AU4913499A

AU4913499A - Method for preparing restructured meat having a foliate structure

Info

Publication number: AU4913499A
Application number: AU49134/99A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Christian Fradin; Maurice Fradin
Original assignee: EUROP DE CROISSANCE ET D ACTIO
Current assignee: EUROPEENNE DE CROISSANCE ET D'ACTIONS ECA
Priority date: 1998-07-24
Filing date: 1999-07-20
Publication date: 2000-02-14
Anticipated expiration: 2019-07-20
Also published as: DK1100346T3; PL345615A1; DE69905904D1; SK1102001A3; NZ509419A; WO2000004795A1; HK1040886A1; AU757641B2; DE69905904T2; EP1100346A1; NO20010383D0; HUP0103407A2; FR2781337B1; BG105183A; JP2002521017A; FR2781337A1; EP1100346B1; MXPA01000797A; ATE234023T1; IL140998A0

Description

WO 00/04795 PCT/FR99/01771 PROCESS FOR THE PREPARATION OF A RESTRUCTURED MEAT HAVING A LAYERED STRUCTURE The present invention relates to a process for the preparation of a restructured meat having a layered structure. More particularly, it has for its object, but not exclusively, a process seeking to reconstitute meat portions, 5 such as steaks, roasts, escallops or the like, having an appearance before cooking, a texture and organoleptic proper ties as close as possible to those of natural muscle, from a division of the muscles followed by operations of mixing and shaping products of this division if desired with additives. 10 Studies conducted by the applicants, and which gave rise to the filing of the patent application PCT/FR/87/00049, showed that until now such a result was obtained if the restructuring process gives to the final product a structure comprised of ultrafine layers of average surface, adhering to 15 each other in a more or less regular manner, which maintains the layered texture. The solution which thus was resorted to consisted in a process comprising the following operative steps: x 1 WO 00/04795 PCT/FR99/01771 - the fragmentation of a muscle, preferably hot (which is to say removed before rigor mortis) in strips or elongated pieces having a cross-section "of average surface" preferably of dimensions comprised between 20 and 30 mm, 5 - the formation of elongated blocks by superposition of said strips in a direction generally parallel to their length, with surface cooling of the strips, preferably by introduction of carbon dioxide snow, - slicing the blocks in a direction perpendicular to 10 their length to maintain the ultrathin sheets of average surface, restructuring as pieces of meat by assembly of the ultrafine layers in a shaping operation that does not destroy the multi-layer texture. 15 The term "ultrathin sheets" here designates sheets of a thickness substantially less than 1 mm and of which a certain proportion, at least in the structure, has a thickness comprised between 2/10 and 5/10 mm whilst the term "average surface" designates surfaces of the order of several cm 2 . 20 To obtain layers having this level of thickness, the applicant proposed a slicing apparatus for blocks making use a rotatable disc moving in circular translation through the loaf secured to a turning circular plate, the blocks being brought to the slicing region by means of guide means with an 25 axis parallel to the axis of the rotating disc. 2 WO 00/04795 PCT/FR99/01771 The restructuring operation and the shaping opera tion of the meat was carried out by means of a device using two helicoidal screws with parallel axes, and reverse thread, driven in opposite direction such that the vanes turn toward 5 each other, this screw opening into two respective outlet nozzles. The invention more particularly has for its object to improve the preceding process so as to obtain products having a texture and organoleptic properties even closer to 10 those of natural muscle. It provides for this purpose a process of the type above, in which the ultrafine layers have a much greater surface, of the order of 5 to 500 cm 2 (average greater than 10 cm 2), with a thickness up to several tenths of a millimeter. 15 As a result, after the restructuring phase of the meat, which is conducted under vacuum, there is obtained a much better texture and this in spite of the prejudice which held that, given the mechanical action exerted by the double endless screw of the restructuring device, the maximum surface 20 of the layers could not exceed 1 to 2 cm 2 . of course, the problem which is thus presented is the industrial creation of slices having such a surface, given that the slicing of blocks having characteristics of those described above, does not permit obtaining this result. 25 The invention therefore proposes to replace the fragmentation phase, mentioned above, with a fragmentation 3 WO 00/04795 PCT/FR99/01771 phase making it possible to obtain plates of meat having a surface up to 5 to 500 cm 2 and a thickness of the order of 5 to 30 mm. It has been discovered that during formation of the 5 blocks in a mold in which the fragmented meat is compressed by a piston moved by an actuator, the plates of meat arrange themselves flat against each other, perpendicular to the axis of movement of the piston. Because of this, the slicing of the blocks can then take place parallel to the principal 10 surfaces of the plates of meat. The obtained slices will thus be of relatively great dimensions (the surface can reach a maximum surface of the plates, namely about 500 cm 2 ). An embodiment of the invention will be disclosed hereafter, by way of non-limiting example, with reference to 15 the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a schematic view from above, of an installation for producing layered meat according to the invention; Figure 2 is a schematic side elevational view of the 20 installation; Figure 3 is an axial cross-sectional view showing partially the extrusion tunnel with a double screw shown in the installation of Figures 1 and 2. In this example, the complete installation for 25 production of layered meat comprises essentially: 4 WO 00/04795 PCT/FR99/01771 - a cooling tunnel 1 in which the pieces of meat to be treated circulate, that are obtained after