MXPA98000162A - Low temperature restoration process, and carn product - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a low temperature melting and extraction process for converting animal trimmings into a beef product, which can be classified as finely textured beef. The process of melting and extraction at low temperature includes the steps of heating the springs without the nerve or tendon of the animals in a heat exchanger having an arrangement of the first-in and first-out type to provide heating of the cuttings without nerve or tendon of the animal at a temperature in the range of about 32.22 ° C (90 ° F) to about 43.33 ° C (110 ° F) to form a hot suspension, separating a stream of solids and a stream of liquids from the hot suspension, the stream of solids it contains an increased amount of protein and moisture, and the liquid stream contains an increased amount of tallow, water soluble proteins, and moisture, separating a heavy phase and a light phase from the liquid stream, the heavy phase contains an increased amount moisture and water soluble proteins, and the light phase contains an increased amount of sebum, and combine the current e of the solids and the heavy phase to form a meat product of r

Description

RESTORATION PROCESS AT LOW TEMPERATURE AND MEAT PRODUCT Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a process of melting and extraction at low temperature and to a meat product. More particularly, it relates to the recovery of a meat product from animal trimmings. The meat product has a reduced fat content and an increased content of essential proteins and amino acids compared to the cuts of unprocessed animals and can be classified as "finely textured meat".

Background of the Invention The processes of fusion and extraction at low temperature have been used to separate the proteins from the tissue of the fat in the cuttings of animals. Low temperature classification processes are described in, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,008,831; 3,020,160; and 3,078,165. The processes generally involve grinding the fatty tissue of animals, such as pigs or cattle, to form a semi-solid paste or meat emulsion, heating the paste or emulsion to melt the fat, and then separating the fat. fat and proteins by centrifugation. The protein can then be used as an ingredient in processed meat products such as sausages and other cured and processed meats. As reported in U.S. Pat. Do not.

No. 3,219,616 to Brissey, it has been found that the protein or meat provided by the low temperature melting and extraction processes of the prior art suffer from undesirable flavor changes shortly after production. To reduce flavor changes after melting and low temperature extraction processes, this patent utilizes a heme conditioning agent (amorphous constituent of the blood) which reacts or combines with the pigments of the meat to reduce the activity of heme pigments which catalyze the development of a whole or complete flavor. The government has foreseen that a certain quality of the meat product obtained from the cuts of animals can be used without manifesting it in meat products of the same species. For example, "finely textured beef" and "finely textured, lean beef" can be used in ground beef without being declared on the label. "Finely textured meat that is required to have a fat content of less than 30%, a protein content of more than 14%, by weight, a protein efficiency ratio (PER) of 2.5 or greater, or a Essential amino acid content (EAA) of 33% of total amino acids or a higher amount, must be prepared in a federally inspected plant, must not have a product temperature during processing that exceeds 43.33 ° C (110 ° F), must be frozen for less than 30 minutes after processing, must not allow a significant increase in the numbers of bacteria, and should not be treated with chemicals or additives.The "finely textured meat, lean" is required to have a content of fat of less than 10%, by weight, and satisfies other requirements of the "finely textured meat".

Brief Description of the Invention A melting and extraction process at a low temperature to convert the animal cuttings into a meat product is provided by the present invention. The process of melting and extraction at low temperature includes the steps of: heating the cuts without tendon of the animal in a heat exchanger that has an arrangement of the first one that leaves or the first one to arrive to provide the heating of the cuts without tendon of the animal at a temperature in the range of about 32.22 ° C (90 ° F) to about 48.88 ° C (120 ° F) to form a hot paste or suspension; separating a stream of solids and a liquid stream from the hot suspension, the stream of solids contains an increased percentage by weight of protein and moisture compared to the weight percentage of the protein and the moisture in the hot suspension, and the liquid stream contains an increased weight percentage of tallow compared to the weight percentage of sebum in the hot suspension; separating a heavy phase and a light phase from the liquid stream, the heavy phase contains an increased weight percent moisture and water soluble protein compared to the weight percent moisture and the water soluble protein in the liquid stream and the light phase contains an increased percentage by weight of tallow compared to the weight percentage of tallow in the liquid stream; and combining the stream of solids and the heavy phase to form a meat product. Preferably, the meat product has a fat content of less than 30%; a protein content greater than 14%; and a protein efficiency ratio of 2.5 or higher, and an essential amino acid content of at least 33% of the total amino acids. In a preferred embodiment, the cuttings of the animal are processed in a closed environment so that atmospheric oxidation is reduced. In addition, animal trimmings are preferably not heated above 43.33 ° C (110 ° F) in the heat exchanger, and are not treated with chemicals or additives. The step of separating a stream of solids and a stream of liquids from the hot suspension can occur in a decanter, and the step of separating a heavy phase and a liquid phase from the liquid stream can occur in a centrifugal machine, and the meat product can be frozen in the interval of approximately 30 minutes of heating the cuts without tendon of the animal in a heat exchanger. The meat product prepared by the melting and extraction process at low temperature is preferably a finely textured meat. Preferably, the process of melting and extraction at low temperature is continuous, but it can be modified for the operations of batches or semilots. A finely textured meat product prepared by melting and low temperature extraction is provided by the present invention. The meat product has a fat content of between about 1 and 10% by weight, a protein content of between about 18 and 21% by weight, a moisture content of between about 72 and 77% by weight, and a content of essential amino acids greater than 33% by weight. More preferably, the meat product has a fat content of between about 2 and 7% by weight. In particular, the finely textured meat product may have a color which closely resembles the uncooked lean meat. As a result, the color can be pink to red.

Brief Description of the Drawings Figure 1 is a flowchart illustrating one embodiment of the low temperature melting and extraction process according to the present invention.

Detailed description of the invention The present invention relates to a method for processing animal clippings, to recover a meat product with a low fat content and a high content of proteins and essential amino acids. It should be noted that "meat product" describes a product that contains proteins which is suitable for human consumption as meat because it contains a certain amount of protein. In general, "animal clippings" refers to the tissue removed by cutting the conventional parts or cuts of the carcasses of animals that produce meat during butchery operations in packing or packaging companies and the like. Conventional cuts or parts are generally sold directly to consumers or further processed, for example, by grinding them into ground beef. The remaining tissue after conventional cuts is removed, or after the conventional cuts have been further trimmed, they generally have a fat content which is too high for human consumption as meat, but contains proteins which can be recovered . In accordance with the present invention, once the animal trimmings are removed from the corpses, they are preferably directed directly to the melting process and low temperature extraction of the present invention. Alternatively, the cuttings of the animals can be cooled and stored prior to processing. The temperature of the cuttings of the animal during the removal of the corpses is usually approximately 4.44 ° C (40 ° F) which corresponds to the temperature at which the corpses are stored prior to the butcher's operation. Cuts of warmer or colder animals can be used in the melting and low temperature extraction process of the present invention. It is anticipated that in the future, the regulations will allow carcasses to be subjected to butchery operations immediately after removal of the hide, therefore prior to the cooling and freezing of the corpses. This will provide more hot animal clippings which will subsequently reduce the heating costs. As will be apparent from the following description, it is important to control the temperature of the processing material throughout the melting and low temperature extraction process of the present invention. Animal clippings can include any part of an animal that is removed by trimming the animal's carcass or cuts. Animal cuttings may include all parts normally found in an animal, including adipose tissue, fat, lean meat, ligaments, tendons, bony parts, and the like. In general it is desirable that if components other than fat, lean meat, and moisture are present, they are present in small amounts and / or can be removed at the nerve removal step or manually, if desired, or they can be left in them if their presence does not adversely affect the properties of the meat product. If large amounts of certain components are present, it may be desirable to have removed them by conventional separation techniques prior to processing according to the present invention. For example, it is generally desirable not to have large amounts of bone present or large amounts of low quality ligaments. It must be kept in mind that "meat-producing animals" include animals that are known to provide meat. Such animals include cattle, pigs, poultry, lambs, deer, fish, and the like. The lean meat material can be referred to as a protein-containing material, and it can be in the form of a water soluble protein which tends to give the meat its color, the soluble protein in a salt which includes muscle fiber, and the insoluble protein which is generally the connective tissue. which surrounds the fiber of the muscle and which fixes the fibers of the muscle to the ligaments. Of particular interest for the purposes of the present invention is the presence of the water-soluble protein and of the protein soluble in a salt in the fatty tissue within the fatty cuts. By separating this material from the cuttings of the animal, a high quality meat product can be provided. The animal cutouts that can be used in the present invention preferably have an average fat content of between about 50 and 80% by weight, and more preferably between about 60 and 70% by weight. The lean meat content of the animal trimmings is preferably between about 20 and 50% by weight, and more preferably between about 30 and 40% by weight, to ensure reliable and consistent results, it is preferable that the lean meat content of the animal cuttings be at least 37% by weight, and even more preferably at least 39% by weight. It should be noted that the lean meat content includes protein and moisture. It is an advantage of the present invention that a high quality meat product can be obtained without adding chemicals or additives to the animal trimmings at any time during the processing thereof. In particular, neither water nor preservatives need to be added during the method of the present invention to provide a meat product having a high moisture and protein content and a low fat content. The steps of the process provided by the following description can be referred to as a closed system since the animal cuttings can be processed without being exposed to the atmosphere and since nothing is added to the cuttings of the animal during processing. By limiting access to the atmosphere, the oxidation of the meat can be limited by reducing or eliminating flavors completely. A preferred embodiment of the invention is described with reference to Figure 1 which provides a diagrammatic illustration of a continuous, low temperature melting and extraction process for converting the cuttings of the animal into a meat product. It should be appreciated that the method of the invention can be adapted to handle a wide range of production speeds of animal trimmings. It is particularly desirable for the process to handle the supply of animal clippings when they are generated in a packing or refrigerating company. It is particularly desirable for the process to handle the supply of animal clippings when they are generated in a packing or refrigerating company. For the purposes of the following description of a preferred embodiment, cuts of beef containing an average of 61% by weight of fat can be processed at a rate of 75.18 g / min. (167 pounds / minute) according to the present invention.

