Patent Application
20250089746
The present invention relates to a process and apparatus for producing instant noodles.
Instant noodles (or instant ramen) are noodles arranged in pre-cooked and dried portions or blocks, that are intended to be cooked or soaked in boiling water before eating.
It is well-known to prepare instant noodles by flash frying cooked noodles in a continuous process.
For example, document U.S. Pat. No. 4,254,696 describes an apparatus for frying instant noodles. The noodles are divided per a certain quantity (blocks or portions) and transported within the apparatus inside a plurality of cup-shaped receptacles, arranged in rows. The portions of noodles are fried in oil.
It is felt the need to produce instant noodles with a lower content of fat.
In addition, the instant noodles obtained by frying tend to get brown and too doughy, thus less appreciated by the consumers.
There are also known methods for producing instant noodles “in batch”, but these methods are not suitable for a continuous production in food industry.
In this context, the technical task at the basis of the present invention is to propose a process and apparatus for producing instant noodles, which overcome the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art.
In particular, the object of the present invention is to propose a process and apparatus for producing instant noodles that have a lower fat content and, in general, are healthier.
Another object of the present invention is to propose a process and apparatus for producing instant noodles that have higher qualities over the prior art, both in terms of texture and appearance.
The stated technical task and specified objects are substantially achieved by a process for producing instant noodles starting from noodles divided in portions or blocks, comprising the steps of:
According to one embodiment of the invention, the portions of noodles are first subjected to the upper air flow and then subjected to the lower air flow.
According to another embodiment of the invention, the portions of noodles are first subjected to the lower air flow and then subjected to the upper air flow.
According to one aspect of the invention, the upper air flow and the lower air flow have a speed comprised between 20 m/s and 40 m/s.
According to one aspect of the invention, duration of subjecting the portions of noodles to the upper air flow and the duration of subjecting the portions of noodles to the lower air flow are the substantially the same.
According to one embodiment of the invention, the process further comprises subjecting the portions of noodles arranged in the cup-shaped receptacles to further upper air flows alternating to further lower air flows.
The further upper air flows have a temperature comprised between 100° C. and 300° C. and are directed from the first zone to the second zone, while the further lower air flows have a temperature comprised between 100° C. and 300° C. and are directed from the second zone to the first zone.
According to one embodiment of the invention, the process further comprises a step of moving the portions of noodles arranged in the cup-shaped receptacles by means of an air flow.
In particular, the step of moving occurs before subjecting the portions of noodles to the upper air flow and to the lower air flow.
The stated technical task and specified objects are substantially achieved by an apparatus for producing instant noodles starting from noodles divided in portions or blocks, the apparatus comprising:
According to one aspect of the invention, the first part and the second part of the toasting chamber are in fluid communication and have substantially the same volume.
According to one embodiment of the invention, the first part of the toasting chamber is arranged upstream the second part of the toasting chamber with reference to the transport direction.
According to another embodiment of the invention, the second part of the toasting chamber is arranged upstream the first part of the toasting chamber with reference to the transport direction.
According to one aspect of the invention, each air injecting device comprises:
According to one aspect of the invention, the upper air flow and the lower air flow have a speed comprised between 20 m/s and 40 m/s.
According to one aspect of the invention, each air injecting device comprises a plurality of tubes configured to create concentrate air jets towards the portions of noodles.
According to one aspect of the invention, the apparatus further comprises motorized means for actuating the conveyor with a speed that can be set so that it takes a first predefined time for the portions of noodles to travel across the first part of the toasting chamber and it takes a second predefined time for the portions of noodles to travel across the second part of the toasting chamber.
According to one aspect of the invention, the first predefined time is substantially equal to the second predefined time.
According to one aspect of the invention, the apparatus further comprises a plurality of rods partially arranged above the conveyor so as to maintain the portions of noodles within the cup-shaped receptacles.
According to one aspect of the invention, each part of the toasting chamber further comprises a discharge conduit configured to extract part of the air so as to lower the humidity level within the toasting chamber.
Further characteristics and advantages of the present invention will more fully emerge from the non-limiting description of a preferred but not exclusive embodiment of a process and apparatus for producing instant noodles, as depicted in the attached figures:
With reference to the figures, number 1 indicates an apparatus for producing instant noodles starting from noodles divided in portions or blocks. The portions of noodles may be of any shape, i.e. cubic, parallelepiped, spherical, conical, etc.
The apparatus 1 comprises a conveyor 2 configured to transport the portions of noodles in a transport direction D.
According to a preferred embodiment, the conveyor 2 comprises a plurality of cup-shaped receptacles 4 for receiving the portions of noodles. Preferably, the cup-shaped receptacles 4 are arranged in rows 5 that are aligned parallel to each other along directions that are substantially orthogonal to the transport direction D.
