US 2009/0260780 A1 · METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR COOLING BREAD JUST AFTER BAKED

Abstract

A method and apparatus for cooling bread just after baked are proposed in which bread f just after baked is transferred on a conveyor 2 into a cooling chamber 1 and carried out therefrom after it is allowed to reside therein for a period of time needed for cooling, inside temperature of the cooling chamber is maintained at 5-20° C., hydrated air m is supplied in an upstream side part of the transfer direction of the conveyor where temperature is highest in the cooling chamber 1 to form an atmosphere of high absolute humidity around the transfer passage of the bread f by virtue of the heat of the bread f just after baked, by which the transfer space 3 surrounding the transfer passage of the conveyor 2 is rendered highly humid with relative humidity of 60% or higher, as a result, cooling time is reduced, eating quality is maintained by preventing evaporation of water from the bread while it is cooled just after it is baked, process yield is increased resulting in a reduced processing cost, temperature in the center part of the bread is properly lowered so that the bread can be cut well without developing a rough cut surface.

Claims9

Dependent claims

A method of cooling bread just after baked in which the bread just after it is baked is introduced into a cooling chamber on a conveyor to be carried out of the cooling chamber after the bread is cooled by allowing to reside therein for a period of time needed for cooling, wherein

inside temperature of said cooling chamber is maintained at 5-20° C., and
the transfer space surrounding the transfer passage of said conveyor is allowed to be a space of highly humid cooling space of relative humidity of 60% or higher by supplying hydrated air to an upstream side part of transfer direction of said conveyor where temperature is highest in the cooling chamber by virtue of the heat of the bread just after baked to form a region of high absolute humidity around the bread transferred in the cooling chamber.

A method of cooling bread just after baked in which the bread just after it is baked is introduced into a cooling chamber on a conveyor to be carry out of the cooling chamber after the bread is cooled by allowing to reside therein for a period of time needed for cooling, wherein

said cooling chamber is partitioned into a quick cooling region maintained at a low temperature for cooling the surface of the bread quickly and a slow cooling region maintained at a temperature higher than that of said quick cooling region for cooling the center part of the bread slowly,
said bread just after baked is first introduced into said quick cooling region maintained at low temperature,
a region of high absolute humidity is formed in said quick cooling region around the bread by supplying hydrated air to an upstream side part of transfer direction of said conveyor where temperature is highest in said quick cooling region by virtue of the heat of the bread just after baked so that the bread just after baked is cooled quickly while thus allowing the transfer space surrounding the transfer passage of said conveyor to be of an atmosphere of high relative humidity,
then the bread is transferred from said quick cooling region to said slow cooling region,
a region of high absolute humidity is formed in said slow cooling region around the bread by supplying hydrated air to an upstream side part of transfer direction of said conveyor where temperature is highest in said slow cooling region by virtue of the heat of the bread just after transferred into said slow cooling region so that the bread is humidified while thus allowing the transfer space surrounding the transfer passage of said conveyor in said slow cooling region to be of an atmosphere of high relative humidity higher than that of said quick cooling region.

2 more elements

An apparatus for cooling bread just after baked comprising:

a cooling chamber in which cooling space is formed,
a conveyor for carrying bread just after baked placed thereon into and out of said cooling chamber, and
composed such that the bread just after baked is allowed to reside in said cooling chamber for a period of time needed for cooling by adjusting transfer speed of said conveyor, wherein are provided;
a refrigerating machine in said cooling chamber to blow out cooling air stream toward the starting position of transfer of the bread in the cooling chamber, and
a humidifier to effuse hydrated air toward an upstream side part of transfer direction of said conveyor where temperature is highest in the cooling chamber by virtue of the heat of the bread just after baked.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Method and apparatus for cooling bread just after baked

Life of this patent

Method and apparatus for cooling bread just after baked

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims9