CA1093892A - Curing of meat - Google Patents

Curing of meat

Info

Publication number
CA1093892A
CA1093892A CA281,429A CA281429A CA1093892A CA 1093892 A CA1093892 A CA 1093892A CA 281429 A CA281429 A CA 281429A CA 1093892 A CA1093892 A CA 1093892A
Authority
CA
Canada
Prior art keywords
meat
bath
brined
curing
curing brine
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired
Application number
CA281,429A
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
Louis A.G. Atteck
Ronald L. Fuller
Robert Shaw
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Unilever PLC
Original Assignee
Unilever PLC
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Unilever PLC filed Critical Unilever PLC
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of CA1093892A publication Critical patent/CA1093892A/en
Expired legal-status Critical Current

Links

Classifications

    • AHUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A23FOODS OR FOODSTUFFS; TREATMENT THEREOF, NOT COVERED BY OTHER CLASSES
    • A23BPRESERVING, e.g. BY CANNING, MEAT, FISH, EGGS, FRUIT, VEGETABLES, EDIBLE SEEDS; CHEMICAL RIPENING OF FRUIT OR VEGETABLES; THE PRESERVED, RIPENED, OR CANNED PRODUCTS
    • A23B4/00General methods for preserving meat, sausages, fish or fish products
    • A23B4/02Preserving by means of inorganic salts
    • A23B4/023Preserving by means of inorganic salts by kitchen salt or mixtures thereof with inorganic or organic compounds
    • AHUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A23FOODS OR FOODSTUFFS; TREATMENT THEREOF, NOT COVERED BY OTHER CLASSES
    • A23BPRESERVING, e.g. BY CANNING, MEAT, FISH, EGGS, FRUIT, VEGETABLES, EDIBLE SEEDS; CHEMICAL RIPENING OF FRUIT OR VEGETABLES; THE PRESERVED, RIPENED, OR CANNED PRODUCTS
    • A23B4/00General methods for preserving meat, sausages, fish or fish products
    • A23B4/02Preserving by means of inorganic salts
    • A23B4/021Preserving by means of inorganic salts with apparatus adapted for gaseous preserving agents
    • YGENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y02TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
    • Y02ATECHNOLOGIES FOR ADAPTATION TO CLIMATE CHANGE
    • Y02A40/00Adaptation technologies in agriculture, forestry, livestock or agroalimentary production
    • Y02A40/90Adaptation technologies in agriculture, forestry, livestock or agroalimentary production in food processing or handling, e.g. food conservation

Landscapes

  • Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Wood Science & Technology (AREA)
  • Zoology (AREA)
  • Food Science & Technology (AREA)
  • Polymers & Plastics (AREA)
  • Inorganic Chemistry (AREA)
  • Meat, Egg Or Seafood Products (AREA)

Abstract

Abstract of the Disclosure A process for the production of cured brined meat in which brined meat is contacted with curing brine which is brought into turbulent flow by rising swarms of gas-bubbles, and apparatus for performing such process.

Description

~ 8~ Q 554 (R) This invention relates to a process for the production of cured brined meat, particularly the production of cured, brined bacon, as well as to an apparatus for carrying out said process.
Cured brined meat is conventionally prepared by treating raw meat with a mixture of common salt (sodium chloride) with potassium nitrate and sodium nitrite or with common salt with either potassium nitrate or sodium nitrate. The keeping quality of such meat is mainly, though not entirely, depen-dent on the action of the common salt and nitrite (the brining ackion), whilst the characteristic red colour of the meat results from the action of the nitrite (the curing action).
The potassium nitrate serves as a source of` nitrate ions which may be reduced to nitrite. SodiuM nitrate is also used for this purpose.
~enerally nowadays the brining - curing process is carried out by injecting the meat with a solution of salt, potassium nitrate and/or sodium nitrite and possibly other ingredients. After injection the meat is generally immersed for several days in another solution of the same sa]ts, during which period adequate diffusion and colour develop-ment take place.
In the present, modern meat processing methods this immersion is very uneconomical, in view of space, brine usage, labour, refrigeration load and effluent.
It has now been found that further processing time after injection of the meat can be shortened considerably by immersion of the injected, brined meat in curing brine
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brought into explosive turbulent flow by rising swarms of gas bubbles.
By a brined meat is to be understood, throughout this specification, a meat which has been subjected in its raw state to a wet brining process, i.e. which has been treated with a solution mainly comprising sodium chloride.
An object of the present invention is to produce a cured brined meat, having a shelf-life of at least 14 days at room temperature when packaged in oxygen-impermeable pouches.
By shelf-life is to be understood, throughout this specification, the ability of the meat to be stored in evacuated oxygen barrier pouches at room temperature without impairing its organoleptic properties. ~ shelf-life of 14 days at room temperature hence means to say that the meat after this period of storage still can be consumed without endangering the health of the consumer.
The present invention therefore provides a process for the production of cured brined meat which comprisesO
(a) treating meat in its raw state with a solution mainly comprising sodium chloride to produce brined meat;
(b) immersing the brined meat in curing brine, which is brought into turbulent flow by rising swarms of gas-bubbles for a period of time suEficient for said process to impart to the resulting cured brined meat a shelf-life, when packaged in oxygen-impermeable pouches, of at least 14 days.
The curing brine is brought into turbulent (explosive) boiling 10w by rising swarms of gas bubbles formed on , ~ . ., , , .. : -, ,., ,:, ,. . :

