WO2014174535A1 - Processing under cooled whole fish - Google Patents

Processing under cooled whole fish Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2014174535A1
WO2014174535A1 PCT/IS2014/050006 IS2014050006W WO2014174535A1 WO 2014174535 A1 WO2014174535 A1 WO 2014174535A1 IS 2014050006 W IS2014050006 W IS 2014050006W WO 2014174535 A1 WO2014174535 A1 WO 2014174535A1
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WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
fish
whole
temperature
cooling
processing
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/IS2014/050006
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
Ingolfur Arnason
Original Assignee
Skaginn Hf.
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Skaginn Hf. filed Critical Skaginn Hf.
Publication of WO2014174535A1 publication Critical patent/WO2014174535A1/en

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Classifications

    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A23—FOODS OR FOODSTUFFS; TREATMENT THEREOF, NOT COVERED BY OTHER CLASSES
    • A23B—PRESERVING, e.g. BY CANNING, MEAT, FISH, EGGS, FRUIT, VEGETABLES, EDIBLE SEEDS; CHEMICAL RIPENING OF FRUIT OR VEGETABLES; THE PRESERVED, RIPENED, OR CANNED PRODUCTS
    • A23B4/00—General methods for preserving meat, sausages, fish or fish products
    • A23B4/06—Freezing; Subsequent thawing; Cooling
    • A23B4/062—Freezing; Subsequent thawing; Cooling the materials being transported through or in the apparatus with or without shaping, e.g. in the form of powder, granules or flakes
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A22—BUTCHERING; MEAT TREATMENT; PROCESSING POULTRY OR FISH
    • A22C—PROCESSING MEAT, POULTRY, OR FISH
    • A22C25/00—Processing fish ; Curing of fish; Stunning of fish by electric current; Investigating fish by optical means
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A23—FOODS OR FOODSTUFFS; TREATMENT THEREOF, NOT COVERED BY OTHER CLASSES
    • A23B—PRESERVING, e.g. BY CANNING, MEAT, FISH, EGGS, FRUIT, VEGETABLES, EDIBLE SEEDS; CHEMICAL RIPENING OF FRUIT OR VEGETABLES; THE PRESERVED, RIPENED, OR CANNED PRODUCTS
    • A23B4/00—General methods for preserving meat, sausages, fish or fish products
    • A23B4/02—Preserving by means of inorganic salts
    • A23B4/023—Preserving by means of inorganic salts by kitchen salt or mixtures thereof with inorganic or organic compounds
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A23—FOODS OR FOODSTUFFS; TREATMENT THEREOF, NOT COVERED BY OTHER CLASSES
    • A23B—PRESERVING, e.g. BY CANNING, MEAT, FISH, EGGS, FRUIT, VEGETABLES, EDIBLE SEEDS; CHEMICAL RIPENING OF FRUIT OR VEGETABLES; THE PRESERVED, RIPENED, OR CANNED PRODUCTS
    • A23B4/00—General methods for preserving meat, sausages, fish or fish products
    • A23B4/06—Freezing; Subsequent thawing; Cooling
    • A23B4/07—Thawing subsequent to freezing
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A23—FOODS OR FOODSTUFFS; TREATMENT THEREOF, NOT COVERED BY OTHER CLASSES
    • A23L—FOODS, FOODSTUFFS, OR NON-ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES, NOT COVERED BY SUBCLASSES A21D OR A23B-A23J; THEIR PREPARATION OR TREATMENT, e.g. COOKING, MODIFICATION OF NUTRITIVE QUALITIES, PHYSICAL TREATMENT; PRESERVATION OF FOODS OR FOODSTUFFS, IN GENERAL
    • A23L3/00—Preservation of foods or foodstuffs, in general, e.g. pasteurising, sterilising, specially adapted for foods or foodstuffs
    • A23L3/36—Freezing; Subsequent thawing; Cooling
    • A23L3/361—Freezing; Subsequent thawing; Cooling the materials being transported through or in the apparatus, with or without shaping, e.g. in form of powder, granules, or flakes
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
    • F25D—REFRIGERATORS; COLD ROOMS; ICE-BOXES; COOLING OR FREEZING APPARATUS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • F25D13/00—Stationary devices, e.g. cold-rooms
    • F25D13/06—Stationary devices, e.g. cold-rooms with conveyors carrying articles to be cooled through the cooling space
    • F25D13/065—Articles being submerged in liquid coolant

Definitions

  • the invention provides a method for processing under cooled fish.