The trimmings of boneless beef at approximately 40 ° F (4.44 ° C) are fed to an apparatus 12 that removes the nerve or tendons, which removes the heavy connective tissue, ligaments, tendons, and the like. if they are present. This is referred to as the nerve removal step which separates the low quality protein fraction (nerve or tendon) from the high quality (muscle-skeletal) protein fraction. The nerve or tendon 34 is discarded, and the cuts 16 of the rib-free or sinewless beef are subsequently processed to remove the fat. The nerve or tendon removal apparatus 12 is preferably a 0.5 mm rectangular pump deboner 290 / 125-7PX to remove heavy connective tissue. The removal of the tendon or nerve may or may not remove the entire connective tissue. In general, the removal step of the nerve or tendon removes a large amount of the low quality protein component from the animal's cuttings. For the previous exemplary mode, the removal step of the nerve or tendon removes 5.86 kg / min. (12.9 pounds / min.) Of nerve or tendon and causes the cuts of beef to increase its temperature to approximately 7.77-8.88 ° C (46-48 ° F). The pace of removal of the nerve or tendon is preferably quite fast and, for the above exemplary embodiment, less than one minute of time is taken for a given volume of cuttings of the animal. In addition to removing the nerve or tendon, the withdrawal step of the nerve or tendon reduces the viscosity of the cuttings of the animal which facilitates the flow through a pipe. By separating the nerve or tendon 14 from the cuttings 16 of the cattle, the proportion of essential amino acids with respect to the total amino acids in the final beef product can be increased. Accordingly, it should be appreciated that the content of essential amino acids and the protein efficiency ratio of the final beef product can be adjusted, when desired, based on the withdrawal step of the nerve or tendon. The cuttings 16 without rib or tendon of the cattle are fed to a heat exchanger 18 and heated to approximately 42.22 ° C (108 ° F). The fat component of cuttings 16 without rib or beef tendon generally begins to melt at approximately 33.33 ° C (92 ° F), and becomes almost liquid at about 42.22 ° C (108 ° F) when the same comes out of the exchanger 18 as the cutouts 20 without rib of the beef, liquefied. The dimensions of the heat exchanger should be sufficient to provide the cuttings without a liquefied tendon or rib, of the beef, without cooking or denaturing the protein significantly. In the above exemplary embodiment, heat exchanger 18 is a jacketed pipe of 5.08-7.62 cm (2-3 inches) in diameter and approximately 274.32 m (900 feet) in length with water introduced at 46.11 ° C (115 °). F) circulating in the jacket to heat the beef without rib or tendon, and the cuts of the beef experience a residence time in the jacketed or jacketed tubular heat exchanger 18 of about 14 to 16 minutes. It should be appreciated that a shorter heat exchanger could be used. However, a shorter heat exchanger may require hotter water in the jacket to provide sufficient heating. If the water is too hot, the risk of overheating of the cuts without rib or tendon of the beef increases. For example, a heat exchanger approximately 91.44 meters (300 feet) in length may require water to enter the jacket at approximately 62.77 ° C (145 ° F) which could, occasionally, lead to overheating. The heat exchanger 18 can be described having an arrangement of first arriving and first exiting. This means that substantially all of the cuttings without rib or tendon of the beef are processed in the heat exchanger for approximately the same time interval. In other words, cuts without beef rib or tendon flow through the heat exchanger without significant amounts remaining in the heat exchanger for extended periods of time compared to cuts without similarly processed rib or tendon. This ensures that the trimmings of the beef are heated consistently and that certain fractions of the trimmings of the cattle do not remain in the heat exchanger too long leading to the denaturation or to the cooking thereof. In addition, the process of the first to arrive and first to exit reduces bacterial accumulation which could otherwise occur in animal clippings heated for a prolonged period of time. It should be appreciated that this type of processing is advantageous over the boiler or tank type heat exchangers of the prior art, which allow certain portions of the cattle to remain there for too long. In addition, many heat exchangers of the boiler or tank type of the prior art are open to the atmosphere, which allows the beef to be oxidized, leading to deterioration of the same. It should be appreciated that the complete low temperature melting and extraction process can be an arrangement of the first that arrives and the first that comes out and can be substantially closed to the atmosphere. However, certain steps in the process can not be completely the same as the first that arrives and the first that comes out. For example, during centrifugation, portions of the separation stream may remain in the separator for slightly longer periods of time. These separators, however, are preferably designed to provide an operation of the type of first arriving and first coming out. Since the complete low temperature melting and extraction process of the present invention can be enclosed, the degree of oxidation