According to one aspect, each cup-shaped receptacle 4 has a holed bottom 4a.
For example, the bottom 4a consists of a perforated sheet with a plurality of through-holes. This serves for letting hot air flows passing through them, as it will be explained hereafter.
The apparatus 1 also comprises a toasting chamber 3 for toasting the portions of noodles while advancing along the transport direction D.
In fact, the conveyor 2 is arranged to partly pass through the toasting chamber 3.
In particular, the toasting chamber 3 is delimited by a box-like case 6 having an inlet 6a for the conveyor 2.
The box-like case 6 is composed by a plurality of insulating panels 16.
The conveyor 2 divides the toasting chamber 3 in a first zone 3a that is located above the conveyor 2, and a second zone 3b that is located below the conveyor 2.
According to one aspect of the invention, the toasting chamber 3 comprises at least two parts: a first part 13 and a second part 23 that are in fluid communication.
In the embodiment described and illustrated herewith, the first part 13 of the toasting chamber 3 is arranged upstream the second part 23 of the toasting chamber 3 with reference to the transport direction D.
In an alternative embodiment (not illustrated), the second part 23 of the toasting chamber 3 is arranged upstream the first part 13 of the toasting chamber 3 with reference to the transport direction D.
Preferably, the first part 13 and the second part 23 have substantially the same volume.
According to an alternative embodiment, the first part 13 and the second part 23 have a different volume.
According to one aspect of the invention, each part 13, 23 of the toasting chamber 23 further comprises a discharge conduit 14, 24 configured to extract part of the air so as to lower the humidity level within the toasting chamber 3.
Preferably, the apparatus 1 comprises a plurality of spaced rods 10 that are partially arranged above the conveyor 2 so as to maintain the portions of noodles within the cup-shaped receptacles 4.
For example, the rods 10 are arranged above the conveyor 2 in the part of the toasting chamber 3 that is arranged downstream. Considering the illustrated embodiment, the rods 10 are arranged in the second part 23 of the toasting chamber 3.
The apparatus 1 also comprises a first air injecting device 7 configured to introduce into the first part 13 of the toasting chamber 3 an upper air flow and a second air injecting device 8 configured to introduce into the second part 23 of the toasting chamber 3 a lower air flow.
In particular, the upper air flow is directed towards the portions of noodles arranged in the cup-shaped receptacles 4 from the first zone 3a above the conveyor 2 to the second zone 3b under the conveyor 2.
The lower air flow is directed towards the portions of noodles arranged in the cup-shaped receptacles 4 from the second zone 3b to the first zone 3a.
In other words, the upper air flow and the lower air flow have substantially opposite directions. While the upper air flow is directed from top to bottom of the toasting chamber 3 and crossing the conveyor 2, the lower air flow is directed from bottom to top of the toasting chamber 3 and crossing the conveyor 2.
Both the upper air flow and the lower air flow have a temperature that is comprised between 100° C. and 300° C.
According to a preferable embodiment, the first air injecting device 7 and the second air injecting device 8 are independent from each other.
According to an alternative embodiment, the first air injecting device 7 and the second air injecting device 8 belong to a common system for introducing air into the toasting chamber 3.
Preferably, each air injecting device 7, 8 comprises:
In particular, the fan may be set to adjust the speed of the corresponding air flow.
Preferably, the speed of the upper and lower air flows is comprised between 20 m/s and 40 m/s.
Also, the heating element is preferably tunable so as to adjust the temperature of the corresponding air flow.
The heating element may be based on different types of technology, i.e. electrical resistances, natural gas, LPG.
According to the illustrated embodiment, each air injecting device 7, 8 comprises a plurality of tubes 11 configured to create concentrate air jets towards the portions of noodles.
The number of tubes 11, their dimensions and position may be configured depending on the needs.
According to one embodiment, the tubes 11 are removably mounted within the injecting devices 7, 8 so that they may be easily cleaned, maintained, and substituted.
In the illustrated embodiment, in the first air injecting device 7 the tubes 11 are located above the conveyor 2 so that the upper air flow is directed towards the portions 11 of noodles from the top to the bottom of the toasting chamber 3.
In the illustrated embodiment, in the second air injecting device 8 the tubes 11 are located under the conveyor 2 so that the lower air flow is directed towards the portions 11 of noodles from the bottom to the top of the toasting chamber 3.
According to a variant, the toasting chamber 3 comprises more than two parts that are in fluid communication, each subjected to an air flow having a temperature comprised between 100° C. and 300° C.