  • the time when a caught fish ends up on the deck of a fishing ship and to the time the fish has been processed and is ready for packing can vary depending on where the processing is performed. In many cases the processing is done on land, which requires storing the fish at sea and during transport to the factory. All handling and transport has effect on the quality of the fish, especially on soft and fragile fish.
  • US 6,825,446 discloses a technology which can be used for cooling the products, such as fish fillets, to the under-cooled state by using the Combined Blast and Contact cooling method. This gives the necessary precise control of the cooling and an effective cooling for bringing the fillets to the under-cooled state.
  • the fish fillet is cooled down with CBC technology. This technology involves cooling the fish fillet to the phase transition of freezing and process the fillet in an under-cooled state. When the fillet is in a under- cooled state it becomes stiffer than during conventional processing and the stiffness enables processing without the fillets loosing quality because of gapping in the flesh and further allows for removing the pin bones with more efficiency and accuracy than prior art methods.
  • contaminations such as listeria contamination.
  • One of the processes to reduce or eliminate bacterial contamination in fish is freezing, but freezing is not always desirable and especially when providing fresh unfrozen fish to fish markets.
  • EP 2 328 420 discloses an apparatus for thawing or cooling food products comprising a tank filled with heating or cooling medium and a spiral shaped blade or screw conveyor extending between opposite ends of the tank.
  • the blade rotates and provides a rotational movement of the screw conveyor thereby conveying the food products between opposite ends of the tank.
  • a temperature controlling system regulates the temperature of the heating or cooling medium,
  • the tank is designed to have a plurality of heat or cooling supplying units along the tank to provide a substantial uniform temperature distribution into the liquid during the thawing or cooling of the food products.
  • the present invention provides a new method for processing fish where whole fish is brought to an undercooled state after catching.
  • the method and the device of the present invention provide a way to process whole fish directly after it has been caught or brought out of a sea cage or an aquaculture cage, where the fish is brought to an under- cooled state in at least a two-step process. For best quality of end product, the fish is bleed, gutted and washed before it is processed further.
  • the method and the apparatus of the present invention further provide new means of bringing a product to an under- cooled state, namely a After the gutted whole fish is brought to an under-cooled state, it is stored in a cold facility below 0°C until it is at a processing site.
  • a cold liquid such as a brine or slurry ice, which also can be made from brine.
  • a brine or slurry ice which also can be made from brine.
  • the whole fish is deheaded and in some cases the tail is also removed.
  • the fish is filleted and optionally skinned in an "under-cooled” state.
  • the deheading and optionally the tail removal may be done after gutting and before bringing the fish to an under-cooled state.
  • the novel method of the present invention also teaches processing the fish in an undercooled state, where placement of the fish into brine or slurry ice made from brine will allow the surface of the whole fish to melt. The rest of the fish is maintained in an undercooled state, but this pre-treatment with brine or slurry ice made from brine makes filleting, skinning and removal of membranes from a frozen fish possible.
  • the advantage of the apparatus and the method of the present invention is the result of the processing, but fish products processed after the under-cooling according the present invention are of much better quality and the under-cooling also reduces or eliminates bacterial contamination such as listeria content in fish. placing the fish in salt-controlled solution and/or slurry ice having a salt concentration of 0,1-23,3% and a temperature of 8 to -21°C, and
  • a method for processing fish comprises transporting the fish from sea or an aquaculture cage to a process line and bringing a whole fish to an "under-cooled" state in at least two steps.
  • the steps comprise i) placing the fish in salt-controlled solution and/or slurry ice having a salt concentration of 0,1-23,3% and a temperature of 8 to -21°C, and ii) transferring the fish in salt-controlled solution and/or slurry ice having a salt concentration of 0-15% and a temperature of 5 to -10°C.
  • the first steps rapidly cools the fish down to the phase change and the second step reduces the salt content the fish is in and allows the fish to recover. Then the fish is processed in an "under-cooled" state.
  • an apparatus for processing fish, the apparatus comprising means for transporting the fish directly from sea or an aquaculture cage to a process line and a cooling tank for bringing a whole fish to an "under-cooled” state in at least two steps.