can be reduced, and bacterial growth and contamination can be reduced. In addition, by processing the cuttings of the animal in an arrangement of the first that arrives and the first that comes out, it is possible to reduce or eliminate the portions of the processing material that are subjected to a prolonged heating or processing. The cuttings 20 of the cattle without rib or tendon, liquefied, leave the heat exchanger at a temperature of about 42.22 QC (108 ßF) in the form of a suspension, and is fed to a particle reducer 22 wherein the sizes of The particles in the suspension are reduced to form a dispersion 24 having a fairly uniform consistency. The particle reducer 22 can be a particle reducer manufactured by Urschel Laboratories Co. The dispersion 24 is fed to a decanter 26 which provides the separation of the solids / liquids in a stream of solids 28 from the decanter containing a weight percentage protein and moisture compared to the dispersion 24, and a stream of liquids 30 from the decanter, containing an increased percentage by weight of tallow, water soluble proteins, and moisture compared to the dispersion 24. It should be noted that in the context of this invention, the use of the phrase "an increased amount" refers to an increased weight percentage of a particular component relative to the weight percentage of that previous component in the stream, before it is subjected to a step of separation. In the above exemplary embodiment, the decanter 26 is a CA-405 Decanter sold by the Separator AG, modified to provide a bowl which is designed to accommodate a high load of solids, and which has a smooth current input to reduce the shearing. The soft inlet stream is preferable since it reduces the amount of shear or shear which could cause the protein and fat to be emulsified thereby reducing the separation of the fat and protein. Therefore, the soft current input is designed to accelerate the current to approximately the same speed as the mass in the decanter prior to mixing. In addition, the complete design of the decanter 26 should provide sanitary processing, which includes sanitary materials and accepted construction materials, first-in-first-out and first-in-place processing, and "on-site cleaning" capabilities. The liquid stream 30 of the decanter containing an increased amount of tallow, water soluble protein, and moisture, is subjected to a liquid / liquid separation in a separator 32 to provide a heavy phase stream 34 of the separator, which contains an increased amount of moisture and water soluble protein, and a light phase stream 36 of the separator containing an increased amount of tallow. The separator 32 is preferably a RSD 300-96-777 binder, sold by Westfalia Separator AG, which is modified so that the bottom disc is of slightly reduced diameter. Alternatively, the separator may be a Westfalia RSA-450 Separator modified to provide a stack of discs to accommodate a higher solids loading, or a Westfalia MSD-60 Clarifier. It is believed that the Westfalia RSD 300-96-777 Clarifier provides a greater degree of separation and is capable of handling a larger total processing volume. The heavy phase stream 34 from the separator is combined with the stream of solids 28 from the decanter at a mixing point 38 to form a finished product 39 which has a low fat content and a high content of essential amino acids. The light phase stream 36 of the separator can be further processed to provide an edible material processed by melting and extraction, which can be referred to as a tallow or edible fat. This usually involves removing moisture from it using additional heating and • centrifugation. It should be appreciated that the separation steps of the present invention do not provide complete or total separation of protein and fat, or of solids and liquids, etc. Accordingly, it is believed that each stream of a separation step contains a larger (or increased) amount of certain components and a smaller (or smaller) amount of other components. The finished product 39 is rapidly frozen in a freezing apparatus 40 which may be a Freeze Wheel System sold by Reno Technology. The frozen beef product 41 is then packaged for storage or sale. Alternatively, the beef product may be combined with another beef product to provide ground beef. The total processing time through the melting and low temperature extraction process of the present invention is preferably less than 30 minutes (from withdrawal of the nerve or tendon to freezing), and more preferably less than 25 minutes. For the above exemplary embodiments wherein cuts of beef containing an average fat content of 61% by weight, are fed in the melting and low temperature extraction process described above at a rate of approximately 75.18 kg / in. . (167 pounds / min.), Approximately 19.97 kg / min can be obtained. (44 pounds / min.) Of the frozen beef product. This corresponds to a production speed of approximately 5.90 kg / min. (13 pounds / min.) Of nerve or tendon, and approximately 49.4.8 kg / min. (109 pounds / min.) Of tallow for the melting and extraction process. The separation steps provide a decanter solids stream of approximately 12.71 kg / min. (28 pounds / min.), And a heavy phase of approximately 7.72 kg / min. (17 pounds / min.). The content of the various streams throughout the melting and low temperature extraction process, described above, is provided in Table 1.