Preferably, the air flows have alternating directions, i.e. they cross the conveyor 2 from top to bottom or from bottom to top of the toasting chamber 3.
The apparatus 1 further comprises motorized means 9 for actuating the conveyor 2 with a speed that can be adjusted depending on the needs.
Preferably, the speed of the conveyor 2 is adjusted so that:
For example, the first predefined time is substantially equal to the second predefined time.
Alternatively, the first predefined time can be longer or shorter than the second predefined time.
A process for producing instant noodles starting from noodles divided in portions or blocks, according to the present invention, is described hereafter.
The portions of noodles are placed in the cup-shaped receptacles 4 of the conveyor 2, that travels along the transport direction D.
Before entering the toasting chamber 3, there is envisaged a step of moving the portions of noodles arranged in the cup-shaped receptacles 4 by means of an air flow.
The air flow for moving the portions of noodles is generated by a fan (not illustrated). The air flow is concentrated toward the portions of noodles by means of tubes that are similar to the tubes 11 of the toasting chamber 3.
According to one embodiment, the air flow crosses the conveyor 2 from bottom to top.
For example, the air flow has a temperature comprised between 40° C. and 60° C.
The air flow directed from bottom to top prevents the noodles from sticking to the cup-shaped receptacles 4.
In fact, the noodles arriving to the apparatus 1 are initially wet (due to residues of brine) and tend to adhere to the walls of the cup-shaped receptacles 4.
The air flow directed from bottom to top also opposes to the compression of the portions of noodles on the bottoms 4a of the receptacles 4 due to gravity. Then, the portions of noodles enter the toasting chamber 3 from the inlet 6a.
In the embodiment illustrated herewith, the conveyor 2 enters the first part 13 and then the second part 23 of the toasting chamber 3.
In the first part 13, the portions of noodles are subjected to the upper air flow having a temperature that is comprised between 100° C. and 300° C.
The upper air flow is directed from the first zone 3a above the conveyor 2 to the second zone 3b under the conveyor 2.
In the second part 23, the portions of noodles are subjected to the lower air flow having a temperature that is comprised between 100° C. and 300° C.
The lower air flow is directed from the second zone 3b to the first zone 3a, crossing the conveyor 2.
Thus, the illustrated embodiment, the portions of noodles are first subjected to the upper air flow and then subjected to the lower air flow.
According to one embodiment, the temperature of the upper and lower air flow may be different.
By setting the speed of the conveyor 2 it is possible to define the times of treatment of the portions of noodles in the first part 13 and in the second part 23.
According to one embodiment, the duration of subjecting the portions of noodles to the upper air flow and the duration of subjecting the portions of noodles to the lower air flow are substantially the same.
According to an alternative embodiment, subjecting the portions of noodles to the upper air flow may last longer or shorter that subjecting the portions of noodles to the lower air flow.
In another embodiment (not illustrated) the conveyor 2 enters the second part 23 and then the first part 13, so the sequence of air flows is exchanged, i.e the portions of noodles are first subjected to the lower air flow and then subjected to the upper air flow.
The process may be carried out in one apparatus 1 according to the one described above.
In another embodiment, the process may be also carried out in a plurality of apparatuses 1 arranged in cascade. In practice, each apparatus 1 acts as a modulus of a larger plant.
The number of apparatuses or modulus is chosen depending on the production rate.
Depending on the specific needs of the process, each apparatus/modulus of the cascade may be set so as to create specific order of alternating air flows with specific duration each.
The characteristics and the advantages of a process and apparatus for producing instant noodles, according to the present invention, are clear, as are the advantages.
In particular, subjecting the portions of noodles to at least two different hot air flows result in a pre-cooking of the noodles that is healthier than frying. The temperatures of hot air flows are set to obtain a toasting of the noodles, that is not a simple drying, but it also changes the chemical and physical properties of the noodles.
In particular, toasting involves a quicker heat exchange that results in noodles that are more porous, less doughy, and not likely to get brown.
In addition, envisaging hot air flows passing through the portions of noodles in two opposite directions (from above the conveyor to below the conveyer and then vice versa) allows a homogeneous toasting of the noodles.
In fact, the portions of noodles arranged in the cup-shaped receptacles are substantially static, so creating two or more hot air flows directed towards them but in opposite directions results in a homogeneous treatment.
The toasting conditions in the two parts of the toasting chamber may also be tuned depending on the needs.
The process and apparatus according to the invention are intended for use in continuous production of instant noodles.
Finally, the proposed invention avoids the use of oil, that raises disposal issues.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 102022000000653 | Jan 2022 | IT | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/IB2022/061491 | 11/28/2022 | WO |