  • the steps comprise i) placing the fish in salt- controlled solution and/or slurry ice having a salt concentration of 0,1-23,3% and a temperature of 8 to -21°C, and ii) transferring the fish in salt-controlled solution and/or slurry ice having a salt concentration of 0-15% and a temperature of 5 to -10°C.
  • the cooling tank comprises at least two compartments to perform at least steps i) and ii).
  • the apparatus further comprises a processing station for processing the fish in a "under- cooled" state.
  • under-cooled state refers to a whole fish or fish product to a temperature below 0°C.
  • fish or “whole fish” relates to a fish product which is either freshly caught and unprocessed at all or, cut, bleed, gutted, washed, graded, deheaded or the tail has been removed or any combination thereof.
  • the fish is bleed prior to the under-cooling step.
  • the bleeding step can be allowed to occur in a container with liquid.
  • the fish can be subjected to pre-cooling before or after bleeding before step.
  • the steps of bleeding and undercooling take place in cooling chambers with screw conveyors.
  • the cooling tanks of disclosed herein have one or more compartments being at least partially filled with cooling liquid og slurry ice and a spiral shaped blade or screw conveyor extending between the in-feed and the out- feed ends of the tank. The blade rotates and provides a rotational movement of the screw conveyor thereby conveying the food products between the in-feed and the out- feed ends of the tank.
  • In-feed of cooling liquids of different salt concentration and temperature as well as slurry ice regulates the temperature in the tanks or in the different compartments of the tank in order to alter the temperature of the whole fish during the process of pre-cooling and bringing the whole fish to an under-cooled state.
  • the time for each step in the pre-cooling and under-cooling is based on the size and the quantity of the fish being cooled.
  • the fish is brought to a homogenous temperature between -0.2 and -4.0°C.
  • homogenous temperature refers to equalised average temperature which is measured from 0 to 120 minutes after a cooling or freezing process.
  • the fish is stored at a temperature below 0°C between catching and processing. As mentioned earlier for best quality of end product, the fish is bleed, gutted and washed before it is processed.
  • the fish is placed in a saline solution before processing, including deheading, filleting skinning the fish.
  • saline solution relates to a salt-controlled liquid, sea water or brine having the concentration between 0.01-16%.
  • the saline solution is cooled below - 0,01°C by a refrigerating system or ice, such as cubed ice or ice crystals.
  • the fish is placed in fluid ice or slurry ice before processing.
  • the fluid ice or slurry ice may contain a saline solution or brine.
  • the salt-controlled solution and/or slurry ice maintains the temperature of the fish at -0.5 and -4.0°C, such as at -1.5°C.
  • the temperature of the fish is between -0.5 and -2.5°C when the fish is filleted, such as at -1.5°C.
  • the cooling tank has more than two compartments to repeat steps i) and ii) of the method one or more times.
  • a pre-processing workstation is provided before the cooling tank to bleed and/or gut the whole fish prior to under-cooling the whole fish.
  • a separate tank or a separate first container in the cooling tank is provided to facilitate the bleeding of the fish.
  • a separate tank or a separate container in the cooling tank is provided to pre-cool the whole fish before or after the bleeding.
  • the separate tanks or the compartments in the cooling tank comprise screw conveyors to transfer the whole fish from one end of a compartment to another and to transfer the whole fish from one compartment to another.
  • workstations are provided after the cooling tank for one or more of filleting, skinning and portioning the whole fish.
  • the imaging means is provided for determining size, shape or colour of the whole fish prior to transferring the fish cooling tank.
  • the method for processing fish comprises the steps of: a) gutting a whole fish
  • the whole fish is being transferred from the sea, lake or a sea cage, aquaculture cage, marine cage or the like for direct undercooling and processing.
  • Figure 1 shows the steps from when a fish is caught and until it has been fully processed, which is in this case portion cutting, but could be water cutting or trimming.
  • Steps A-D indicates the traditional steps of catching (A), cutting (B), bleeding (C) and gutting (D). These steps are usually followed by washing (E), grading (F) and optionally pre-cooling (D). Steps A-F are all performed at 4-6°C followed by the optional step of pre-cooling the fish to around 0°C.
  • the whole gutted fish is super-chilled (H) at sea to obtain a homogenous temperature of the fish around -1.5°C and stored (I) at -1.5°C until it is processed.
