IE85289B1 - A food processing line - Google Patents

Abstract

ABSTRACT A food processing line (1) includes a number of in—line thermal treatment stations for cooking food products. A food product sealing station (18) has a heated table over which food products are delivered on a conveyor to seal an underside of the food products. The food products are then delivered through an oven (20) for cooking the food products. The oven (20) has a number of thermal treatment zones for controlled cooking of the food product. Bank of nozzles within the oven (20) direct high velocity streams of stream at the food products to cook the food products at a desired cooking temperature which is equalised throughout the food product. A cooking monitor (40) is located immediately downstream of the oven (20) and has means for determining the surface temperature and core temperature of the cooked food product to ensure correct cooking of the food product. Acceptable cooked food products are then delivered through a chiller (55) and if desired a freezer (65) prior to a packaging unit (75). One or more coating stations may be provided in the line (1) for coating an exterior of the food products with a fast acting marinade for example prior to cooking or with anti-microbial and anti-oxidant adjuncts after cooking. .

Description

A Food Processijg Line Introduction This invention relates to a food processing line for the commercial production of food products and application of ingredients on line.

Statements of Invention According to the invention there is provided a food processing line including a conveyor for delivery of a food product through a number of sequentially arranged in—line thermal treatment stations for controlled thermal treatment of said food product, the thermal treatment stations including: a food product sealing station having means for heating and sealing an underside of the food product; an oven downstream of the sealing station, said oven having a plurality of thermal treatment zones, namely a tempering zone, a cooking zone, a roasting zone and an equilibration zone, the tempering zone having means for raising the temperature of the food product partially towards a desired cooking temperature; the cooking zone having means for cooking the food product at the desired cooking temperature for a selected cooking period; the rioasting zone being operable to further raise the temperature of the foodproduct for a desired time period to enable the food product to attain a roast colour and flavour; the equilibration zone being operable for equalising said desired cooking temperature throughout the food product; and a chiller downstream of the oven for chilling the food product to a desired chill temperature.

In one embodiment the food product sealing station comprises a heated belt forming portion of the conveyor with means for heating said belt to a temperature sufficient to seal an underside of food products carried thereon.

In another embodiment a first coating station is provided upstream of the oven having means for coating an exterior of the food product with a flavoured coating liquid. in another embodiment the first coating station is located upstream of the sealing station.

In a further embodiment the first coating station is located between the sealing station and the oven.

In another embodiment a cooking monitor is mounted at an outlet of the oven, said cooking monitor having means for determining the surface temperature and the core temperature of a cooked food product.

In another embodiment a branding station is located downstream of the oven, said branding station having means for marking a desired pattern or design on a surface of the cooked food product. in a further embodiment a glazing unit is located downstream of the oven, said glazing unit having means for applying an edible film coating to a surface of the cooked food product.

In another embodiment a slicing unit is mounted downstream of the oven for slicing the cooked food product into a plurality of separate food pieces.

In another embodiment a freezer is mounted in the line downstream of the oven, said freezer being operable to rapidly freeze the cooked food product.

In another aspect the invention provides a food product processing method including the steps: heating an underside of the food product for sealing the underside of the food product; heating the food product for partially raising a core temperature of the food product towards a desired product cooking temperature; further heating the food product at a higher temperature for raising the core temperature of the food product to a desired product cooking temperature for a preselected cooking period; roasting the food product at an increased temperature for a preset time period for imparting a desired colour and flavour to the food product; equalising the desired cooking temperature throughout the food product; and rapidly cooling the food product.

Detailed Description of the Invention The invention will be more clearly understood from the following description of some embodiments thereof, given by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a schematic elevational view of a first portion of a food processing line according to the invention; Fig. 2 is a schematic elevational view of a second portion of the food processing line of the invention: Fig. 3 is a schematic elevational view of a third portion of the food processing line of the invention; and Fig. 4 is a schematic flow chart illustrating the food processing line of the invention.

Referring to the drawings, there is illustrated a food processing line according to the invention indicated generally by the reference numeral 1. The food processing line 1 has a conveyor 2 in a number of parts for delivery of a food product through a number of sequentially arranged in-line thermal treatment stations for the controlled thermal treatment of food products such as by cooking and/or chilling the food products for example. The food processing line of the invention is readily versatile and adaptable to facilitate the cooking of a range of meat products.

