Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Inhibiting chemical or physical change of food by contact... – Including step of packaging
Patent
1986-11-14
1990-06-05
Richman, Barry S.
Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products
Inhibiting chemical or physical change of food by contact...
Including step of packaging
426332, 426402, 426407, 426506, 426643, A23L 1325
Patent
active
049312995
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
This invention relates to the preparation of fish.
For many years, fish such as cod has been preserved by salting and drying. The drier the product, the longer it lasts. Salted-and-dried fish is known by such terms as BACALAO or BACCALA in Mediterranean countries.
In the dried condition the fish is uneatable. To prepare salted-and-dried fish for eating, it has traditionally been necessary to go through a lengthy and skill-demanding process. First, the dried, salted product is left to stand for many hours in cold water so that the fish may become re-hydrated by absorbing the water. The water is changed frequently, for the purpose of gradually diminishing the salt-content of the fish.
When the re-hydration process is complete, the fish is ready to be cooked and eaten. The amount of saltiness in the fish is a matter of taste; the salt content can be controlled by the number of times the water is changed during re-hydration.
Re-hydration of salted-and-dried fish can be accomplished in a shorter time if the water is hot, or even boiling. Though the time taken is shorter, the disadvantages of using hot water are, apart from the cost of the fuel needed to heat the water: a loss of texture and taste; loss of nutrients into the hot water; the need for attention to the process for a long period; and smell.
Notwithstanding these difficulties, salted-and-dried fish does have the great advantages that it is an inexpensive source of protein, and it can be stored without refrigeration in virtually any climate.
In many countries, salted-and-dried fish is a staple food, especially for poor people. And the taste of the product, when it is properly prepared in the traditional manner, has come to be appreciated by all sections of the community. Eating salted-and-dried fish has religious significance in many countries.
On the other hand, the number is dwindling of people who are willing to put that amount of effort into preparing food, no matter how good the food tastes. This invention is aimed at simplifying the preparation for eating of the traditional salted-and-dried fish.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
In the invention, the salted-and-dried fish is sealed into cans. The fish is then cooked in the can. The consumer simply buys a can of the thus-prepared fish, and eats it (cold) straight from the can, or the consumer can heat the fish prior to eating it.
The fish cannot however be canned while in the salted and dried condition but must first be processed. If the canning of salted-and-dried fish is to be successful, it has been found that the following steps are essential: first, before it can be put in cans, the salted-and-dried fish must be fully re-hydrated, and second, the re-hydrated fish must be dried to an almost-dry or just-damp condition. Only after that, can the fish be sealed into the cans and cooked.
PRIOR ART
It has not previously been proposed to can salted-and-dried fish by any process. Furthermore, the process steps of fully re-hydrating a dehydrated product, followed by extracting water to leave the product just-damp, followed by canning, likewise have not previously been proposed for any foodstuff.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,411,188 (BORG, Feb. 17, 1942) teaches a method of canning fish. Here fresh fish (i.e. fish ascaught, not salted and dried) has its water content reduced prior to sealing the fish into the cans.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,718,470 (KAUFMAN, Sept. 20, 1955) shows an improvement that is applicable to the preservation of foodstuffs generally, and particularly fruit and vegetables, in which fresh food is dried to a just-damp condition, and then sealed into cans. The food is cooked, or sterilized, in the cans.
U.S. Pat. No. 816,343 (LAMB, Mar. 27, 1906) shows a method of preserving fresh fish. Again, the method involves partially drying the fresh fish before sealing the fish in cans. The fish is sterilized in the cans.
There are two main features which distinguish this invention from the prior art: first, none of the prior art teaches any method at all of canning salted-and-dried fish, to which the inve
REFERENCES:
patent: 229368 (1880-06-01), Brink
patent: 1250384 (1917-12-01), Taylor
patent: 2088831 (1937-08-01), Ash et al.
patent: 2411188 (1946-11-01), Borg
patent: 2411736 (1946-11-01), Kleinschmidt
McMahon Timothy M.
Richman Barry S.
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