  • the whole fish Prior to processing the whole fish is placed in saline slurry ice (J) which melts the surface of the whole fish, but the remaining part of the fish is maintained in an under-chilled state.
  • J saline slurry ice
  • the whole gutted fish is deheaded (K), filleted (L) and optionally skinned before it is portioned (M).
  • FIG. 2 shows an arrangement of the invention to facilitate pre-processing and undercooling of whole fish on a fishing ship.
  • the fish is brought on deck in the aft end of the ship 1 and brought to workstations 2 to gut and bleed the fish.
  • the fish is then transported to a short cooling tank 3a, 3b, 3c with a screw blade 4 for the bleeding step.
  • the embodiment shown in this drawing has three lines of a bleeding and undercooling tanks, the first one A for small fish, the second B for intermediate size fish and the third line C for large fish. Size determination is made by a camera 5 and the fish are directed into an appropriate lane based on this size determination.
  • the fish is transported through the tank by the screw blade 4, which functions as a screw conveyor and slowly moves the fish from one end of the tank to another.
  • the tank is divided into three compartments 7, 8 and 9 for performing a three step cooling of the fish.
  • line A for small fish.
  • the difference between line A, B and C is that duration of transfer in each compartment is based on the size of the fish, but the duration of transfer is regulated by the speed of the screw blade. So for the bleeding step, the duration of transfer in line is 10 minutes, in line B it is 15 minutes and in line C it is 20 minutes. The same goes for the compartments in the cooling tank.
  • Each compartment in the cooling tank 6 has a separate screw blade 4 and a heat exchanger (not shown) to set the temperature in each compartment.
  • the first compartment 7 is short and normally has a concentration controlled saline solution or slurry ice with a high salt concentration at a low temperature to bring the temperature of the fish down quickly.
  • the second compartment 8 is longer and has a concentration controlled saline solution or slurry ice with a low salt concentration at a higher temperature (but below 0°C) to allow the fish to achieve a stable homogenous/even temperature.
  • the third compartment 9 is short like the first one and has a concentration controlled saline solution or slurry ice with a high salt concentration at a low temperature to bring the temperature of the fish down quickly again.
  • FIG. 3 shows an arrangement of device of the invention to facilitate pre-processing and under-cooling of whole fish. It is a simple embodiment of a tank 10 with three compartments 11, 12 and 13. Each compartment in the cooling tank 10 has a separate screw blade 4 and a heat exchanger 14 to set the temperature in each compartment. Temperature can be regulated by a combination of saline solution, fluid ice and heat exchangers, but saline might not always be desired.
  • the middle compartment 12 is three times longer than the first 11 and the third 13 compartments.
  • the number of compartments is not limited but this embodiment shows a tank where sea water could be pumped into the tank via inlet 15 and out through outlet 16. If the first compartment 11 is a bleeding compartment, it is important to have a good flow of liquid through the compartment.
  • the second compartment is connected to a heat exchanger 14, but sea water can be pumped in as needed through inlet 17.
  • This compartment brings the fish from the temperature of the sea (8°C) to between 0 and 2°C.
  • the third compartment is used to initiate the phase exchange and bring the fish towards -1,5°C.
  • the third compartment 13 also comprises a second heat exchanger 18. Sea water can also be pumped into the third compartment as needed through inlet 19.
  • the blade in each compartment is designed such that at the end of the compartment the blade has a curve (not shown in detail) so it pushes the fish over the edge and into the next compartment.
  • FIG 4 shows fish fillets which were processed by conventional methods (A) and according to the method of the present invention.
  • the quality of the fillets processed by the method of the present invention is much higher than when conventional methods are used.

Abstract

The invention provides a method for processing under-cooled fish. The invention provides an improved method where whole fish is brought to an under-cooled state by super-chilling before processing. Whole fish is brought to an under-cooled state in at least two steps by means of i) placing the fish in a salt-controlled solution and/or slurry ice having a salt concentration of 0,1 to 23,3% and a temperature of 8 to -21°C and ii) transferring the fish in salt-controlled solution and/ or slurry ice having a salt concentration of 0-15% and a temperature of 5 to -10°C. Therefter the fish is processed. The invention further provides an apparatus for processing fish comprising a cooling tank with at least two compartments to perform at least steps i) and ii).

