MXPA99007532A - Brine formulation for curing extruded sausage strand - Google Patents

Abstract

A method and means for coagulating a co-extruded collagen gel on a food product is described wherein a highly dissoluble salt having a dissolubility of at least 8 moles per liter water at 20°C is applied to the collagen gel whereby the collagen gel is coagulated in less than 60 seconds. The collagen gel is acidifed with an inorganic acid such as hydrochloric or sulfuric acid and has a dry matter of between 3 and 25%.

Description

SALMUERA FORMULATION TO CURE EXTRUDED SAUSAGE STRIPS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to the preparation of foods coated with collagen, especially sausages. There are two methods to make sausages. The first consists of taking the natural or artificial cover of the sausage and stuffing it with sausage meat. Recently, coextrusion of a strip of sausage material, which has a meat emulsion filling having an outer surface material that can be set to provide a coating for the strip, is known. The outer surface material may consist of a gel with collagen protein. The curd usually consists of subjecting the extruded strip in a solution of brine (salt). The brine is applied immediately after the strip is extruded to set the proteins in the gel. In generally known methods, the water content of the gel coating is decreased by means of osmosis by subjecting the food strip to a bath of concentrated salt. Then, an air drying step is used to promote the strength of the sausage cover. After this treatment, the mechanical properties of the cover are insufficient to allow the food, ie the sausage strip, to be twisted, stapled or hung in a conventional manner. In this common method, it is normal to shape the coextruded food strip and cut it into individual elements. Then these elements are placed in a hot air dryer for the treatment of individual elements, for example, drying, smoking, etc. This known method has a number of disadvantages. First, sausages produced with this coextrusion method sometimes have inferior qualities, including inferiority in color, taste, or appearance compared to sausages that have been produced with a natural or artificial cover. This is due to the long residence times of the meat in the brine solution, necessary for sufficient curdling of the collagen gel. During this time, the brine solution is absorbed by the meat which can cause an unpleasant taste. Another disadvantage with the coextrusion process is that the standard smoking and / or cooking facilities can not be used economically in the subsequent processing of the meat. The reduction of the resistance in the cover, resulting from the treatment with brine, requires the use of a smoking and cooking facility where the shaped / cut sausages are transported in a horizontal band. In the standard smoking and cooking facilities, the sausage strips are hung on hooks on sticks and processed in this way. Apart from the fact that the coextrusion process requires investment in new smoking and cooking facilities, the process of sausages on a band results in a different and undesirable appearance to that of conventional sausages of natural and artificial cover. International Patent Application WO930 / 12660 by Morgan et al. Discloses a co-extrusion method that attempts to solve the aforementioned problems. This method also includes the steps of coextruding a similar layer of collagen gel around an extruded edible product and the subsequent chemical curd of the extruded collagen gel using chemical curdling means, but without the hot air drying step to be able to reach a cover of collagen curdled around the edible product. This is mainly achieved by prolonging the brine treatment with a more effective brine solution compared to the traditional coextrusion process. In the above procedure, sodium chloride brine solutions are commonly used. In Morgan and others, the most effective brine solution is to use other salts that give superior osmotic drying at the same time that they reduce the taste and appearance effects that limit traditional methods. The use of sodium carbonate is proposed. The dissolubility of the sodium carbonate and the osmotic drying resistance of the brine are increased by heating the brine solution. However, this exposed method does not adequately solve the aforementioned problems and disadvantages. First, the sausages made using the method described by Morgan and others, do not have sufficient cover strength to carry out traditional processing, that is, hanging on sticks. For example, when the strips of edible food produced are hung, the partially fluid meat mixture flows downward, giving an undesirable conical shape to the edible food. Another disadvantage is that, due to the prolonged residence in the curdling bath, the salt content in the cover and in the meat mixture is high. With respect to the type of salts used in the brine, this results in unwanted physical and organoleptic changes of the sausage mixture, as in the taste, consistency and firmness of the meat mixture. In addition, the high solvent temperatures necessary to complete the curdling process tend to change the color of the meat, and weaken the coating by protein denaturation. Therefore, the main object of the present invention is to provide a method for making coextruded food strips with an edible cover wherein the above problems and disadvantages of known coextrusion methods do not occur. Still another object of the present invention is to provide novel means of curdling the collagen gel in a co-extruded food product. Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for curing gel containing collagen in the coextrusion process that allows for shorter curing times.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a gel curdling medium containing collagen in the coextrusion process that does not adversely affect the organoleptic properties of the food. Another object of the present invention is to provide a gel curdling medium containing collagen in the coextrusion process which eliminates the need to air dry after curdling. A further object of the present invention is to provide a collagen gel curdling medium in the coextrusion process that is economical. A further object of the present invention is to create by coextrusion a substantially uniform layer of a gel containing collagen, with a dry material of between 3 and 25%, around an elongated strip of food wherein the gel is acidified using an inorganic acid which is contacted with an aqueous solution containing a highly dissolvable salt. These and other objects will be apparent from the following description of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention shows the use of a highly dissolvable salt to set a collagen-containing gel around an edible food in a coextrusion process. Said gel containing collagen has been acidified using an inorganic acid and has a dry material of between 3 and 25%. The highly dissolvable salt provides superior osmotic drying of the collagen gel, which in turn shortens the setting time. This allows the temperature of the bath or curing solution to be lowered. Said highly dissolvable salts are especially effective to produce a high strength collagen shell within the shortest time possible when used in combination with a collagen containing gel which has been acidified using an inorganic acid. And even more effective when used in combination with a gel that has a dry material between 3 and 25%. The method also eliminates the need to air dry after curdling. The new coextrusion method offers many advantages compared to conventional coextrusion methods. First, the decrease in the temperature of the curdling bath allows the use of ambient temperatures, which do not change the color of the meat. In addition, shorter residence times reduce the migration of the salt solution in the meat, preventing the unpleasant taste. The method also provides cost reduction due to the elimination of the step of air drying and curing temperature control, as well as savings in the use of salt and energy. The highly dissolvable salts suitable in the use of the present invention have a solubility at 20 ° C of at least 8 moles per liter of water. Naturally, the salts used must be approved foods. When using this type of salt, the curdling process is done in 60 seconds or less. Preferred salts include potassium dipotassium, phosphate and carbonate, which are particularly suitable for their characteristic unsaturation and high dissolubility. The gel surrounding the food is a substantially uniform layer of a collagen-containing gel around an elongated strip of food wherein the gel is acidified, at least partially, using an inorganic acid, and with a dry material of between 3 and 25%, which makes contact with an aqueous solution containing a highly dissolvable salt.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 is a plan view of a sausage extrusion unit and an associated conveyor. Figure 2 is a side elevation view as viewed from the bottom of Figure 1. Figure 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Figure 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED MODALITY The present invention provides a method and composition for chemically curing the gel containing coextruded collagen surrounding an edible food, that is, sausages. The coextrusion methods are mainly used for the co-extrusion of sausages or sausage-like materials. Although the present process is particularly concerned with the making of sausages, it can also be used to produce other foods coated with collagen such as fish or meat products containing vegetables or cheese or both. Therefore, although the description of the process will be in terms of the production of sausage strips, the process is clearly not limited to that particular food. The term "sausage" as used herein, refers to any type of emulsified meat product that adapts sausage or sausage links or the like. The term "curdling" is a term of the art in the production of sausage material coated with collagen and not strictly scientific in the sense in which it is used. As used in this description, curd refers to the step involving hardening and stabilization of the cover. This is mainly achieved in two ways: firstly when removing the water from the collagen gel; and second when interlacing the collagen fibers.

