GB2095090A

GB2095090A - Prefabricated steaks

Info

Publication number: GB2095090A
Application number: GB8108608A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: TELFER HENRY Ltd
Current assignee: TELFER HENRY Ltd
Priority date: 1981-03-19
Filing date: 1981-03-19
Publication date: 1982-09-29
Also published as: GB2095090B

Abstract

Prefabricated steaks are produced from parts of animals not normally used for steak meat and from small animals by a process comprising: cutting muscles from the animal with the grain of the meat running parallel to the longer dimension of each strip; dicing the strips into rectangular bricks, with the grain of the meat lying parallel to the longer side of the bricks; introducing the bricks into an extruder whilst aligning the bricks with their longer axes parallel to the direction of extrusion and compacting the bricks into a solid meat log; and cutting the log transversely to form steaks wherein the grain of the meat lies along the shorter axis of each steak. For example the muscles are put through the lacerator (see drawing) and into the dicer, from which the pieces pass to the blender. The arrows show diagramatically the way in which fat and gristle and additives are added. The blended materials are passed through a pipe containing directional deflectors in the form of vanes which make sure that the strips of meat are lined up in the correct way so as to retain their grain running longitudinally. The material is forced through the extruder and after extrusion the meat is blast frozen and cut. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Prefabricated steaks This invention relates to the manufacture of meat steaks. Meat steaks are normally produced by cutting slices from large pieces of suitably tender meat with the grain of the meat running parallel to the longer dimension of the strip.

Steaks are cut across the grain so that the fibre runs parallel with the short dimension. To produce suitable sized steaks it is necessary to cut the steaks from only the larger animals and to obtain acceptable tenderness only from very restricted portions of those animals. Not only is it necessary to have a large animal to produce a large enough piece of steak meat with the grain running longitudinally, but only restricted parts of the larger animals can provide tender enough meat to produce good steaks.

An object of this invention is to provide a method of making steaks which enables the parts of the animal not normally used for making steaks to be employed and also enables the manufacture of steaks from smaller animals which do not normally have large enough single pieces of meat in them to form a steak.

Cuts of meat can be used which traditionally are never used as steak, such as fore end muscles of older animals. Muscles from animals that produce poorer quality stewing and broiling steaks can be made to produce higher quality frying steaks using this process.

The process also enables one to make use of very small animals such as turkeys, sheep, lambs, pigs and poultry. Types of meat such as mutton not normally used for making steak can also be employed.

A further object of the invention is to provide a continuous method of steak production for producing steak in quantity, e.g. of the order of 1-5 tons per hour from a single production machine. Thus, in accordance with the invention there is a continuous process for the production of simulated or re-formed meat steaks, the process comprising the steps of: 1. Cutting muscles from the animal with the grain of the meat running parallel to the longer dimension of each strip, 2. Dicing the strips into substantially rectangular smaller bricks, again with the grain of the meat lying parallel to the longer side of the rectangular bricks, 3. Introducing the bricks into an extruder whilst aligning the bricks with their longer axes parallel to the direction of extrusion, and compacting the bricks into a solid meat log, and 4.Cutting the log transversely to form steaks wherein the grain of the meat lies along the shorter axis of each steak.

The process may also include the step of marinating the diced rectangular bricks so as to introduce liquid into the bricks. For example, the bricks may be marinated in milk, wine, cider, beer or a flavoured water based solution containing for example, salt and phosphate.

Before extruding the rectangular bricks they may be mixed with a proportion of finely ground lean meat and/or minced or chopped fat and/or a proportion of chopped gristle.

In the course of this process the initially prepared strips may be subjected to removal of gristle and smaller pieces of meat but the gristle removed and the smaller pieces may then be chopped up and reintroduced into the process before extrusion.

The addition of chopped fat, if used, enables the finished steak to be given a desirable marbled effect. An anti-oxidant may also be introduced if the product is finally to be frozen. A preferred step in the process involves laceration of the initially cut strips of red meat prior to dicing. The final meat mix before extrusion preferably contains between 50 and 70% of diced lacerated red meat, between 10 and 20% of desinewed meat, beween 5 and 10% of chopped fat, the balance being gristle, water, salt and additives such as anti-oxidant, phosphate, and flavouring.

The accompanying drawing illustrates in block diagram form a suitable apparatus for carrying out the continuous process of this invention. A typical recipe for the meat mix is as follows:- Recipe Meat mix Diced lacerated red meat 60.03 Frozen chopped gristle 3.55 Desinewed meat 16.72 Frozen chopped fat 8.36 Water 9.63 Salt 1.25 Anti-oxidant 0.06 Phosphate 0.25 Flavour 0.25 100.00 Process 1. Meat mix a) Red meat preparation (i) Prepare muscles of any meat with the grain of the meat running parallel to the longer side of the piece. Removing all fat, gristle, connective tissue and blood spots. Pass all sinewy trimmed material through a desinewing machine to supply gristle and desinewed meat.

