Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Fermentation processes – Of milk or milk product
Reexamination Certificate
2000-04-21
2004-10-05
Corbin, Arthur L. (Department: 1761)
Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products
Fermentation processes
Of milk or milk product
C426S041000, C426S043000, C426S059000, C426S105000, C426S412000, C426S413000, C426S646000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06800307
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a novel cooked sausage and to a method for making the same. In particular, the invention relates to a cooked sausage comprising meat and a fermented milk product.
BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION
At the time of writing, there is a general consumer demand for meat and sausage products that are easier to digest and contain fewer calories than traditional meat sausages. Previous attempts have been made to meet this demand by providing reduced fat sausages which are widely perceived by consumers to be healthier than the traditional variety. To this end, sausages have been produced using meat that is as lean as possible. Poultry meat, for example, has been used increasingly in the production of sausages and other consumer meat products.
EP-A-0029503 (Stauffer Chemical Company Limited) discloses an improved fermented sausage which comprises meat and a cultured dairy product. The cultured dairy product, which is preferably derived from whey and used dry, is cultured using traditional yogurt starter cultures comprising
L. Bulgaricus
and
S. Thermophilus
until a final pH in the range of 4.2 to 4.3 is reached. On admixing the dairy product to a meat emulsion, a final product pH in the range of 4.5 to 4.8 is achieved, without requiring any further fermentation of the meat product. After stuffing, the sausage is ripened, dried and/or smoked as required.
EP-A-0478526 (Vleeswarenfabrieken Imperial Naamloze Vennootschap) discloses a meat product, for example a sausage, comprising meat and a dairy product, preferably curdled bactofugated milk, eg melted cheese or curd. EP-A-0478526 discloses that the dairy product is prepared by curdling the bactofugated milk using traditional cheese coagulating agents, such as rennet ferment or other proteolytic enzymes from vegetable or microbial origin. The dairy product, on addition to the meat, has a pH in the range of 5.0 to 5.6. The mixture is then fermented further until a final pH of 4.6 to 5.2 is reached.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide a novel meat product. In particular, it is an object of the present invention to provide a novel cooked sausage.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a cooked sausage that will be perceived by consumers to be healthy to eat, and which comprises fewer calories than traditional meat sausages.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an improved cooked sausage comprising meat and a fermented dairy product.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a cooked sausage comprising a mixture of a meat emulsion and a fermented milk product having a pH of at least about 4.6, wherein said fermented milk product is substantially homogeneously dispersed throughout the meat emulsion and said mixture has a pH of about 5.5 or more.
In a different aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of making a cooked sausage which comprises forming a mixture of a meat emulsion and a fermented milk product having a pH of at least about 4.6, in which mixture said fermented milk product is substantially homogeneously dispersed through the emulsion, forming the mixture into a sausage, and thereafter cooking the sausage; wherein the pH and proportion of the fermented milk product in the mixture is such that the pH of the mixture is 5.5 or more.
Said fermented milk product may comprise one or more products selected from mild yogurt, buttermilk, soured cream milk, soured milk, fresh cheese, fermented whey and kefir.
The term “soured cream milk” as used herein includes soured cream, sauerrahm, schmand and creme fraiche.
The term “soured milk” includes sauermilch and dickmilch.
The term “fresh cheese” includes frischkäse, quark and cottage cheese.
Preferably the fermented milk product has a pH of about 4.8 or more, more preferably about 5.2 or more.
Said meat emulsion may comprise red meat such, for example, as beef, lamb or pork, or poultry such, for example, as turkey or chicken. Such meat has a pH of about 6.0 to 6.2 and an isoelectric point of about pH 5.0 to about 5.2. In order to provide a boiled sausage that is juicy and has a desirable texture, it has been found that it is essential to keep the pH of the mixture of meat emulsion and fermented milk product at about pH 5.5 or more. If the pH of the mixture falls below pH 5.5 towards the isoelectric point of the meat, the water-retaining capacity of the meat is reduced, with the result that the juiciness and texture of the final product is impaired.
In a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention, said fermented milk product comprises mild yogurt. Normal yogurt has a pH of about 3.6 to 5.1, typically about 4.6. It will be appreciated therefore that if such a yogurt is mixed with a meat emulsion, the pH of the resultant mixture may have a pH less than 5.5. A mild yogurt in accordance with the present invention may comprise yogurt that is prepared in the traditional manner, but is used in the process of the invention before fermentation is fully completed. Thus, after inoculation of the milk mixture, the pH of the yogurt is monitored until it reaches the desired value. The mild yogurt is then made ready for use in the method of the present invention. In some embodiments, fermentation of the yogurt may be quenched by cooling the yogurt to a temperature in the range of −2 to 6° C., preferably 0 to 6° C. Preferably, the yogurt is cooled rapidly using liquid nitrogen or a plate-heat-exchanger.
In order to assist in controlling accurately the pH of the yogurt to be added to the meat emulsion, slow-working yogurt starter cultures are preferably used. Such slow working yogurt cultures may comprise
Lactobacillus acidophilus, Bifidobacteria
and
Streptococcus thermophilus
. Further, the yogurt is preferably stirred continuously before use to allow accurate pH control.
In accordance with the invention, buttermilk may be made from the residual milk that remains after conventional butter-churning, that is separation of the milk-fat (butter) from the remaining milk substances. Said residual milk may be soured using suitable, preferably slow-working, starter cultures such as
lactococcus lactis
subsp.
cremoris, lactococcus lactis
subsp.
lactis, Leuconostoc mesenteroides
subsp.
cremoris
and/or
lactococcus lactis
subsp.
diacetylactis
until a pH of about 4.8 or more is reached. Alternatively said buttermilk may be made by first souring whole milk to a desired pH with suitable starter cultures, and then quenching fermentation and churning to separate the buttermilk from the milk-fat (butter).
Said soured creamed milk in accordance with the invention may be made by souring whole milk with a high fat content using suitable starter cultures such as
lactococcus lactis
subsq.
cremoris, lactococcus lactis
subsp.
lactis
and/or
leuconostoc mesenteroides
subsp.
cremoris
to a desired pH of 4.8 or more.
Soured milk, including curd milk, may be made by fermenting whole milk having a normal fat content using starter cultures such, for example as
lactococcus lactis
subsq.
cremoris, lactococcus lactis
subsp.
lactis
and/or
leuconostoc mesenteroides
subsq.
cremoris.
Said fresh cheese may be made in the conventional manner by fermenting whole milk using suitable cheese starter cultures such as
lactococcus lactis
subsq.
cremoris, lactococcus lactis
subsp.
lactis
and/or
leuconostoc mesenteroides
subsq.
cremoris
in the presence of a curdling enzyme such, for example, as rennet. Once the desired pH is reached, the fermentation may be quenched and the cheese allowed to set. Once the mass has set, the cheese may be crushed mechanically and the solid cheese component extracted from the remaining liquid whey. The consistency of the cheese may be adjusted as desired by centrifugation, straining and/or the addition of cream. For quark, starter cultures such as
lactobacillus acidophillus, lactococcus lactis
subsq.
cremoris, lactococcus lactis
subsq.
lactis leuconostoc mesenteroides
subsp.
Buse Friedrich
Joll David John
Koppers Werner
Matthews Bernard Trevor
Bernard Matthews PLC
Corbin Arthur L.
RatnerPrestia
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