Food Preparation

A process for preparing a heat-treated intermediate vegetable and/or meat matter preparation comprising the steps of:

• a) Providing comminuted vegetable and/or meat matter,
• b) Optionally, admixing 0 to 100 parts by weight of a liquid phase to 100 parts of weight of the comminuted vegetable and/or meat matter of step a),
• c) subjecting the comminuted vegetable and/or meat matter of step b) to a single heating step having three consecutive phases:
• i) Heating the comminuted vegetable and/or meat matter in a Heat Up Phase from 25° C. to 95% of the Holding Temperature in a Heat Up Time of less than 20 minutes, preferably less than 5 minutes;
• whereby the Holding Temperature is from 135° C. to 180° C.,
• ii) Holding the comminuted vegetable and/or meat matter during the Holding Phase for a Holding Time at the Holding Temperature whereby the Holding phase corresponds to the Holding time and starts at 95% of the Holding Temperature and continues when the temperature increases up to the Holding Temperature and decreases thereafter to 95% of the Holding Temperature, and the Holding Time is from 10 seconds to 7 minutes, whereby the pressure during the Holding phase is at least the saturated vapor pressure of water and preferably the level of oxygen is at atmospheric oxygen levels,
• iii)Cooling the comminuted vegetable and/or meat matter after the Holding phase to a Filling Temperature less than 90° C. in a Cooling Time of less than 20 minutes, to form the heat-treated intermediate vegetable and/or meat matter preparation,
• d) Optionally, providing the heat-treated intermediate vegetable and/or meal matter preparation at Filling Temperature, preferably at atmospheric pressure, to process to prepare a food product;
• e) Optionally, filling the heat-treated intermediate vegetable and/or meat matter preparation into a container at the Filling Temperature, preferably at atmospheric pressure;
• and wherein in step c) the vegetable and/or meat matter is heated in a tube having a hydraulic diameter of from 0.1 to 10 cm.