IES64139B2 - A process for producing a salad product - Google Patents

Abstract

A salad product is prepared by selecting a desired quantity of a vegetable, optionally steeping the vegetable in a sterilising solution before cutting the vegetable into suitably sized pieces. The cut vegetable pieces are then centrifuged to remove a substantial amount of acid from the cut vegetable pieces before weighing and holding the vegetable pieces. The above steps are repeated for each vegetable ingredient before combining the vegetable ingredients with additive ingredients and a binding agent e.g. mayonnaise and mixing to form a homogenous mix of salad product, e.g. coleslaw.

Description

A process for producing a salad product Introduction The invention relates to a process for producing a salad product. Typically, a salad product comprises a selection of cut vegetables and often fruit with a binding agent. In this specification, the term vegetable refers to any vegetable or fruit and the term binding agent is used for any salad cream or mayonnaise type emulsion.

A primary requirement in the manufacture of salad products is to ensure that the product has as long a shelf life as possible. Unfortunately, when the salad ingredients include a binding agent, the shelf life tends to be reduced. The reason for this shelf life reduction is that natural acids exude from cut vegetables and react with the binding agent, destabilising and eventually breaking the binding agent emulsion. Heretofore, this problem was overcome by the use of a neutraliser such as an alkali in the salad product to negate the effects of the acid. However, because the use of additives in food products is becoming less acceptable to the consumer, an alternative means of overcoming this problem is needed.

It is an object of the invention to provide a salad product of increased shelf life.

Statements of Invention According to the invention, there is provided a process for producing a salad product comprising the steps of :selecting a desired quantity of a vegetable; delivering the vegetable to a cutter; - 2 cutting the vegetable into suitably sized pieces; delivering the cut vegetable pieces to a centrifuge; centrifuging the cut vegetable pieces to remove a 5 substantial amount of acid from the cut vegetable pieces; weighing the centrifuged vegetable pieces; holding the centrifuged vegetable pieces; repeating the above steps for each vegetable 10 ingredient; combining the vegetable ingredients; adding a binding agent to the vegetable ingredients; supplying additive ingredients to the vegetable 15 ingredients; mixing the vegetable ingredients, the additive ingredients and the binding agent to form a homogenous mix of salad product; and delivering the salad product to product storage 20 bins.

The process of the invention forcibly removes a substantial amount of acid from the cut vegetables before they are mixed with the binding agent, thus preventing the acid mixing with the binding agent and breaking the binding agent emulsion.

In one embodiment of the invention the process includes * the step of steeping the vegetables in a sterilising solution before the cutting step. *· This sterilisation step considerably decreases the 5 microbial load of the vegetables.

Preferably the sterilising solution is a dilute MILTON® solution.

MILTON® solution is a cheap and effective sterilising solution.

Most preferably the dilute MILTON® solution comprises 1 part MILTON® solution to 100 parts water.

Ideally the vegetables are steeped for between 25 and 35 minutes.

In one embodiment the centrifuge operates at between 500 15 and 1000 rpm for between one and five minutes, preferably between 700 and 800 rpm for between three and four minutes.

These operational parameters allow for the effective removal of acid from the cut vegetable pieces.

Detailed Description ofthe^Invention The invention will be understood from the following 11 description of a process for producing a salad product with reference to the accompanying block diagram showing, * in outline, the various stages of the process.

Referring to the drawing, there is illustrated in block diagram form a salad product processing plant, indicated generally by the reference numeral 1, comprising a plurality of vegetable storage bins 2 each individually feeding a steeping bath 3 where the vegetable is steeped in a sterilising solution before being fed to a cutter assembly 4, Depending on which vegetable is being cut, any one of a number of different cutter blades may be used. For example, when cabbage is being cut, a blade is used which cuts the vegetable into slivers of 2 to 2.5 in length. However, when the vegetable is onion, a blade is used to produce much smaller pieces. The cutter assembly 4 feeds directly into a centrifuge 5 which in turn feeds a weighing bin 6 where the vegetables are weighed and held before being added to a mixer 7. Before mixing takes place a binding agent and additional ingredients are added to the mixer 7. Alternatively, the vegetable storage bins 2 may feed directly into the cutter assembly 4 without passing through the steeping bath 3.

In use, the desired vegetable formulation for the salad product is determined and each type of ingredient is individually delivered from the vegetable storage bins 2 either directly to the cutter assembly 4 or to a steeping bath 3 where the vegetables are steeped in a sterilising solution before being added to the cutter 4.