Description

Processing under cooled whole fish
Field of the invention
The invention provides a method for processing under cooled fish.
Background
A continuous development of food processing, such as fish products is always on demand and a big effort has been put into increasing utilization and value of the product as well as meeting demands for quality after processing.
The time when a caught fish ends up on the deck of a fishing ship and to the time the fish has been processed and is ready for packing can vary depending on where the processing is performed. In many cases the processing is done on land, which requires storing the fish at sea and during transport to the factory. All handling and transport has effect on the quality of the fish, especially on soft and fragile fish.
US 6,825,446 discloses a technology which can be used for cooling the products, such as fish fillets, to the under-cooled state by using the Combined Blast and Contact cooling method. This gives the necessary precise control of the cooling and an effective cooling for bringing the fillets to the under-cooled state. The fish fillet is cooled down with CBC technology. This technology involves cooling the fish fillet to the phase transition of freezing and process the fillet in an under-cooled state. When the fillet is in a under- cooled state it becomes stiffer than during conventional processing and the stiffness enables processing without the fillets loosing quality because of gapping in the flesh and further allows for removing the pin bones with more efficiency and accuracy than prior art methods.
One of the problems of with handling and processing fresh fish is bacterial
contaminations such as listeria contamination. One of the processes to reduce or eliminate bacterial contamination in fish is freezing, but freezing is not always desirable and especially when providing fresh unfrozen fish to fish markets.
EP 2 328 420 discloses an apparatus for thawing or cooling food products comprising a tank filled with heating or cooling medium and a spiral shaped blade or screw conveyor extending between opposite ends of the tank. The blade rotates and provides a rotational movement of the screw conveyor thereby conveying the food products between opposite ends of the tank. A temperature controlling system regulates the temperature of the heating or cooling medium, The tank is designed to have a plurality of heat or cooling supplying units along the tank to provide a substantial uniform temperature distribution into the liquid during the thawing or cooling of the food products. Summary of the Invention
The present invention provides a new method for processing fish where whole fish is brought to an undercooled state after catching. The method and the device of the present invention provide a way to process whole fish directly after it has been caught or brought out of a sea cage or an aquaculture cage, where the fish is brought to an under- cooled state in at least a two-step process. For best quality of end product, the fish is bleed, gutted and washed before it is processed further. The method and the apparatus of the present invention further provide new means of bringing a product to an under- cooled state, namely a After the gutted whole fish is brought to an under-cooled state, it is stored in a cold facility below 0°C until it is at a processing site. Before processing the whole fish is placed in a cold liquid, such as a brine or slurry ice, which also can be made from brine. After the pre-treatment with brine or slurry ice the whole fish is deheaded and in some cases the tail is also removed. Then the fish is filleted and optionally skinned in an "under-cooled" state. The deheading and optionally the tail removal may be done after gutting and before bringing the fish to an under-cooled state.
By bringing the fish to an undercooled state immediately after catching, and in most cases bleeding and gutting, best quality of the fish is maintained. The novel method of the present invention also teaches processing the fish in an undercooled state, where placement of the fish into brine or slurry ice made from brine will allow the surface of the whole fish to melt. The rest of the fish is maintained in an undercooled state, but this pre-treatment with brine or slurry ice made from brine makes filleting, skinning and removal of membranes from a frozen fish possible. The advantage of the apparatus and the method of the present invention is the result of the processing, but fish products processed after the under-cooling according the present invention are of much better quality and the under-cooling also reduces or eliminates bacterial contamination such as listeria content in fish. placing the fish in salt-controlled solution and/or slurry ice having a salt concentration of 0,1-23,3% and a temperature of 8 to -21°C, and
transferring the fish in salt-controlled solution and/or slurry ice having a salt
concentration of 0-15% and a temperature of 5 to -10°C, In a first aspect of the present invention a method is provided for processing fish. The method comprises transporting the fish from sea or an aquaculture cage to a process line and bringing a whole fish to an "under-cooled" state in at least two steps. The steps comprise i) placing the fish in salt-controlled solution and/or slurry ice having a salt concentration of 0,1-23,3% and a temperature of 8 to -21°C, and ii) transferring the fish in salt-controlled solution and/or slurry ice having a salt concentration of 0-15% and a temperature of 5 to -10°C. The first steps rapidly cools the fish down to the phase change and the second step reduces the salt content the fish is in and allows the fish to recover. Then the fish is processed in an "under-cooled" state.
