Method of preparing a meat product having denatured protein surface
AssigneeC & F Packing Company, Inc.
InventorsJoseph A. Freda, Dennis Olson, Joseph M. Freda
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An uncooked meat portion that has shape-retaining and non-agglomeration properties is formed by subjecting the meat product to a process that causes controlled migration of soluble protein to the surface of nugget portions for positive internal binding characteristics, and subsequently heating the portions to a sufficient level to denature the surface proteins thereby encapsulating each portion in a thin-layer that will not stick to other encapsulated portions and that will enable each uncooked portion to retain it shape during handling.
Claims15
A method of preparing a plurality of raw meat product portions comprising:
- physically working the raw meat so that break down of the meat protein is effected to cause binding between meat particles;
- dividing the raw meat into individualized product portions;
- and
- applying controlled heat for a time and at a temperature sufficient to permit the meat protein residing on the surface layer of the raw meat to denature sufficiently to resist binding to another raw meat portion.
A method of preparing raw meat product portions comprising:
- chilling a mass of raw meat;
- physically working the raw meat so that break down of meat protein is effected to cause binding between meat particles;
- dividing the raw meat mass into individualized discrete product portions;
- and
- applying controlled heat to the product portions for a time and at a temperature sufficient for the raw meat to resist binding to product portions while at the same time creating a sealed outer layer on the product portions without internally cooking the inside of each product portion.
A method of forming uncooked, meat nugget portions capable of retaining their shape and resisting binding with like portions, said method comprising the steps of:
- grinding a plurality of raw meat;
- chilling the raw meat mass;
- physically working the raw meat mass so that break down of the present meat protein is effected to cause binding between meat particles;
- extruding the raw meat mass to form individualized nugget portions of the meat;
- and
- applying controlled heat in a predetermined range of temperature and a predetermined range of time so that meat protein residing on the surface layer of each portion of the raw meat is denatured, thus sealing each portion to make it resistant to binding to other portions, while not cooking the major portion of the meat inside each product portion.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.