IES72483B2 - A manufacturing process - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a manufacturing process for producing cooked turkey meat products. Raw turkey meat pieces are prepared and a desired quantity of a brine solution is injected into the meat pieces. The brine is worked into the meat pieces in a tumbler. Then the meat pieces are loaded in cooking bags or moulds. These cooking bags or moulds are delivered to a cooker within which they are supported above a water bath. The water bath is heated to maintain the temperature within the cooker at 70 to 90{C to slowly cook the meat over five or six hours to produce cooked turkey products. These cooked turkey products are stripped from the moulds or cooking bags and then the products are cooled and packaged.

Description

A manufacturing- process This invention relates to a manufacturing process for producing cooked poultry products, and in particular cooked turkey products.

According to the invention there is provided a 5 manufacturing process for producing cooked poultry meat products, comprising the steps· preparing a batch of raw poultry meat pieces, preparing a brine solution corresponding to the batch of raw poultry meat pieces, delivering the brine solution to a brine injection machine, passing the batch of raw poultry meat pieces through the brine injection machine, injecting a desired quantity of the brine solution into the raw poultry meat pieces in the brine injection machine, delivering the batch of raw poultry meat pieces to a tumbler, conditioning the poultry meat pieces by tumbling the raw poultry meat pieces together for opening the fibres of the meat pieces and working the brine through the meat pieces, inserting selected conditioned poultry meat pieces into moulds or cooking bags, each mould corresponding to a desired shape of poultry product to be produced, delivering the moulds or cooking bags to a cooker, the cooker having a housing with a water bath in a bottom of the housing having an associated water heater, supporting the moulds or cooking bags above the water bath, sealing the cooker, regulating heating of the 5724 S3 - 2 water within the cooker tor maintaining the temperature within the cooker between 70°c and 90°c for slowly cooking the meat within the moulds or cooking bags in the cooker for a preset time period to produce cooked poultry products of a desired shape, removing the moulds or cooking bags from the oven and delivering the moulds or cooking bags to a striping station, releasing the cooked shaped poultry products from the moulds or cooking bags, cooling the shaped cooked poultry products to a desired temperature, and packaging the shaped cooked turkey products in plastics packaging bags.

In one embodiment the process includes the step of sensing the core temperature of the meat at a centre of a mould or cooking bag and maintaining the temperature within the cooker between 75°c and 85°c for slowly cooking the meat within the mould or cooking bag over a period of between 5 and 7 hours until the core temperature reaches 72°c.

In another embodiment at the striping station each mould or cooking bag is mounted on a stripping table and the shaped cooked poultry product is discharged from the mould or cooking bag onto a top of the table, draining juices through openings in a top of the table into a catchment tray beneath the table top, the table having an upstanding flange along an edge of the table, operatives standing behind said flange and reaching across the flange when releasing the shaped cooked poultry products from the mould or cooking bag.

In a further embodiment the process includes gradually cooling the cooked shaped poultry products in ambient air over a period of between 5 and 8 hours.

In another embodiment the process includes rapid cooling 5 of the cooked shaped poultry products by showering the moulds or cooking bags with cooling water prior to removing the shaped cooked poultry products from the moulds or cooking bags.

In another embodiment the process includes showering the moulds or cooking bags with cooling water within the cooker after cooling.

In a further embodiment the process includes filling a mould by delivering cured thigh meat pieces into a bottom portion of the mould and then covering the thigh meat pieces with a layer of breast meat pieces.

In another embodiment the process includes filling a mould with the conditioned raw poultry meat pieces, the mould having an elongate generally tubular shape with a crosssection corresponding to a slice of breast meat.

Preferably the process includes the step of delivering small sized soft meat pieces and off-cut meat pieces to a bag filling funnel and feeding the meat pieces into a tubular plastics cooking bag vertically suspended at an outlet of the filling funnel.

