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US 4,057,650 AGranted
Bacon-like meat product of reduced fat content
OwnerJulius L. Keszlerinventor
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OwnerJulius L. Keszlerinventor
Estimating the term…
Small meat pieces are secured in an integral, internally knitted, bound and coalesced form by a new and improved curing and binding composition comprised of an aqueous saline curing agent blended into and absorbed within ground meat particles to form a solid unified mass or body of meat which on slicing has a texture, color and general appearance similar to a primal meat cut. The composite meat product is characterized by an integrated boundary between abutting pieces of meat as well as between meat and fat areas, yet the binding and curing composition is not visably noticeable in the finished product. It is at least partially absorbed by the meat pieces and effects the fused integral appearance of the desired final product which does not separate upon handling or slicing. The product is produced by a technique that permits its processing into any desired shape or form including that of bacon with all the attendant beneficial characteristics thereof yet with a reduced fat content. This technique involves the steps of mixing small meat pieces of desired lean content with the binder composition. The mixture may be cured under refrigeration before or after being packed within a moisture impermeable casing and controllably heated to effect the desired bonded texture and appearance. The process permits production of meat products that need not be refrigerated yet will maintain their appearance, texture and quality for prolonged periods of time.
A cured sterilized and uncooked composite nondehydrated meat product having a controlled fat content of less than about 75% by weight and well suited for cutting into bacon-like strips comprising a plurality of meat pieces having a weight of about one-half pound or less integrally bonded into a solid unified meat mass by compression within a mold and heating to an internal temperature of about 135.degree. F, said meat pieces have a lean meat content of about 40% - 50% by weight and a fat content of at least about 50% by weight, said product having integrated boundaries between said abutting meat pieces as well as between lean and fat areas thereof, and a binder at least partially absorbed by the meat pieces and wherein said heating effects sterilization and fused integration of the meat pieces at said boundaries without the binder being substantially noticeable in the final product, said meat pieces comprising about 75% or more of the product, said binder consisting essentially of an aqueous brine curing agent and ground lean meat, the ratio of said brine to meat pieces being 1:6 to 1:15 and said ground meat comprising about 10% by weight or less of the composite meat product.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.