A method of producing a hot dog-like product that is flat and textured on both the exterior and cut face surface area of the product following slicing or cutting. This unique method of manufacturing a hot dog allows for a textured exterior made by producing the raw product in a flexible, permeable, casing that is covered with netting or other material to produce a texture on the exterior surface of the product. This is then stripped off using another process of coating the casing with an easy peel spray that allows the casing to be removed leaving a smooth hot dog like exterior surface. When the log is cut, we utilize a second unique process of cutting it with a textured blade to produce a textured surface area on either the top and/or bottom or both top and bottom of the product.

A meat analogue may include a set protein emulsion, the protein emulsion having a protein and at least one insoluble particle. In some embodiments, at least a portion of the particle can include at least one mineral material selected from the group consisting of silicium, and calcium, such as one or more of rhombohedral calcite, scalenohedral calcite, silicon dioxide, and magnesium oxide; at least one organic material selected from the group consisting of a bone meal, a cartilage meal, a ground crustacean shell, a ground sea fish shell, and a ground egg shell; and/or a gelled vegetable gum, a gelled hydrocolloid, a polymerized vegetable gum, a polymerized hydrocolloid, or a mixture thereof. The meat analogue can be made by extruding the protein emulsion and cooling the extruded emulsion. The meat analogue can be cut into chunks and/or added to another comestible composition such as a gravy or broth.

A meat analogue may include a macrostructure of connected sheared fibers oriented parallel to one another and gaps positioned between the sheared fibers. The macrostructure may include meat and may include a vegetable protein. An extrusion system may include an extruder and a die. The extrusion system may produce a meat analogue. A meat analogue may include an animal protein. The extruder may be connectable to the die. The extrusion system may be configured to direct a material including an animal protein from the extruder to the die and through a fluid path extending through the die. The die may be configured to inject a fat or a fat analogue into the material such that the fat or the fat analogue is embedded but visually distinct from the material including the animal protein when the fat or the fat analogue and the material exit the die.

Proposed is a formed meat composition comprising additives, a process for producing a formed meat slug and a combined meat/formed meat slug. It is a disadvantage of established dried formed meat compositions that they require stabilizing desiccants and/or have an unnatural, open-pored fine structure. The novel solution proposed is a formed meat composition which, in addition to prey animal meat, glycerol and salt, merely contains additives in the form of prey animal nutriment. Also proposed is a process for producing a formed meat slug in which a common comminution of meat and additives in a manner modelled on hunting is carried out. Finally proposed is a combined meat/formed meat slug which comprises in its primary constituents only animal meat ingredients and the recited additives. The claimed subject matter provides the particular advantage that, despite additives, a denser, more stable and closed fine structure is achieved.

The invention provides pseudo-loaf food compositions comprising meat analog chunks and gravy, the gravy comprising a thickener selected from the group consisting of a gum present in the gravy in an amount from about 0.5 to about 3.0% of the gravy by weight, a starch present in the gravy in an amount from about 2.0 to about 9.0% of the gravy by weight, and combinations thereof. The food composition has a moisture content from about 60% to about 74% of the composition by weight and has a loaf-type structure. In an embodiment, the moisture content of the pseudo-loaf food composition is from about 67% to about 74% of the composition by weight. In addition, the invention provides methods of making pseudo-loaf food compositions and also provides blended food compositions comprising one or more pseudo-loaf compositions and one or more comestible ingredients compatible with the pseudo-loaf food compositions.

Foamed meat or fish products and methods of producing the same are provided. The methods comprise feeding a raw material comprising comminuted meat or fish and connective tissue to a dispersing apparatus. A gas is also provided to the dispersing apparatus and the dispersing apparatus operated to provide the foamed meat or fish product. The foamed meat or fish products so produced include gas bubbles having an average size of 0.1 to 7 mm.

A process for the production of a sauce containing minced meat, tomato, vegetables, edible oils or fats and optional complementary ingredients is disclosed. The process includes the steps of a) of subjecting pellets of a mixture containing minced meat to baking in an oven, obtaining baked pellets, b) adding, in a cooker, the baked pellets to tomato, vegetables, edible oils or fats and optional complementary ingredients, and c) cooking the whole mixture for a predetermined time.

The invention relates to a method for producing a raw piece of reconstituted meat and to a raw piece of reconstituted meat combined according to the method. Many known reconstituted meat products are rejected because they contain chemical additives such as aminases; they are expensive to produce, because the meat first is reconstituted and stabilized and is then preserved; and reconstituted meat combinations often have an inhomogeneous appearance and may tend to separate out their constituents. In order to overcome these disadvantages, a reconstituted meat composition contains only glycerol and salt as the binders, is stabilized and preserved by drying in a single step in a method for producing a raw piece of reconstituted meat and provides a combined raw piece of reconstituted meat the main constituents of which contain only meat ingredients from animal origin, it has the appearance of pure meat, and has a similar elasticity and a precise residual juice content.

The invention relates to a method of producing a foamed meat product, comprising the steps of: feeding a pumpable raw material containing comminuted meat or fish and strand-like connective tissue components to a dispersing apparatus with a chamber with a cylindrical rotor arranged therein, which is provided, on its circumference, with a number of cavities to create cavitation, feeding a gas to the dispersing apparatus and operating the dispersing apparatus while creating cavitation and dispersing the gas supplied, in the process of which the sinews or ligaments are passed through the chamber, and creating a foamed meat or fish product containing strand-like connective tissue components, which can be sterilised.

The present invention relates to a process for the production of a meat analogue, comprising: a) introducing a meat batter which comprises protein into a first heating unit and heating the meat batter to a temperature above the denaturation temperature of the protein in the meat batter, but below the melting point of the protein to produce a first heat-treated product, and b) transferring the first heat-treated product to a second heating unit and heating the first heat-treated product to a temperature above the melting temperature of the protein to produce a second heat-treated product, c) cooling the second heat-treated product by moving through a cooling unit, so that the second heat-treated product has a temperature below water boiling temperature at ambient pressure when exiting the cooling unit, and d) dividing the cooled second heat-treated product into pieces; as well as to an apparatus for the production of a meat analogue.