A method of producing raw, boneless and rindless cured meats with a short maturation is described, comprising a phase of receiving the raw material in the fresh state on the production line, a dry salting phase, a vacuum packing phase of the salted product, a resting phase of the vacuum-packed product in a salting cell, a filling phase of the anatomical piece in natural or artificial casing, after eliminating the vacuum bag, a cold resting phase of the bagged and tied product, a drying phase, a phase of seasoning of the product, a phase of washing the product from seasoning molds, peeling it and putting it into vacuum bags, and an optional aging phase; a bagged product, bresaola, made with this method and its plant is also described.

A method of producing raw, boneless and rindless cured meats with a short maturation is described, comprising a phase of receiving the raw material in the fresh state on the production line, a dry salting phase, a vacuum packing phase of the salted product, a resting phase of the vacuum-packed product in a salting cell, a filling phase of the anatomical piece in natural or artificial casing, after eliminating the vacuum bag, a cold resting phase of the bagged and tied product, a drying phase, a phase of seasoning of the product, a phase of washing the product from seasoning molds, peeling it and putting it into vacuum bags, and an optional aging phase; a bagged product, bresaola, made with this method and its plant is also described.

A smoker apparatus is disclosed that provides a smoker cabinet having upper and lower end portions. The cabinet has a top, a bottom and a side wall or walls and an interior. The cabinet includes a plurality of vertically spaced apart shelves mounted within the cabinet interior. A cabinet door that enables access to the shelves. A gaseous fuel supplied burner element is positioned next to the lower end portion of the cabinet, the burner element being removably connectable to a source of gaseous fuel. A pair of containers is mounted within the cabinet below the shelves and above the burner element. One of the containers is preferably a water container for containing water. The other of the containers being a wood chips container for containing wood chips, wherein the wood chips container is positioned in between the water container and the burner element. A slide bracket supports the containers, the slide bracket positioned generally in between the burner element and the shelves. An access door is provided that is much smaller than the cabinet door, the access door extending vertically a distance at least spanning the vertical dimension of the containers. Either container can be removed laterally from the cabinet at least a partial distance by sliding it laterally upon the slide bracket and at least partially through the access door.

The Food Smoker Adapter converts an outdoor cooking system into a meat smoker without physical modification. It is comprised of a lid, smoke chamber, meat skewers, and a wood chip pan. It can also act as a stand alone meat smoking system when used with an auxiliary electric heating element. The smoke chamber is a tube or duct, and is placed on the wood chip pan or an accessory allowing the stacking of an additional smoke chamber. The wood chip pan rests above the heat source. Skewers are placed across the top of the smoke chamber allowing meat to hang inside. The lid acts as a smoke chamber lifting mechanism, and has tabs that snap into slots near the top of the smoke chamber allowing the lid, smoke chamber, skewers, and meat to be removed and set aside allowing access to the wood chip pan for tending.

A process for manufacturing dry sausage including preparing a dry sausage meat mixture, stuffing the moisture into a casing or mould, or extruding into a mould, fermenting the mixture, hat treating the sausage log, optionally removing the outer casing from the sausage log, cooling tire sausage log to a temperature sufficiently low to permit cutting, cutting the sausage, placing the sausage pieces onto a conveyor, optionally a multi-tier or spiral conveyor assembly, and passing the conveyor and sausage pieces through a chamber. The process also includes introducing a supply of conditioned, air into the chamber, the air having a relative humidity below about 60% and a temperature in the range, of at least about 40° F. to 130° F., and introducing a supply of microwaves into the chamber. The air supply and microwaves are selected to reduce the moisture content of the sausage pieces to a predetermined moisture to protein ratio.

A process for manufacturing dry sausage including preparing a dry sausage meat mixture, stuffing the moisture into a casing or mould, or extruding into a mould, fermenting the mixture, hat treating the sausage log, optionally removing the outer casing from the sausage log, cooling tire sausage log to a temperature sufficiently low to permit cutting, cutting the sausage, placing the sausage pieces onto a conveyor, optionally a multi-tier or spiral conveyor assembly, and passing the conveyor and sausage pieces through a chamber. The process also includes introducing a supply of conditioned, air into the chamber, the air having a relative humidity below about 60% and a temperature in the range, of at least about 40° F. to 130° F., and introducing a supply of microwaves into the chamber. The air supply and microwaves are selected to reduce the moisture content of the sausage pieces to a predetermined moisture to protein ratio.

The present invention provides methods for preparing hygienic dried meat products and biltong hygienic dried meat products, the method includes cutting uncooked meat into uncooked meat slices, immersing said meat slices in a vinegar solution for up to twenty minutes to form soaked meat slices, air drying the soaked meat slices for less than 72 hours to form the biltong hygienic dried meat product having at least 100,000 fold less microbes than the uncooked meat.

The present invention provides methods for preparing hygienic dried meat products and biltong hygienic dried meat products, the method includes cutting uncooked meat into uncooked meat slices, immersing said meat slices in a vinegar solution for up to twenty minutes to form soaked meat slices, air drying the soaked meat slices for less than 72 hours to form the biltong hygienic dried meat product having at least 100,000 fold less microbes than the uncooked meat.

This invention relates to food processing and, in particular, blanching and dehydration of foods. Conventional blanching and dehydration requires use of steam and forced hot air. This invention is the first to effectively use infrared radiation energy to perform simultaneous blanching and dehydration of fruits and vegetables. Since this technology does not involve the addition of steam or water in the process of blanching, it has been named “infrared dry-blanching” (IDB) technology. IDB is intended to be a replacement for current steam, water and/or microwave blanching methods. It can be used to produce many kinds of value-added dried, refrigerated, frozen and dehydrofrozen foods such as fruit and vegetable products. In general, the advantages of IDB include (1) uniform heating which enhances energy efficiency and limits damage from over-heating, (2) capability of zone heating to address differential density, (3) ability to treat large or small lots with the same piece of equipment, (4) portability, since equipment can be built on wheels, and (5) a safe, non-toxic process with no harmful side-effects to humans or the environment.

A method for manufacturing an edible dog chew includes the steps of: extruding a first edible mixture through a mold having an opening in a first direction to form a lengthened chew interior material; cutting the lengthened chew interior material into defined lengths to form at least one cut chew interior material; drying the cut chew interior material to form a chew interior; and coating the chew interior with a second edible mixture different from the first edible mixture. Further methods and pet chews are also provided.