In a second aspect of the present invention an apparatus is provided for processing fish, the apparatus comprising means for transporting the fish directly from sea or an aquaculture cage to a process line and a cooling tank for bringing a whole fish to an "under-cooled" state in at least two steps. The steps comprise i) placing the fish in salt- controlled solution and/or slurry ice having a salt concentration of 0,1-23,3% and a temperature of 8 to -21°C, and ii) transferring the fish in salt-controlled solution and/or slurry ice having a salt concentration of 0-15% and a temperature of 5 to -10°C. The cooling tank comprises at least two compartments to perform at least steps i) and ii). The apparatus further comprises a processing station for processing the fish in a "under- cooled" state.
Description of the invention
The following definitions and embodiments relate to both the method and the apparatus of the invention
In the present context the term "under-cooled state" refers to a whole fish or fish product to a temperature below 0°C.
In the present context the term "fish" or "whole fish" relates to a fish product which is either freshly caught and unprocessed at all or, cut, bleed, gutted, washed, graded, deheaded or the tail has been removed or any combination thereof.
In an embodiment of the present invention the fish is bleed prior to the under-cooling step. The bleeding step can be allowed to occur in a container with liquid. Furthermore, the fish can be subjected to pre-cooling before or after bleeding before step. In a further embodiment of the present invention the steps of bleeding and undercooling take place in cooling chambers with screw conveyors. The cooling tanks of disclosed herein have one or more compartments being at least partially filled with cooling liquid og slurry ice and a spiral shaped blade or screw conveyor extending between the in-feed and the out- feed ends of the tank. The blade rotates and provides a rotational movement of the screw conveyor thereby conveying the food products between the in-feed and the out- feed ends of the tank. In-feed of cooling liquids of different salt concentration and temperature as well as slurry ice regulates the temperature in the tanks or in the different compartments of the tank in order to alter the temperature of the whole fish during the process of pre-cooling and bringing the whole fish to an under-cooled state.
In an embodiment of the present invention the time for each step in the pre-cooling and under-cooling is based on the size and the quantity of the fish being cooled. In an embodiment of the present invention the fish is brought to a homogenous temperature between -0.2 and -4.0°C. In the present context the term "homogenous temperature" refers to equalised average temperature which is measured from 0 to 120 minutes after a cooling or freezing process. In an embodiment of the present invention the fish is stored at a temperature below 0°C between catching and processing. As mentioned earlier for best quality of end product, the fish is bleed, gutted and washed before it is processed.
In an embodiment of the present invention the fish is placed in a saline solution before processing, including deheading, filleting skinning the fish. In the present context the term "saline solution" relates to a salt-controlled liquid, sea water or brine having the concentration between 0.01-16%. The saline solution is cooled below - 0,01°C by a refrigerating system or ice, such as cubed ice or ice crystals. In an embodiment of the present invention the fish is placed in fluid ice or slurry ice before processing. The fluid ice or slurry ice may contain a saline solution or brine.
In an embodiment of the present invention the salt-controlled solution and/or slurry ice maintains the temperature of the fish at -0.5 and -4.0°C, such as at -1.5°C.
In an embodiment of the present invention the temperature of the fish is between -0.5 and -2.5°C when the fish is filleted, such as at -1.5°C. In an embodiment of the present invention the cooling tank has more than two compartments to repeat steps i) and ii) of the method one or more times. In an embodiment of the present invention a pre-processing workstation is provided before the cooling tank to bleed and/or gut the whole fish prior to under-cooling the whole fish.
In an embodiment of the present invention a separate tank or a separate first container in the cooling tank is provided to facilitate the bleeding of the fish.
In an embodiment of the present invention a separate tank or a separate container in the cooling tank is provided to pre-cool the whole fish before or after the bleeding. In an embodiment of the present invention the separate tanks or the compartments in the cooling tank comprise screw conveyors to transfer the whole fish from one end of a compartment to another and to transfer the whole fish from one compartment to another. In an embodiment of the present invention workstations are provided after the cooling tank for one or more of filleting, skinning and portioning the whole fish.
In an embodiment of the present invention the imaging means is provided for determining size, shape or colour of the whole fish prior to transferring the fish cooling tank.
