MXPA99000998A - Method of preparing fully cooked bacon derived from pork bellies - Google Patents

Abstract

Methods of curing and processing pork bellies into fully coked bacon have been developed that eliminates the need for smokehouse treatment with a dramatic reduction in processing time and cost. The methods of the present invention employ a single cooking step that both fully cooks a pickle solution infused pork belly and achieves the necessary weight reduction to meet the regulatory product definition for fully cooked bacon. The methods of the present invention may be employed for either strip form or circular form bacon.

Description

METHOD TO PREPARE COMPLETELY COOKED BACON DERIVED FROM PUERCO PANZAS.

DESCRIPTION TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention is generally related to the processing and curing of pork bellies to produce bacon and in particular, to a novel method for processing pork belly in fully cooked bacon without the need of the smoking process.

ANTECEDENTS OF THE INVESTIGATION The term "bacon" broadly defines a category of cured and processed pork bellies. Commonly, pork bellies are cured and processed into bacon in "strips" or in a circular way. The weight and performance of bacon is defined precisely by federal regulations. For example, so that square pork bellies can be labeled as "fresh" bacon, that is to say raw, the pork belly must have a weight that does not exceed the uncured pork belly.

Similarly, for cured pork bellies to be labeled "cooked", or "precooked", raw pork bellies should have a yield not exceeding 40% of the weight of uncured pork bellies; for example, 60% shrinkage of the initial weight of the pig belly, also known as "green weight" is required.

The traditional process for curing pork bellies to create the bacon product causes the infusion of a brine solution into the pork bellies. The infusion of the brine solution creates an infusion weight that exceeds the "green weight". Depending on the manufacturing capacity and customer preference, the infusion weight can be between 1051 and 1157 of the green weight. To comply with the product definition regulations of either fresh or cooked bacon, a gradual weight loss equal to or greater than the additional weight of the injected brine solution must occur. For example, the final weight must be equal to or less than the portion of meat before the injection of the brine solution. Consequently, in order to obtain the necessary weight reduction to comply with the regulatory definitions of the product for the bacon, the previous process has subjected the pork bellies to a cycle of prolonged cooking at low temperature.

Historically, this slow process of cooking was carried out in smokehouses that achieved the necessary weight reduction and also imparted a smoked flavor characteristic of bacon. Modern techniques employ cooking ovens that heat the product to a central temperature of 140 ° F for 5 a cooking cycle of 4 to 5 hours.

This slow heating and low temperature produces a loss of 1 to 15% of the weight injected without reaching temperatures to fully cook the pork tots.

The treatment of the "smokehouse" cooks and eliminates the liquid portion of the brine C leaving only the seasoning contained in the liquid and in this way curing the pork tots and imparting the characteristic flavor of the bacon. After treatment in the smokehouse, the cured pork bellies are substantially free of liquid.

Due to the use of modern slow-cooking ovens, the smoked flavor is now produced in different ways. For the circular bacon, created from two cold-formed pork bellies, are combined and placed in a special container, an agent with smoked flavoring is added to the brine solution. With the bacon in strips, the entire pork belly can also be subjected to an atomized spray of the smoked flavoring agent within the baking chamber of the oven.

For fresh bacon, the "smokehouse" treatment causes adequate weight reduction to return the raw pork belly to the green weight and consequently within the regulations of the product definition fresh bacon after treatment in the smokehouse, the tummy of pork that are intended to be sold as fresh bacon, are weighed to ensure the necessary weight loss of 10% of the weight of infusion or maceration, then the internal temperatures of the pork belly are cooled from 140 ° F to 30 ° F to facilitate slicing. The product is sliced and then packed.

However, for the fully cooked bacon, an additional weight reduction of at least another 60% of the green weight is necessary for the product to reach the regulatory definition of "cooked" bacon. After finishing the smoking process, the pork bellies that are intended to be sold as cooked are weighed to ensure the loss of at least 10% of the infusion or maceration weight.

Whether in a circular or strip form, the internal temperatures of the pork bellies are cooled from approximately 140 ° F to 30 ° F again, this cooling is done to facilitate the slicing process, the bellies are sliced and cooked even more commonly in microwave ovens for a minute and a half to two minutes depending on the amperage of the microwave, the speed of the conveyor belt through the microwave ovens and the number of cavities in the ovens being used.