Table 1 * Sample not analyzed for Applicants believe that an important aspect of the invention is the step wherein the solids stream of the decanter containing an increased amount of moisture and protein is combined with the heavy phase of the separator containing an increased amount of moisture and of the water soluble protein to provide a beef product. As demonstrated by the data in Table 1, this step increases the content of essential amino acids while further reducing the fat content compared to the solids stream of the decanter. In addition, this step provides a fat content of less than 30% by weight; a protein content of more than 14% by weight; a protein efficiency ratio (PER) of 2.5 or higher; and an essential amino acid content (EAA) of 33% of the total amino acids or a higher amount. Advantageously, it is possible to provide a fat content of less than 20% by weight, more preferably less than 10% by weight, even more preferably between about 1 and 7% by weight, and more preferably between about 2 and 5% by weight . In addition, it is possible to provide a protein content preferably greater than 18% by weight, and more preferably greater than 20% by weight. For the processing of the trimmings of the beef according to the present invention, it is believed that the preferred content, by weight, of the fat, moisture, and protein in the separation stages for the decanter and the separator, and for the final product, are provided in Table 2. Additionally it is believed that pork meat trimmings can be processed to provide the same ranges of fat, moisture and protein.

Table 2 The starting material for use in the present invention is preferably cuts of pork or boneless beef. It should be understood, however, that the present invention could be applied to animal trimmings containing undesirable components such as bones, cartilages, etc. In particular, it can be useful to remove undesirable components at some stage during the process. An apparatus for separating meat and bone which could be used in accordance with the present invention is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,186,216 of Roth. It should be noted that it is desirable to rapidly chill the protein to prevent spoilage. Certain government regulations require that the protein product be reduced below 4.44 ° C (40 ° F) within the period of half an hour since its separation from the fat. To achieve optimal growth inhibition of bacteria, the product should be lowered to a temperature from -17.77 ° C (0 ° F) to -12.22 ° C (10 ° F). It is an advantage of the present invention that the method can be practiced without raising the temperature of the processed beef above about 43.33.