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Q 554 (R) continuously passing an inert gas, such as air or nitrogen, through the curing brine. The use of air is preferred.
By turbulent flow is to be understood, throughout this specification, that the flow pattern of the curing brine in the bath is continuously being disrupted as a result of continuous swarm or stream of gas bubbles passing upwardly from the bottom of the curing tank to the liquid surface through the curing brine.
According to the present invention raw meat is first brined by artery pumping, stitch pumping or multiple needle injection. For this purpose a conventional curing pickle or fluid is being used.
Hereafter the meat thus brined is passed with conveyors through a bath of curing brine, which has been brought into turbulent boiling flow by rislng swarms of gas bubbles~ ob-tained by passing a compressed innocuous gas, e.g. air, through orifices, which have been installed at the bottom of the curing brine bath. The curing brine preferably is at a temperature of at most 5C.
The residence time in the bath is dependent on the concentration of the sodium chloride in the bath, which in general is about 24% by weight, but which decreases to an equilibrium concentration of about 19% by weight during the process. The residence time is also dependent on the size of the meat pieces and the degree of turbulence created in the curing brine bath by the rising swarms or streams of gas bubbles, escaping from the orifices at the bottom of the curing bath. The residence time is regulated by the , . ~
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. ., : .. . . . .. .:
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, travelling speed of the conveyors, wi-th which the meat is passed through the turbulent curing brine bath.
The following Example illustrates the invention:
_xample Bacon was brined by multiple neeclle injection of a brine containing sodium chloride 22~ w/v to give a 10-12% weight gain net. The pieces of bacon thus brined were then passed into the bath of curing brine, consisting of a solution comprising 600 kg of water, 150 kg of sodium chloride, 2.25 kg of sodium nitrite and 0.75 kg of potassium nitrate. The solution was kept in a bath consistiny of an open tank having the dimensions 7.32m x 2.44m x 1.52m, on the bottom of which 20 pipes (19.1 mm diameter), each having 8 orifices, were installed at distances of 25.4 cm from each other, perpendicular to the travelling direction of the conveyor.
The bacon was carried with a conveyor speed of 1.07 m/min. through the curiny brine in turbulent flow, which turbulence was obtained by rising swarms of air bubbles, created by passing 762 m3/h air at a pressure of 3.16 kg/cm2 through the orifices.
The bacon, after having been passed through this curing bath, was packaged in suitable evacuated, oxygen barrier bacon pouches (made from a polyester/polyvinylidene chloride/cellophane (trade mark) laminate) and stored at room temperature. No spoilage was observed after 14 days. If the same bacon was not sub~ected to the contacting operation with the turbulent curing brine, but otherwise processed similarly, extensive spoilage was observed after 14 days.

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~ 554 (R) The invention is applicable to slices, cuts, pieces or chunks of all kinds ofmeat.
The present invention also relates to an apparatus for carrying out the process for the production of cured brined meat according to the present invention.
The apparatus for the production of cured brined meat comprises a bath, capable of holding curing brine in a pre-determined level, at the bottom of the bath in a spaced relationship, means for admitting a gas, conveyors suitable for supporting and transporting pieces of meat through the curing brine, and means for moving the conveyors down-wardly into the curing brine bath, through the bath at a low level, being at a depth below the predeter~nined level of the curing brine, and upwardly out of the bath.
In general the bath capable of holding curing brine will be a tank of rectangular cross-section, through which a conveyor belt is travelling initially downwards, subse-quently parallel to the bottom of the tank and finally upwards to leave the tank. The conveyor is driven by a variable speed motor. If necessary, more than one conveyor may be used. The means for admitting gas at the bottom of the bath preferably consist of a number of pipes arranged at suitable distances (e.g. about 25 cm) from each other at the bottom and perpendicular to the travelling direc-tion of the conveyors. Pipes with a suitable diameter, eOg.
about 15 mm, are used. Each pipe has a number of openings in the side facing the curing brine level, e.g. about 6 to 10 openings. The pipes are connected with a compressor ., :
. .. , .. . ~. , .

