Continuous food impregnation

A continuous method of impregnating and preserving food material which comprises:

• (a) immersing pieces of food material into a concentrated impregnating solution having a specific gravity greater than that of the food pieces whereby said pieces are buoyant in said solution;
• and
• (b) passing the solution containing said food pieces along a flow path to a separation zone wherein the impregnating solution flows downward at a rate greater than the flow rate of said pieces until those pieces whose specific gravity, by absorption of the impregnant, substantially equals the specific gravity of the impregnating solution, lose their buoyancy and are carried downward by said solution and are continuously separated from those pieces which have not absorbed enough impregnant to substantially equal the specific gravity of the impregnating solution;
• the specific gravity of the impregnating solution being pre-selected so as to impart to the impregnated pieces of food material an amount of impregnant sufficient to preserve said food pieces when their specific gravity is substantially equal to the specific gravity of the initial impregnating solution.