Process for freezing cooked rice

Claim 1

A process for freezing cooked rice, by the use of a rotary drum having an inlet at one end and an outlet at the other end, comprising the steps of: (a) jetting sufficient liquid refrigerant for freezing of boiled rice downwardly through said inlet of said rotary drum into said rotary drum in the vicinity of the inlet; (b) feeding said boiled rice in a continuous manner through said inlet downwardly into said rotary drum, for allowing said boiled rice to be frozen by said refrigerant; (c) carrying the boiled rice upwardly by mechanical means which rotates the drum while rotating the rotary drum at a circumferential speed within the range 0.4 - 0.9 m/s, and such that the rice falls onto rotary blades axially rotating in the rotary drum at a circumferential speed of about 3 - 10 m/s, and also onto the drum surface; (d) while the boiled rice is in progress of freezing, imparting impact by said rotary blades to that portion of the boiled rice which falls onto the blades to separate grains of the boiled rice from one another into a scattered state; (e) carrying the boiled rice grains from said inlet towards said outlet of the rotary drum, by the rotation of the rotary drum and as a result of inclination of the axis of rotation of the rotary drum downwardly with respect to the horizontal in the direction towards the drum outlet, discharging the separated boiled rice grains in a scattered state through said outlet, and simultaneously discharging the refrigerant from the drum through said outlet.