Patent Publication Number: US-2011052770-A1

Title: Inclusion/incorporating viscous material into muscle meat

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     A method and device for dispersing a viscous material into muscle meat. Viscous material is introduced into a volumetric chamber which is capable of passing a measured amount of the viscous material into an injection needle which, in turn, is inserted within the muscle meat. The needle is sized and configured to insert the measured amount of viscous material in a pattern resembling the surrounding muscle flake of the muscle meat. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     In preparation of meat products the products are portioned and trimmed to meet the consumer&#39;s needs and desires. In these processes considerable amounts of the meat are discharged or underutilized due to the lack of size, form or thickness. In preparation of fish fillets, for example, trimming of the thin outer portion of a fillet and the rib cage accounts for 15 to 20% of the final fillet weight. In portion packs of, for example, salmon loin can typically be divided into three 4 ounce portions leaving a tail piece of two to four ounces, which is below the consumer&#39;s desired weight or with an undesirable shape. These meat residuals are identical to the marketed products but are lacking in appearance and consumer acceptance. 
     There is also a broader need to introduce viscous material into muscle meat not only for weight addition but also for flavorings or texture enhancement. Again, any such addition must not significantly detract from the appearance of an untreated product This need exists not only regarding seafood but also with regard to meat and poultry. 
     Various meat tenderizers, enzymes and applicators have been devised for inclusion of material for enhancing the weight, texture and flavor of seafoods, meats and poultry based foods. These applications and related applicators are generally designed for the insertion of low solids marinates and related substrates. Such devices are unable to handle viscous substrates of the types described previously. Certainly, the typical prior art marinate applicators are incapable of introducing injectates having a solids concentration greater than 5% by weight. This is because prior art devices employ narrow feed channels introducing marinates that are distributed through a common header to enable the marinade to feed through multiple injection heads to accommodate assemble-line like production. 
     It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a method and device for dispersing a viscous material into muscle meat. 
     It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method and device for injecting viscous material into muscle meat which, once introduced, replicates the muscle flake of the receiving body and is thus an imperceptible way to increase the product weight unbeknownst to a consumer. These and further objects will become readily apparent when considering the following disclosure and appended claims. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention is directed to a method of increasing the muscle mass of a trimmed fish fillet comprising trimming approximately up to twenty percent of muscle mass from a fish fillet or fish loin, grinding up said trimmed muscle mass and removing any bones that may have been found therein to create ground trimmings, said ground trimmings having a solids content of at least five percent by weight introducing said ground trimmings to a volumetric chamber and injecting the ground trimmings from said volumetric chamber within said trimmed fish fillet or fish loin to increase the mass thereof. 
     The invention further is directed to a method of creating a plurality of fish portion packs each of which is of a substantially constant weight, said method comprising trimming a fillet of said fish, removing any bones that may be found therein to create ground trimmings, said ground trimmings having a solid content of at least five percent by weight, introducing said ground trimmings to a volumetric chamber in injecting the ground trimmings from said volumetric chamber within said fish fillet to result in fish fillets of substantially constant weight. 
     In addition, the invention is directed to a method of introducing an injectate into a portion of muscle meat, said injectate having a solids content of at least five percent by weight, said method comprising introducing said injectate to a volumetric chamber and injecting said injectate from said volumetric chamber within said muscle meat. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic illustration of a device useful in carrying out the present method. 
         FIGS. 2   a,    2   b  and  2   c  are side cross sectional views of a portion of the injection apparatus useful in carrying out the present method. 
         FIG. 3  is a side view of a preferred injection need which is useful in practicing the present method. 
         FIG. 4  is a block diagram showing the process carried out by employing the apparatus of  FIG. 1 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     In its preferred embodiment, the present invention is directed to a method of increasing the muscle mass of a trimmed fish fillet comprising trimming approximately up to twenty percent of muscle mass from a fish fillet or fish loin, grinding up the trimmed muscle mass and removing any bones that may have been found therein to create ground trimmings, said ground trimmings having a solids content of at least five percent by weight, introducing said ground trimmings to a volumetric chamber and injecting the ground trimmings from said volumetric chamber within said trimmed fish fillet or fish loin to increase the mass thereof. 