At an inlet 10 of the food processing line 1 a dumper 11 delivers food products, such as reformed meats (e.g. beef or chicken portions or the like) for example, to a loading table 12. An on line extrusion system may be employed in the case of restructured meats after the dumper (e.g. burger, sausage products). At the loading table 12 the meat products are evenly spaced across a 1 metre wide belt, forming the conveyor 2 for delivery through the processing line 1. At this stage the meat products will typically be at a relatively low temperature in the order of O to 4°C.

The conveyor 2 delivers the meat products through a first coating station 14 having a number of spray heads 15 for accurate (1mm — 10mm thick) coating the food products on the conveyor 2 with novel coating ingredients (such as fast acting marinade) of any desired flavour appropriate to the food product. It will be noted that marinade and novel food grade coatings may be applied pre and post the heated Teflon in-feed table 18.

The food products are delivered across a heated Teflon in-feed table 18 for heating and sealing an underside of the food products on the conveyor 2. The table 18 has a heated belt and emolovs a thermal oil heatinn svstem to (3.l”\9.lII't=. iinifnrm helt _ 5 _ heating and efficiency across the belt. It will be appreciated that sealing the underside of the meat products helps to improve the quality of the meat product as well as reducing the potential adhesion of product to conveyor belts 2 used along the process line 1 especially in the case of marinated/coated products or delicate meat products (e.g. fish fillets etc). This in turn improves hygiene within an oven of the system, to be described later, as there is less burn—on of product onto the conveyor belt 2 with consequent reduced cleaning time for the oven conveyor belt 2.

Food products are then delivered through an oven indicated generally by the reference numeral 20. A number of thermal treatment zones are provided within the oven 20. First the food products are delivered through a tempering zone 21 to raise the temperature to approximately 18 °C prior to cooking the food products.

Downstream of the tempering zone 21, the food products pass through two cooking zones 23, 24 which are interconnected by a connecting zone 25. Within these cooking zones 23, 24 the food products are heated to a product core temperature in the range 74-87 °C depending on the nature of the food product being processed. The cooking zones 23, 24 each have banks 26 of nozzles above and below the conveyor belt 2 for directing high velocity streams of steam at the food products on the conveyor belt 2 for cooking the food products.

Upon discharge from the second cooking zone 24 the food products are delivered through a connecting zone 28 into a roasting zone 29. The roasting zone 29 has further banks of steam nozzles 26 above and below the conveyor belt 2 for directing high velocity steam at the food products to further raise the temperature by approximately 8 °C in order to attain a roast colour and flavour in each food product.

Downstream of the roasting zone 29 the conveyor 2 delivers the food products through an equilibration zone 32 to ensure that there is equalisation of the surface temperature and core temperature of each food product to the desired cooking temperature. Advantageously this also leaves little room for flash vapourisation and retains maximum yield within the final product.

A cooking monitor 40 is located is located immediately downstream of the oven 20.

This cooking monitor 40 has means for determining the surface temperature and the core temperature of the cooked food product to ensure that the food products are properly cooked. Means can also be provided for rejecting any food products which are determined to have surface or core temperatures outside the desired range for cooking the food products.

Downstream of the monitoring station 40 a searing and/or branding station 45 is provided. This has means for marking the surface of the cooked food products with grill lines for example. This branding station 45 also has means for searing a top surface of the food products if required. Suitable branding and searing apparatus is described in our previous Patent Publication No. WO 2004/073471.

A second coating station 50 fitted with plate heating systems is located downstream of the branding station 45 and has a number of spray heads 51 for spraying the food products top and bottom with pasteurised edible film coatings (prepared from food polymers and meat derivatives) so that each food product is encased in an outer edible film. The edible film may include natural meat infusions for enhanced flavour, antioxidant as well as nutritional properties of meat food products. The coating station 50 facilitates the effective application of pasteurised edible barrier films onto cooked food products in a hygienic manner. Edible film solutions for coating the food products can be prepared which impart added flavour by the use of added flavourings to the coating films. Browning agents for enhanced colour may also be added as well as various other additives such as nutraceuticals, minerals, vitamins and health promoting agents may be used.