The invention will be more clearly understood by the following description of some embodiments thereof, given by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which;4 Fig. 1 is a schematic flowchart illustrating a manufacturing process according to the invention; Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a mould used in the process; Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the mould of Fig. 2 shown in an open position; Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a cooked poultry product prepared using the mould of Fig. 2; Fig. 5 is a perspective view of another mould used in 10 the process; Fig. 6 is a sectional elevational view of the mould of Fig. 5; Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a cooked poultry product prepared using the mould of Fig. 5; Fig. 8 is a perspective view of a bag filling device used in a process according to the invention; Fig. 9 is an elevational view of the bag filling device of Fig. 8 P shown in use; Fig. 10 is a partially cut-away perspective view of 20 an oven used in a process according to the invention; Fig. 11 is a sectional elevational view of the oven; Fig. 12 is a detail sectional elevational view showing portion of the oven; Fig. 13 is a detail perspective view illustrating portion of the oven; Fig. 14 is a sectional elevational view similar to Fig. 11 showing another oven for use in the process; Fig. 15 is a perspective view of a handling table used in a process according to the invention; Fig. 16 is a side elevational view of the table, shown in use.

Referring to the drawings, a manufacturing process for 10 producing cooked turkey products according to the invention will be described.

At a preparation station 10, raw cleaned turkey pieces off the bone are prepared. The turkey pieces are then delivered through an injecting machine 12 for injecting a brine solution into the raw turkey pieces. Various different brine solutions are possible depending on the end product to be produced. The amount of brine injected depends on the weight of the meat.

Downstream of the injecting machine 12, the turkey pieces 20 are delivered to a tumbling device 14 in which the turkey pieces conditioned by tumbling to open the fibres of the meat thus working the brine through the meat for an even distribution of the brine through the meat.

Downstream of the tumbling device 14, the meat pieces may 25 be delivered to a bagging station 16. At the bagging station 16, the meat pieces are inserted into plastic cooking bags. Each cooking bag is then inserted in a mould 18 or in some cases delivered to a worker, described later. Some moulds are typically in a turkey shape so that the cooked product eventually produced resembles a turkey. Alternatively, the raw meat pieces may be directly delivered to moulds.

Referring now to Figs. 2 to 4, there is illustrated a stainless steel mould 20 which is adapted for producing a roll 21 of cooked turkey having a section which corresponds to the section of a piece of meat cut off a side of a turkey breast. This roll 21 is particularly advantageous for catering companies, supermarkets, restaurants and the like as it enables turkey slices of uniform size to be produced giving accurate portion control. Thus, for example, it is particularly advantageous in producing ready meals in packs ©nd the like. The mould 20 has two parts 22, 23 interconnected by a hinge 24. Lock nuts 25 mounted along a free edge of the part 23 engage in associated slots 2S in a free edge of the part 22 to secure the two parts 22, 23 together to mould turkey pieces mounted within the mould 20 into the desired shape. A pair of legs 28 are mounted spaced-apart on an outside of the part 23 for standing the mould 20 on a rack for cooking as described later. While it is known to produce turkey rolls comprising cooked turkey within a tubular plastics bag, each end of the bag is typically domed and therefore there tends to be wastage of approximately 6% associated, with each turkey roll. Further, the turkey rolls are of round section and therefore do not look like natural slices of turkey. In contrast with the roll produced in the mould according to the present invention, there is no wastage as all the roll can be sliced for use. Further, the mould is shaped such that each slice looks natural, that is as if it has been sliced directly from the side of a turkey breast.

Referring now to Figs. 5 to 7, there is illustrated another mould 30 for producing another turkey product which in this case comprises a roll 31 which can be sliced to form individual turkey rashers. The mould 30 has a base portion 32 having a section corresponding to a rasher shape. A cover 33 is mounted by a hinge 34 on the base 32 and can be closed and secured in a closed position by locking bolts 35 on the base 32 and associated lugs 36 on the cover 33 as shown in Fig. 6. When filling the base portion 32, dark meat 38 comprising cured thigh meat is initially filled in a bottom of the base 32 as shown in Fig. 6. Then a top layer of white meat 39 is built up above the bottom layer 38 of dark meat. When cooked, the dark meat has a pink appearance. The contrast of the white and dark meats produces a turkey product which when sliced has the appearance of a conventional rasher but is comprised wholly ox turkey meat. The arrangement of the roll 31 is such that it can be readily easily sliced into thin rasher strips. While it is known to produce turkey rashers, this has previously been done by co-extruding red and white meats. A problem with this is that the coextrusion process breaks the natural fibres of the meat so that the end product looks smooth and unnatural. Advantageously, with the present invention, as the turkey pieces are not extruded, the natural fibres look of the turkey meat is retained which is attractive from an aesthetic point of view.