The cut and/or sterilised vegetable is then centrifuged at between 500 and 1000 r.p.m. for 4 minutes. The purpose of this step is to remove a substantial amount of the vegetables acid which, if not removed, would reduce the shelf life of the subsequent salad product considerably. Although centrifugation has been used before in removing liquids from the surface of salad ingredients, it has not been used for the purpose of removing acid from the interior of vegetables. In this respect it is essential that the vegetables are cut before they are centrifuged and that the centrifugation is carried out for a sufficient period of time and at a sufficient speed. If either of these parameters are too small the acid will not be properly removed from the vegetables. If either parameter is too great the cut vegetable may be damaged and excess nutrients may be lost. The centrifuged vegetables are then weighed in the weighing bin 6.

The weighing and holding steps are the last steps in the process where each type of vegetable is processed individually. Thus, all or most of the above steps are carried out sequentially for each type of vegetable before being delivered to the mixer 7 where the other vegetables are also added. The binding agent and additional ingredients are added to the mixer 7 at this stage. The mixer 7 is actuated until a homogenous mix of salad product is formed which may be delivered to storage bins for cold storage or to a packaging plant (not shown).

The use of the process according to the invention for the manufacture of coleslaw will now be described. Cabbage from one of the vegetable storage bins 2 is cleaned with the stump and outer leaves removed before being delivered directly to the cutter assembly 4. The cabbage is then processed as described above until approximately 300 kgs have been weighed out. The carrots and onions are cleaned before being delivered to the steeping bath 3 where they are steeped in a Milton** solution, diluted 1:100 in water. The steeped vegetables are then delivered to the cutter assembly 4 where they are cut before being processed as described above. Different blades are used in the cutter assembly 4 depending on whether carrots or onions are being cut. The onion and carrot are processed individually until 100 kgs of each have been weighed out. They are then added to the mixer 7 where 10 Kgs of mayonnaise and 500 g of pepper are added. The ingredients are then mixed into a homogenous coleslaw salad product which may then be stored in bulk or packaged. It has been found that certain salad products when manufactured according to the process of the invention, will have shelf life of approximately four to five days.

It must be appreciated that the process according to the present invention may be used in the production of many other type of salad products such as potato salad, egg mayonnaise, vegetable salad, potato mash, pasta salad and stuffing. Some parts of the plant which are specific to the production of these and other types of salad product are not illustrated in the drawings. For example, during the manufacture of egg mayonnaise, the cooked eggs are subject to accelerated cooling to prevent the development of a black colour in the egg white. This treatment is well known to those skilled in the art.

It is important to note that the various transporting and conveying operations may be carried out either manually or by means of various screw augurs, screw conveyors or chutes.

It is envisaged that some of the raw materials will be washed and stripped before being processed. In this case, the wet vegetables are fully drained of surface water before the processing steps begin.

As is mentioned above, many salad products can be made according to the process of the invention and listed below are some examples of such formulations.

TABLE 1 Formulation of Potato Salad Ingredients Ea 3.....bK_ weight Potato 338 84.5 5 Onion 20 5 Mayonnaise 40 10 Seasoning 2 0.5 Total 400 10 TABLE 2 Formulation of Egg Salad Ingredients Ea % bv weight Egg 328 82 Onion 32 8 15 Mayonnaise 36 9 Seasoning 4 1 Total 400 The invention is not limited to the embodiments or 20 examples as given above but may be varied in construction and detail. Operational parameters and sequences may also be varied.

Claims (5)

1. CTATMS

1. A process for producing a salad product comprising the steps ofiselecting a desired quantity of a vegetable; 5 delivering the vegetable to a cutter; cutting the vegetable into suitably sized pieces; delivering the cut vegetable pieces to a centrifuge; 10 centrifuging the cut vegetable pieces to remove a substantial amount of acid from the cut vegetable pieces; weighing the centrifuged vegetable pieces; holding the centrifuged vegetable pieces; 15 repeating the above steps for each vegetable ingredient; combining the vegetable ingredients; adding a binding agent to the vegetable ingredients; 20 supplying additive ingredients to the vegetable ingredients; mixing the vegetable ingredients, the additive ingredients and the binding agent to form a homogenous mix of salad product; and delivering the salad product to product storage 5 bins.

2. A process as claimed in claim 1 including the step of steeping the vegetables in a sterilising solution before the cutting step, and preferably the sterilising solution is a dilute MILTON® solution, 10 most preferably comprising one part MILTON® solution to one hundred parts water, and preferably the cut vegetables are steeped for between 25 and 35 minutes.

3. A process as claimed in any preceding claim in which the centrifuge operates at between 500 and 1000 15 r.p.m. for between 1 and 5 minutes, and preferably at between 700 and 800 r.p.m. for between 3 and 4 minutes.

4. A process for making a salad product substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the 20 accompanying drawing.

5. A salad product produced by the process as claimed in any preceding claim.