This additional cooking process causes the necessary shrinkage of 60% so that the raw and now cooked pork tots enter the regulatory definition of cooked bacon.

Then, pork bellies prepared as "fresh" bacon use a unique process using only the smokehouse while cured pork bellies prepared as "cooked" bacon use a two-step process using the smokehouse and a second step, commonly, cooking in the microwave The prior art or art teaches that the smokehouse was necessary to cure pork bellies whether they were sold as fresh or cooked bacon.

From the previous disclosure, it is apparent that the treatment in smokehouses consumes both time and energy and contributes enormously to the cost of bacon production. But with the increasing demand in the cooked bacon market, prior to the development of the present invention, there will be a need for methods to cure and process pork belly in cooked bacon by reducing costs and time associated with the cooking cycle in two steps and in particular with the process in smokehouse.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, new methods have been developed to cure and process the pork belly in cooked bacon eliminating the need for previous treatment in smokehouses with a dramatic reduction in the processing time as well as in the cost. Basically, the methods of the present invention utilize a one-step cooking process that at the same time fully cooks the pork belly macerated in brine and achieves the weight reduction necessary to comply with the regulatory definition of cooked bacon.

The methods of the present invention can be used for bacon in strips or in circular form.

Generally, the methods of the present invention follow traditional methods for curing by mashing the pork bellies in a brine of 105% -115% of its green weight. But instead of subjecting the pork tots in brine to the smoking treatment in the smokehouse to achieve at least a 10% reduction in weight, the methods of the present invention eliminate the smoking process in the smokehouse.

In complete deviation from the smoker method, pork bellies are cooled rapidly to temperatures below those commonly used to facilitate slicing. Specifically, the pork bellies macerated in brine are cooled to between 22 ° F and 25 ° F either in a strip or in a circular form, the reduction in temperature makes the brine in the pork bellies become a semi-solid . This retains the brine solution in the pork bellies, preserves the integrity of the product composition and facilitates the handling of individual slices of pork belly before cooking. Said cooling temperatures also have the effect of cold fixing the individual pork tins that are part of the circular bacon. The reduction of the cooling temperature of the pork bellies macerated in the brine solution also allows the obtaining of thinner slices of the product.

Also, unlike previous techniques, the present invention reduces the thickness of the slices by 5%. The reduction in the thickness of the slices allows firing cycles that are unexpectedly slightly longer than in the two-step cooking cycle processes that employ the smoking process in smokers.

Furthermore, even though the methods of the present invention eliminate the smoking process in smokehouses and employ a single slightly longer cooking cycle, a reduction greater than 60% of the weight of infusion or maceration is sufficient to comply with the regulatory definition of bacon. Cooked.

However, the methods of the present invention result in a fully cooked product with the aroma, taste, texture and appearance of the bacon produced in a smokehouse reducing the curing process and the processing time in approximately 30-35 hours generating as result a significant savings.

Other advantages and aspects of the present invention will be apparent in the detailed description of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED INCORPORATION Although this invention is susceptible to incorporations in many different forms, hereinafter, the preferred embodiments of the invention are described in detail with the understanding that the present disclosure should be considered as an example of the principles of the invention and is not intended limit the broad aspect of the invention to the illustrated embodiment.

The methods of the present invention are directed to curing and processing pork bellies to produce fully cooked bacon in strips or in a circular form. By using low temperatures to cool the brine from the maceration of the pork bellies, this brine becomes a semi-solid and is retained within the pork bellies. This maintains the integrity of the composition of the product and allows to slice the pork bellies into less broad slices thus allowing a unique cooking process.

The one-step cooking cycle employed by the methods of the present invention is generally 15% longer than the two-step cooking process known in the art to produce fully cooked bacon. However, unexpectedly the one-step cooking cycle of the present invention results in a substantial decrease in maceration weight to produce a fully cooked product that complies with the definitions of "cooked" bacon. In addition, cooking in a single step gives preference to microwaves or cooking on the surface for example belts. heated conveyors, produce a fully cooked bacon product that features the color, texture, aroma and characteristic flavor of cooked bacon.

