Facility for thawing or tempering frozen food products

Abstract

A facility for thawing or tempering frozen food products, including: a chamber for receiving the products to be thawed or tempered, a fan for establishing a forced air flow in the chamber at a speed greater than or equal to 5 ms.sup.1, a heater for heating the products present in the chamber, including at least one of a device for injecting or creating steam in the chamber, a device for spraying, showering or misting hot water or water at room temperature, a device for mixing air on a hot heat exchanger or a heating resistor, and a high-frequency electromagnetic system, a device for cooling the air in the chamber including at least one of a device for injecting cold air via a dedicated inlet, a device for mixing air on a cold heat exchanger, and a device for misting, showering or spraying cold water in the chamber.

Claims

1. An installation for thawing or tempering frozen food products, comprising: a chamber configured to receive the products to be thawed or tempered; a fan arranged proximate to or within the chamber and configured to establish a forced flow of air in the chamber; a steam apparatus including a steam inlet, a valve, and at least one steam manifold coupled to the steam inlet via the valve, wherein the at least one steam manifold is positioned within the chamber to selectively distribute steam within the chamber; at least one nozzle arranged proximate to the chamber and configured to introduce water into the chamber; a refrigerator unit fluidly coupled to the at least one nozzle and configured to selectively cool the water introduced into the chamber by the at least one nozzle; and a controller coupled to at least the steam apparatus and the refrigerator unit to selectively command the steam apparatus and the refrigerator unit such that the steam apparatus distributes the steam within the chamber at least partially simultaneously when the refrigerator unit supplies the cold water into the chamber via the at least one nozzle, wherein the controller is further configured to command the refrigerator unit to regulate a temperature of the cold water introduced into the chamber via the at least one nozzle to a setpoint value based on at least one of time, a core temperature of the food products, and a surface temperature of the food products.

2. The installation as claimed in claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to selectively command the steam apparatus and the refrigerator unit such that, after the simultaneous distribution of the steam and the introduction of the cold water into the chamber, the distribution of the steam is interrupted while the introduction of the cold water into the chamber continues, and wherein the fan is configured to establish the forced flow of air in the chamber at a speed greater than or equal to 5 m/s.

3. The installation as claimed in claim 2, wherein the refrigerator unit is configured to introduce the cold water at a temperature of less than 6 C.

4. The installation as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a water heater fluidly coupled to the at least one nozzle and configured to provide the water to the at least one nozzle as heated water.

5. The installation as claimed in claim 4, wherein the controller is further configured to command the water heater and the refrigerator unit such that the water heater supplies the heated water to the at least one nozzle during a first time period and the refrigerator unit supplies cold water to the at least one nozzle during a second time period.

6. The installation as claimed in claim 5, wherein the controller is configured to command the steam apparatus to distribute the steam within the chamber during at least a portion of the first time period and the second time period.

7. The installation as claimed in claim 4, wherein the water heater is configured to provide the heated water to the at least one nozzle at a temperature greater than or equal to 15 C.

8. The installation as claimed in claim 4, wherein the water heater is configured to be coupled to a domestic hot water main and further configured to provide the heated water into the chamber via the at least one nozzle at a temperature greater than 20 C.

9. The installation as claimed in claim 1, wherein refrigerator unit is configured to be coupled to a domestic cold water main and further configured to cool the water from the main to a predetermined temperature prior to supplying the cold water into the chamber via the at least one nozzle.

10. The installation as claimed in claim 1, wherein the fan is configured to produce the forced flow of air at a speed greater than or equal to 10 m/s in least one location in the chamber.

11. The installation as claimed in claim 1, wherein the controller is coupled to the fan and configured to command the fan to selectively establish the forced flow of air in the chamber according to at least two different air speeds as a function of a state of the thawing or of the tempering of the food products.

Description

(1) The invention will be better understood after reading the following description of one nonlimiting embodiment thereof and examining the appended drawing, in which:

(2) FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one example of a thawing or tempering installation according to the invention, and

(3) FIG. 2 represents a detail from FIG. 1.

(4) The thawing or tempering installation 10 according to the invention represented in FIGS. 1 and 2 includes a frame 11, also termed a thawing or tempering cell, defining a chamber 12 into which the food products to be thawed or tempered may be introduced. The frame 11 is preferably made of stainless steel.

(5) A door 13 makes possible access to the chamber 12 for putting in and removing products, which may be on a trolley.

(6) The installation 10 may include, as shown, a refrigerator unit 15 that is for example fixed to the frame 11 on the side opposite the door 13.

(7) The chamber 12 can communicate with the outside via an air inlet 21 and an air outlet 22 preferably situated on the top wall of the frame 11. The inlet and outlet may be equipped with check valves.

