A method for separating fat from lean. The method includes grinding chilled beef comprising fat and lean into a size resulting in particles that comprise predominantly fat and particles that comprise predominantly lean; combining the particles with a fluid to produce a mixture, wherein the fluid comprises water; and centrifuging the mixture to separate the fluid, and the particles comprising predominantly lean from the mixture.

A meat grinder includes: a housing; a drive unit mounted in the housing, the drive unit including a motor; a screw conveyor comprising a barrel fixed relative to the housing, and an auger located within the barrel and operatively connected with the motor; a hollow feed chute having upper and lower ends, the lower end mounted on and configured to feed into the barrel; and a feed tray mounted on the upper end of the feed chute, the feed tray including an opening in communication with the upper end of the feed chute. The feed chute includes an inlet section of a first inner diameter that includes the upper end, a feed section of a second inner diameter that includes the lower end, the second diameter being less than the first diameter, and a funneled section between the inlet section and the feed section.

A plant (1) for cold extraction of puree, or juice, from a food product of vegetable origin, or animal includes a treating machine, for example a softening machine (20) downstream of which a machine is provided for extracting (30) in which it is obtained the extraction of juice, or puree, from a food product of vegetable origin. Upstream of the treating machine (20) a division machine is provided (40, 40) in which a division means is arranged to divide the starting food product of vegetable origin into parts of predetermined size. More in detail, in case of fresh vegetables, i.e. preserved at a temperature set between about 2 and 4 C., a division means is provided (40) arranged to provide the division of the vegetable product (100) into parts (105) of size set between 50 mm and 130 mm, advantageously, set between 80 mm and 110 mm, for example about 100 mm, which is fed to the above described treating machine (20). Instead, in case of frozen food product of vegetable origin, the division means (40) is arranged to provide the division of the frozen product (102) into parts (103) of size substantially equivalent to the single pieces contained in the block, or cake, (102).

A grinding machine for grinding food-products, such as meat or the like, includes an orifice plate at the outlet of a grinding head. The orifice plate has collection passages that discharge a mixture of soft material and hard material through the orifice plate. A separator assembly, including a separator screw, separation chamber, metering auger, and metering cone, is located downstream of the orifice plate for separating the soft material from the hard material. The metering auger is fixedly coupled to a distal end of the separator screw and has a reduced diameter relative to the separator screw. The metering auger advances in a downstream direction the hard material of the mixture of soft material and hard material. The metering cone includes an internal conical portion and a metering passageway formed therein, where the metering auger is in communication with the metering passageway, and where a selected diameter of the metering auger defines an amount of the hard material that is advanced in the downstream direction through the metering passageway toward a discharge end.

A grinding machine for grinding food-products, such as meat or the like, includes an orifice plate at the outlet of a grinding head. The orifice plate has collection passages that discharge a mixture of soft material and hard material through the orifice plate. A separator assembly, including a separator screw and separation chamber, is located downstream of the orifice plate for separating the soft material from the hard material. A ring adjustment assembly includes a ring valve having an internal conical portion in communication with a nose portion of the separator screw, and a ring valve carrier configured to reciprocally displace the ring valve in an axial direction relative to the separator screw so as to vary a gap between the nose portion of the separator screw and the internal conical portion of the ring valve. Adjustment of the gap distance determines an amount of the hard material that is passed toward the discharge outlet.

A grinder with independent blades and an apparatus and methods to cause the product to be stretched, aligning the fibers of the product.

A process for manufacturing dry sausage. The process includes preparing a dry sausage meat mixture, stuffing the mixture into a casing or mould, fermenting the mixture, heat treating the mixture, cooling the mixture to a temperature sufficiently low to permit slicing, slicing the sausage, placing the sausage onto a conveyor, and passing the conveyor and sausage 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 meat to a predetermined moisture to protein ratio.

A meat grinding reclamation system is disclosed herein. The system uses a plate having a plurality of holes through which meat is processed, and a smaller number of waste material indentations that feed waste material away from the meat into separate uniform curved openings. The center of the plate is provided with a shaft opening, which allows use of a center drive shaft across the plate.

A meat grinding reclamation system is disclosed herein. The system uses a plate having a plurality of holes through which meat is processed, and a smaller number of waste material indentations that feed waste material away from the meat into separate uniform curved openings. The center of the plate is provided with a shaft opening, which allows use of a center drive shaft across the plate.

An apparatus for shredding meat with a hopper and a frame. The hopper has upper and lower rotor assemblies mounted to rotate horizontally within a shredding region. Each rotor assembly is composed of an arbor and fingers arranged in paraxial rows around the arbor. Four rows of pegs extend horizontally into the shredding region. A front row and a back row are each 0.75 inch above and below, respectively, the upper rotor assembly. A back row and a front row are each 0.75 inch above and below, respectively the lower rotor assembly. The hopper is suspended in the frame, which houses the drive mechanism that rotates the rotor assemblies in opposite directions. The upper rotor assembly pushes product dropped into the shredding region into the upper back row to shred the product. The lower rotor assembly pushes the shredded product into the lower front row to further shred the product.