Accordingly, the methods of the present invention eliminate (1) the smokehouse treatment (2) the weight of the product after smokehouse treatment (3) the need to cool pork tots treated in a smokehouse with internal high temperatures of 140 ° F to temperatures to slice 30 ° F. Eliminating these steps results in dramatic savings in processing time and costs.

The following examples describe in greater detail the methods of the present invention with reference to preferred commercial processing operations for both bacon cooked in strips and in circular form. • 10 EXAMPLE 1 SLICE BAKED COOKED IN CIRCULAR FORM The pork bellies of a selected weight and size are cut out in the manner known in this art. Next, a brine solution is injected into the cut pork bellies at 110%, preferably of the weight Fl5 green using a multi-needle drug injector or any other injector known in the art. The brine solution may have a composition known in the art of curetting meat. To impart the smoked flavor to the bacon, a smoker agent must be added to the brine composition. The injected pork bellies are rolled in a vacuum meat maker for a time, sufficient period to intensify the adhesion and join the pork tots. Two pork bellies are rolled and placed in a perforated cylinder. After being placed in the container this product is known as "bacon stump".

At this point, previous techniques in this art teach the treatment in smokers of stuffed pork bellies are cooled from temperatures of 35 to 40 ° F (approximately room temperature within a commercial baler) to not more than 25 ° F and from preference, within a range of 22 to 25 ° F. It has been found that this range of temperatures cold sets the individual bellies inside the containers and cold-fixes the brine solution to retain the solution inside the pork bellies to convert the brine solution to a semisolid.

Sliced and chilled pork bellies are sliced to a thickness of generally 4-5% thinner than what is used in most commercial sausage companies. For example, in reference to the commercial processing operation described herein, the bacon logs that have been subjected to treatment in smokehouses are sliced to a thickness of 0.086 + -0.001 inches. By eliminating the treatment in smokers, the original diameter of the bacon trunk is maintained, and consequently, slices that have an average thickness of 0.083 + - 0.001 inches can be obtained, still fulfilling this way, with the specifications of the client.

This reduction in the thickness of the slices facilitates the necessary shrinkage or reduction and the complete cooking of the product.

The slices are immediately transferred to a cooking appliance. This apparatus may include a belt or conveyor belt, which has a heat conductive surface (also known as a "grilling belt") or as practiced preferably, passing the slices of a conveyor belt through one or two cooking chambers by microwave, in reference to the preferred commercial operation described herein, a 5-well Ferrite ® microwave unit was used. Each cavity is served by two transmitters and each one is set at the maximum amperage levels of 4.20. This amperage placement achieves a temperature within each microwave cavity of approximately 220 ° F. The speed of the conveyor belts has to be decreased from 600 inches per minute for products that have been treated in smokehouses to 550 inches per minute for sliced product processed according to the present invention.

The decrease in conveyor belt speed increases the total dwell time within all microwave cooking cavities from about one minute ten seconds to one minute twenty seconds, or about 15% increase in dwell time.

The sliced product that emerges from the microwave cooking chambers, has the appearance, aroma, flavor and texture of the product processed according to the previous cooking cycle in two steps.

EXAMPLE 2 BAKED BAKED SHAPE As previously disclosed, the pork bellies, of a selected weight and size, are cut in the manner known in this art. Next, a seasoned brine solution is injected into the cut pork bellies at 110% of the green weight using a multi-needle drug injector or any other injector known in the art. The seasoned brine solution can have any composition known in the meat industry. Again an agent with smoked flavor should be added to the brine solution.

The pork bellies are cooled from temperatures of 35 to 40 ° F to no more than 25 ° F and preferably within a range of 22 to 25 ° F, to cold fix and thus retain the brine solution within the bellies of pig to turn the brine into a semi solid.

As described above, the chilled pork bellies are sliced to a thickness of 4-5% less than the thickness of the pork bellies treated in smokehouses. Said reduction in the thickness of the slices, facilitates the reduction or shrinking necessary and completes the cooking process of the product.

