Home-style meat product and method of producing same
AssigneeKraft Foods Group Brands LLC
InventorsCory Painter, Edward A. Kusmider, Sarah Humke, Matthew Hurm, Lauren Michele Sammel
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Methods and apparatus are disclosed for producing irregular slices of meat from meat products. Further, a method of mass-producing a home-style meat product with an irregular appearance includes combining whole muscle meat with a mixture having no phosphates and a limited amount of salt. Further, the whole muscle meat mixture is loosely stuffed into casings such that void space is permitted between the individual whole muscles. Once the whole muscle meat has been cooked and cooled, the meat may be sliced on a variety of slicing equipment to create a home-style meat product with an irregular appearance.
Claims17
A method of mass-producing a home-style meat product having an irregular appearance, the method comprising:
- combining pieces of boneless whole muscle meat with a mixture having salt, the mixture comprising less than 2% salt, by weight, the mixture having no phosphates;
- mixing the pieces of boneless whole muscle meat and the mixture;
- curing the pieces of boneless whole muscle meat and the mixture;
- loosely stuffing the pieces of boneless whole muscle meat and the mixture into casings to form loosely stuffed casings, the loosely stuffed casings comprising void spaces formed between the pieces of boneless whole muscle meat;
- closing the loosely stuffed casings such that the void spaces remain between the pieces of boneless whole muscle meat in the closed casings;
- thermally processing the loosely stuffed casings to produce a prepared whole muscle meat product;
- cooling the prepared whole muscle meat product;
- and
- slicing the prepared whole muscle meat product with a circular knife assembly having a plurality of circular blades on a rotatable shaft and positioned in a direction generally parallel to a feed direction of the cooled prepared whole muscle meat product, the circular knife assembly is positioned downstream of an initial knife assembly such that the circular knife assembly forms a second cut into the prepared whole muscle meat product to produce individual pieces of the home-style meat product that are non-uniform in shape and have surfaces with different textures thereby providing the home-style meat product with an irregular appearance,
- wherein the void spaces are configured to, during the thermal processing, facilitate moisture expulsion from the pieces of boneless whole muscle meat, inhibit individual boneless whole muscle meat pieces from binding together, and create irregularities in the hone-style meat product,
- wherein the individual pieces of the home-style meat product exhibit the natural grain structure of the whole muscle meat.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.