     In carrying out the above-recited method, reference is made to  FIG. 2 . Specifically, a portion of the muscle mass trimmed from the fish fillet or fish loin is ground and an injectate having a solids content of at least five percent by weight is introduced through feed channel  22  emanating from piston rod  21  within upper chamber  23 . In turning to  FIG. 2   b,  once the appropriate volume, generally 0.5 to 5 grams of the ground trimmings pass through feed channel  22 , they continue to pass through valve seat  25  and into lower chamber  24 . As noted by reference to  FIG. 2   a,  a clear path is established between feed channel  22  and lower chamber  24  during such operation. 
     Once the appropriate amount of ground trimmings or injectate have been introduced to volumetric chamber  20 , piston rod  21  is moved downward causing valve seat  25  to close by virtue of the seating of valve  26  therein and material contained within lower chamber  24  is caused to pass through needle  40  and into the appropriate muscle meat. It is noted that the amount of ground trimmings or injectate passing through needle  40  can be precisely controlled by noting the volume of lower chamber  24  and realizing that the opening in needle  40  is controllably closed by virtue of barrier  28 . After all of the material is in lower chamber  24  has been injected through needle  40 , the process is reversed as shown in  FIG. 2   c  whereby as piston rod  21  rises, barrier  28  blocks the lower portion of valve seat  25  and as piston rod  21  continues to rise, valve seat  25  moves upwardly and a vacuum is created in upper chamber  23  causing ground trimmings or injectate to be urged from feed channel  22  into upper chamber  23  in order to enable the process to be repeated as described above. 
     Ground trimmings or injectate entering needle  40  passes therethrough and, in this regard, reference is made to  FIG. 3 . 
     To facilitate the appropriate dispersion of the injectate into the muscle meat, and ideally to do so as muscle flake, a specific injection needle is provided. In this regard, reference is made to  FIG. 3 . This needle design can inject a volume equal to the amount dictated by other factors in a way to simulate muscle flake which will be discussed below. For example, in dealing with a fish fillet, larger muscle flake is deposited near the head of the fillet while lesser amounts near its tail. The needle is self cleaning and resistant to plugging by muscle fiber, tendons and “string” material. The needle must also be able to handle highly viscous material such as coarsely ground fish trimmings being at least five percent by weight solids. 
     Injection needle  40  is depicted in the form of a cylinder having longitudinal axis  70  and includes material receiving end  42  and viscous material dispersing end  43 . In its ideal configuration, injection needle  40  is provided with portion  44  acting to substantially block dispersing end  43  along longitudinal axis  70  while being provided with openings  45  in the needle side wall to substantially inject the viscous material into the muscle meat in a pattern resembling surrounding muscle flake. Such a needle design can form new muscle flake through injection in a double horizontal pattern. 
     The preferred use of the present invention is to increase or supplement the mass of a fish fillet or fish loin by injecting trimmings of the same fish matter within and between the muscle flake of the fillet or loin. Oftentimes, the portion of the fillet or loin is trimmed away at its tail section resulting in the removal of ten to twenty percent of the muscle meat. Bones are removed from these trimmings and the removed portion ground for injection within the remaining fillet or loin to increase its weight. The quantity of ground trimmings injected back within the trimmed fillet or loin is oftentimes dictated by several factors. The first factor is the thickness of the fillet or loin noting that the thicker the fish portion, the more ground trimmings the fillet or loin can receive. Also, seafood products are often sold in “portion packs” where uniform serving sizes of individual portions is critical. Thus, the quantity of injectate can be dictated by the weight of the seafood product to be enhanced to achieve the proper “portion pack” mass. 