° C (110 ° F), and provide a final frozen product within the range of approximately 30 minutes of processing. A refrigeration apparatus which can be used in the present invention is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,098,095 to Roth, the description of which is incorporated herein for reference. The finely textured beef of the present invention can be used in ground beef without being declared on the label and can be used, if desired, in additional products such as meat chips, steaks or sandwich steaks, stuffed tacos, pizza tops, chili peppers or chilli peppers, beef steaks, ethnic main dishes, meatballs, beef for a snack, cooked roast beef, sausages, and the like. Although the invention has been described in conjunction with the specific embodiments thereof, it is evident that different alternatives, modifications, variations, and uses will be apparent to those skilled in the art in view of the foregoing description. Consequently, the invention is not limited to these modalities or apparatuses presented here.

It is noted that in relation to this date the best method known by the applicant to carry out the aforementioned invention, is that which is clear from the present description of the invention.

Having described the invention as above, property is claimed as contained in the following 15 20

Claims (28)

1. A process of melting and extraction at low temperature to convert animal cuttings into a beef product, the melting and extraction process at low temperature is characterized in that it comprises the steps of: (a) heating the cuttings without rib or tendon of the animal in a heat exchanger having an arrangement of the first out and first coming type, at a temperature in the range of about 32.22 ° C (90 ° F) to about 48.88 ° C (120 ° F) for form a hot suspension; (b) separating a stream of solids and a liquid stream from the hot suspension, the stream of solids contains an increased weight percentage of protein and moisture compared to the weight percentage of the protein and the moisture in the hot suspension; (c) separating a heavy phase and a light phase from the liquid stream, the heavy phase contains an increased weight percent moisture and water soluble protein compared to the weight percent moisture and the water soluble proteins in the hot liquid stream; and (d) combining the stream of solids and the heavy phase to form a beef product.

2. The process of melting and extraction at low temperature according to claim 1, characterized in that the step of separating a stream of solids and a stream of liquids from the hot suspension is provided by a decanter.

3. The process of melting and extraction at low temperature according to claim 1, characterized in that the step of separating a heavy phase and a light phase from the liquid stream is provided by a centrifugal machine.

4. The process of melting and extraction at low temperature according to claim 1, characterized in that the beef product has a fat content of less than about 30%; a protein content greater than about 14%; and a protein efficiency ratio of about 2.5 or higher.

5. The process of melting and extraction at low temperature according to claim 1, characterized in that the product of the beef has an essential amino acid content of at least 33% of the total amino acids.

6. The process of melting and extraction at low temperature according to claim 1, characterized in that the cuts without rib or tendon of the animal are not heated above 43.33 ° C (110 ° F) in the heat exchanger.

7. The process of melting and extraction at low temperature according to claim 1, characterized in that the product of the beef is frozen within the interval of about 30 minutes of the step of heating the cuttings without rib or without tendon of the animal in a heat exchanger.

8. The process of melting and extraction at low temperature according to claim 1, characterized in that the beef product is finely textured beef.

9. The process of melting and extraction at low temperature according to claim 1, characterized in that the cuttings of the animal have a lean meat content of at least 37%, by weight.