(ii) Pass trimmed meat through the lacerator so that the lacerations are across the grain of meat.

(iii) Dice the lacerated material through the dicer so that the grain of meat is parallel with the direction of travel of the dicer piston. Set the dicer to produce a rectangular piece with the length at least twice the width, and the grain running parallel with the length.

b) Gristle preparation (i) Freeze the gristles ex desinewing machine, bandsaw, then pre-break on a 1" plate and return to freezer store.

(ii) Bowl chop (fast speed) the frozen gristles to a fine powder.

c) Fat preparation (i) Select fat of suitable quality and colour and freeze to -1 80C.

(ii) Bandsaw, prebreak on 1" plate and return to freezer store.

(iii) Bowl chop (fast speed) to a fine grit (approximately 1 mm cube) approximately 2 minutes.

d) Meat mix blending (i) Add red meat, selected liquid and desinewed meat to blender and mix for between 1 and 20 minutes.

(ii) Distribute evenly over the meat, the salt, antioxidant, phosphate and flavour, and continue mixing for between 1 and 20 minutes.

(iii) Distribute evenly the gristle, and continue mixing.

(iv) Distribute evenly the fat during the next 1-10 minutes of mixing.

(v) Eject to the meat extruder.

2. Extrusion (i) Using any conventional meat pump extrude the required log shape of material for freezing.

(ii) Dependent upon the size of piece used and the size of steak required, insert into the pumping system the direction deflector vanes that line up the rectangular pieces into the correct directional flow.

(iii) Rest at 00C-1 50C for between 20 minutes and 2 hours before freezing.

(iv) Logs may be blast or cryogenically frozen to a maximum temperature of -1 80C.

3. Slicing and packing (i) Frozen logs to be uptempered to -60C to -40C in OOC chiller, approximately 24 hours.

(ii) Uptempered logs to be sliced to required weight per steak.

(iii) Steaks to be packed as required for customer.

The accompanying drawing shows in block diagram form the whole process and illustrates, by means of blocks, the machinery involved which enables this process to be a continuous production process. On the left of the dotted line is shown the original input materials. From the animal carcass is derived muscles and trimmed materials and selected fat. The muscles are put through the lacerator and into the dicer as described above. From the dicer the rectangular pieces pass to the blender.

In the meantime the selected fat is cut up with bandsaws and breakers and passed into a freezer store and the trimmed materials are passed into a desinewing machine which separates the gristles from desinewed meat. The desinewed meat is put in store until required and from the store is passed to the blender. The gristles are put into the freezer store first and then when frozen are put through the bandsaw and breakers and returned to the freezer store. From the freezer store the gristle and fat go separately to bowl choppers and from there to gristle and fat stores whence they can be supplied to the blender as shown.

The arrows show diagrammatically the way in which the fat and gristle and the additives such as salt, anti-oxidant, phosphate and flavour are added but of course they are added in the sequence set out above. The blended materials having been treated as described above, are then passed through a pipe containing the pump and also containing directional deflectors in the form of vanes which make sure that the strips of meat are lined up in the correct way so as to retain their grain running longitudinally and, by now, horizontally. The pump forces the material through the extruder and after extrusion the meat is blast frozen. From the blast freezer, as required, the frozen steak logs are passed to an untempering chamber and after untempering into the slicer and thence the sliced steak is carried by the conveyor to the packager.

Thus it can be seen that the process will be a continuous and fuliy mechanised production process capable of producing of the order of 1-5 tons per hour of steaks from carcass meat.

Claims (filed 12/2/82) 1. A process for the production of simulated or re-formed meat steaks, the process comprising the steps of: cutting muscles from the animal with the grain of the meat running parallel to the longer dimension of each strip; dicing the steps into substantially rectangular smaller bricks, again with the grain of the meat lying parallel to the longer side of the rectangular bricks; introducing the bricks into an extruder whilst aligning the bricks with their longer axes parallel to the direction of extrusion, and compacting the bricks into a solid meat log; and cutting the log transversely to form steaks wherein the grain of the meat lies along the shorter axis of each steak.

2. A process according to claim 1 including the step of marinating the diced rectangular bricks so as to introduce liquid into the bricks.

3. A process according to claim 2, and in which the bricks are marinated in milk, wine, cider, beer or a flavoured water based solution containing salt and phosphate.

4. A process according to any preceding claim in which, before extruding the rectangular bricks they are mixed with a proportion of finely ground lean meat and/or minced or chopped fat and/or a proportion of chopped gristle.

5. A process according to any preceding claim in which the initially prepared strips are subjected to removal of gristle and smaller pieces of meat but the gristle removed and the smaller pieces are then chopped up and reintroduced into the process before extrusion.

6. A process according to any preceding claim and in which an anti-oxidant is introduced into the product which is finally frozen.