In a specific embodiment of the present invention the method for processing fish comprises the steps of: a) gutting a whole fish
b) bringing the gutted whole fish to an under-cooled state,
c) storing the gutted whole fish at a temperature below 0°C,
d) placing the gutted whole fish in a chilled saline solution,
e) filleting the fish in a "under-cooled" state,
f) deheading the fish, and
g) filleting the fish in an under-cooled state. In an embodiment of the present invention the whole fish is being transferred from the sea, lake or a sea cage, aquaculture cage, marine cage or the like for direct undercooling and processing.
Description of Drawings
Figure 1 shows the steps from when a fish is caught and until it has been fully processed, which is in this case portion cutting, but could be water cutting or trimming. Steps A-D indicates the traditional steps of catching (A), cutting (B), bleeding (C) and gutting (D). These steps are usually followed by washing (E), grading (F) and optionally pre-cooling (D). Steps A-F are all performed at 4-6°C followed by the optional step of pre-cooling the fish to around 0°C. According to the embodiment shown in fig. 1, the whole gutted fish is super-chilled (H) at sea to obtain a homogenous temperature of the fish around -1.5°C and stored (I) at -1.5°C until it is processed. Prior to processing the whole fish is placed in saline slurry ice (J) which melts the surface of the whole fish, but the remaining part of the fish is maintained in an under-chilled state. According to the embodiment shown in fig. 1, the whole gutted fish is deheaded (K), filleted (L) and optionally skinned before it is portioned (M).
Figure 2 shows an arrangement of the invention to facilitate pre-processing and undercooling of whole fish on a fishing ship. The fish is brought on deck in the aft end of the ship 1 and brought to workstations 2 to gut and bleed the fish. The fish is then transported to a short cooling tank 3a, 3b, 3c with a screw blade 4 for the bleeding step. The embodiment shown in this drawing has three lines of a bleeding and undercooling tanks, the first one A for small fish, the second B for intermediate size fish and the third line C for large fish. Size determination is made by a camera 5 and the fish are directed into an appropriate lane based on this size determination. The fish is transported through the tank by the screw blade 4, which functions as a screw conveyor and slowly moves the fish from one end of the tank to another. For the bleeding step, see water may be selected saline solution. The fish is then transported to a larger tank 6a, 6b, 6c, for bringing the whole fish to an under-cooled state. In the embodiment shown in figure 2, the tank is divided into three compartments 7, 8 and 9 for performing a three step cooling of the fish. For demonstration we will follow line A (for small fish). The difference between line A, B and C is that duration of transfer in each compartment is based on the size of the fish, but the duration of transfer is regulated by the speed of the screw blade. So for the bleeding step, the duration of transfer in line is 10 minutes, in line B it is 15 minutes and in line C it is 20 minutes. The same goes for the compartments in the cooling tank. Each compartment in the cooling tank 6 has a separate screw blade 4 and a heat exchanger (not shown) to set the temperature in each compartment. The first compartment 7 is short and normally has a concentration controlled saline solution or slurry ice with a high salt concentration at a low temperature to bring the temperature of the fish down quickly. The second compartment 8 is longer and has a concentration controlled saline solution or slurry ice with a low salt concentration at a higher temperature (but below 0°C) to allow the fish to achieve a stable homogenous/even temperature. The third compartment 9 is short like the first one and has a concentration controlled saline solution or slurry ice with a high salt concentration at a low temperature to bring the temperature of the fish down quickly again.
Figure 3 shows an arrangement of device of the invention to facilitate pre-processing and under-cooling of whole fish. It is a simple embodiment of a tank 10 with three compartments 11, 12 and 13. Each compartment in the cooling tank 10 has a separate screw blade 4 and a heat exchanger 14 to set the temperature in each compartment. Temperature can be regulated by a combination of saline solution, fluid ice and heat exchangers, but saline might not always be desired. The middle compartment 12 is three times longer than the first 11 and the third 13 compartments. The number of compartments is not limited but this embodiment shows a tank where sea water could be pumped into the tank via inlet 15 and out through outlet 16. If the first compartment 11 is a bleeding compartment, it is important to have a good flow of liquid through the compartment. The second compartment is connected to a heat exchanger 14, but sea water can be pumped in as needed through inlet 17. This compartment brings the fish from the temperature of the sea (8°C) to between 0 and 2°C. The third compartment is used to initiate the phase exchange and bring the fish towards -1,5°C. The third compartment 13 also comprises a second heat exchanger 18. Sea water can also be pumped into the third compartment as needed through inlet 19. The blade in each compartment is designed such that at the end of the compartment the blade has a curve (not shown in detail) so it pushes the fish over the edge and into the next compartment.
