, the recess 3a formed in the plastic film 3 itself is used as a cooked rice container or an individual food tray.

The plug 4 shown in FIG. 1 (B) has a tip 4a having a shape corresponding to the form recess 2 and its upper portion is enlarged through an inclined surface 4b. For this reason, when the heat-resistant plastic film 3 is heated and pressurized by the plug 4, the recess 3a is formed in the center of the film by the plug tip 4a, and at the same time, the film peripheral portion 3b is moved from the recess 3a by the inclined surface 4b. It is shaped so as to expand upward.

Next, as shown in FIG. 1 (C), a mixture 5 composed of rice and cooking water is fixedly filled into a film recess 3a formed at the center of the heat-resistant plastic film 3 corresponding to the template recess 2. I do. The rice is preferably filled with rice that has been washed and soaked in advance and adjusted to a predetermined moisture content (for example, about 30 to 40%). It is preferable to use degassed water for cooking water in order to improve texture and yield.
Water or hot water used as cooking water is preferably sterilized in advance, and if necessary, has a predetermined pH.
The value adjusted to the value is used. The rice and the cooking water may be charged separately or at the same time, and it is sufficient that a predetermined amount of rice and a required amount of cooking water are mixed in the film concave portion 3a during the rice cooking described below. In the case of using sufficiently hydrated rice, there is no need to separately add cooking water.

Next, the template 1 is put into a steam rice cooker (not shown), and steam rice is cooked by an ordinary method. For example, about 1
Steam rice for about 20 minutes with steam at 00 ° C. As a result, general viable bacteria that may have adhered to rice, cooking water, a heat-resistant plastic film, or the like can be killed, and preliminary sterilization is performed simultaneously with steam rice cooking. By steam rice cooking, as shown in FIG. 1 (D), rice cooked rice 6 cooked plumply is accommodated in film recess 3a.

Next, in the step shown in FIG. 1B, the film peripheral portion 3 maintained in the expanded state by the plug inclined surface 4b.
b is folded back and overlaid on the cooked rice 6 in the film recess 3a as shown in FIG. 1 (E).

Then, as shown in FIG. 1F, the overlapping portion of the film peripheral portion 3b is brought into close contact with the heating plug 7 from above. As the heating plug 7 used in this step, the same one as the heating and pressing plug 4 used in the step of FIG. 1B may be used, but it is preferable that the heating plug is heated to a high temperature of 120 ° C. or more, for example, about 140 ° C. It is preferable to use them. Thereby, the high temperature of the plug 4 is reduced to the film peripheral portion 3b.
To the cooked rice 6 through the polymerized part of the heat-treated bacteria, and can completely kill heat-resistant bacteria that could not be killed by the preliminary sterilization performed simultaneously in the steam rice cooking process, and can withstand long-term storage. It becomes possible to manufacture cooked rice food in containers.

By being heated by the plug 7 with the folded portions of the film peripheral portion 3b overlapping each other, the folded portions are physically in close contact with each other to have no gap, and are thermally softened or deformed. The shape is preserved in a state with a fold. Therefore, the lid material attaching step as in the case of the conventional packed rice, that is, the step of preparing a film as a lid material separately from the container and applying this film by chemical means such as heat sealing. No need to do. Consumers who have purchased the packed rice can easily open the package by picking and opening the end of the folded portion having the fold.

The rice cooked rice 6 can be maintained at a high temperature from the rice cooking step of FIG. 1 (D) to the close sealing step of FIG. 1 (F), and the cooling step after rice cooking as in the conventional manufacturing method. Do not need. This is because the step of FIG. 1 (F) is performed after the film peripheral portion 3b is turned back to cover the upper surface of the cooked rice 6 in the step of FIG. 1 (E), so that the plug 7 is operated in a high temperature state. Even so, cooked rice does not adhere to the lower surface. The fact that a high temperature state can be maintained until the seal after cooking rice is, of course, extremely advantageous in enhancing the sterilizing effect.

When serving as rice to be put in a lunch box sold at a convenience store or the like, the concave portion 2 of the template 1 is formed in association with the shape of the rice storage area of the lunch box, and FIG.
Since the container thermoformed in the step (B) may be put into the rice storage area of the lunch box, the step after rice cooking, that is, FIG.
FIG. 1 (F) shows a process of folding back the film peripheral portion 3b of FIG.
Can be omitted. The heat-resistant plastic film 3 used in this case does not need to have a large peripheral portion 3b, and may have a dimension substantially corresponding to the total area of the inner surface and the bottom surface of the template recess 2.

[0021]

As described above, according to the present invention, the heat-resistant plastic film itself used as the packaging material for the packed rice is formed with a concave portion and used as a container. Containers such as trays, which have been used, become unnecessary, and a cooling step after cooking rice is also unnecessary. Thereby, the manufacturing cost can be significantly reduced.

Further, since it is not necessary to add an antibacterial agent or the like to rice unlike conventional products, it is possible to provide packed rice with excellent taste and texture at low cost.

The cooked rice cooked according to the present invention is formed into a container shape by closely contacting the heat-resistant plastic film placed in the template recess with the inner surface of the recess with a heating and pressing plug,
This can be cooked as it is as a cooked rice container, and the cooked rice can be provided alone to the consumer, or can be stored as it is in a predetermined location in a container such as a lunch box as a product. The film remaining after eating can be rolled up and discarded, and the amount thereof is much smaller than that of conventional trays and the like, which is extremely advantageous in terms of waste disposal.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a process diagram illustrating a method for manufacturing packed cooked rice according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 template 2 concave portion 3 heat-resistant plastic film 3 a film concave portion 3 b film peripheral portion 4 heating and pressurizing plug 5 mixture of rice and cooking water filled quantitatively 6 cooked rice 7 heating and pressurizing plug

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A template having a concave portion having a predetermined shape is prepared, and has a heat resistance to withstand heat during cooking rice and a dimension sufficiently larger than a total area of an inner surface and a bottom surface of the concave portion of the template. A plastic film is placed on the template recess, and the heat-resistant plastic film is brought into close contact along the inner surface and the bottom surface of the template recess using a heating / pressing plug having a shape corresponding to the template recess. The heat-resistant plastic film molded into the container shape is filled with a predetermined amount of a mixture of rice and cooking water into the concave portion of the heat-resistant plastic film molded into the container shape and cooked by a conventional method. A method for producing cooked rice food in a container, characterized by using as it is a container for cooked rice food. 2. The method for producing cooked cooked rice food according to claim 1, wherein after cooking the cooked rice, the peripheral portion of the heat-resistant plastic film is turned over and the cooked cooked rice is polymerized and packed tightly. 3. The container according to claim 2, wherein the heat-resistant plastic film is folded over and the heat-resistant plastic film is tightly polymerized and packed on cooked rice using a heating plug from above. Method of manufacturing cooked rice food.