Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Products per se – or processes of preparing or treating... – Gels or gelable composition
Reexamination Certificate
2000-04-04
2004-02-03
Bhat, Nina (Department: 1761)
Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products
Products per se, or processes of preparing or treating...
Gels or gelable composition
C426S574000, C426S575000, C426S576000, C426S577000, C426S578000, C426S651000, C426S658000, C426S661000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06685978
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to gel-in-place compositions for food products, as well as to food products including the gel-in-place compositions. The present invention also relates to the preparation, storage, distribution and cooking of food products without excessive seepage of liquid from the food products. Moreover, the food products according to the present invention are tender and have excellent texture.
2. Discussion of Background Information
In the curing of meat cuts, the dressed meat is usually injected with a brine solution, usually by multi-needle injection or by stitch or artery pumping, followed in sequence by resting, tumbling and/or massaging and finally cooking. Alternatively the meat cuts can simply be tumbled or massaged in the brine solution. Typical pickling procedures are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,565,539, 3,683,789, 3,922,357.
In the injection of a solution, brine or marinade into the food product, the food product should most desirably be cooked at the injection site or near the injection site, because there is a tendency for the injected brine to leak out of distributed uncooked food products, in either fresh, chilled or frozen condition, during distribution or sale or at the final customer. For example, in fresh and chilled products seeping out of the brine can occur during distribution and sales, whereby the products loose much of their consumer appeal due to excess liquid present in the packaging. This can lead to a high incidence of returned products from distribution and sales end of the meat packaging and shipping business, such as supermarkets, meat processing plants, and other types of food handling locations.
There is also a need to reduce the liquid seepage in food products associated with larger packaging which is processed at a distributor or sale location, such as where the originally packaged food product is sold in smaller units than the original packaging. Distributors and resellers, such as supermarkets, often feel cheated when there is excess liquid in the packaging and therefore often request a reduction in price for excess liquid or at least what corresponds to the weight of the excess liquid.
As for frozen food products, liquid seepage can show up as excess liquid present in the form of higher than desired natural thawing loss. This undesired thawing loss of liquids can occur at or during distribution and sales, or when sold frozen, and the final consumer thaws the product. For example, a consumer that experiences excessively high thawing loss in a food product may not buy the same product again.
Food products into which solutions are incorporated also normally have the problem of excess cooking loss. Thus, for example, the incorporated solution can leak out in an unacceptably high manner during cooking, creating higher than acceptable cooking loss. Thus, while injected food products can also be cooked at a consumer location, instead of at or near the site of injection, there is a need to reduce seepage of the injected composition from the food products during shipping, as well as a need to reduce cooking loss during food preparation.
Moreover, it is noted that solutions that are incorporated into food products do not always increase the juiciness and/or tenderness of the cooked food product. Thus, many conventional solutions that are incorporated into food products will, for the most part, leak out during cooking, whereby such solutions will not significantly contribute to juiciness and/or tenderness of the cooked food product.
It is noted that in the prior art, it is known to mix brine and gelling polysaccharides, such as carrageenan or gellan, and the resulting solution can be injected into food products. Typically the brines used in such pickling processes will comprise one or more inorganic salts, particularly chlorides (sodium chloride), phosphates, nitrates or nitrites, organic compounds such as sugar, amino acids, protein extracts, and/or flavoring agent, natural as well as synthetic, spices (fresh, dried, extracted, etc.) sauces, wines, spirits, liquors, and any other flavor contributing and/or enhancing component and tenderizing agents, for example, enzymes such as papain, bromealin and other proteases, or foods, ingredients or compounds containing these enzymes, any type of animal or vegetable proteins in their natural or modified form, such as gelatine, collagen, egg proteins, milk proteins, soy proteins, and wheat proteins, any type of starches native or modified.
In prior art processes, it is the objective of the mixing of brine and polysaccharide so that the resulting solution can be injected into the meat utilizing normal injection equipment. Thus, in forming the injectable solution, salts are first added and then the polysaccharide is added. In this manner, the solution can be injected. In this regard, it is noted that salt generally decreases the solubility of polysaccharides. The more salt in the solution the higher the possible concentration of polysaccharide that can be added while still enabling injection. Thus, the prior art seeks to maintain a sufficiently high concentration of salt in the solution prior to addition of the polysaccharide in order to enable injection while maintaining the polysaccharide undissolved before cooking. This conventional method for making up a brine solution is described in Copenhagen Pectin A/S publication, Handbook for the Meat Processing Industry, Chapter 3, page 3-28 (1995).
Addition of a dry mix of carrageenan and salt is disclosed by Mason, et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 5,380,545. The efficacy of the invention disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,380,545 results from the fact that the salt in combination with carrageenan provides a rapid infusion system into the foodstuff matrix. Specifically, the salt extracts a portion of the protein at the surface of the foodstuff and opens surface pores on the foodstuff thereby allowing the carrageenan to be rapidly assimilated into the matrix. The carrageenan will then be strategically placed to hold and bind water during the cooking process. Thus, this invention draws on the insolubility of carrageenan in the presence of salt.
Accordingly, there is a need to provide compositions that are easily injectable and/or diffusible. There is also a need for compositions that can be added to food products, and the food products can be shipped while avoiding excessive liquid seepage. There is also a need for compositions that can be added to food products that enable the food product to be handled without unacceptable liquid seepage during handling. Still further, there is a need for compositions that can be added to food products in order to permit the food product to be cooked without unacceptable weight loss. Still further, there is a need, especially with red meats, and breast meat of turkey and chicken, to maintain these food products tender and juicy upon cooking, even with low levels of food treating composition incorporated therein.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention concerns compositions that form gels in food products.
The present invention also concerns compositions that can be added to food products in order to produce food products with reduced liquid seepage. More specifically, the compositions according to the present invention can be used to reduce liquid seepage during shipping, handling and/or cooking of the food product.
The present invention also concerns compositions that are in a liquid form when added to a food product, and form a gel in the uncooked food product.
The present invention also concerns compositions that have changing viscosities, including lower viscosities, at least during a time period when the compositions are to be added to food products, and obtain a higher viscosity in the uncooked food product.
The present invention also concerns thixotropic gel compositions that can be agitated to form liquid compositions, with the liquid compositions being added to food products for subsequent re-gelling in the food products.
The present invention also concerns
Bhat Nina
CP Kelco ApS
Greenblum & Bernstein P.L.C.
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