Abstract: It is intended to provide a frozen product of a cooked food and a refrigerated product of a cooked food, wherein multiple kinds of cooked food materials to be re-heated under different conditions, which have been stored over a long time within a freezing temperature range or a refrigerating temperature range, can be heated, re-cooked and cold-sterilized by procedures appropriate for the moisture content required by the food even by simultaneously re-heating and keeping in an atmosphere at the same temperature; a storage method and a storage apparatus. A base is prepared by adding an inflating agent to a dough, bubbling air into the dough or fermenting the dough by adding a yeast and then baking. Next, topping(s) are provided on the base or fillings are enclosed in the dough followed by baking to give a cooked food. The cooked food is then refrigerated or frozen while or after spraying water thereto, or it is frozen and then water is sprayed thereto.

Abstract: A method and a system for cooling spongy heated food, after final heating operation, such as baking for spongy heated foods, such as baked bread, are cooled while being exposed to three different atmosphere conditions, namely a first zone for applying water to the surface of spongy heated food that have undergone a final heating operation, a second zone for promoting cooling of spongy heated food by using the latent heat of evaporation of applied water, and a third zone for retaining the spongy heated food cooled in the second zone in an atmosphere of dew point temperature higher than the surface temperature of spongy heated food. The humidity is maintained higher in the third zone than in the second zone to permit the spongy heated food to absorb moisture. The first, second, and third zones all can be located in a single cooling chamber. Moreover, the first, second, and third zones all can be located within the same physical space at different times.

Abstract: A noncontact article temperature measuring device adapted for evaluating the quality including the food temperature, freezed/thawed state, presence/absence of bubble based on food capacitance measurement data and for evaluating/controlling the operation of a thawing device and used for a freezing/thawing system so as to solve conventional problems. The measuring device is so provided that an article of food can be passed or is provided on both vertical sides of a space or on the same plane of one of the sides. The measuring device comprises at least a pair of electrodes serving as a capacitance sensor and a capacitance measuring section for measuring the capacitance of the food article placed in the space from the signal generated by the paired electrodes. The capacitance is measured by applying a predetermined voltage between the electrodes, and the temperature of the article is determined and the freezed/thawed state is recognized from the measured capacitance.

Abstract: A process of freezing sushi, boiled rice or processed food with boiled rice as the main component permits substantially the same quality offered before freezing to be obtained after natural thawing or thawing using an electric oven. When freezing nigiri-sushi at a normal temperature of about 20° C., the freezer temperature is first reduced from a preliminary cooling temperature of −10° C. to a temperature of −30° C. in about 20 min. with a temperature gradient of about 1 to 2° C./min. The freezer temperature is then reduced from −30 to −40° C. with a temperature gradient of 1° C./min. or below, preferably about 0.5° C./min., over a time of 15 to 25 min., and preferably 15 to 20 min., until a maximum ice generation temperature range of 0 to −10° C. for the rice part of the sushi, specifically −3 to −6° C., is passed.