IES20020234A2 - A meat forming process - Google Patents

Abstract

A meat forming process which comprises forming a comminuted meat product by mincing fat and/or meat, extruding it and delivering it into a polymer pouch which is then flattened between conveyors, roller or similar means, and is then sealed. When the product is pure fat, it can be used for basting.

Description

In the slaughtering, deboning and dressing of meat, there is, of necessity, a large number of off-cuts and trimmings, whether they be meat itself or fat. Many of these off10 cuts are prime meat in the sense that they are both tender and have considerable and useful organoleptic properties. The problem with meat off-cuts is that they can be either sold for stewing, casseroles and similar products. These cuts can only be sold as relatively low value products because their subsequent use is not versatile. They can essentially only be used in stews, casseroles or the like. This further reduces their value for the consumer who considers them to be a second rate product and thus is not prepared to pay as much for the product as in fact the product warrants. It has been known in the past to take such meat off-cuts, add a certain amount of fat and then to press the meat in some form of hand press to provide a suitable shape, for example, for grilling, frying or indeed roasting. Unfortunately, such methods are time consuming and not particularly effectively.

While many of these off-cuts can be used for minced meat, there is a limit to the amount of minced meat required by the consumer.

As regards fat, trimmings and off-cuts, these are generally irregular shaped and thus are not particularly useful to the consumer. Very often, the consumer will buy a piece of meat which requires fat to be placed on the meat for subsequent cooking such as basting and roasting generally. Ideally, the consumer would like to buy a piece of meat with the fat already attached thereto. However, since most of the fat has been trimmed off the meat prior to preparing the particular joint or roast, this is often not possible and thus, the consumer has to buy pieces of fat which are bought for relatively little money.

The present invention is directed towards providing a meat product forming method which will allow meat off-cuts to be formed into a more usable meat product and that similarly will allow fat to be formed into a more suitable product for subsequent use, 3E53 ; -2such as, for example, allowing the heated fat to be wrapped around a joint for roasting or the like, prior to being sold to the consumer which heated fat would look as if it had originally formed part of the joint.

Statements of Invention According to the invention, there is provided a meat product forming process comprising:io choosing one of chopped pieces of fat and/or meat to form a base material; mincing the base material by feeding the base material through a threaded barrel having a cutting knife and one or more apertured plates of between 10 and 30 mm in diameter; forcing the comminuted material through a fishtail nozzle having an inlet of substantially circular cross-sectional area and an outlet of substantially rectangular cross-sectional area; delivering the comminuted material into a polymer pouch; passing the pouch between an upper compressing conveyor and a lower support conveyor to further flatten the comminuted material; and -then sealing the pouch.

By mincing the meat at a relatively large size, the final product has considerable structural coherence and rigidity. Further, by being formed and pressed into the desired shape, it will tend, on cooking, to retain that shape. Thus, effectively, steaks and the like can be produced.

In one embodiment of the invention, the nozzle extrudes the fat from approximately a 100 mm in diameter circular section into a flat sheet 12 to 35 mm deep and 50 to 200 mm wide and ideally the initial material is chopped into pieces not exceeding 150 x 150 x 150 mm. -3ln another embodiment of the invention, the base material is fat and the steps are performed of:5 harvesting at slaughtering; chilling to approximately 0°C within 10 to 24 hours; storing at between 0°C to -18°C for at least one and not more than twelve io weeks; and carrying out the method to provide a basting fat which is wrapped around joints of meat prior to packing or slicing the meat.

This basting fat can be used and laid across roast and the like.

Detailed Description of the Invention The invention will be more clearly understood from the following description of an 20 embodiment thereof, given by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:Fig. 1 is a plan view of the machinery used in accordance with the invention, Fig. 2 is an elevation of Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is a detailed plan view of portion of a fishtail nozzle used in the invention, Fig.'4 is a sectional view along the lines IV-IV of Fig. 3, and Fig. 5 is a sectional view along the lines V-V of Fig.3.

Referring to the drawings and initially to Figs. 1 and 2, there is illustrated a meat processing plant, indicated generally by the reference numeral 1, comprising a butchery table 2 feeding an inclined conveyor 3 which in turn feeds a mincer 4. The -4mincer 4 is of the threaded barrel type on which is mounted a three bladed cutting knife and one or more hole plates sized between 10 and 30 mm. Mounted at the end of the mincer is an outlet tube 5 which connects to a fishtail nozzle, indicated generally by the reference numeral 6, on which is mounted a plastics bag 7.