7. A process according to any preceding claim

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **.

c) Fat preparation (i) Select fat of suitable quality and colour and freeze to -1 80C.

(ii) Bandsaw, prebreak on 1" plate and return to freezer store.

(iii) Bowl chop (fast speed) to a fine grit (approximately 1 mm cube) approximately 2 minutes.

d) Meat mix blending (i) Add red meat, selected liquid and desinewed meat to blender and mix for between 1 and 20 minutes.

(ii) Distribute evenly over the meat, the salt, antioxidant, phosphate and flavour, and continue mixing for between 1 and 20 minutes.

(iii) Distribute evenly the gristle, and continue mixing.

(iv) Distribute evenly the fat during the next 1-10 minutes of mixing.

(v) Eject to the meat extruder.

2. Extrusion (i) Using any conventional meat pump extrude the required log shape of material for freezing.

(ii) Dependent upon the size of piece used and the size of steak required, insert into the pumping system the direction deflector vanes that line up the rectangular pieces into the correct directional flow.

(iii) Rest at 00C-1 50C for between 20 minutes and 2 hours before freezing.

(iv) Logs may be blast or cryogenically frozen to a maximum temperature of -1 80C.

3. Slicing and packing (i) Frozen logs to be uptempered to -60C to -40C in OOC chiller, approximately 24 hours.

(ii) Uptempered logs to be sliced to required weight per steak.

(iii) Steaks to be packed as required for customer.

The accompanying drawing shows in block diagram form the whole process and illustrates, by means of blocks, the machinery involved which enables this process to be a continuous production process. On the left of the dotted line is shown the original input materials. From the animal carcass is derived muscles and trimmed materials and selected fat. The muscles are put through the lacerator and into the dicer as described above. From the dicer the rectangular pieces pass to the blender.

In the meantime the selected fat is cut up with bandsaws and breakers and passed into a freezer store and the trimmed materials are passed into a desinewing machine which separates the gristles from desinewed meat. The desinewed meat is put in store until required and from the store is passed to the blender. The gristles are put into the freezer store first and then when frozen are put through the bandsaw and breakers and returned to the freezer store. From the freezer store the gristle and fat go separately to bowl choppers and from there to gristle and fat stores whence they can be supplied to the blender as shown.

The arrows show diagrammatically the way in which the fat and gristle and the additives such as salt, anti-oxidant, phosphate and flavour are added but of course they are added in the sequence set out above. The blended materials having been treated as described above, are then passed through a pipe containing the pump and also containing directional deflectors in the form of vanes which make sure that the strips of meat are lined up in the correct way so as to retain their grain running longitudinally and, by now, horizontally. The pump forces the material through the extruder and after extrusion the meat is blast frozen. From the blast freezer, as required, the frozen steak logs are passed to an untempering chamber and after untempering into the slicer and thence the sliced steak is carried by the conveyor to the packager.

Thus it can be seen that the process will be a continuous and fuliy mechanised production process capable of producing of the order of 1-5 tons per hour of steaks from carcass meat.

Claims (filed 12/2/82) 1. A process for the production of simulated or re-formed meat steaks, the process comprising the steps of: cutting muscles from the animal with the grain of the meat running parallel to the longer dimension of each strip; dicing the steps into substantially rectangular smaller bricks, again with the grain of the meat lying parallel to the longer side of the rectangular bricks; introducing the bricks into an extruder whilst aligning the bricks with their longer axes parallel to the direction of extrusion, and compacting the bricks into a solid meat log; and cutting the log transversely to form steaks wherein the grain of the meat lies along the shorter axis of each steak.
2. A process according to claim 1 including the step of marinating the diced rectangular bricks so as to introduce liquid into the bricks.
3. A process according to claim 2, and in which the bricks are marinated in milk, wine, cider, beer or a flavoured water based solution containing salt and phosphate.
4. A process according to any preceding claim in which, before extruding the rectangular bricks they are mixed with a proportion of finely ground lean meat and/or minced or chopped fat and/or a proportion of chopped gristle.
5. A process according to any preceding claim in which the initially prepared strips are subjected to removal of gristle and smaller pieces of meat but the gristle removed and the smaller pieces are then chopped up and reintroduced into the process before extrusion.
6. A process according to any preceding claim and in which an anti-oxidant is introduced into the product which is finally frozen.
7. A process according to any preceding claim

which involves laceration of the initially cut strips of red meat prior to dicing.
8. A process according to any preceding claim and in which the final meat mix before extrusion contains between 50 and 70% of diced lacerated red meat, between 10 and 20% of disinewed meat, between 5 and 10% of chopped fat, the balance being gristle, water, salt and additives.
9. A process according to claim 8 in which the additives include one or more of anti-oxidant.

phosphate and flavouring.
10. A simulated or re-formed meat steak manufactured by the process of any of claims 1 to 9.
11. A process for the production of simulated or re-formed meat steaks substantially as hereinbefore particularly described with reference to the accompanying drawing.