Concentrated salt solutions are used in the art for the curdling of the collagen gel in the coextrusion processes. Conventional salt solutions typically use sodium chloride. As stated above, however, the use of sodium chloride in curdling baths presents many problems. This invention is the first to use a highly dissolvable salt for the curdling of a collagen gel in the coextrusion process in combination with an inorganically acidified collagen cover gel, having a dry material of between 3 and 25%. The highly dissolvable salt provides greater osmotic drying of the collagen gel, thus shortening the gel curdling time. The highly soluble salt also allows to lower the setting temperature. The highly dissolvable salt offers many advantages compared to conventional curdling methods, particularly when used in combination with a gel containing inorganically acidified collagen and having a dry material of between 3 and 25%. First, the shorter curd time reduces the exposure of the meat product or other product to the salt solution. Therefore, there is less migration of the salt solution in the meat, thus eliminating the unpleasant taste typically produced when using sodium chloride. Since the temperature of the curdling bath can be lowered, it is possible to use ambient temperatures (meat store) in the procedure, which prevent the color change of the meat normally associated with exposure to high temperatures. The shorter curing time provides a cost reduction by eliminating the need to control the setting temperature, thus allowing the use of a smaller curd bath (or a shorter conveyor bar), also reducing the use of salt and energy . In addition, the use of highly dissoluble salt in the curd step sufficiently reduces the water content of the cover to make the air drying step, which is normally necessary to reduce the water content of the cover to an acceptable level , no longer necessary. Eliminating this costly and time-consuming air drying step reduces the cost of the coextrusion process significantly. Air drying is the most common form of drying used in conventional coextrusion processes and is the main feature that limits the speed of the process. Therefore, the present invention not only provides a product that can be handled and / or hung directly, but which is cheaper to operate than the known coextrusion processes. Even without the air drying step, the manufactured cover has sufficient strength to allow mechanical separation of the product into individual food elements that are connected to each other. Therefore, it is possible to prepare fresh, smoked or cooked edible foods whose properties are the same as those edible foods that have been prepared in a natural or edible or artificial inedible cover. The highly soluble salts that can be used in the present invention have a solubility at 20 ° C of at least 8 moles per liter of water. The highly dissolvable salts that can be used must be approved. The preferred salts are potassium phosphate and potassium carbonate, due to its high dissolubility and lack of flavor. The highly dissolvable salt is used in an aqueous curdling solution. Must be present in an amount between 25 and 200% weight / volume. The preferred concentration of salt is between 80 and 100% by weight / volume. The concentrated salt solution according to the present invention provides a curdling of the outer surface of a food strip in less than 60 seconds. The preferred curd bath has a pH ranging from 7 to 14, preferably from 8 to 9 and a temperature between 0 ° C and 20 ° C, preferably from 4 to 7 ° C. The curdling solution may contain a combination of highly dissolvable salts, or other additives such as salts, crosslinking agents, plasticizers, colorants or other functional ingredients. The gel used in this invention contains collagen. The collagen is derived from suitable sources of animal origin known in the art of manufacturing collagen films such as bovine or porcine skin or porcine serous. The crude collagen is extracted in a pure fibrillar form necessary to achieve the desired result. There are many known methods for obtaining adequate fibrillar collagen, which can be used successfully in combination with the invention. The fibrillar collagen is brought to suspension with water and acidified to allow the collagen to swell, that is, bind the water, and allow the suspension to set as a gel. Normally any acid approved for food is adequate to inflate the collagen. However, it was surprisingly found that in combination with a curdling method using a highly dissolvable salt, it is beneficial to use an inorganic acid such as hydrochloric or sulfuric acid, as opposed to organic acids such as lactic or acidic acid. The inorganically swollen gel may contain other functional ingredients such as organic acids, coloring crosslinking agents, fillers such as cellulose fibers, plasticizers such as glycerol, among others. The combined dry material of the gel, i.e., collagen and other functional ingredients, is between 3 and 25%. The dry collagen material is preferably 2-15%, most preferably 3-8%. The combined dry material is preferably between 4 and 10%. In all the possibilities the rest of the gel contains water. If an interlacing agent is added it will comprise about 0.1-5% of the gel. In operation, the co-extruder will have two separate pumps, one for the meat emulsion and one for the collagen gel. The co-extruder may have a design known in the art, such as a conical extruder or a counter-rotating disc extruder. Optionally, the liquid smoker or other interlacing agent will pass through the collagen gel before co-extrusion. Preferably the liquid smoker is introduced into the gel stream prior to extrusion between the gei pump and the extruder. Other functional ingredients such as coloring agents can also be included in the shell, for example, within an interlacing agent injected into the gel prior to extrusion. Alternatively, the functional ingredient can be independently injected into the gel prior to extrusion. An emulsion strip of meat or other food and the collagen are co-extruded from their respective pumps so that the material of the collagen gel is on the external surface of the emulsion. Normally, the amount of collagen-containing gel coextruded around the edible product is from 3 to 10% of the total weight of the gel and the food product. Preferably, the terminated collagen gel cover has a thickness of about 10 to 50 microns. The thickness is generally in proportion to the diameter of the food strip. The materials can be co-extruded onto a moving conveyor belt where the moving coated sausage can be sprayed with a quantity of curdling solution, or through a curdling bath treatment. When a highly concentrated salt solution is used in a bath treatment where the extruded sausage strip can float in said bath, it may be beneficial to provide means for immersing the whole surface of the sausage in the curdling solution. This prevents the uneven grinding of the sausage surface due to the high ionic content of the brine, without said means the upper part of the strip does not curdle sufficiently, or at least not the same as the lower section immersed. If a bath is used, it will usually comprise a shallow channel having a conveyor to allow the curdling solution to freely contact the co-extruded collagen layer. If a sprinkling system is used, it will preferably include a means for rotating the sausage strip longitudinally to allow the curdling solution to contact the outer surface of the food strip. Other treatment solutions can be applied to the food strip concurrently or following the initial settling step. The speed of the conveyor belt is controlled by a computer or other means so that the food strip is in contact with the curdling solution for a sufficient amount of time to set the outer surface. As stated above, with the highly dissolvable salt solution, this period of time is less than 60 seconds. Once the outer surface of the food strip is sufficiently curdled, it is not necessary to use an air drying step. The food strip is discharged into a suitable collection receptacle where it can then be formed in a plurality of lengths at that location, if desired using means known to those skilled in the art. The excess brine in the food strip after curdling is preferably removed before or after separation into fragments. Removal can be achieved, for example, by rinsing with water or another fluid such as ethanol. Or it can be achieved by mechanical means such as scraping or blown air under pressure. A preferred embodiment of the invention will be described by means of an example in conjunction with Figures 1-3. No attempt is made to limit the scope of the present invention in any way.