Adjacent the mincer 4 is a press, indicated generally by the reference numeral 10, comprising an upper conveyor 11 mounted above a lower conveyor 12. The upper conveyor 11 is spaced-apart from the lower conveyor 12 by a greater distance at an entrance, indicated generally by the reference numeral 13, than from an exit, indicated io generally by the reference numeral 14. It thus forms a continuous press of reducing depth.

In operation, dealing firstly with meat, as the raw material, the meat, is chopped and trimmed so as to remove extraneous material such as membranes, glands, etc. and it is generally chopped into pieces measuring approximately 120 mm x 120 mm. This is then delivered up the inclined conveyor 3 to the mincer 4 where the random mincing action of the mincer 4 allows the meat to retain its essential texture and strength. It also ensures improved strength during forming as it produces pieces with a range of shapes and sizes including volume ratios.

The comminuted meat emerges from the outlet tube 5 into the fishtail nozzle 6 which has an inlet of effectively circular cross section, as can be seen from Fig. 4, which gradually is flattened to form a substantially rectangular cross sectional exit, see Fig. 5. Thus, the comminuted material is delivered out of the fishtail nozzle into the bag 7 as a flat piece. The bag 7 is then placed on the lower conveyor 12 and is transported between the lower conveyor 12 and the upper conveyor 11, gradually being flattened and widened. Thus, the bag 7 which will have been chosen to take the volume of meat to the desired width and thickness, will be gradually flattened out with the meat therebetween. The pouch or bag of meat can then be frozen or packed as is suitable.

It will be appreciated that instead of using separate pouches or bags 7, it could be a continuous tube which could be delivered between the conveyors and flattened as it goes along with the tube being heat sealed intermediate its length to form separate pouches or alternatively, separate pouches could be formed by heat cutting and sealing prior to delivery to the conveyor. -5ln one embodiment of the invention, the nozzle extrudes the meat from 100 mm diameter circular section into a flat or profiled sheet measuring 12 to 35 mm deep and 50 to 200 mm wide. The emerging sheet, since it is packed directly into the pouch which may or may not have an oxygen barrier, ensures that there is no contamination. The width of the pouch must equal the final desired width of the pressed sheet of meat. In this particular embodiment, the conveyors forming the press alter the extrusion profile into a 6 to 10 mm deep and 200 to 300 mm wide section. Further pressing can take place to ensure that the meat is well consolidated. The meat can then be frozen or vacuum packed, as required.

Similarly, with fat, the sheet of fat can then be removed from the pouch and cut and placed around a joint of meat. Alternatively, it can be sold simply as basting fat.

In the specification the terms “comprise, comprises, comprised and comprising” or any variation thereof and the terms “include, includes, included and including” or any variation thereof are considered to be totally interchangeable and they should all be afforded the widest possible interpretation and vice versa.

The invention is not limited to the embodiment hereinbefore described, but may be varied in both construction and detail within the scope of the appended claims.

Claims (5)

1. A meat product forming process comprising:5 choosing one of chopped pieces of fat and/or meat to form a base material; mincing the base material by feeding the base material through a threaded barrel having a cutting knife and one or more apertured plates of between 10 and 30 mm in diameter; forcing the comminuted material through a fishtail nozzle having an inlet of 'substantially circular cross-sectional area and an outlet of substantially rectangular cross-sectional area; 15 delivering the comminuted material into a polymer pouch; passing the pouch between an upper compressing conveyor and a lower support conveyor to further flatten the comminuted material; and 20 then sealing the pouch.

2. A process as claimed in claim 1, in which the nozzle extrudes the fat from approximately a 100 mm in diameter circular section into aflat sheet 12 to 35 mm deep and 50 to 200 mm wide.

3. A process as claimed in claim 1 or 2, in which the initial material is chopped into pieces not exceeding 150 x 150 x 150 mm.

4. A process as claimed in any preceding claim, in which when the base material is 30 fat, the steps are performed of:harvesting at slaughtering; chilling to approximately 0°C within 10 to 24 hours; -7storing at between 0°C to -18°C for at least one and not more than twelve weeks; and carrying out the method to provide a basting fat which is wrapped around 5 joints of meat prior to packing or slicing the meat.

5. A meat product forming method substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.