Referring to Figs. 8 and 9, there is shown a bag filler 50 for filling a plastic bag 51 with relatively smaller offcuts and soft meat pieces which would otherwise be wasted. The filler 50 comprises a tubular frame 52 carrying a funnel 53 which tapers downwardly into a discharge neck 54 about which the bag 51 is tied for filling the bag 51. Once the bag 51 is filled, it can then be sealed and delivered to the oven for cooking as will be described later. Thus, wastage is minimised.

Each of the moulds or bags are delivered to an oven 60 for cooking the meat. The oven 60 is shown in Figs. 10 to 12. The oven 60 is generally box-shaped having a base 61 with upstanding side walls 62 and end walls 64» A pair of access doors 66 are hingedly mounted at an upper end of the end walls 64 and can be swung by rams 57 between a closed sealed position as shown in Fig. 10, and an open position as shown in Fig. 11. A gas burner 70 is mounted on one end wall 64 of the oven 60 and is connected to a gas supply (not shown). Exhaust gases from the burner 70 pass through an exhaust pipe 71 of U-shaped configuration mounted adjacent the base 61 of the oven 60 prior to exiting the oven 60 and exhausting through a flue 73. A water bath 74 covers the pipe 71 during operation of the burner 70. Water level sensors provided in the oven 62 cut out the burner 70 if the pipe 71 is not covered with water. A back-up electric coil 75 is mounted on the side wall 62 and extends into the water bath 74» A number of mesh racks 77 are mounted vertically spaced-apart above the water bath 74 for supporting a number of moulds and/or bags within the oven 60» Each rack 77 is hingedly mounted on the side walls 62, sidewardly projecting pivot pins 78 on the rack 77 engaging with an associated mounting bracket 79 (Fig. 13)« Each mounting bracket 79 has a slot 80 for reception of a pivot pin 78 and a support lug 82 on which the rack 77 sits when in the horizontal mould-supporting position. Central support brackets 83 on the side walls 62 support an inner end of each rack 77 when it is in a horizontal position. It will be noted that the slot 80 extends below the lug 82. Thus, conveniently, for loading, the rack 77 may be hinged upwardly, the pivot pins 78 at each side of the rack 77 dropping to the bottom of the associated slots 80 and the lugs 82 engaging the rack 78 spaced above the pivot pins 78 to retain the rack 77 in an inclined position as shown in Fig. 12. Additional stays 84 hingedly mounted at an upper end of the side walls 62 may also be used to secure the racks 77 in the upwardly extending folded position for loading the oven 60.

When a number of the moulds are loaded in the oven 50 with the doors 66 closed, the temperature within the oven is heated to approximately 81°C and it is maintained at this temperature to slowly cook the turkey products for 5^-6 hours, giving an even cooking of the products and minimising weight loss. A temperature probe is inserted into one of the turkey products to sense the core temperature of the turkey product. When the core temperature reaches a desired temperature, typically 72°C the cooker is switched off and the covers are opened. It will be appreciated that the relatively slow cooking helps to minimise the moisture loss in the products to provide a succulent product which retains good flavour. The slow cooking also promotes relatively gentle and even cooking of the product so that a high quality product of desirable taste and feel is produced.

An alternative oven construction as shown in Fig. 14 which shows an oven 90 in which end walls 9.1, 92 of the oven 90 can be opened by rams 93 to allow through passage of the trays of moulds for loading and unloading the oven 90.

The end walls form an inlet door 91 and an outlet door 92 for loading and unloading of the oven 90. Rails 94 are provided extending within the oven 90 on the sidewalls 95 of the oven 90 between the inlet door 91 and outlet door 92. The rails 94 support trays (not shown) of moulds or the like containing meat for cooking in the oven 90 as previously described. The trays are delivered into the oven 90 on supply rails 96 which feed prepared trays of raw meat onto the rails 94. Similarly, discharge rails 97 extend outwardly from the outlet door 92 to receive and carry trays of cooked meat products away from the oven 90» It will be noted that some or all of the sets of rails 94, 96, 97 may be inclined to feed the trays in the desired direction into the oven 90 for loading the oven 90 and out of the oven 90 when discharging trays of cooked meat products from the oven 90. With the provision of inclined rails 94, 95, 97, the trays will naturally slide gently into and out of the oven 90 for loading and unloading of the oven 90. Instead of rails, conveyors may be used in some cases if desired. It will be noted that the oven 90 is mounted in an opening in a wall 98 dividing a raw meat handling compartment 99(a) and a cooked meat handling compartment 99(b). In this way, there can be no contamination of cooked meats by raw meats. The inlet and outlet doors 91, 92 of the oven 90 may, if desired, be provided with an interlock to ensure that only one of the doors 91 £ 92 can be opened at any time for further security.