The coated cooked food products are then delivered through a chiller 55 having twin banks of impingement nozzles 56 above and below the conveyor belt 2 for directing high speed chilled air at the food products for cooling of the food products. This will eliminate drippage and seals the outer surface of the food products with a surface temperature in the order of 0° C.

If desired, the food products can then be delivered through a slicing unit 60 for slicing the meat products prior to retail packaging.

Alternatively, the food products can be delivered through a freezer 65 having banks 66 of nozzles above and below the conveyor belt 2 for directing high velocity cold air streams at the food products for freezing the food products rapidly to a temperature in the order of -18° C to ensure minimum yield loss and optimal product safety.

Optionally, a further coating unit 70 may be provided upstream of the freezer 65 for spraying the food products with anti-microbial and anti-oxidant adjuncts. Improved sheIf—life for the food products can be achieved by the addition of natural preservatives such as sodium lactate to act on the surface of the food products. The coating films may also include anti-oxidants to reduce rancidity and enhance the nutritional profile.

Downstream of the freezer 65 the food products can be delivered through a packaging unit 75. The packaging conveyor may be enclosed and fitted with antimicrobial systems (ozone, electrolysed water atomisation/fogging systems). This housing of the product within a sterile conveyance chamber post chilling/freezing significantly increases the hygiene and microbial quality of final meat product.

It will be appreciated that the invention provides an improved food processing line for the efficient and hygienic production of food products on a commercial scale with ability to marinade/coat meat and other food products on a continuous line versus batch continuous. Also the processing line is relatively flexible to allow production of various different food products. For example, the processing line allows the cooking, roasting or steaming of any sized meat product from 1 mm thickness to 200 mm thickness in any combination.

The invention is not limited to the embodiments hereinbefore described but may be varied in both construction and detail within the scope of the appended claims.

Claims (2)

1. A food processing line including a conveyor for delivery of a food product through a number of sequentially arranged in-line thermal treatment stations for controlled thermal treatment of said food product, the thermal treatment stations including: a food product sealing station having means for heating and sealing an underside of the food product; an oven downstream of the sealing station, said oven having a plurality of thermal treatment zones, namely a tempering zone, a cooking zone, a roasting zone and an equilibration zone, the tempering zone having means for raising the temperature of the food product partially towards a desired cooking temperature; the cooking zone having means for cooking the food product at the desired cooking temperature for a selected cooking period; the roasting zone being operable to further raise the temperature of the food product for a desired time period to enable the food product to attain a roast colour and flavour; the equilibration zone being operable for equalising said desired cooking temperature throughout the food product; and a chiller downstream of the oven for chilling the food product to a desired chill temperature.

2. A food processing line as claimed in claim 1 wherein the food product sealing station comprises a heated belt forming portion of the conveyor with means for heating said belt to a temperature sufficient to seal an underside of food products carried thereon. A food processing line as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 wherein a first coating station is provided upstream of the oven having means for coating an exterior of the food product with a flavoured coating liquid. A food processing line as claimed in claim 3 wherein the first coating station is located upstream of the sealing station. A food processing line as claimed in claim 3 wherein the first coating station is located between the sealing station and the oven. A food processing line as claimed in any preceding claim wherein a cooking monitor is mounted at an outlet of the oven, said cooking monitor having means for determining the surface temperature and the core temperature of a cooked food product. A food processing line as claimed in any preceding claim wherein a branding station is located downstream of the oven, said branding station having means for marking a desired pattern or design on a surface of the cooked food product. A food processing line as claimed in any preceding claim wherein a glazing unit is located downstream of the oven, said glazing unit having means for applying an edible film coating to a surface of the cooked food product. A food processing line as claimed in any preceding claim wherein a slicing unit is mounted downstream of the oven for slicing the cooked food product into a plurality of separate food pieces. A food processing line as claimed in any preceding claim wherein a freezer is mounted in the line downstream of the oven, said freezer being operable to rapidly freeze the cooked food product. A food product processing method including the steps: heating an underside of the food product for sealing the underside of the food product; heating the food product for partially raising a core temperature of the food product towards a desired product cooking temperature; further heating the food product at a higher temperature for raising the core temperature of the food product to a desired product cooking temperature for a preselected cooking period; roasting the food product at an increased temperature for a preset time period for imparting a desired colour and flavour to the food product; equalising the desired cooking temperature throughout the food product; and rapidly cooling the food product.