Method for processing meat products
OwnerEldon N. Rothinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method and apparatus are disclosed for processing meat products containing at least a small portion of liquefiable fats or oils wherein the meat products are extruded into multiple passages or tubes of a shell-and-tube type heat exchanger for heating or cooling the meat product with the fats and/or oils providing lubrication for passage of the meat product through the heat exchanger. With the meat product being trimmings containing substantial amounts of liquefiable fats and oils, the meat product is heated to a rendering temperature within the heat exchanger, rendered or liquefied fats being separated from lean meat portions of the meat trimmings after passage from the heat exchanger, the lean meat portion preferably being immediately refrigerated in order to limit bacterial growth.
Claims16
In a method for processing a meat product material including muscle and connective tissue with minimum physical working thereof, said product characterized by the presence of individual pieces which cannot readily be caused to flow through restricted passages of processing equipment, the steps comprising
- extruding the pieces of the meat product with extruding means and communicating said extruding means directly with outlet means comprising a plurality of die openings,
- communicating the die openings directly with corresponding passages in a shell-and-tube type heat exchanger,
- passing the extruded meat product pieces through the heat exchanger passages in a first-in, first-out manner,
- facilitating passage of the pieces of meat product into the die openings by knife means arranged for cutting movement adjacent inlet ends of the die openings in order to prevent blockage of the die openings by the meat product pieces, whereby said extruding step and said knife means cooperate to permit the pieces of meat product to be forced into and through said die openings and passages in said shell-and-tube type heat exchanger,
- operating the heat exchanger to change the temperature of the meat product to a selected level during passage of the meat product through said heat exchanger, and
- receiving the meat product from the heat exchanger at said selected temperture level for further processing.
In a method for processing a meat product with minimum physical working thereof, said product characterized by the presence of individual pieces having a substantial amount of fibrous components including muscle and connective tissue tending to amass and block the inlet portions of restricted passages in processing equipment, the steps comprising
- extruding the pieces of meat product with extruding means being directly communicated with outlet means comprising a plurality of die openings,
- communicating the die openings directly with corresponding passages in a shell-and-tube type heat exchanger,
- passing the extruded meat product pieces through the heat exchanger passages in a first-in, first-out manner,
- facilitating passage of the pieces of meat product into and through said die openings by knife means arranged for cutting movement adjacent inlet ends of said die openings in order to prevent blockage of said die openings by the meat product pieces, whereby direct force applied to the extruded meat product pieces by said extruding means and cooperation of said knife means permit the pieces of meat product to be forced into and through said die opening and passages in said shell-and-tube heat exchanger, and
- operating said heat exchanger to change the temperature of the extruded meat product to a selected level during passage of the meat product through said heat exchanger.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.