After cooking, the moulds are removed from the oven and the cooked products are released from the moulds. Each of the moulds is delivered to a stripping station having a stripping table 100- The table 100 has a ground engaging frame 101. A table top 102 is of open construction comprising an array of spaced-apart tubular bars 103 to allow drainage of juices into a catchment tray 105 beneath the table top 102. An upstanding flange 107 is provided at one edge of the table behind which an operative stands as shown in Fig. 16 when handling a product 109. This flange 107 prevents the operatives clothing coming into contact with the product 109 which tends to be relatively slippy and can slide along the table.

After stripping the products from the moulds, the products are cooled 110 and then delivered to a packaging station 112 for vacuum packing in plastic bags. The turkey products may be cooled slowly in ambient air over a period of about 7 hours. Alternatively, if desired rapid cooling of the cooked shaped turkey products may be carried out by showering the moulds with cooling water prior to removing the shaped cooked turkey products from the moulds. This showering with cooling water may conveniently be carried out within the cooker after cooking and prior to removal of the moulds.

The invention is not limited to the embodiment hereinbefore described which may be varied in both construction and detail.

Claims (5)

1. A manufacturing process for producing cooked poultry meat products, comprising the steps: preparing a batch of raw poultry meat pieces, preparing a brine solution corresponding to the batch of raw poultry meat pieces, delivering the brine solution to a brine injection machine, passing the batch of raw poultry meat pieces through the brine injection machine, injecting a desired quantity of the brine solution into the raw poultry meat pieces in the brine injection machine, delivering the batch of raw poultry meat pieces to a tumbler, conditioning the poultry meat pieces by tumbling the raw poultry meat pieces together for opening the fibres of the meat pieces and working the brine through the meat pieces, inserting selected conditioned poultry meat pieces into moulds or cooking bags, each mould corresponding to a desired shape of poultry product to be produced, delivering the moulds or cooking bags to a cooker, the cooker having a housing with a water bath in a bottom of the housing having an associated water heater, supporting the moulds or cooking bags above the water bath, sealing the cooker, regulating heating of the water within the cooker for maintaining the temperature within the cooker between 70°c and 90°c for slowly cooking the meat within the moulds or cooking bags in the cooker for a preset time period to produce cooked poultry products of a desired shape, removing the moulds or cooking bags from the oven and delivering the moulds or cooking bags to a striping station, releasing the cooked shaped poultry products from the moulds or cooking bags, cooling the shaped cooked poultry products to a desired temperature, and packaging the shaped cooked poultry products in plastics packaging bags.

2. A process as claimed in claim 1 in which the process includes the step of sensing the core temperature of the meat at a centre of a mould or cooking bag and maintaining the temperature within the cooker between 75°c and 85°c for slowly cooking the meat within the mould or cooking bag over a period of between 5 and 7 hours until the core temperature reaches 72°c, and preferably at the striping station each mould or cooking bag is mounted on a stripping table and the shaped cooked poultry product is discharged from the mould or cooking bag onto a top of the table, draining juices through openings in a top of the table into a catchment tray beneath the table top, the table having an upstanding flange along an edge of the table, operatives standing behind said flange and reaching across the flange when releasing the shaped cooked poultry products from the mould or cooking bag. A process as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the process includes the step of delivering small sized soft meat pieces and off-cut meat pieces to a i a X Γ ·£ bag filling funnel and feeding the meat pieces into a tubular plastics cooking bag vertically suspended at an outlet of the filling funnel.

3. 4. A manufacturing process for producing cooked turkey

4. 5 meat products substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

5. Cooked poultry meat products whenever produced according to the process as claimed in any preceding claim.