Moisture is retained in cooked or thawed food by adding to the food an aqueous suspension of animal muscle protein obtained from animal muscle tissue. The aqueous suspension is obtained by mixing comminuted animal muscle tissue with a food grade base to form an aqueous basic solution of animal muscle protein. The basic solution is mixed with a food grade acid to precipitate the protein in an aqueous composition. The precipitated protein then is comminuted to form an aqueous suspension of comminuted animal muscle protein.

A deveining system efficiently removes veins from shrimp while preserving the meat of the shrimp in both appearance and quantity. The deveining system comprises an endless deveining wall having outwardly-extending snagging tabs. Water flooding a deveining region creates a vacuum effect to pull exposed veins through openings formed by the snagging tabs, followed by separation of the body of the shrimp from the veins.

A deveining system efficiently removes veins from shrimp while preserving the meat of the shrimp in both appearance and quantity. The deveining system comprises an endless deveining wall having outwardly-extending snagging tabs. Water flooding a deveining region creates a vacuum effect to pull exposed veins through openings formed by the snagging tabs, followed by separation of the body of the shrimp from the veins.

A shrimp peeling device includes a frame, a driving member, a first conveying wheel, a second conveying wheel, a conveying belt, a clamping frame, a cutting assembly, and a shell removing frame. The conveying belt is in transmission connection with the first conveying wheel and the second conveying wheel. The clamping frame is provided with a first pathway for the conveying belt to pass through. A processing opening is formed in the clamping frame. The cutting assembly is disposed at the processing opening. The shell removing frame is provided with a second pathway for the conveying belt to pass through, and the second pathway includes a limiting cavity and a narrowing cavity. The shell removing frame is provided with a discharge port. The conveying belt is upwards bent and folded in half to clamp and convey a shrimp.

A shrimp peeling device includes a frame, a driving member, a first conveying wheel, a second conveying wheel, a conveying belt, a clamping frame, a cutting assembly, and a shell removing frame. The conveying belt is in transmission connection with the first conveying wheel and the second conveying wheel. The clamping frame is provided with a first pathway for the conveying belt to pass through. A processing opening is formed in the clamping frame. The cutting assembly is disposed at the processing opening. The shell removing frame is provided with a second pathway for the conveying belt to pass through, and the second pathway includes a limiting cavity and a narrowing cavity. The shell removing frame is provided with a discharge port. The conveying belt is upwards bent and folded in half to clamp and convey a shrimp.

A shellfish beheading assembly includes a clipper that includes a top jaw and a bottom jaw. The top jaw is hingedly coupled to the bottom jaw. The clipper may have a shellfish positioned between the top jaw and the bottom jaw. The top jaw is selectively urged toward the bottom jaw. A saddle is coupled to the clipper and saddle is configured to have the shellfish positioned therein. A pair of blades is provided. A selected one of the blades is removably coupled to the clipper. Thus, the selected blade beheads the shellfish when the top jaw is urged toward the bottom jaw.

Methods and systems using a vision system to process shrimp. The in-line or off-line vision system captures images of samples of shrimps. The processor produces a digital image of the shrimps in the samples. Shrimps exiting a peeler are imaged to determine the number of tail segments in or the percentage of full weight of each. The shrimps are classified by the number of intact segments, and quality, yield, and throughput computed from the classification results. The processor can control operational settings of the peeler based on the classification results. In a larger system including other shrimp-processing equipment besides the peeler, other points along the processing path can be imaged by camera or sensed by other sensors to determine processing quality and to make automatic operational adjustments to the equipment.

A shrimp deveining machine with adjustable blades. The deveiner has an inclined trough with groups of blades arranged in a zig-zag pattern. The trough is lubricated by water to help shrimps advance along the blades, which slit the shrimps' backs to expose their veins. Blade-height adjusters adjust the height of the blades above the trough. Blade-angle adjusters adjust the angles of the blades relative to the length direction of the trough. Magnets are used to hold the blades in place for easy replacement. A feed tank at the entrance to the trough includes a serpentine path to separate the shrimps.

A shrimp processing system conveys raw peeled shrimps to an imaging chamber in which shrimp bits and shrimps with residual shell are detected and diverted from the stream of acceptable shrimps allowed to pass on to downstream processing. An ultraviolet (UV) light source in the imaging chamber is constantly on. A visual inspection system takes images of the passing stream of shrimp when a white-light source is turned on to illuminate an exposure region to detect bits, clumps of shrimps, and acceptable individual shrimps. The visual inspection system takes images of the passing stream when the white-light source is turned off and the exposure region is subjected only to ultraviolet radiation. The visual inspection system detects shrimps with residual shell in the UV images. Shrimp bits and shrimps with residual shell are diverted from the stream of shrimps by air jet nozzles to corresponding reject destinations.

Moisture is retained in cooked or thawed food by adding to the food an aqueous suspension of animal muscle protein obtained from animal muscle tissue. The aqueous suspension is obtained by mixing comminuted animal muscle tissue with a food grade base to form an aqueous basic solution of animal muscle protein. The basic solution is mixed with a food grade acid to precipitate the protein in an aqueous composition. The precipitated protein then is comminuted to form an aqueous suspension of comminuted animal muscle protein.