Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Direct application of electrical or wave energy to food... – Involving ionizing radiation – e.g. – beta rays – x-rays – gamma...
Reexamination Certificate
1999-08-11
2001-06-19
Corbin, Arthur L. (Department: 1761)
Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products
Direct application of electrical or wave energy to food...
Involving ionizing radiation, e.g., beta rays, x-rays, gamma...
C426S272000, C426S478000, C426S513000, C426S524000, C426S641000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06248381
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improved method of reconstituting meat from trims of fish, poultry, pork, veal or the like. In particular, the present method enables meat to be reconstituted while still in a frozen state.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various methods have been devised to reconstitute meat into logs with various cross-sectional shapes, such as round or square, from trims or scrap pieces of beef, veal, pork, fish, poultry or the like for maximizing recovery of meat products therefrom. One known method of reconstituting meat makes use of binding agents for holding pieces of trims together so that the reconstituted meat does not fall apart during cooking. The known method includes the steps of coating fresh, i.e. not previously frozen, trims with a commercially available binding agent or binder, packing the trims in a mold, then allowing the binding agent to cure at about 35° F. for one hour. An example of a commercially available binder contains 0.5% trans-glutaminase, 2.5% sodium polyphosphate, 2.5% anhydrous sodium pyrophosphate, 2.0% sillicon dioxide, and 92.5% casein. Another example of a binding agent contains 75.0% protein (from milk and/or egg) and 25.0% calcium chloride and/or sodium chloride.
However, the conventional binding agents added to the reconstituted meat are “chemicals” that many consumers deem undesirable for consumption. In addition, the binding agent sometimes gives the reconstitute meat an “unnatural” resiliency or flavor. Thus, adding binding agents decreases the marketability of the reconstituted meat.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,807,598 ('598 patent) discloses methods of reconstituting meat absent conventional binding agents. The patent teaches the uses of the “purge”, i.e. the natural fluid released from ruptured cells of a previously frozen animal tissue when defrosted, which typically collects on the outer surface of the defrosted meat, to substitute for the conventional binding agent. The “purge” contains an adequate amount of cellular protein, which functions as a “glue” by, for example, becoming denatured and cross-linked and gelatinous and forms an adhesive or cohesive bond between adjoining trims such that the meat trims are joined, adhered or otherwise held together. Through the methods described in the '598 patent, the reconstituted meat stays together even under cooking conditions.
While the methods disclosed in the '598 patent make the use of conventional binding agents unnecessary, they require the meat trims to be first frozen and then defrosted to produce an adequate amount of “purge”. Once the meat trims are defrosted, they have to be frozen again for storage.
The disadvantages of the methods taught by the '598 patent are many-fold. First, the “purge” is produced through a freeze-defrost cycle, that is likely to cause damage to a large number of cells, thereby affecting the qualities of the meat such as, for example, appearance, taste, resiliency and aroma. Second, during the freeze-defrost cycle, temperature must be raised above the freezing point of the “purge” to produce the “purge”. Since the higher the temperature is, the more bacteria will grow, raising temperature thus reduces freshness or tastiness of the meat. Third, it takes a relatively long time for the frozen meat to be defrosted. Fourth, the additional freezing step after defrosting not only causes further degradation of the meat, but also requires extra time and labor during manufacturing thereby increasing production cost.
Thus, it is desirable to reconstitute meat products through a simple and convenient process that minimizes the damage of the cells and preserves the freshness of the meat products.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a method for reconstituting meat from trims or scrap pieces of fish, poultry, beef or pork or the like such that the reconstituted meat is closely similar to a whole-meat product in terms of its qualities such as appearance, taste, resiliency and aroma.
Another object of the invention is to provide a method of reconstituting meat which does not require the use of any binder or binding agent, and yet the reconstituted meat does not fall apart during cooking. In particular, the method does not require the meat trims to be defrosted during the meat reconstituting process.
An embodiment of the method of reconstituting meat in accordance with the present invention includes the steps of:
a. freezing the trims;
b. configuring the frozen trims to form a preselected shape; and
c. compressing the frozen trims at a temperature below the freezing point under a preselected pressure for a preselected period.
The various features of novelty which characterize the invention are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of the disclosure.
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patent: 5001047 (1991-03-01), Liberman
patent: 5472725 (1995-12-01), Mendenhall
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Glidden, Sr. Peter H.
Liberman Barnet L.
Cohen & Pontani, Lieberman & Pavane
Corbin Arthur L.
Winterlab Limited
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