A meat quality and yield improvement process comprises hanging the hind leg(s) of a carcass and applying an additional pulling force of from 50 to 500 kgf to the leg and back muscles of the carcass. The additional force stretches the muscle filaments of the leg and back muscles and is maintained until rigor is complete. The hind leg(s) of the carcass may be hung at an angle of 90 to 170 degrees to the vertical.

A paper interleaver that is separate from the food patty molding machine for inserting a sheet of paper underneath a meat patty.

A device for producing meat products includes an assembly formed from a plurality of walls maintainable in a fixed relationship to one another during a joining operation, surfaces of the plurality of walls defining work surfaces disposed to surround raw pieces of meat placed therein to be joined. A drive mechanism is configured to drive the assembly, which can form a cooking container such as a cooking box, along a first axis in a reciprocating movement of at least 10 mm along the first axis at frequency of at least 1 Hz and to drive the assembly along a second axis in a reciprocating movement of at least 10 mm along the second axis at frequency of at least 1 Hz, wherein the first axis and the second axis are angled with respect to each other, and the drive mechanism drives the assembly at different frequencies along the first and second axes.

One aspect of the present invention pertains to a method of marinating food. Another aspect of the present invention pertains to an apparatus for marinating food.

One aspect of the present invention pertains to a method of marinating food. Another aspect of the present invention pertains to an apparatus for marinating food.

A machine for injecting brine into meat pieces includes a conveyor having a support surface for conveying meat pieces in a forward step by step movement, each step having a predetermined length, first and second injection heads consecutively arranged over the conveyor relative to the forward direction, each injection head having an array of injection needles covering a whole width of the conveyor support surface. A length of the conveyor support surface corresponds to the predetermined length of the steps of the conveyor step by step movement, head driving device for alternately reciprocating the injection heads between an upper position, enabling the meat pieces to pass under the injection heads, and a lower position, where the injection needles are stuck into the meat pieces located under the injection heads, and brine supplying device supplying brine to the injection needles at least when the injection heads are at their lower position.

The present invention is a processing device, such as a macerator for use in processing various types of food products, that includes an automatic adjustment mechanism for adjusting the position of a roller disposed within the macerator. The mechanism includes a controller operably connected to a motor that can move the roller within the macerator to vary the position of the roller with respect to another roller located in the macerator. Inputs to the controller are used to control the operation of the motor to move the roll into a desired configuration associated in a storage medium in the controller with a particular food product to be processed. The input to the controller can also be used to simultaneously adjust the position of other components of other processing devices in a food processing system, such as an injector to remove the need for individually adjust each device in the system. Also, the controller can utilize other devices on the macerator to dynamically adjust the position of the rollers in response to the individual food products being treated in the macerator.

A tenderizing knife for use in tenderizing meat, such as steak or poultry and the like. The knife includes an elongated cutting blade having a handle on a proximal end thereof. A first edge of the cutting blade is serrated, while the second edge of the cutting blade is blunt. The first edge comprises a square serration pattern, wherein the square shaped serrations are spaced at a fixed interval and help to allow the user to tenderize the meat rather than cut therethrough. The distal end of the cutting blade includes a smooth edge for use in cutting through the meat in the traditional fashion. In operation, the user can make a series of small cuts across the meat using the serrated edge in order to tenderize the meat prior to cooking.

A process and an apparatus for controlling temperature loss and shrinkage of meat after an animal is slaughtered for food. Shrinkage is controlled by compressing the meat during cooling, the compression offsetting a natural tendency of the meat to contract and providing a measure of control over the shaping of the meat. Apparatus for the process includes one or more rigid rings for placement around the meat. Each ring is wrapped with a thread secured rigidly to one side of the ring and secured movably to the other side such as to allow the length of thread on the second side of the rigid ring to form at least one winding around the meat. As the meat cools, the thread shrinks, applying the thermal contraction of the thread along the ring to constrict the winding around and thus longitudinally elongate the meat.

A process and an apparatus for controlling temperature loss and shrinkage of meat after an animal is slaughtered for food. Shrinkage is controlled by compressing the meat during cooling, the compression offsetting a natural tendency of the meat to contract and providing a measure of control over the shaping of the meat. Apparatus for the process includes one or more rigid rings for placement around the meat. Each ring is wrapped with a thread secured rigidly to one side of the ring and secured movably to the other side such as to allow the length of thread on the second side of the rigid ring to form at least one winding around the meat. As the meat cools, the thread shrinks, applying the thermal contraction of the thread along the ring to constrict the winding around and thus longitudinally elongate the meat.