fragmentation, which are present in the form of plates of meat, - an elevator 2 which transfers them to a supply 5 hopper for a mold for forming blocks 4 provided with a hydraulic jack 41; - a storage with cylinders 5 in which the tempera ture of the blocks stabilizes, - a presser 6 for holding the blocks for slicing, 10 - a cutting head contained in a protective frame (slicing station 7) and comprising two blades, - a device for distribution of binder, an air lock S and a device 9 for forming under vacuum the layered meat from layers cut from the cutting head. 15 The cooling tunnel 1 is designed so as to ensure abrupt cooling, adapted rapidly to cool the surface of the pieces to a very low temperature, of the order of -25* to -35 0 C. In the case in which it is desired to obtain fresh products, there could be used, in addition to cryogenic 20 refrigeration, mechanical refrigeration permitting drying the surface of the meat. On the other hand, in the case of the production of quick frozen products, this cooling could be ensured by carbon dioxide snow. 25 The elevator 2 is preferably of the conveyor belt type circulating in a C02 atmosphere. 5 WO 00/04795 PCT/FR99/01771 The mold that forms the meat blocks is closed, at its end opposite the pusher PO which is the end of the piston of the jack 41, by a trap 43 whose opening and closing are controlled by a jack. 5 The control of the jack 41 is carried out such that the block formed between the pusher PO and the trap 43 will have a predetermined length. To this end, after having compressed a certain quantity of meat within the mold 4, the jack 41 retracts by a length equal to twice the unfilled 10 length of the mold, which takes place with successive reciprocations of the jack to fill completely the mold, the decreasing fractions of the quantity of meat contained in the hopper will be pressed into the mold. The supply of the mold takes place by means of a hopper design such that each meat 15 plate is present substantially perpendicular to the longitudi nal axis of the mold. After its forming, each block P is pressed by the jack into a first cylinder 51 of the store 5, which has four of them, and is driven in rotation such that the block will 20 occupy successively various positions until its ejection from the last position toward the cutting head TC by a pushing jack 55. The dwell time of the blocks in the store is determined such that the temperature of the meat will have 25 time to stabilize at a value comprised between 0 and -2 0 C. 6 WO 00/04795 PCT/FR99/01771 The pushing jack 55 is controlled so as to effect the continuous advance of the meat block which it ejects from the storage with cylinders 5 at low speed, in the slicing zone, for example between 6 and 10 mm/sec. 5 In this case the advance of the block between two successive cuts will thus be comprised between 0.36 mm and 0.6 mm, values which correspond to the thickness of the layer at the beginning of cutting. The slicing is obtained by means of a rotating disc 10 moved in circular translation through the block, secured to a circular turning plate, the disc turning in the opposite direction from the plate. At the outlet of the slicing station 7, the layers of meat fall into a hopper T whose bottom F is closed by a 15 sealed door P, actuated by a jack V, which controls the inlet to the air lock S in which is carried out sequentially a vacuum. The direction of reverse rotation of the disc and of the plate is such that the particles of meat fall into the hopper T during production of the layers. In contrast, in the 20 case in which this direction of rotation is the same, the particles are projected in all directions and then fall in clumps into the hopper, thereby degrading the quality and homogeneity of the product. The outlet of this air lock S, controlled by a 25 second sealed door P 2 controlled by a jack V 2 , gives access to the vacuum-forming device 9. 7 WO 00/04795 PCT/FR99/01771 Of course, the control of the doors P 1 , P 2 is alternated, the vacuum not being applied to the air lock S unless the inlet door PI is closed whilst the outlet door P 2 is open. Thanks to this arrangement, the forming device can 5 function in a practically continuous manner, given that the loading of the air lock takes place during a very short time relative to the discharge time. Similarly, the forming device 9 is under continuous vacuum. The forming device 9 in this case consists in an 10 extrusion tunnel comprising two helicoidal screws 20, 21 whose axes are parallel and spaced from each other such that the screws 20, 21 inscribe substantially tangent cylinders. These two screws 20, 21, whose helical blades are reversed from each other and are preferably covered with 15 "Teflon", are driven by a motor assembly arranged so as to permit their rotation in opposite directions from each other while turning toward each other toward the interior of the assembly. The mass of meat introduced into the inlet end of 20 the tunnel 9 is pressed and compressed in the outlet section of the tunnel in which the pitch of the screws 20, 21 is reduced. Each end section of the tunnel is connected to a separate outlet nozzle 200, 210 which comprises a truncated 25 conical inlet portion in which engages the end of decreasing 8 WO 00/04795 PCT/FR99/01771 diameter of the screw 20, 21, followed by a cylindrical portion. The screws 20, 21 exert on the mass that they transfer, a deaggregation action in which the layers of meat 5 are disposed according to privileged orientations, the speed of rotation of the screws (between 50 and 300 rpm) remaining low to preserve the integrity of the meat fibers. Because of this, at the outlet of the corresponding nozzle 200, 210, the texture of the final product, and in particular the orienta 10 tion of its fibers, are merely those of natural muscle. The product is present in the form of a continuous sausage which can be sliced so as to obtain pieces of recon stituted meat having the aspect of tournedos. These pieces can be sold as fresh meat, in conven 15 tional distribution channels, or else be frozen. 9

