Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Processes – Treatment with aqueous material – e.g. – hydration – etc.
Reexamination Certificate
2000-04-26
2001-08-14
Yeung, George C. (Department: 1761)
Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products
Processes
Treatment with aqueous material, e.g., hydration, etc.
C426S523000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06274188
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND
The invention relates to the steam cooking of shrimp and, more particularly, to methods for steam cooking shrimp at reduced temperatures to decrease yield loss in cooked product.
In the bulk processing of shrimp, it is well known to cook shrimp in water baths or steam environments. Shrimp may be cooked in batches in a cooking vessel or continuously transported through an open-ended cooking chamber by a conveyor belt. In many of the batch cookers and some of the continuous cookers, the cooking occurs at elevated pressures. In continuous cookers that are open to the atmosphere and operate at atmospheric pressure, the conventional practice has been to cook shrimp with steam or steam/air mixtures at 212° F. (100° C.). In order to speed up the cooking time, higher temperatures and pressures have conventionally been used.
Cooking shrimp with steam or a steam/air mixture is described in a number of patents: U.S. Pat. No. 3,501,317 to Veltman (at elevated pressure and temperatures from about 220° F. to 260° F.); U.S. Pat. No. 4,340,613 to Moore (at elevated pressure in a retort at temperatures up to 250° F.); U.S. Pat. No. 4,887,524 to Ellis-Brown (at elevated pressure); U.S. Pat. No. 4,862,794 to Lapeyre et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 5,184,538 to Ledet (with saturated steam at 212° F. (100° C.)); and U.S. Pat. No. 5,156,873 to Skrmetta (with air/steam mixture at 212° F. (100° C.) in distinct cooking zones). In all of these patents, steam cooking of shrimp at or above 212 F. (100° C.) is taught as desirable.
As reported in the Veltman patent, it is known that cooking shrimp in water or brine at reduced temperatures, e.g., from 170° F. to 212° F., results in a substantial weight loss. The practice of cooking at high temperatures to reduce cooking time and yield loss has been adopted by both steam cooking processors and water cooking processors.
Owing to the relatively high price of shrimp by weight, the loss of weight in the final cooked product is costly to the shrimp processor. Any decrease in weight loss directly benefits the processor. Consequently, a process or method of commercially cooking shrimp that decreases weight loss would be pleasing to the shrimp processing industry.
The object of the invention is to increase the yield of cooked shrimp through a cooking process that decreases the loss of weight during cooking. Another object of the invention is to cook at atmospheric pressure to eliminate the need for seals or excess steam emission.
SUMMARY
These objectives and others are accomplished by the invention, which provides a method for cooking shrimp in a cooking chamber filled with a substantially homogeneous gaseous atmosphere of a steam mixture at a temperature below 212° F. (100° C.). Preferable cooking temperatures range from 70° C. to just below 100° C., with a range of 85° C. to 95° C. being more preferable, and a temperature of about 88° C. being most preferable. To insure thorough cooking, the dwell time in the cooking chamber is controlled as a function of variables such as temperature in the cooking chamber, size of the shrimp, and quantity of the product in the chamber.
Other versions of the method include using air or a non-reactive gas, i.e., a gas, such as nitrogen, carbon dioxide, or helium, that does not have a chemical reaction with the shrimp product, along with steam, to compose the steam mixture and provide the cooking environment. In another version, the mixture of steam and air or non-reactive gas could be premixed in predetermined proportions in a high-pressure line before injection into the cooking chamber. The temperature of the mixture in the high pressure line could be adjusted and its injection rate controlled to regulate the temperature in the cooking chamber to a predetermined level below 212° F. (100° C.) to cook the shrimp with less loss of yield.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3501317 (1970-03-01), Veltman
patent: 3581652 (1971-06-01), Chauvin
patent: 3672908 (1972-06-01), Hice, Sr.
patent: 4187325 (1980-02-01), Tyree, Jr.
patent: 4340613 (1982-07-01), Moore
patent: 4521439 (1985-06-01), Bengtsson et al.
patent: 4582047 (1986-04-01), Williams
patent: 4862794 (1989-09-01), Lapeyre et al.
patent: 4887524 (1989-12-01), Ellis-Brown
patent: 5156873 (1992-10-01), Skrmetta
patent: 5184538 (1993-02-01), Ledet
patent: 5248514 (1993-09-01), Ledet et al.
patent: 0650682A1 (1995-05-01), None
Inrternational Search Report, PCT/US 00/11351, completion date Aug. 21, 2000.
Balaban Murat O.
Ledet Brent A.
Otwell W. Steven
Cronvich James T.
The Laitram Corporation
Yeung George C.
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