EXAMPLE 1 Production of coextruded sausages In general, Figures 1 and 2 set forth a co-extrusion machine where the curdling solution and the preferred collagen-containing gel of the present invention can be used. The number 10 denominates a machine of coextrusión and a transporter. Number 12 is a hopper for meat emulsion that uses a meat pump machine to pump emulsified meat. A collagen gel pump 16 has a hopper 18 to receive the collagen gel. It is connected by a conduit 19 to an in-line mixer 20. A tube connects the in-line mixer 20 to the co-extruder 24, which is capable of extruding a cylindrical meat emulsion strip with a collagen gel material on the outer surface. The co-extruder 24 is connected by a tube 25 to the meat pump 14. The conventional coextruded sausage strip 26 (FIG. 3) has a stuffing of emulsified meat material 27 and the collagen gel comprising the outer surface 28. The liquid smoker of the liquid smoker dispenser 30 can be used as a curd material to set the other surface 28 of the sausage strip 26. The liquid smoker dispenser 30 can be connected in any convenient manner such as in line 32 to the in-line mixer 20 (FIG. 1 ). A conveyor 34 is mounted on the frame 36 and has a starting point 38 adjacent to the exit end of the co-extruder 24, and a discharge station 40 which is located outside and at the bottom of the starting point 38. Three wheels teeth 42 are positioned so as to rotate in the frame 36 and are adapted to rotate on a horizontal axis. As best shown in Figure 2, two of the cogwheels 42 are positioned vertically with respect to each one in the lower part of the starting point 38, and the third sprocket 42 is located at the outer end of a discharge station 40 adjacent to the conveyor. Two vertical arrows 44 are placed on opposite ends of the frame 36. Each arrow 42 has five rotating sprockets 46, which are adapted to rotate in arrows 44 on the vertical axis of the arrows. Each group of five sprockets 46 is located in the same parallel plane as each of the sprockets in the opposite vertical arrow 44. An endless conveyor belt 48 is mounted in a circuit in sprockets 42 and 46. An infrared heater 50 is placed in the frame 36 adjacent to the discharge station 40. An impeller 51 for the conveyor belt 48 is located adjacent to the discharge station 40 as best shown in Figures 1 and 2.

