GB2343358A

GB2343358A - Method and apparatus for producing shaped food products

Info

Publication number: GB2343358A
Application number: GB9823959A
Authority: GB
Inventors: David Craig
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1998-11-03
Filing date: 1998-11-03
Publication date: 2000-05-10
Also published as: GB9823959D0

Abstract

A method for producing shaped food products comprises supplying foodstuff at elevated pressure to a mould 23 and closing the mould 23 to create a shaped food product. Preferable apparatus for carrying out the method comprises a receptacle 12, a hydraulic ram 16 carrying a piston 17 for applying pressure to the contents of the receptacle 12, a pipeline 18 leading from the receptacle 12 to a dispenser 20, a blade 22 movable across the mouth of the dispenser 20 and a mould support 24. A second hydraulic ram 26 can apply upwards pressure to the support 24 lifting the mould into registration with the dispenser 20. The blade can then be passed across the mouth of the dispenser 20 to close the mould 23 and to cut any foodstuff extending through the mouth of the dispenser 20. The mould 23 may be reproduced longitudinally along the length of a mould sheet 21 and a row of dispensers 20 may be provided, linked to a manifold, for supplying foodstuff to a laterally extending row of moulds defined in the single sheet 21. The method is preferably used for fish, especially fish fillets, but may be applied to poultry, meat or non-meat products.

Description

SHAPED FOOD PRODUCTS The present invention relates to shaped food products; in particular to an apparatus and a method of producing shaped food products.

Natural food products, such as fish fillets, are irregularly shaped and sized, which can cause difficulties in the processing, handling and packaging of such products.

Accordingly, food manufacturers who supply pre-packed or processed fish products will often ask fish processors to supply them with large numbers of fish fillets within a restricted size range, for example 70-90 grams. This requires the fish processor to buy a substantially greater number of fish, as a significant proportion of the resulting fish fillets will fall outside this range. The fish processor is then left with a large number of "smaller"and"larger"fish fillets for which customers must be found, these"nonstandard"fillets often realising a substantially lower price than the"standard"size fillets.

One common method of producing fish products of a"standard"size is to use minced fish reforme into uniform sizes and shapes, such as trapezoids, suggesting the shape of a fish fillet. However, such fish products do not have a natural appearance, nor the same texture as natural fish fillets, and are thus viewed by many as being inferior to a natural fish product. Accordingly, such formed fish products tend to be sold at significantly lower prices than natural food products.

It is amongst the objects of embodiments of the present invention to address these and other problems.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of producing shaped food products, the method comprising the steps of : supplying foodstuff at elevated pressure to a mould; and closing the mould to create a shaped food product in the shape of the mould.

According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for producing shaped food products, the apparatus comprising: a mould; means for supplying foodstuff at elevated pressure to the mould; and a means for closing the mould.

It has been found that supplying the foodstuff to a mould at elevated pressure facilitates reproduction of relatively complex shapes, and in particular the shapes of natural food products, such as fish fillets.

Preferably, the foodstuff is fish fillets or other fish parts. It has been found that by supplying such material under pressure to a mould, the fish will take the form of the mould while retaining its natural muscle structure. Thus it is possible to produce a shaped fish product of a desired"standard"shape while retaining the texture of natural fish. It is even possible to produce shaped fish products having the appearance of one type of fish, such as haddock, from another fish, such as whiting. Thus a food processor may produce"haddock-shaped"fish products of consistent appearance irrespective of the availability of haddock. The fish parts may be of any shape or form. Altematively, the fish material may comprise minced fish.

In a preferred embodiment, the method comprises the steps of : applying pressure to foodstuff in a receptacle, such that foodstuff is forced from the receptacle along a conduit to a dispenser; dispensing the foodstuff under pressure into a mould of the desired shape; and closing the mould.

Preferably, the method comprises the step of passing a blade across the mouth of the dispenser, which may serve to close the mould, to ensure that only a preset quantity of foodstuff will be in the mould. This enables relatively large pieces of foodstuff to be used, in order to provide realistic muscle structure in the shaped food product. Further, the pieces of foodstuff may be larger than the mould.

Preferably, the method further comprises the step of freezing the shaped food product. This enables the shaped food product to retain a defined shape more precisely and in many cases will disguise the"formed"nature of the shaped food product.

Preferably, the dispenser comprises a manifold, supplying a plurality of dispensers.

Preferably, a plurality of moulds are provided. Most preferably, the method further comprises the step of moving the plurality of moulds sequentially beneath the dispenser such that the moulds are filled sequentially.

According to a preferred embodiment of an aspect of the present invention, there is provided apparatus for producing shaped food products, the apparatus comprising: a foodstuff receptacle; means such as a ram for applying pressure to foodstuff in the receptacle; a conduit providing communication between the receptacle and a dispenser; a mould for receiving foodstuff from the dispenser; and closure means for closing the mould.

Preferably, the mould is formed from resin or other castable or formable material.

The mould may be formed of relatively thin material such as plastics sheet and provided in conjunction with a mould support. Most preferably, the mould support is retractable from a position in registration with the dispenser, to enable the filled mould to be removed from the apparatus.

Preferably, the apparatus further comprises at least one moveable blade mounted between the dispenser and the mould.

Preferably, the apparatus further comprises conveying means for moving the mould from the dispenser.

Preferably, the closure means includes a second ram, for pressing the mould against the dispenser such that the edges of the mould and the dispenser form a closure.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a shaped food product formed by applying pressure to a foodstuff in a mould.

Preferably, the food product is a reproduction of a natural food product; and most preferably is a reproduction of a fish fillet. Preferably also, the foodstuff is fish fillets or fish parts.

These and other aspects of the present invention shall now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying figure, which shows an apparatus for producing shaped food products according to one aspect of the present invention.

