Packaged cooked ground meat products and methods of making...

Details Packaged cooked ground meat products and methods of making... Packaged cooked ground meat products and methods of making...

1999-07-19

2001-02-20

Cano, Milton (Department: 1761)

Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products

Packaged or wrapped product

Packaged product is animal flesh

C426S143000, C426S144000, C426S646000, C426S656000, C426S513000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06190711

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to ground meat products and, more particularly, to ground meat products for use as an ingredient that are cooked prior to sale to the consumer.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to methods and products that make the use of certain forms of ground meat more convenient for the food preparer. In the context of this application, the term “ground meat” includes any meat, such as beef, pork, chicken, turkey, and the like, or mixtures thereof, that is mechanically processed into small pieces using methods such as grinding and/or chopping. The term “food preparer” refers to the person who actually prepares the meat for consumption at mealtime.
Ground meat products are sold to consumers in numerous forms through both institutional and retail channels. The present invention has primary significance in the context of ground meat that is sold through retail channels for preparation in the home, but may also be of significance in institutional channels where food is prepared outside the home, as will be discussed below.
Most ground meat products sold through retail channels are sold to the end user in bulk, either frozen or unfrozen, in an uncooked form. The end user will thaw the meat, if necessary, season the meat, if desired, form the meat into patties, meatballs, or the like, if desired, and cook the meat.
One common form of prepared ground meat is simply to cook the raw bulk ground meat so that the meat takes the form of small chunks or pieces rather than larger balls or patties. This form of prepared ground meat will be referred to herein as cooked ground meat.
Cooked ground meat is often used as an ingredient in recipes for dishes such as spaghetti sauces, lasagnas, tacos, sloppy joes, and the like. To obtain cooked ground meat for use as an ingredient, the raw ground meat should be cooked and drained to eliminate unwanted moisture such as water and other juices.
The Applicant has recognized the need for a packaged, cooked, ground meat product that can be used directly from the package without cooking. This product should be of appropriate texture and flavor that it can be eaten directly from the package. The product should also be easy to remove from the package, not be unacceptably greasy, moist, or dry to the touch, and be appropriate for use as an ingredient in recipes.
RELATED ART
The Applicant is aware of a number of products and prior art references in which ground meat is sold through retail channels in forms other than in bulk, uncooked form.
Meat is often sold in cooked or uncooked patties appropriate for preparing hamburgers.
The Applicant is also aware of the following references that are relevant to the present application:
U.S. Pat. No. 3,607,312 to Ready and U.S. Pat. No. 3,966,980 to McGuckian discloses cooking foods in a vacuum-sealed package using hot water. The foods can be raw or partly cooked before packaging. Neither of these patents discloses, teaches, or suggests a method of preparation that obtains a cooked ground meat product appropriate for use as an ingredient.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,552,982 to Savidge discloses a system for packaging food products in which the food products are vacuum packed and cooked using steam. Nothing in this patent discloses, teaches, or suggests a precooked, packaged, ground meat product.
The Applicant is also aware of a number of references, including articles, notices, and product announcements, related to meat products. Based on the Applicant's reading of the Abstracts of these references, none of these references disclose, teach, or suggest a precooked, packaged, ground meat product.
A 1991 Packaging Digest article entitled UPDATED HEAT-IN-BAGS SERVE FOODSERVICE WELL discloses a packaged cooked ground beef product in which the meat is cooked and then hot-filled in a vertical form-fill-seal.
A 1995 Journal of Food Safety article entitled OUTGROWTH OF CLOSTRIDIUM PERFRINGENS SPORES IN COOK-IN-BAG BEEF PRODUCTS discloses methods of inhibiting certain bacterial growth in cook-in-bag ground beef products.
A 1991 General Mills notice indicates that textured soy concentrates added to patties provides high yields with sensory acceptance. The soy proteins purportedly offer a solution to a proposed regulatory increase in cooking temperatures of meat patties.
A 1981 Journal of Food Science article entitled EFFECT OF SOYA LEVEL AND STORAGE TIME ON THE QUALITY CHARACTERISTICS OF GROUND BEEF PATTIES discloses a study that looked at the effect of soy and storage time on ground beef patties.
A 1985 Journal of Food Science article entitled SENSORY CHARACTERISTICS, SHEAR VALUES AND COOKING PROPERTIES OF GROUND BEEF PATTIES EXTENDED WITH IRON AND ZINC-FORTIFIED SOY ISOLATE, CONCENTRATE, OR FLOUR discusses the effects of soy proteins on such factors as cooking yields, rancidity, and flavor.
A 1992 Meat Processing article reviews the use of encapsulated salt in meat products.
A 1991 Food Processing article discusses the use of encapsulated salt in McDonald's McLean Deluxe hamburger.
A 1993 Food Product Design article discusses the benefits of adding encapsulated salt to low-fat beef products.
A 1992 Journal of Food Science article entitled PROPERTIES OF LOW-FAT GROUND BEEF CONTAINING POTASSIUM LACTATE DURING AEROBIC REFRIGERATED STORAGE compares low-fat beef patties with certain additives to low-fat beef products without additives.
While all of these references generally relate to the preparation of meat and some relate the use of soy additives or to precooked, packaged meat products, none of these references, either alone or in combination, teach or suggest a packaged, cooked, ground meat product that can be eaten directly from the package and/or used as an ingredient in a recipe.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is a cooked ground meat product in which the product is sold in a packaged portion that may be easily broken apart into cooked ground meat while still in the package or upon removal from the package.
The ground meat is ground beef, pork, chicken, turkey, or the like that is mixed with additives such as a moisture-absorbing additive in addition to spices, flavorings, and fillers. The moisture-absorbing additive is preferably a soy protein capable of absorbing liquids such as water and other juices purged from the meat during cooking.
The Applicant has developed a commercially cooked ground meat product that is formed by a preferred process involving a number of processing steps. That process, the raw materials used in that process, and the resulting cooked ground meat product are described herein in detail.
In addition, however, the Applicant has recognized that not every step or raw material used to obtain the preferred cooked ground meat product described herein is necessary to obtain an acceptable, if not preferred, cooked ground meat product embodying the principles of the present invention. Minor variations on the preferred form of the invention described herein, such as omitted processing steps and/or using modified raw material proportions, are acceptable. The cooked ground meat portion is formed and cooked in a manner that allows it to be easily broken apart. As described in copending provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/095,731, the cooked ground meat portion may be formed from a raw ground meat portion having a grain structure that allows it to be easily broken apart.
A preferred method of forming this grain structure is referred to as the Tender-Form® process. The Tender-Form process results in a cooked ground meat portion having a large number of axially or vertically aligned, cylindrical sub-portions being formed into a raw patty or larger portion.
As an alternative to the use of the Tender-Form process, the Applicant has discovered that another acceptable cooked ground meat portion can be formed by using a standard fill process. The standard fill process yields an uncooked ground meat portion comprised of intertwined “extrusions” of meat that may not be vertically aligned. These extrusions are elongate, continuous pieces of m

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