Figure 4 shows fish fillets which were processed by conventional methods (A) and according to the method of the present invention. The quality of the fillets processed by the method of the present invention is much higher than when conventional methods are used.

Claims

A method for processing fish, the method comprising : a) transporting the fish from sea or an aquaculture cage to a process line, b) bringing a whole fish to an "under-cooled" state in at least two steps of: i. placing the fish in salt-controlled solution and/or slurry ice having a salt
concentration of 0,1-23,3% and a temperature of 8 to -21°C, and
ii. transferring the fish in salt-controlled solution and/or slurry ice having a salt concentration of 0-15% and a temperature of 5 to -10°C, c) processing the fish in a "under-cooled" state.
The method according to claim 1, wherein steps i) and ii) are repeated one or more times.
The method according to claim 1, wherein the whole fish is bleed and/or gutted prior to step a).
The method according to claim 3, wherein the bleeding occurs in a container with liquid.
The method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the fish is pre-cooled before or after bleeding before step i).
The method according to claims 1-4, wherein the steps of bleeding and undercooling take place in cooling chambers with screw conveyors.
The method according to claims 1 or 2, wherein the whole fish is deheaded prior to step b).
The method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein step (c involves one or more of filleting, skinning and portioning.
The method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein step b) brings the whole fish into an homogenous temperature between -0.2 and -4.0°C.
10. The method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the method further comprises the step of storing the fish at a temperature below 0°C between step b) and c).
11. The method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the method further comprises the step of placing the whole fish in a saline solution before processing the whole fish.
12. The method according to claim 11, wherein the saline solution is cooled below - 0,1°C.
13. The method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein time for each step in the pre-cooling and under-cooling is based on the size and the quantity of the fish being cooled.
14. The method according to claims 10-11, wherein the salt-controlled solution and/or slurry ice maintain the temperature of the fish at -0.5 and -4.0°C.
15. The method according to claim 10-12, wherein salt-controlled solution and/or slurry ice maintain the temperature of the fish at -1.5°C.
16. The method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the method further comprises the step of deheading the gutted whole fish before or after step a).
17. An apparatus for processing fish, the apparatus comprising :
- means for transporting the fish directly from sea or an aquaculture cage to a process line,
- a cooling tank for bringing a whole fish to an "under-cooled" state in at least two steps comprising :
i. placing the fish in salt-controlled solution and/or slurry ice having a salt concentration of 0,1-23,3% and a temperature of 8 to -21°C, and
ii. transferring the fish in salt-controlled solution and/or slurry ice having a salt concentration of 0-15% and a temperature of 5 to -10°C,
said cooling tank comprising at least two compartments to perform at least steps i) and ii)
- a processing station for processing the fish in a "under-cooled" state.
18. The apparatus according to claim 17, wherein cooling tank has more than two
compartments to repeat steps i) and ii) one or more times.
19. The apparatus according to claim 17, further comprising a pre-processing workstation before the cooling tank to bleed and/or gut the whole fish prior to under-cooling the whole fish.
20. The apparatus according to claim 19, further comprising a separate tank or a
separate first container in the cooling tank to facilitate the bleeding of the fish.
21. The apparatus according to claims 17-20, further comprising a separate tank or a separate container in the cooling tank to pre-cool the whole fish before or after the bleeding.
22. The apparatus according to claims 17-21, wherein the separate tanks or the
compartments in the cooling tank comprise screw conveyors to transfer the whole fish from one end of a compartment to another and to transfer the whole fish from one compartment to another.
23. The apparatus according to claims 17-22, further comprising workstations after the cooling tank for one or more of filleting, skinning and portioning the whole fish.
24. The apparatus according to claims 17-23, further comprising imaging means for determining size, shape or colour of the whole fish prior to transferring the fish to the cooling tank.
PCT/IS2014/050006 2013-04-23 2014-04-23 Processing under cooled whole fish WO2014174535A1 (en)

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