Method for rapid cooking of ground meats and fat separation

A method of cooking meat in a cooking vessel and removing fat liquified and separated from the cooked meat during the cooking cycle, comprising the steps of:

• providing a cooking vessel that includes:
• an interior cooking chamber, a top cover, at least one reversible ribbon agitator in an agitator trough;
• a plurality of steam injectors disposed in a lower portion of the agitator trough and in fluid communication with the agitator trough;
• a steam jacket disposed around a portion of the agitator trough;
• a sensor system having sensors and programmed to detect and differentiate the location and depth of layers of liquified fat, emulsion, and water within said cooking chamber;
• a plurality of extraction funnels disposed in an overhead portion of the cooking chamber and in fluid communication with a vacuum source;
• and an extraction funnel motor and drive system for moving the extraction funnels up and down within the cooking chamber;
• introducing a meat product into the cooking chamber;
• cooking the meat product to a temperature below 165° F.;
• completing the cooking process using heat provided through the steam jacket to a temperature of 165° F. or above so as to ensure that any fat in the meat has been rendered and the meat has been cooked;
• metering water at a temperature above 165° F. into the cooking chamber from below the meat product float the rendered fat from below;
• using the sensor system to locate and differentiate layers of fat, emulsion, and water;
• lowering the extraction funnels into the fat layer in the cooker and extracting the fat.