The band 48 (Figure 3) is placed between a plurality of elongated L-shaped guides 54, which are secured to the frame 36. Elongated rails 56 are mounted on the bearings 58 extending longitudinally through the guides. With reference to figure 2, a brine circuit system 74 includes a brine pump 76. A plurality of miscellaneous control valves 78 is imposed on the brine circuit 74 to selectively control the flow of brine through the system. A fluid line 80 extends from the pump 76 and includes a plurality of spaced nozzles 82, which are located in a plurality of locations in the frame 36 directly on the conveyor belt 48 (see Figure 3) to provide a spray of curdling solution in the sausage strip 36. The brine circuit 74 includes a brine tank 84 which is connected to a pickle pan 86 of brine, located at the bottom of the levels of the conveyor belt 48. As shown in FIG. said previously, the present invention shows a method and means for using a curdling solution containing a highly dissolvable salt to make a coextruded product with more strength, taste and appearance, than foods produced with conventional coextrusion processes. further, the use of highly dissolvable salt reduces costs because the coextrusion process is simpler, that is, it does not need an air drying step or temperature control, as well as reduces the use of salt and energy consumption. The use of gel containing inorganically acidified collagen having a dry material of between 3 and 25% in combination with highly ionic curing fluid gives an unprecedented high strength coextruded shell. Therefore it can be seen that the present invention achieves at least all the stated objectives.