10. The process of melting and extraction at low temperature according to claim 1, characterized in that the cuttings of the animals have a lean meat content of at least 39%, by weight.

11. A beef product, characterized in that it is prepared according to the process of claim 1.

12. A product of beef recovered from animal trimmings; characterized in that the product of the beef has a fat content of between about 1 and 10% by weight, a protein content of between about 18 and 21% by weight, a moisture content of between about 72 and 77% in weight, and an essential amino acid content of at least 33% of the total amino acids.

13. A beef product according to claim 12, characterized in that the product of the beef has not been heated above 43.33 ° C (110 ° F).

14. A beef product according to claim 12, characterized in that the beef product has a fat content of between about 2 and 7% by weight.

15. A low temperature melting and extraction process for converting animal trimmings into a beef product, the melting and low temperature extraction process is characterized in that it comprises the steps of: (a) heating the trimmings of the animal in a heat exchanger having a first-in-first-out arrangement at a temperature in the range of about 32.22 ° C (90 ° F) to about 48.88 ° C (120 ° F) to form a hot suspension; (b) feeding the hot suspension to a decanter and separating the hot suspension into a stream of solids and a stream of liquids, the stream of solids contains an increased percentage by weight of protein and moisture compared to the percentage by weight of the protein and of moisture in the hot suspension, and the flow of liquids containing an increased percentage by weight of tallow, water soluble proteins, and moisture compared to the weight percentage of tallow, the water soluble proteins and the moisture in the hot suspension; (c) feeding the liquid stream from the decanter to a separator and separating the flow of liquids into a heavy phase and a light phase, the heavy phase containing an increased percentage by weight of the moisture and the water soluble proteins compared to the weight percentage of moisture and water-soluble proteins in liquids, solids, and the light phase containing an increased percentage by weight of tallow compared to the weight percentage of tallow in the liquid stream; (d) feeding the solids stream from the decanter and the heavy phase of the separator to a mixing point; and (e) combining the stream of solids and the heavy phase at the mixing point to provide a beef product.

16. The process of melting and extraction at low temperature according to claim 15, characterized in that the product of the beef has a fat content of less than about 30 percent; a protein content greater than about 14%; and a protein efficiency ratio of about 2.5 or higher.

17. The process of melting and extraction at low temperature according to claim 15, characterized in that the meat product has an essential amino acid content of at least 33 percent of the total amino acids.

18. The process of melting and extraction at low temperature according to claim 15, characterized in that the cuttings without rib or tendon of the animal are not heated above 43.33 ° C (110 ° F) in the heat exchanger.

19. The process of melting and extraction at low temperature according to claim 15, characterized in that steps (a) - (e) are provided in a closed system.

20. The low temperature melting and extraction process according to claim 15, characterized in that the beef product is frozen within the interval of about 30 minutes from the heating step of the animal cuttings in a heat exchanger.

21. The process of melting and extraction at low temperature according to claim 15, characterized in that it further comprises a step of removing the nerve or tendon to the cuttings of the animal prior to the step of heating the cuttings of the animal in a heat exchanger.

22. The process of melting and extraction at low temperature according to claim 15, characterized in that the product of the beef is finely textured beef.

23. The process of melting and extraction at low temperature according to claim 15, characterized in that the cuttings of the animal have a lean meat content of between about 30 and 40% by weight.

24. The process of melting and extraction at low temperature according to claim 15, characterized in that the cuttings of the animal have a lean meat content of between about 30 and 37% by weight.

25. The process of melting and extraction at low temperature according to claim 15, characterized in that the cuttings of the animal have a lean meat content of at least 37 weight percent.

26. The process of melting and extraction at low temperature according to claim 15, characterized in that the cuttings of the animal have a lean meat content of at least 39 weight percent.

27. The process of melting and extraction at low temperature according to claim 15, characterized in that it also comprises the step of cooling the product of the beef.

28. The process of melting and extraction at low temperature according to claim 27, characterized in that the product of the meat is frozen within the interval of approximately 25 minutes of the step of heating the cuttings of the animal in a heat exchanger.