IE73272B1

IE73272B1 - A rack and the use thereof

Info

Publication number: IE73272B1
Application number: IE940283A
Authority: IE
Inventors: Peter Queally; John Queally
Original assignee: Agri Dev Ltd
Priority date: 1994-03-30
Filing date: 1994-03-30
Publication date: 1997-05-21
Also published as: GB2288160A; GB2288160B; BE1006524A6; IE940283A1; GB9408559D0

Abstract

Pepperoni or other sausage type meat is produced in elongate casings using a rack 1. The rack 1 comprises a plurality of laterally spaced-apart elongate rack bars 3 on which casings 2 are hung. The rack bars 3 are attached to a support 5 and the rack 1, 20 is carried on rollers 7 running in tracks 8. Each rack bar 3 has two groups of cut-out notches or recesses 10(a), 10(b) to support sausage casings of different diameters. Also disclosed is a process for preparing and fermenting sausages in which a fermentation culture is added to the sausages, the sausages are then hung on the rack 1, and allowed to ferment for up to three days and are then allowed to dry for a period of up to twenty one days.

Description

A Rack and use thereof The invention relates to a rack and in particular to a rack for supporting a plurality of elongate articles such as elongate casing containing sausage meat particularly fermented and dried sausage meat, for example, pepperoni.

According to the invention, there is provided a rack for supporting a plurality of elongate articles such as elongate casings containing sausage meat, the rack comprising :a plurality of laterally spaced-apart rack bars, each rack bar having at least two rows of rack locations on which elongate articles are to be hung, each row comprising a plurality of spaced-apart rack locations and the spacing between adjacent rack locations in the rows being different to accommodate elongate articles of different diameters; a support to which the rack bars are attached; and mounting means for attaching to the support and for mounting the rack to a support rail.

In one embodiment of the invention the rack locations are provided on two opposite sides of the rack bars.

In one embodiment of the invention the rack bar locations comprise recesses in the rack bars to locate a string attached to an elongate article.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention the rack bars are of generally cylindrical shape having two rows of - 2 differently spaced-apart cut-out recesses in the surface thereof to support elongate articles of different diameters.

In another arrangement the support has at least two different mounting locations for mounting the rack in different orientations. Preferably the support includes a mounting location on each of two opposed sides thereof.

In one arrangement the mounting locations comprise mounting points on which the support is releasably mounted.

Preferably a mounting location comprises a pair of mounting sleeves for receiving a mounting pin extending through the support.

The invention also provides a process for preparing an elongate fermented sausage including the steps of :hanging a plurality of casings containing a blend of meat, spices, curing agent and fermentation culture on a rack as claimed in any of claims 1 to 8; fermenting the casings on the racks for a period of up to three days; and drying the fermented casings on the racks for a period of up to 21 days.

In a preferred arrangement the process includes the steps of :tempering different grades of meat; coarse grinding of the individual grades; blending the different grades of ground meat; sampling the blended meat; adjusting the meat blend as necessary to achieve a desired blend; adding spices, curing agents and fermentation culture to the meat blend; emulsion grinding of the blend; and filling the blend into elongate casings for hanging on the racks.

In one embodiment of the invention, the process includes the steps of slicing the fermented and dried sausage, packing and freezing the sliced sausage.

The invention also provides dried fermented sausage such as pepperoni whenever prepared by a process of the invention.

The invention will be more clearly understood from the following description thereof given by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings in which :Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a rack according to one embodiment of the invention; Fig. 2 is a side view of the rack of Fig. 1, in use; Fig. 3 is a perspective view of another rack according to the invention; Fig. 4 is an exploded perspective view of portion of the rack of Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is a side elevational view of the rack of Fig. 3 in one orientation; Fig. 6 is a side elevational view of the rack of Fig. 3 in another orientation; and Fig. 7 is an end view of portion of the rack of Fig. 3.

Referring to the drawings and initially to Figs. 1 and 2, there is illustrated a rack indicated generally by the reference numeral 1 for supporting a plurality of articles, in this case, elongate casings 2 containing sausage meats such as pepperoni. The rack 1 comprises a plurality of laterally spaced-apart elongate rack bars 3 on which the sausage casings 2 are hung. The rack bars are attached to a support 5 extending therebetween.

The rack 1 includes a mounting 6 for attaching to the supports and for mounting to rollers 7 hung on a support rail 8 along which the rack is moved in use.

In more detail, each rack bar 3 is in this case of generally cylindrical shape and includes a plurality of spaced-apart rack locations formed by cut-out recesses 10(a),10(b) arranged in two rows on opposite sides thereof. The spacing between the rack locations 10(a) of the first row and the rack locations 10(b) of the second row are different so that a single rack can accommodate a range of different diameters of elongate casings. In this case, there are 16 locations 10(a) and twelve locations (b). The spacing allows a range of different diameter casings to be carried on one rack.

