洗米→浸漬の次の工程 浸漬した米や麦を蒸していきます 家庭で数キロ単位で蒸す場合は蒸し器 段に積み上げていけます 丸や四角の蒸籠で 四角の蒸篭だと高く積めますね このタイプの便利なところは、下の段は米、上の段は麦と言うふうに 違う種類の穀物を同時に蒸せたりしますね うちは１回の蒸す量は２０〜３０kgなので 大きな寸胴に水を張って蒸しています 図のように、木製の架台と木製のパンチの板を組み合わせて蒸気を通しています蒸し布もナイロンのメッシュを自作で縫製しています 海外の方だとBIAB（brew in a bag）用のメッシュが豊富にありますので 鍋にあったものを選べば良いと思います さらに大きい量を蒸す場合は、酒蔵などのように甑と呼ばれる専用の蒸し器になります 昔は大きな鉄製の窯の上に木の樽を乗せて蒸していました 現在でも釜の上にステンレス甑を乗せているところが多いです 熱源はバーナーではなくボイラー蒸気現在の主流です 甑について話し出すと時間がかかりすぎるぐらい様々な種類があります コンベアタイプの連続式蒸米機やドラム回転式の蒸米機、 またその前後の工程に必要な放冷機や粉砕機、種付け機やエアシューター、 蒸米の取り出しをクレーンでするか人力でスコップで掘り出すか などなど いずれにせよ蒸米を作るのは骨の折れる作業です 張り込み（米を甑に積んでいく作業）にも作法があります まず、前提として甑の底に近いほど米が重みで潰れやすく、蒸気に近いためベチャベチャになりやすいです 酒蔵では下の段は掛米に使用することが多いです 麹に使うのは上段のフワフワした部分です 全部麹に使いたい場合は、擬似米と言って耐熱性のビーズの入った袋を敷き詰めます また、米の品種も使い分けたい時は、メッシュの布で仕切りを作って間違えないようにします 米を敷き詰める際には、隙間なく敷き詰め、棒などで隅の方を押し込みます 蒸気バイパスと言って、蒸気は抜けやすい場所だけを通り抜ける性質がありますので 隙間があると蒸しにムラができます 張り込みが終わったら蒸します ボイラーの場合は最初は強めの圧力で蒸します バーナーの場合は最大の火力で蒸します 鍋や甑の一番上から蒸気が通り抜けたのを確認してから大体40分前後蒸します この時火力が強すぎると、鍋肌に接した米の部分だけカリカリになったりしますので、 適当な火力に調整します 以上簡単に蒸しについてでした 明日はお休み 次回は冷却→種切りです The Next Step After Soaking Rice: Steaming After soaking the rice or grains, we proceed to steam them. For steaming at home in quantities of a few kilograms, a steamer can be used. You can stack them on tiers. Using round or square steaming baskets, you can stack them higher if they are square-shaped. The convenient aspect of this type is that you can steam different types of grains simultaneously, with rice in the lower tier and wheat in the upper tier, for example. In my case, since I steam around 20 to 30 kilograms at once, I use a large steaming pot filled with water. As shown in the diagram, I use a wooden rack and wooden punched boards to allow steam to pass through. I also make my own steaming cloth by sewing nylon mesh. If you are overseas, there are abundant meshes available for BIAB (brew in a bag) purposes, so you can choose one suitable for your pot. For steaming larger quantities, specialized steamers called "koshiki" are used, similar to those used in sake breweries. In the past, large iron kilns were used, with wooden barrels placed on top for steaming. Nowadays, it is common to place a stainless steel "koshiki" on top of the kettle. The heat source is usually a boiler steam rather than a burner, which is the current mainstream. When it comes to "koshiki," there are numerous types, too many to discuss in detail as it would take too much time. There are continuous steam rice machines with conveyor belts, drum rotating steam rice machines, as well as cooling machines, milling machines, seeding machines, air shooters, and the methods used to remove the steamed rice, whether by crane or manually using a shovel, and so on. In any case, making steamed rice is a laborious task. There are also proper procedures for "harikomi" (stacking the rice in the steamer). Firstly, it is important to note that the closer the rice is to the bottom of the steamer, the more likely it is to be crushed by its weight and become sticky due to its proximity to the steam. In sake breweries, the rice in the lower tier is often used for "kakemai" (sake rice used in the fermentation process), while the fluffy part in the upper tier is used for making "koji" (sake mold). If you want to use all of the rice for "koji," you can use heat-resistant beads placed in a bag called "giji-mai" (pseudo rice) to fill the steamer. Additionally, if you want to separate different rice varieties, you can create partitions using mesh fabric to ensure they are not mixed up. When laying the rice in the steamer, make sure to fill the spaces tightly and press the corners with a stick or similar tool. This is because steam has a tendency to pass through the areas where it can escape easily, which can result in uneven steaming if there are gaps. Once the stacking is complete, it's time to steam. If using a boiler, start with high pressure for steaming. If using a burner, set it to maximum heat. Steam for approximately 40 minutes, or until you confirm that steam has passed through from the top of the pot or "koshiki." If the heat is too intense, only the portion of rice in direct contact with the pot may become crispy, so adjust the heat accordingly. That concludes a brief overview of the steaming process. Tomorrow is a day off, and next time we will cover cooling and seed separation.
