IE970637A1 - Food processing - Google Patents

Abstract

Deboned boxed chicken meat is tempered, deboxed and chopped into pieces having a major dimension of approximately 50 mm. The chicken pieces are mixed with a solution of sodium chloride and water and the mix is transferred into a blender (1). A refrigerant is delivered into the blend through a chilling lance (2) comprising a cylindrical pipe fitted with nozzles (3). The deposition of chilled chicken blend is promoted on a predetermined area of the lance by providing a collar (5) of release material around the lance, except in the region of the nozzles (3). The collar (5) promotes the build up of chilled material away from the nozzles (3) to avoid the nozzles becmong blocked.

Description

The invention relates to a process of preparing coated meat and particular coated chicken products.

It is difficult to efficiently produce coated reformed 5 meat products of high quality not only from a visual appearance point of view but also with good organoleptic properties .

Statements of Invention According to the invention there is provided a process for 10 preparing coated meat especially chicken products comprising the steps of:loading tempered meat pieces and a salt solution into a blender having a chilling lance for delivering chilling fluid to the meat during blending, the chilling lance having a plurality of nozzles through which chilling fluid is delivered; promoting the deposition of chilled meat blend on a predetermined area of the lance away from the nozzles; removing the chilled meat blend from the blender; forming the chilled meat blend into a desired shape and size; and coating the formed meat pieces.

OPEN TO PUBLIC HSPECTiON UNDER SECTION ,:8 AND RULE 23 - 2 IE 970637 In a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention the deposition of chilled chicken blend is promoted by providing a release material on the lance except for the region of the nozzles, chilled chicken blend building up on the release material during blending until the weight of the material build-up results in the build up falling from the release material.

Most preferably the release material is in the form of a collar extending substantially around and along the length of the lance except in the region of the nozzles.

In one embodiment of the invention the process includes the steps of tempering frozen chicken to a temperature of from - 5°C to 0°C prior to blending.

Preferably prior to blending, the temperate chicken is passed through a cutting plate to form chicken pieces having a major dimension of from 30 to 60mm, most preferably approximately 50mm.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention the temperate chicken pieces are loaded into the blender by creating a vacuum inside the blender and drawing the chicken pieces into the blender to maintain the integrity of the chicken pieces .

In one embodiment of the invention the blend is chilled by delivering liquid nitrogen to the chilling lance, the nitrogen, on delivery through the nozzles, extracting heat from the blend and flashing to a gas.

In a preferred arrangement the chicken and salt solution are blended in the blender prior to delivery of the chilling fluid through the chilling nozzles of the lance. - 3 Typically after coating with batter the chicken pieces are further coated with a crumb material.

In one embodiment of the invention the process includes the step of flash frying the coated chicken pieces in cooking oil at a temperature of approximately 190°C for approximately 30 seconds.

The cooked chicken pieces may be chilled to a temperature of approximately -5°C or frozen to a temperature of approximately -30°C after flash frying.

The invention also provides coated meat, especially chicken products whenever prepared by a process of the invention.

Brief description of,the Drawings 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 diagrammatic side view of the blender used in the process of the invention; Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a chilling lance used in the blender Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 is a side, partially cross sectional view of the lance on an enlarged scale.

Detailed Description of the Drawings In the process of the invention deboned boxed chicken meat is held in cold storage at a temperature of from -20° to 30°C. About three to four days prior to use the frozen - 4 chicken is transferred to a tempering room at a temperature of from 0° to -3°C in which over a period of from three to four days the temperature of the chicken rises from to -5° to 0°. The chicken is then deboxed by removing the outer cardboard and plastic liner.

The chicken pieces are then chopped into individual pieces having a major dimension which is typically from 30 to 60mm and most preferably approximately 50mm.

The chicken pieces are then collected in a tote box and transferred into a container in which they are mixed with a solution of sodium chloride and water. Typically the solution is a 15% salt and water solution. The solution containing the chicken pieces is then transferred into a blender 1 which is diagrammatically illustrated in Fig. 1 of the drawings. To ensure that the integrity of the chicken pieces is maintained the salt solution and chicken are sucked into the blender 1 by creating a vacuum in the blender and drawing the chicken and salt solution into the blender. The blender 1 is then rotated, for example at about seven revolutions per minute for a period of two minutes to mix the ingredients in the blender. A refrigerant is then delivered into the blend as it is rotating and will be described in more detail below. Typically the refrigerant is delivered into the blend for about 15 minutes as the blender is rotating. The chilling of the chicken has the effect of bringing the temperature of the blend back down to -3°C.