Like the circular product, the slices are immediately transferred to a cooking appliance. This apparatus may include a conveyor belt having a heat conducting surface (also known as a "grilling band") or as practiced preferably, by passing the slices on a conveyor belt through one or more microwave cooking chambers and using the preferred amperage and residence time described for the circular product. The sliced product that emerges from the microwave cooking chambers has the appearance, aroma, taste and texture of the processed product according to the prior art of the two-step cooking cycle.

By eliminating the steps of (1) smoked (2) weight of the product after the smoking treatment and (3) the need to cool the pork tots treated in smokehouses from an internal temperature of the meat of 140 ° F to temperatures for slicing of 30 ° F, the present invention achieves substantial reductions in the cost of processing time to produce fully cooked bacon products. For example, by eliminating the necessary 4 to 5 hours for smokehouse treatment, it has been estimated that substantial savings can be achieved in the scale of commercial production of fully cooked bacon products.

Although the specific incorporations have been illustrated and described with reference to the preferred commercial operation, several modifications come to mind depending on the variables presented by other operations. commercial, all without moving away from the spirit or intent of the invention. The protection field is limited only by the field of the appended claims with reference to this specification.

Claims (16)

CLAIMS Claim I is:

1. A method to cure and process pork bellies to produce fully cooked and sliced bacon using a unique cooking process and omitting the smoking process, which basically consists of: Provide pre-selected pork bellies by weight; Marinate pork bellies with a seasoned brine solution; Quickly cool pork bellies long enough to turn the brine into a semi-solid solution; Slice the cold pork belly in several slices; Quickly heat the slices with a heat source to a final weight no greater than 40% of the selected weight and; Continue the heating process with the above-mentioned heat source until the slices are fully cooked.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of maceration includes: Marinate pork bellies with a seasoned brine solution to obtain injected weights greater than the selected weight.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the injected weight is within a range of 105 to 115% of the pre-selected weight.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the cooling step includes cooling the pork bellies between 22 to 25 ° F.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the brine solution includes a flavoring agent to provide the smoked flavor to the pork bellies.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the slices are circular or in strips.

7. - The method of claim 1 wherein the steps for heating the slices include: Pass the slices through a microwave oven.

8. A method to cure and process pork bellies to produce fully cooked bacon in a circular way using a single heating step and omitting the process in a smokehouse that consists of: Provide pork bellies of a selected weight; Stir pork hogs to promote adhesion; Roll up pig's bellies; Stuff the pork bellies rolled up; Cool sauced bellies quickly to a temperature below 25 ° F; Slice chilled pork bellies into several individual circular slices; Expose the chilled slices to a heat source to quickly remove at least 60% of the weight injected, and, Cook the slices with that heat source until they are fully cooked

9. The method of claim 8 wherein the brine solution includes a flavoring agent to impart the smoked flavor to the pork bellies.

10. The method of claim 8 wherein the cooling step includes cooling the pork bellies to between 22 and 25 ° F

11. The method of claim 8 wherein the heat source includes a variety of microwave cooking chambers.

12. A method to cure and process pork bellies to produce bacon in fully cooked strips using 1 heating step and omitting the treatment in smokehouses consisting of: Provide pork bellies of a pre-selected weight; Macerate pork bellies with a liquid solution of seasoned brine to obtain an injected weight greater than the preselected weight; Quickly cool the pork belly at a temperature below 25; Slice chilled pork bellies into several slices; Expose the chilled slices to a heat source to quickly remove at least 60% of the injected weight, and cook the slices with that heat source until the slices are well cooked.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the brine solution includes a flavoring agent to impart the smoked flavor of the pork bellies.

14. The method of claim 12 wherein the cooling step includes cooling the pork bellies to between 22 and 25 ° F

15. The method of claim 12 wherein the heat source includes a variety of microwave cooking chambers.

16. In a method for curing and processing pork bellies to produce slices of fully cooked bacon, including providing the pork bellies with selected weight, and macerating the pork bellies with a seasoned solution of brine, the improvement essentially consists of : Cold fix the brine solution inside the pork bellies; Slice the pork bellies into several individual slices; Heat, reducing the slices with a heat source to a final weight no greater than 40% of the pre-selected weight; and, Continue the heating process of the slices with this heat source until the slices are completely cooked.