Claims

1. Process for the preparation of restructured meat, comprising the following successive operations: - fragmenting a muscle, preferably warm (before rigor mortis) into pieces, 5 - forming blocks from pieces whose surface has first been cooled, - slicing the blocks in a direction perpendicular to their length to obtain ultrathin layers, - restructuring into pieces of meat by assembly of 10 the ultrathin layers in a non-destructive shaping operation to obtain the layered texture, characterized in that the ultrathin layers have a surface of the order of 5 to 500 cm 2 with a thickness not exceeding several tenths of a millimeter.

2. Process according to claim 1, characterized in that the surface of the layers is on the average greater than 10 cm 2 .

3. Process according to one of the preceding claims, 10 WO 00/04795 PCT/FR99/01771 characterized in that said pieces, obtained at the end of the fragmentation phase, have the shape of plates 5 having a surface of from 5 to 500 cm 2 and a thickness of 5 to 30 mm.

4. Process according to claim 3, characterized in that the formation of the blocks takes place within a mold (4) in which the fragmented meat is compressed by an actuator (41).

5. Process according to claim 4, characterized in that the introduction of the fragmented meat into the mold (4) takes place such that the plates of meat are arranged flat against each other perpendic 5 ular to the axis of movement of the piston.

6. Process according to one of claims 3 to 5, characterized in that the slicing of the blocks takes place parallel to the principal faces of the meat plates.

7. Process according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the slicing takes place by means of a rotating disc moved in circular translation through 5 the block secured to a circular turning plate, the disc turning in a direction opposite the plate. 11 WO 00/04795 PCT/FR99/01771

8. Process according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that after the slicing operation, the layers fall into a hopper (T) whose bottom is constituted 5 by a first door (P) controlling the inlet to an air lock (S) in which is sequentially carried out a vacuum, the outlet of this air lock (S) being controlled by a second door (P 2 ) giving access to the device for forming under vacuum (9).

9. Process according to claim 8, characterized in that the control of said doors (P 1 , P2) is alternate, the vacuum being applied to the air lock only when the inlet door (Pj) is closed whilst the outlet door 5 (P2) is open.

10. Process according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the operation of forming towards place in an extrusion tunnel comprising at least one 5 helicoidal screw (20, 21).

11. Process according to claim 10, characterized in that the extrusion tunnel comprises two helicoidal screws (20, 21) with parallel axes separated from each other such that the screws inscribe substantially 5 tangent cylinders, the helical blades of these screws being reversed relative to each other. 12 WO 00/04795 PCT/FR99/01771

12. Process according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that when the restructured meat is used as a fresh product, the cooling of the pieces constitut 5 ing the blocks is ensured by mechanical cooling means and in that when the restructured meat is frozen, said cooling can be obtained by means of carbon dioxide snow. 13