(8) The air inlet and outlet valves are open if it is required that ambient air from the outside enters. That air may be that from a hot zone (25 C.) or from a cold zone (4 C.). Opening may also be the result of a request for relative humidity regulation.

(9) The air inlet 21 may be provided with a temperature probe 23 making it possible to determine the temperature of the incoming air. The latter may be cooled air if the cell is placed in a cold room, the temperature of which is between 10 C. and +10 C. inclusive, for example.

(10) The installation 10 includes manifolds 30 for diffusion of steam into the chamber 12. These manifolds 30 communicate with steam inlets 31 connected to steam feed pipes, not represented. In the example shown, there are two manifolds 30 respectively situated in the vicinity of the left and right vertical walls of the frame 11. Each has a vertical section 30a that extends from the top wall 16 of the frame 11 over the greater part of the height of the chamber 12 and a horizontal section 30b near the floor 17 of the chamber 12.

(11) The installation 10 may include, as shown, one or more heat exchangers 40 present in the chamber 12 to cool the air therein.

(12) There are two exchangers 40, for example, as shown, present in the upper part of the chamber 12. They may be tubular water/air exchangers, the air from the chamber 12 circulating over the outside of the tubes 41, the latter being horizontal and having cold glycolated water passed through them. This water is for example cooled by the refrigerator unit 15 or comes from a cold glycolated water main of the plant.

(13) The installation 10 includes nozzles 50 for misting water or an air/water mixture inside the chamber 12 in order to create a water mist therein. The particle size of the misted droplets is for example of the order of 1 to 60 m.

(14) The nozzles 50 are preferably placed, as shown, below the exchangers 40, in the upper part of the chamber 12.

(15) A fan 60, the motor of which is outside the chamber 12, creates a forced flow of air inside the chamber 12, with an air speed greater than 5 ms.sup.1, better still greater than 10 ms.sup.1.

(16) The axis of the fan 60 may be vertical and situated between the exchangers 40.

(17) The installation 10 may include a regulation central unit, also termed a programmable automatic controller, making it possible to control the operation of the various elements of the installation in order to subject the products to be thawed or tempered to conditions appropriate for warming them.

(18) Various temperature probes are connected to this central unit and regulation is notably effected as a function of the measured temperatures.

(19) The installation 10 may therefore include a plurality of probes, such as a core probe 81, a surface probe 82, a relative humidity probe 83 and an air temperature probe 84.

(20) When the nozzles 50 receive compressed air and water, as shown, each air or water inlet may be equipped with a corresponding temperature probe 57, 58.

(21) The temperature of the water feeding the nozzles and the air feeding the nozzle can therefore be controlled.

(22) The relative humidity probe 83 can also serve to control misting in accordance with the programming of the central unit, the admission of steam and the entry of air, if for example there is a relative humidity setpoint. Regulation may operate on the relative humidity parameter as a function of temperature.

(23) The steam that is diffused into the chamber 12 is at a temperature between 99 and 152 C. inclusive, for example.

(24) The water that is misted via the nozzles 50 may be cold, lukewarm or hot water, its temperature preferably being controlled by the regulation central unit to remain at the required temperature, which may vary according to the stage of the thawing or tempering cycle. The misted water and/or the compressed air is or are cooled by the refrigerator unit 15 in the example shown.

(25) To effect a thawing or tempering cycle, the food products present in the chamber 12, for example disposed on an appropriate trolley on multiple levels, are subjected for example to: diffusion of steam via the manifolds 30, forced flow generated by the fan 60, preferably at a speed of at least 5 ms.sup.1, misting of water via the nozzles 50.

(26) The temperature of the misted water and the air that accompanies this misting may decrease as a function of the core temperature of the food products, from more than 10 C. at the beginning when the foods are the coldest to less than 6 C., for example when the injection of steam is interrupted at the end of the cycle.

(27) The regulation central unit receives signals from the temperature probes and controls the solenoid valves for admitting steam into the manifolds 30 and spraying of water via the nozzles 50, the speed of the fan 60 and the temperature at which the water is misted via the nozzles, so as to optimize the thawing or tempering by aiming to increase the temperature of the food products as quickly as possible at the same time as maintaining their surface temperature at a sufficiently low value to degrade the appearance of the food as little as possible.

(28) The invention is not limited to the example shown and it is possible for example to modify the geometry of the chamber 12, the number and location of the manifolds 30 for diffusion of steam, the number and location of the nozzles 50 or the exchangers 40, and the position of the fan 60.

(29) In a variant, the misting nozzles are fed only with water under pressure. The misting nozzles may be replaced by spraying nozzles, which create a rain of droplets in the chamber rather than a mist.

(30) The expression including a must be understood as being synonymous with comprising at least one unless otherwise indicated.