~ . . ..
, ' ' ' : ' '' ',~ ' " : ;' .

~33B9~
Q 551l (R) delivering an inert gas at sufficient pressure to travel through the curlng brine in the form of swarms of rising gas bubbles to the surface of the bath, thus creating the required turbulence.
It will be clear that also other means for admitting a compressed gas at the bottom of the tank may be used, e.g. in a different pattern of orifices.
At the end of the tank, while travelling upwardly~
the conveyor preferab]y passes through a calming zone in which the curing brine is not brought into a turbulent boil-ing flow. This calming zone may have a length of about 10--- 20% of the total length of the curing bath.
- The delivery of inert gas to the orifices may be regulated with any suitable device.
The advantages of the process according ot the present invention are obtaining bacon quality with a curing process which has been considerab]y shortened vis-à---vis the con-ventional processes, which in general require several days. ~ -With the present process immersion times of about 5 minutes are usual, followed usually by about 15 hours draining time prior to further processing (i.e. smoking, cooling, freeg-ir~, tempsrine and slicine).

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A preferred embodiment for carrying out the process for the production of cured brined meat is given by way of example in the drawing.
In a bath of rectangular cross-section 1, curing brine is contained at a predetermined level 2, and at the bottom of the bath in a spaced relationship there are provided means 3, for admitting an inert gas. The meat is fed into the tank at ~ and slides down via a guide plate 5 onto a conveyor belt 6 travelling from right to left ln the drawing. On the conveyor belt means are provided (not shown) for preventing the meat to slide back when it leaves the bath at the calming zone 7 to discharge platform 8.
The meat is kept under the level of the curing brine while passing through it by conveyor belt 9, which is driven by driving sprocket 10 connected to a variable speed motor (not shown) and idler sprockets 11. In the transporting conveyor belt a belt tension adjustment device 12 has been provided.
At 3a a rising swarm of gas bubbles bringing the curing brine into turbulent flow has been shown.

- 7a -: - , ~ , ,

Claims (6)

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:
1. A process for the production of cured brined meat which comprises:
(a) treating meat in its raw state with a solution mainly comprising sodium chloride to produce brined meat;
(b) immersing the brined meat in curing brine, which is brought into turbulent flow by rising swarms of gas-bubbles for a period of time sufficient for said process to impart to the resulting cured brined meat a shelf-life, when packaged in oxygen-impermeable pouches, of at least 14 days.
2. A process according to claim 1, in which the brined meat is bacon.
3. A process according to claim 1, in which the gas is air.
4. A process according to claim 1, in which the contact time is about 5 minutes.
5. An apparatus for curing brined meat by a process according to claim 1, comprising a bath, capable of holding curing brine in a predetermined level, at the bottom of the bath, in a spaced relationship, means for admitting a gas, conveyors suitable for transporting pieces of meat through the curing brine, and means for moving the conveyors downwardly into the curing brine bath through the bath at a low level, being at a depth below the predetermined level of the curing brine, and upwardly out of the bath.
6. Apparatus according to claim 5, comprising a tank of rectangular cross-section, at the bottom of which pipes have been arranged at a distance from each other, perpendicular to the travelling direction of the conveyors, each pipe having a number of openings in the side facing the curing brine level, the pipes being connected to a gas compressor, a conveyor belt travelling initially downwards, subsequently parallel to the bottom of the tank and finally upwards to leave the tank, driven by a variable speed motor.
CA281,429A 1976-06-28 1977-06-27 Curing of meat Expired CA1093892A (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB26,847/76 1976-06-28
GB26847/76A GB1587404A (en) 1976-06-28 1976-06-28 Curing of meat

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
CA1093892A true CA1093892A (en) 1981-01-20

Family

ID=10250200

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
CA281,429A Expired CA1093892A (en) 1976-06-28 1977-06-27 Curing of meat

Country Status (5)

Country Link
CA (1) CA1093892A (en)
DK (1) DK284277A (en)
GB (1) GB1587404A (en)
IE (1) IE45155B1 (en)
NL (1) NL7706937A (en)

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
IE45155L (en) 1977-12-28
DK284277A (en) 1977-12-29
GB1587404A (en) 1981-04-01
IE45155B1 (en) 1982-06-30
NL7706937A (en) 1977-12-30

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