     The present invention can be carried out by following the flow diagram  50  of  FIG. 4 . Specifically, the trimmed fish fillet or loin can either be measured for thickness through the use of a laser  51  or mass (weight) to develop the appropriate “portion pack” by scale  52 . This information is then fed to microprocessor  53  which then sends an actuation signal to motor controller  54  which in turn moves frame  3  ( FIG. 1 ) downwards to increase the relative amount of injectate or moves frame  3  upwards if less injectate is required by the user. Thus, the present process can be automated though the use of a scale or laser to determine weight or thickness of the muscle meat which is intended to be enhanced by the introduction of a suitable amount of injectate to simulate a muscle flake. 
     In turning to  FIG. 1 , a schematic of the device useful in practicing the steps of  FIG. 5  is depicted. Specifically, the device combines several individual operations, the first being to adjust the bridge  1  to allow piston  21  and injection cylinder  20  to move as a unit causing needle  40  to be inserted into the object to be treated on the conveyor belt  55 . When the injection cylinder reaches bridge  1 , further downward movement of the injection cylinder is stopped and needle  40  is in its injection position. Further downward movement of piston  21  causes injectate located within lower chamber  24  to be discharged through needle  40 . Simultaneously, a vacuum is created in upper chamber  23  causing new injectate to be drawn down hollow piston rod  21  and through feed port  22  filing upper chamber  23 . 
     During the upstroke of piston  21 , needle  40  is removed from the treated product until injection cylinder  20  comes to rest against cross plate  3  at which point the needle is fully retracted. In the second phase of the upstroke, valve  26  disengages from valve seat  25  facilitating the flow of injectate from upper chamber  23  across stopper bar  28  and into lower chamber  24 . 
     It is recognized that, currently, injections involving marinades and other injectates is widely used in the meat, poultry and seafood industries. Such technology is characterized by the utilization of a large number of injector needles applied in a close pattern to disguise or provide a uniform distribution of the injectates throughout the product. This is unlike the present invention which enables a user to preselect a specific volume of injectate similar to the size of the individual muscle flakes which is placed between the natural muscle flake structure of, for example, a suitable fish fillet or loin. Prior techniques have been restricted to injectates of low viscosity to prevent clogging of the apparatus. By contrast, the present invention can incorporate fish muscle and other injectates that has only been subjected to coarse titration. This invention does not decrease the firmness of the muscle meat not increase drip or cooking losses associated with injectates of low viscosity. As noted previously, the present invention is ideally suited for increasing the mass of a fish fillet or fish loin to incorporate trimmings back within the trimmed product to increase its mass and to employ trimmings which otherwise would have been discarded. In the fillet preparation, achieving the desired appearance oftentimes involves removal of 10 to 20% of muscle meat. The trimmings are identical to the final fillet or loin but do not have the requited thickness or contain bones. These trimmings are incorporated back into the fish fillet or loin product. 
     Although applicant has described the present invention in terms of its preferred embodiment, that is, the reintroduction of ground trimmings taken from a fish fillet or loin and injecting them back within the fish product between existing muscle flake to create additional muscle flake virtually indistinguishable from the trimmed fillet or loin, the invention can be used to inject flavoring and texture enhancers such as partially dried or other water binding substrates to alter firmness and texture of the nontreated product. Injection needle  40  is ideally provided with an internal diameter of 2 to 6 mm receiving measured amounts of the viscous material from volumetric chamber  20 . Injection needle  40  can apply viscous material from 30 to 90 degrees to the surface of the muscle meat in injectate volumes, generally, of 0.2 to 5 grams per injection. The injection of particular meat products, such as fish trimmings, can have high solids content from 5 to 100% of the injectate. Dispersion patterns can be determined by regulation of the plunger velocity and needle tip configuration. Ideally, the viscous material is dispersed in the muscle meat at a pressure above 4 bar and at a rate of approximately 1 gram per second.