GB2386820A

GB2386820A - Meat forming process

Info

Publication number: GB2386820A
Application number: GB0214183A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Declan Arthur Mcdonnell; Finbarr Gerard Mcdonnell
Original assignee: Devrone Ltd
Current assignee: Devrone Ltd
Priority date: 2002-03-28
Filing date: 2002-06-19
Publication date: 2003-10-01
Anticipated expiration: 2022-06-19
Also published as: IE20020499A1; GB0214183D0; GB2386820B; IES20020234A2

Abstract

A ready-to-use meat product is prepared by mincing chopped pieces of meat and/or fat by passage through a threaded barrel having a cutting knife and at least one apertured plate of 10 to 30 mm in diameter. The mince is then passed through a fishtail nozzle into a polymer pouch, which is passed between converging conveyors so as to flatten it and the pouch is then sealed. When the product is pure fat, it can be used for basting.

Description

23s6s20 "A Meat Forming Process" Introduction

s The present invention relates to a process of fomming a ready-to-use meat product of regular shape from meat trimming off-cuts, all of generally irregular shape.

In the slaughtering, deboning and dressing of meat, there is, of necessity, a large lo number of off-cuts and trimmings, whether they be meat itself or fat. Many of these off cuts are prime meat in the sense that they are both tender and have considerable and useful organoleptc 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 IS 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<uts, 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, So 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.

2s 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

- 2 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 5 thus, the consumer has to buy pieces of fat which are bought for relatively little money.

It is known, for example, to mince meat and to produce substantially parallelipedal pieces of meat from blocks of meat of larger size by forcing the blocks of meat through lo a shaping device and then subsequently cutting up the meat, such as described in US Patent Specification No. 4995803 (Kaufler S.A.). This is an efficient process for

treating relatively large blocks of meat which are defined in the specification as

muscular masses of relatively large size or masses Which have been previously cut up or left whole. They can be anatomical parts. However, this would not be a suitable Is process for relatively smaller amounts of meat, such as off-cuts. A problem with forming meat products of the type envisaged in this US patent is that if they are subjected to too much pressure or if they are ground too finely, they will not retain their shape during cooking but will disintegrate. The present invent/on is directed towards overcoming this, among other problems.

The present invention is further 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, such as, for example, allowing the heated fat to be wrapped around a joint for 25 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 process of forming a ready-to-use meat product of regular shape from meat trimming off-cuts, all of generally irregular shape s comprising: 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 lo 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-sectonal area and an outlet of substantially Is rectangular cross-sectonal area; delivering the comminuted material into a polymer pouch to form a tight compressed material therein; 20 passing the pouch between an upper compressing conveyor and a lower support conveyor to further flatten and compress 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

-4 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 She fat from approximately a 5 100 mm in diameter circular section into a flat sheet 12 mm to 35 mm deep and 50 mm to 200 mm wide and ideally the initial material is chopped into pieces not exceeding 150 mm x 150 mm x 150 mm and preferably 120 mm x 120 mm x 120 mm.

Subsequently, the comminuted material is further compressed into a piece of material of width between 6 mm to 10 mm and width between 200 mm to 300 mm.

In another embodiment of the invention, the base material is fat and the steps are performed of: 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 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

-5 The invention will be more clearly understood from the following description of an

embodiment thereof, given by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: s 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.

15 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 mincer 4 is of the threaded barrel type on which is mounted a three biaded cutting knife and one or more hole plates sized between 10 and 30 mm. Mounted at the end of the 20 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 25 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

- 6 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 5 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 to 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 noble and forced 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 compressed and 20 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 25 goes along with the tube being heat sealed intermediate its length to form separate pouches or altematively, separate pouches could be formed by heat cutting and sealing prior to delivery to the conveyor.

- 7 in 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 s which may or may not have an oxygen barrier, ensures that there is no contamination.

The width of the pouch must equal the finli 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 10 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.

20 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

- 8 CLAIMS

1. A process of forming a ready-to-use meat product of regular shape from meat trimming off-cuts, all of generally irregular shape comprising: s 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 To 10 and 30 mm in diameter; forcing the comminuted material through a fishtail noble 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 to form a tight compressed material therein; passing the pouch between an upper compressing conveyor and a lower 20 support conveyor to further flatten and compress the comminuted material; and then sealing the pouch.

25

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

3. A process as claimed in claim 2, in which the comminuted material is further compressed into a piece of material of width between 6 mm to 10 mm and width between 200 mm to 300 mm.

4. A process as claimed in any preceding claim, in which the initial material is chopped into pieces not exceeding 150 mm x 150 mm x 150 mm.

S. A process as claimed in any preceding claim, in which, when the base material is to meat, the meat is chopped into pieces approximately 120 mm x 120 mm x 120 mm. 6. A process as claimed in any preceding claim, in which when the base material is fat, the steps are performed of: harvesting at slaughtering; chilling to approximately 0 C within 10 to 24 hours of slaughtering; 20 storing 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 basking fat which is wrapped around joints of meat prior to packing or slicing the meat.

2s 7. A meat product forming method substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.