The cooled product is held in a holding chill at from 0° to -5°C in a tote bin. The product is then delivered from the tote bin into a forming machine which forms the blend into a suitable sized shape such as a breast sized or nugget sized chicken piece. The formed pieces are coated with a batter comprising flour and water which may contain - 5 IE 970637 a flavouring such as garlic. The batter coated product is then typically also coated with the crumb material prior to flash frying at typically 190°C for 30 seconds. To produce a chilled product the flash fried product is chilled in a spiral freezer to a temperature of about 5°C. To achieve a frozen product the product is chilled in a spiral freezer to attain a temperature of about -30°C.

In more detail and referring to Figs. 1 to 3 the chilling lance 2 comprises a cylindrical pipe having a number of nozzles 3 for delivery of refrigerant into the blend as the blender is rotating. The nozzles 3 are in this case arranged in two adjacent rows. The deposition of chilled chicken blend is promoted on a predetermined area of the lance away from the nozzles 3 by providing a collar 5 of teflon material around the lance, except in the region of the nozzles 3. The collar 5 promotes the build up of chilled material away from the nozzles 3 thus preventing them from becoming blocked. When the weight of material on the collar 3 reaches about 6 or 7kg the build up material slips off the surface of the collar and is reblended. In this way the build up of material blocking the nozzle is prevented and production efficiency is optimised.

Liquid nitrogen is delivered to the lance through a vacuum insulated delivery line with a quick release coupling to the lance. The lance is removable from the blender for cleaning after processing of a chicken blend batch.

The processing of meat, particularly chicken pieces, in this manner produces a product that is as close as possible to the fresh product. The natural substance of the product is maintained so that the appearance and texture of the product is optimised. - 6 The invention is not limited to the embodiments hereinbefore described which may be varied in both construction and detail.

Claims (16)

1. A process for preparing coated meat products comprising the steps of:loading tempered meat pieces and a salt solution into a blender having a chilling lance for delivering chilling fluid to the meat during blending, the chilling lance having a plurality of nozzles through which chilling fluid is delivered; promoting the deposition of chilled meat blend on a predetermined area of the lance away from the nozzles; removing the chilled meat blend from the blender; forming the chilled meat blend into a desired shape and size; and coating the formed meat pieces.

2. A process as claimed in claim 1 wherein the meat pieces are chicken pieces.

3. A process as claimed in claim 2 wherein the deposition of chilled chicken blend is promoted by providing a release material on the lance except for the region of the nozzles, chilled chicken blend building up on the release material during blending until the weight of the material build-up results in the build up falling from the release material. - 8

4. A process as claimed in claim 3 wherein the release material is in the form of a collar extending substantially around and along the length of the lance except in the region of the nozzles.

5. A process as claimed in any of claims 2 to 4 claim including the steps of tempering frozen chicken to a temperature of from - 5°C to 0°C prior to blending.

6. A process as claimed in any of claims 2 to 5 wherein prior to blending, the tempered chicken is passed through a cutting plate to form chicken pieces having a major dimension of from 30 to 60mm.

7. A process as claimed in claim 6 wherein the tempered chicken is passed through a cutting plate to form chicken pieces having a major dimension of approximately 50mm.

8. A process as claimed in any of claims 2 to 7 wherein tempered chicken pieces are loaded into the blender by creating a vacuum inside the blender and drawing the chicken pieces into the blender to maintain the integrity of the chicken pieces.

9. A process as claimed in any of claims 2 to 8 wherein the blend is chilled by delivering liquid nitrogen to the chilling lance, the nitrogen, on delivery through the nozzles, extracting heat from the blend and flashing to a gas.

10. A process as claimed in any of claims 2 to 9 wherein the chicken and salt solution are blended in the blender prior to delivery of the chilling fluid through the chilling nozzles of the lance. - 9

11. A process as claimed in any of claims 2 to 10 wherein after coating with batter the chicken pieces are further coated with a crumb material.

12. A process as claimed in any of claims 2 to 11 5 including the step of flash frying the coated chicken pieces in cooking oil at a temperature of approximately 190°C for approximately 30 seconds.

13. A process as claimed in claim 12 wherein after flash frying, the cooked chicken pieces are chilled to a 10 temperature of approximately - 5°C.

14. A process as claimed in claim 12 wherein, after flash frying, the cooked chicken pieces are frozen to a temperature of approximately - 30°C.

15. A process for preparing coated meat products 15 substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

16. Coated meat, especially chicken products whenever prepared by a process as claimed in any preceding claim.