Claims (25)

NOVELTY OF THE INVENTION CLAIMS

1. A method for setting the external surface of a co-extruded food product consisting of: co-extruding a strip of food material to create a substantially uniform layer of a collagen-containing gel around an inner strip of food material, acidifying said gel containing collagen using an inorganic acid; coating the strip with a curdling solution to create a coated strip, said curdling solution containing a highly dissolvable salt; and allowing the coated strip to set.

2. A process according to claim 1, further characterized in that the highly dissolvable salt has a dissolubility scale of at least 8 moles per liter of water at 20 ° C.

3. A process according to claim 2, further characterized in that the highly dissolvable salt is selected from the group consisting of dipotassium phosphate and potassium carbonate.

4. The method according to claim 1, further characterized in that the strip is not subjected to an air drying step subsequent to the coating step.

5. - A method according to claim 1, further characterized in that the process is carried out at room temperature.

6. A method according to claim 1, further characterized in that the curdling step is performed in 60 seconds or less.

7. A method according to claim 1, further characterized in that the curdling solution is applied by passing the food strip through a bath containing the curdling solution,

8. A method according to claim 1, characterized also because the curdling solution is applied by sprinkling it on the food strip.

9. A coated food product comprising: a food emulsion; a layer of collagen gel surrounding said food emulsion; a layer of brine surrounding said collagen layer, said brine layer comprises a highly dissolvable salt with a dissolution scale of at least 8 moles per liter of water at 20 ° C.

10. A coated food product according to claim 9, further characterized in that the highly dissolvable salt is selected from the group consisting of potassium carbonate and dipotassium phosphate.

11. A coated food product according to claim 9, further characterized in that the food emulsion contains a product selected from the group consisting of meat, fish, vegetables or cheese.

12. A coated food product according to claim 9, further characterized in that the collagen gel contains collagen and liquid smoker.

13. A curdling solution for curing the external surface of a coextruded food product comprising: a salt having a dissolubility scale of at least 8 moles per liter of water at 20 ° C, and is selected from the group consisting of potassium carbonate and dipotassium phosphate.

14. A method according to claim 1, further characterized in that said inorganic acid is selected from the group consisting of hydrochloric acid and sulfuric acid.

15. A process according to claim 1, further characterized in that said curdling solution contains highly dissolvable salts having a solubility greater than 8.00 x 10"1 mol per 100 grams of water at 298 ° K.

16.- A process according to claim 11, further characterized in that said curdling solution contains highly dissolvable salts having a solubility greater than 8.00 x 10"1 mol per 100 grams of water at 298 ° K.

17. A process according to claim 14, further characterized in that said curdling solution contains highly dissolvable salts having a solubility greater than 8.00 x 10"1 mol per 100 grams of water at 298 ° K.

18.- A product coated food according to claim 9, further characterized in that the collagen gel contains a substantially uniform layer of a gel containing collagen acidified with an inorganic acid.

19. A coated food product according to claim 9, further characterized in that said inorganic acid is selected from the group consisting of hydrochloric acid and sulfuric acid,

20. A coated food product according to claim 9, further characterized by The collagen gel layer has a dry matter of 3-25%.

21. A coated food product according to claim 16, further characterized in that the collagen gel layer has a dry matter of 3-25%.

22. A coated food product according to claim 9, further characterized in that said highly soluble salt has a solubility greater than 8.00 x 10"1 mol per 100 grams of water at 298 ° K.

23.- The procedure in accordance with claim 1, further characterized in that the gel has a dry matter of between 3% and 25%.

24. A method for setting the external surface of a co-extruded food product consisting of: coextruding a strip of food material to create a substantially uniform layer of a collagen-containing gel around an internal strip of food material, further characterized in that the layer of food Collagen gel has a dry matter of 3% to 25%; coating the strip with a curdling solution to create a coated strip, said curdling solution contains a highly dissolvable salt; and allowing the coated strip to set.

25. The process according to claim 23, further characterized in that the gel containing collagen has a dry matter of between 3% and 25%. 26.- A coated food product according to claim 9, further characterized in that the collagen gel layer contains a substantially uniform layer of a gel containing collagen acidified with an inorganic acid, and wherein the collagen gel layer has a dry matter of 3% to 25%.