Referring to Figs. 3 to 7, there is illustrated another rack 20 according to the invention which is similar to the rack 1 described above and like parts are assigned the same reference numerals. In this case the rack bars 3 are flat bars having rack locations 10(a), 10(b) on opposite short side edges thereof. The support 5 has two mounting locations provided in this case by mounting sleeves 21 each for receiving a movable pivot pin 22 which extends through the sleeves 21 and an associated sleeve part carried by the support. To release the support 5 from the mounting means 6, the pins 22 are removed and the rack is then turned through 180° and attached on the other side of the support 5 as illustrated in Fig. 6.

In this way, the rack 20 may be readily reversed so that with a single rack a wide range of different sizes of elongate sausage casings may be supported.

A plurality of the racks described above are used in a process for preparing an elongate fermented sausage in which a plurality of casings containing a blend of meat, spices, curing agent and fermentation culture are hung on the racks, the casings are then fermented on the racks for a period of up to three days and the fermented casings on the racks are then moved to a drying room where the casings are dried for a period of up to twenty one days. After drying, the sausage meat may be sliced and frozen.

In the process of the invention, different grades of meat are first tempered to approximately -3°C. Individual grades of meat are then coarse ground and blended. The coarse blend is then sampled and the sample is analysed to establish the essential parameters of the blend such as the fat content. The meat blend is adjusted as necessary to achieve desired parameters and sampled again if necessary. When the desired blend has been achieved, spices, curing agents and fermentation culture are added to the meat blend which is then emulsion ground prior to filling into elongate casings which are hung on the racks described above.

It has been found that the racks according to the invention particularly when used in the process for preparing elongated fermented sausage such as pepperoni offer very considerable advantages. This is because the capacity of the process is generally limited by the size of the fermentation and drying facilities that are available. Using a plurality of racks of the invention however, a wide range of different sizes of casings may now be readily produced, thus optimising the capacity of the process.

Many variations on the specific embodiment of the invention will be readily apparent and accordingly the invention is not limited to the embodiments hereinbefore described which may be varied in both construction and detail.

Claims

1. A rack for supporting a plurality of elongate articles such as elongate casings containing sausage meat, the rack comprising :a plurality of laterally spaced-apart rack bars, each rack bar having at least two rows of rack locations on which elongate articles are to be hung, each row comprising a plurality of spaced-apart rack locations and the spacing between adjacent rack locations in the rows being different to accommodate eiongate articles of different diameters; a support to which the rack bars are attached; and mounting means for attaching to the support and for mounting the rack to a support rail.

2. A rack as claimed in claim 1 wherein a row of rack locations are provided on opposite sides of the rack bars.

3. A rack as claimed in claim 1 or 2 wherein the rack bar locations comprise recesses in the rack bars to locate a string attached to an elongate article.

4. A rack as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the rack bars are of generally cylindrical shape having two rows of differently spaced-apart cutout recesses in the surface thereof to support elongate articles of different diameters.

5. A rack as claimed in any of claims 1 to 3 wherein the support has at least two different mounting locations for mounting the rack in different orientations. 5

6. A rack as claimed in claim 5 wherein the support includes a mounting location on each of two opposed sides thereof.

7. A rack as claimed in claim 5 or 6 wherein the mounting locations comprise mounting points on 10 which the support is releasably mounted.

8. A rack as claimed in claim 7 wherein the mounting locations comprises a pair of mounting sleeves for receiving a mounting pin extending through the support. 15

9. A rack substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

10. A process for preparing an elongate fermented sausage including the steps of :hanging a plurality of casings containing a 20 blend of meat, spices, curing agent and fermentation culture on a rack as claimed in any of claims 1 to 9; fermenting the casings on the racks for a period of up to three days; and drying the fermented casings on the racks for a period of up to 21 days, - 9

11. A process as claimed in claim 10 including the steps of :tempering different grades of meat; coarse grinding of the individual grades; 5 blending the different grades of ground meat; sampling the blended meat; adjusting the meat blend as necessary to achieve a desired blend; adding spices, curing agents and fermentation 10 culture to the meat blend; emulsion grinding of the blend; and filling the blend into elongate casings for hanging on the racks.

12. A process as claimed in claim 10 or 11 including 15 the steps of slicing the fermented and dried sausage, packing and freezing the sliced sausage.

13. A process as claimed in claims 10 to 12 substantially as hereinbefore described.

14. Dried fermented sausage such as pepperoni whenever 20 prepared by a process as claimed in any of claims