The figure shows an apparatus 10 for the production of shaped food products.

The apparatus 10 comprises a cylindrical receptacle 12, a hopper 14 for use in filling the receptacle 12, a hydraulic ram 16 carrying a piston 17 for applying pressure to the contents of the receptacle 12, a pipeline 18 leading from the receptacle 12 to a dispenser 20, a blade 22 moveable across the mouth of the dispenser 20, a mould 23 positioned below the dispenser 20, a mould support 24, and a second hydraulic ram 26 for raising and lowering the mould support 24 relative to the dispenser 20.

The mould 23 is produced by making a casting of a natural fish fillet of the desired shape and size, which form is reproduced longitudinally along the length of a mould sheet 21.

In practice a row of dispensers 20 will be provided, linked to a manifold, for supplying fish fillets to a laterally extending row of moulds, defined in a single sheet.

In one example, the mould sheet may be ten moulds"wide"by ten moulds"long". For simplicity, the figure illustrates a single dispenser 20, feeding fish to a mould sheet 21 which is one mould wide and four moulds long.

The mould sheet 21 is of plastic material and is relatively thin. Accordingly, when fish is being fed into the mould 23 under pressure, the mould must be supported by the mould support 24, which in this example is a resin casting of a natural fish fillet, corresponding in form to the mould 23.

In use, fish fillets are placed in the hopper 14, from where they pass into the receptacle 12. The first hydraulic ram 16 is actuated to pressurise the fish fillets in the receptacle 12 to around 10 bar. The fish fillets are thus forced into the pipeline 18, which in this example is a 2-inch diameter flexible pipe. The fish fillets pass through the pipeline 18 and from the dispenser 20 into the mould 23.

The second hydraulic ram 26 applies upward pressure to the mould support 24, lifting the mould 23 into registration with the dispenser 20. The blade 22 is then passed across the mouth of dispenser 20 to close the mould 23 and to cut any fish fillets extending through the mouth of the dispenser 20. The mould support 24 is then retracted, and the mould sheet 21 advanced to position the next mould 23 below the dispenser 20, and the process repeated.

Once every mould 23 on the sheet 21 has been filled, the sheet 21 is transferred to a fish freezer. Following freezing, the individual shaped fish products may be removed from the sheet 21 for packing and transportation. The resulting formed fish products are particularly useful for food manufacturers supplying products such as prebreaded or pre-battered fish products: processing and packaging of the fish products is greatly facilitated, all of the products being the same dimensions, shape and weight.

Also, as the fish products are of the same weight, the products do not require individual weighing and pricing.

In a further embodiment, a plurality of moulds may be mounted on or defined by a moveable belt. Alternatively, the surface of a revolving drum may define the moulds.

It will be apparent to the person skilled in the art that the foregoing example is for illustrative purposes only, and that numerous modifications may be made to the apparatus and the method described herein without departing from the scope of the invention. In particular, the present invention is not limited to the use of fish fillets, either as the starting foodstuff, the shaped food product, or the template for making the moulds. For example, chicken parts may be used as both the starting foodstuff and to form a mould of, for example, a chicken breast; or chicken fillets may be produced in novelty shaped moulds in order to provide a more naturally textured product than is possible with minced or mechanically separated chicken. Similarly, turkey, beef, pork or non-meat products may be used in the same manner.

Claims

Claims 1. A method of producing shaped food products, the method comprising the steps of: supplying foodstuff at elevated pressure to a mould; and closing the mould to create a shaped food product in the shape of the mould.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein the foodstuff is fish fillets or other fish parts.
3. The method of claim 1 or 2 wherein the shaped food product has the appearance of a fish fillet.
4. The method of claims 1,2 or 3, wherein the method further comprises the step of: applying pressure to foodstuff in a receptacle, such that foodstuff is forced from the receptacle along a conduit to a dispenser and into the mould.
5. The method of claim 4 further comprising the step of passing a blade across the mouth of the dispenser to close the mould.
6. The method of claim 4 or 5, further comprising the step of moving a plurality of moulds sequentially beneath said dispenser such that the moulds are filled sequentially.
7. The method of any preceding claim further comprising the step of freezing the shaped food product.
8. An apparatus for producing shaped food products, the apparatus comprising a mould; means for supplying foodstuff at elevated pressure to the mould; and means for closing the mould.
9. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the means for supplying foodstuff comprises a foodstuff receptacle; means for applying pressure to foodstuff in the receptacle; and a conduit providing communication between the receptacle and a dispenser.
10. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the means for closing the mould comprises a blade for passing across the mouth of the dispenser.
11. The apparatus of claim 9 or 10 wherein the mould is formed from resin or other castable material.
12. The apparatus of any of claims 9,10 or 11 wherein the mould is provided in conjunction with a mould support.
13. The apparatus of claim 12 wherein the mould support is retractable from a position in registration with the dispenser.
14. The apparatus of any of claims 9 to 13 further comprising conveying means for moving the mould from the dispenser.
15. The apparatus of any of claims 9 to 14 wherein the closure means includes a ram for pressing the mould against the dispenser.
16. The apparatus of any of claims 9 to 15 wherein the means for supplying foodstuff further comprises a manifold for supplying a plurality of dispensers with foodstuff from the receptacle.
17. The apparatus of any of claims 9-16 wherein the means for applying pressure to foodstuff in the receptacle comprises a ram.
18. A shaped food product formed by applying pressure to a foodstuff in a mould.
19. The food product of claim 18 wherein the food product is a reproduction of a natural food product.
20. The food product of claim 19 wherein the food product has the appearance of a fish fillet.
21. A method of producing shaped food products, substantially as described herein.
22. An apparatus for producing shaped food products, substantially as described herein.