A method for treating a food which is in an insulating encapsulation or casing or which will be introduced into same, by ohmic heating. The heating serves to treat sausage products in an intestine, such as Brhwurst (scalded sausage), hot dogs or similar food products. The food is brought into contact with spaced electrically conductive electrodes, wherein the electrodes are connected to a controllable power source. The electrodes are each in the form of at least one first and one second electrode group, wherein the electrode groups are at a distance A.sub.EG to one another. Each electrode group has a number of individual electrodes, similar to a comb-like set of needles, wherein the neighbouring individual electrodes of the comb-type set of needles are each at a distance A.sub.EE to one another. The respective comb-like set of needles penetrates the insulating encapsulation or the casing of the food.

A method for treating a food which is in an insulating encapsulation or casing or which will be introduced into same, by ohmic heating. The heating serves to treat sausage products in an intestine, such as Brhwurst (scalded sausage), hot dogs or similar food products. The food is brought into contact with spaced electrically conductive electrodes, wherein the electrodes are connected to a controllable power source. The electrodes are each in the form of at least one first and one second electrode group, wherein the electrode groups are at a distance A.sub.EG to one another. Each electrode group has a number of individual electrodes, similar to a comb-like set of needles, wherein the neighbouring individual electrodes of the comb-type set of needles are each at a distance A.sub.EE to one another. The respective comb-like set of needles penetrates the insulating encapsulation or the casing of the food.

A filling machine includes a suspension device, and is operable to suspend sausages, in particular sausage chains, with a plurality of circulating suspension hooks. The suspension device includes an integrated weighing unit for weighing at least one sausage or at least one sausage chain.

A sausage processing apparatus, including a circulating compartmented belt, a downstream compartmented roller, wherein a sausage is transferred from a compartment of the belt into a compartment of the roller, and a second circulating transport device, onto which the sausages are transferred from the compartments of the roller. A control device controls the conveying operation of the second transport device and of the roller. A sensor device detects the occupancy of the compartments of the belt. The control device controls the conveying operation of the roller and the second transport device dependent on the detection result of the sensor device such that, upon detection of one or more successive unoccupied compartments of the belt, the conveying operation of the roller and of the second transport device is stopped or slowed when the unoccupied compartment is in or is entering a transfer position and, upon detection of an occupied compartment, the conveying operation is resumed when the occupied compartment is in or is entering the transfer position.

A freezer includes a grinder to obtain a ground meat; a mixer to add fat to the ground meat; a payload bay to receive the ground meat; a plurality of evaporators coupled to the payload bay with a multiplicity of coolant tubes in each evaporator, wherein each tube enters and then exits the payload bay, further comprising one or more cryogenic valves coupled to the coolant tubes; a pump to force coolant flowing through the evaporators; and a processor with code for: chopping the ground meat and during chopping, adding salt and ice to the ground meat being chopped and adding liquid nitrogen to maintain the temperature of the meat being chopped below 5 C. to obtain a chopped meat product; adding fat to the chopped meat product and then chopping the fat and adding liquid nitrogen to maintain the temperature of the chopped meat product and fat being chopped between 1 C. and 10 C. to obtain a chopped meat and fat product, wherein the ground meat, added fat, ice and salt are present in amounts so that the chopped meat and fat product has a fat content of from 1% to 20% by weight based upon the weight of the chopped meat and fat product.

A freezer includes a grinder to obtain a ground meat; a mixer to add fat to the ground meat; a payload bay to receive the ground meat; a plurality of evaporators coupled to the payload bay with a multiplicity of coolant tubes in each evaporator, wherein each tube enters and then exits the payload bay, further comprising one or more cryogenic valves coupled to the coolant tubes; a pump to force coolant flowing through the evaporators; and a processor with code for: chopping the ground meat and during chopping, adding salt and ice to the ground meat being chopped and adding liquid nitrogen to maintain the temperature of the meat being chopped below 5 C. to obtain a chopped meat product; adding fat to the chopped meat product and then chopping the fat and adding liquid nitrogen to maintain the temperature of the chopped meat product and fat being chopped between 1 C. and 10 C. to obtain a chopped meat and fat product, wherein the ground meat, added fat, ice and salt are present in amounts so that the chopped meat and fat product has a fat content of from 1% to 20% by weight based upon the weight of the chopped meat and fat product.

The present invention relates to a clipping machine and a method for operating a clipping machine for producing sausage-shaped products, like sausages, by filling a flowable filling material into a tubular or bag-shaped packaging casing and closing said packaging casing by at least one closure means, like a closure clip. The clipping machine comprises a filling tube for feeding the filling material in a feeding direction into the tubular or bag-shaped packaging casing stored on the filling tube and being closed at its front end, gathering means for gathering the filled packaging casing and for forming a gathered portion thereto, wherein the gathering means include a first displacer unit and a second displacer unit, and wherein the second displacer unit is reversibly movable in the feeding direction for forming a filling material free plait-like portion at the gathered portion of the filled packaging casing, a clipping device having at least a first and a second closing tool being reversibly movable between an opened position and a closed position, for applying at least one closure means to the plait-like portion and closing said closure means when the closing tools are in their closed position, and a discharge device for discharging a sausage-shaped product just produced from the clipping machine in a transportation direction, wherein the position of the discharge device along the transportation direction and relative to components located upstream the discharge device can be adjusted. The clipping machine further comprises a sensor device for detecting the position of the discharge device relative to components of the clipping machine located upstream the discharge device.

The present disclosure relates to a device and a method for transferring sausage portions with a first transport device for transporting the sausage portions, an ejection device for pushing the sausage portions from a first transport device to a second transport device, which is configured as a drum or fan belt. The first transport device has a lower and an upper circumferential transport means, between which the sausage portions are transported.

The present invention relates to a system for transferring sausage-shaped products, like sausages, containing a flowable filling material in a tubular or bag-shaped packaging casing from a discharge device of a processing machine for processing the sausage-shaped products to a handling device for the sausage-shaped products. The system comprises conveyor means for subsequently receiving sausage-shaped products discharged from the discharge device in a discharge direction and for conveying the sausage-shaped products in a feeding direction to a releasing position in which the sausage-shaped products can be removed from the conveyor means, drive means for driving said conveyor means in the feeding direction being at least substantially parallel to the discharge direction of the discharge device, guiding means for guiding the sausage-shaped products when conveyed by the conveyor means in the feeding direction and at least one shaping box for subsequently receiving a sausage-shaped product released from the conveyor means in the releasing position, wherein the at least one shaping box is provided at least substantially underneath the conveyor means in a receiving position for receiving the sausage-shaped product released in a release direction substantially perpendicular to the feeding direction.

The present invention relates to a device for removing a rod-like element, like a smoking rod, from a loading zone of a hanging line, wherein the rod-like element is arranged in a loading position of said loading zone, in which the rod-like element can successively be loaded with sausage-shaped products, like sausages, each of which contain a flowable filling material in a tubular or bag-shaped packaging casing provided with a suspension element, like a suspension loop, through which the sausage-shaped products can be suspended on the rod-like element in the loading position. The device comprises discharge means for discharging the loaded rod-like element out of the loading zone of the hanging line in a discharge direction and transfer means being reversibly movable in a transfer direction between an engagement position in which the transfer means engage the rod-like element to be removed from the loading position, and a retracted position in which the loaded rod-like element is transferred to said discharge means. The device further comprises a drive assembly having a single drive device and transmission means for intermittently driving the discharge means in a discharge direction, and for reversibly driving the transfer means in the transfer direction between the engagement position and the retracted position.