METHOD AND DEVICE FOR INCREASING THE PROPORTION OF MEAT USED IN FISH, POULTRY OR OTHER MEAT PRODUCTS

Abstract

A method is used in the production of principal products conveyed in plurality along a processing line, consisting of fish, poultry or other meat which contains, in addition to the principal products to be obtained, inedible components to be removed (removal components) and also contains edible by-products remaining on said removal components. The edible by-products remain on the removal components after removal. The method includes: loading a separating device with a batch of fish, poultry or other meat; separating the principal products of this batch from the removal components, comprising by-products, of said batch; separating the by-products from the removal components; producing a by-product brine from the by-products by comminuting the by-products and mixing with water and stabiliser; and injecting a defined quantity of the by-product brine into the principal products, wherein principal products and the by-products contained in the by-product brine come from the same batch.

Claims

1. A method for increasing a proportion of meat used in a production of principal products of any kind and form conveyed in plurality along a processing line and consisting of fish, poultry or other meat which contains, in addition to the principal products to be obtained, inedible components or components to be excluded from consumption which are to be removed (removal components) of at least one kind and also contains edible by-products remaining on said removal components, wherein the edible by-products remain on the removal components when the removal components are removed from the principal products, said method comprising the following steps: a) loading a separating device with a batch of fish, poultry or other meat; b) separating principal products of this batch from removal components, comprising by-products, of said batch; c) separation of the by-products from the removal components; d) producing a by-product brine from the by-products by comminuting the by-products and mixing the by-products with water and stabiliser, optionally sodium chloride and optionally other components; and e) injecting a defined quantity of the by-product brine produced in step d) into the principal products, wherein principal products and by-products contained in the by-product brine come from a same batch.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein step d) of producing the by-product brine comprises the steps: d1) of mixing by-product, water and stabilizer; and d2) of comminuting the by-product brine to a maximum mean particle size of 3 mm, or 2 mm, or 1 mm.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein, the principal products, during the steps c) of separation and d) of producing the by-product brine, are subjected in a parallel step f) to further processing, wherein this step f) of further processing comprises at least one process selected from trimming, skinning, portioning, sorting and aligning.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein step e) of injecting the by-product brine is followed by a step g) of cleaning the injected principal product by removing excess by-product brine by at least one of removal methods of suction, rinsing, wiping and blowing away.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the meat is fish meat, the principal product is fish fillet and the component to be removed is backbone of the fish.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein all method steps are carried out at a temperature of at most 10° C., or less than 7° C., or from 0 to 6° C., or from 1 to 6° C.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein a pH value of the by-product brine is from 6.0 to 8.0, or 6.0 to 7.0, or 6.0 to 6.5, or is 6.45.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein two principal products are processed in parallel, wherein the principal products originate from a same animal.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the stabiliser is phosphate-free.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the stabiliser is at least a compound selected from the group comprising of hydrocolloids, proteins, emulsifiers, special starches, functional salts, fibres, dietary fibres, functional lipids and enzymes.

11. (canceled)

12. An apparatus for increasing a proportion of meat utilized in a production of principal products of any kind and form conveyed in plurality along a processing line and consisting of fish, poultry or other meat, comprising: a separating device for separating inedible components or components to be excluded from consumption, which are to be removed (removal components) from a principal products of a batch, from the removal components of this batch which comprise edible by-products; a by-product line with a separation device for separation of the by-products from the removal components; a mixing device for mixing the by-products with water and stabiliser to produce a by-product brine; a comminuting device for further comminuting the by-products in the by-product brine; a first transport system with at least one transport for transporting the by-products from the separating device via the separation device, the mixing device and the comminuting device to an injection device; the injection device for injecting a defined quantity of the comminuted by-product brine into the principal products; a principal product line with a second transport system with at least one transport for transporting the principal products from the separating device to the injection device; and synchronising means for synchronising the conveying speed in the by-product line and the conveying speed in the principal product line in such a manner that the by-products contained in the by-product brine, which is injected into the principal products in the injection device, originate from a same batch as the principal products.

13. The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the principal product line has at least one further device for processing the principal product, comprising at least one device selected from a trimming device, skinning device, portioning device, sorting device and aligning device.

14. The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the apparatus further has a cleaning device which is downstream of the injection device, wherein the cleaning device comprises a cleaning means, selected from suction means, rinsing means, wiping means and blowing away means.

15. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of producing a by-product brine from the by-products by comminuting the by-products and mixing the by-products with water and stabiliser further comprises mixing the by-products with water and stabiliser, and sodium chloride and/or other components.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

[0076] Especially preferred embodiments of the method according to the invention and the apparatus are explained in greater detail with reference to the attached drawing. The drawing shows:

[0077] FIG. 1 is a a flow diagram for the method according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0078] When taken on their own or in combination with each other, the features and developments described below illustrate preferred embodiments. It is expressly pointed out that features which are summarised in the description and/or the drawing or are described in a common embodiment can also further develop the method according to the invention and the apparatus according to the invention in a functionally independent manner.

[0079] The invention is described below based on the example of salmon processing. The principal product is salmon fillet.

[0080] The salmon fillets are removed from the backbone on a separating device 1. The heads are removed from the fish body in a preceding step in a heading device that is not shown. In addition, the viscera have already been removed on entering the separating device 1. From the separating device 1, the backbones with the salmon meat (by-product) still attached to them are further processed on the by-product line 2. First, the backbone with the by-product is fed to a separation device 3. The temperature during the separation process is below 10° C. The by-product of salmon meat is separated from the backbone in the separation device. On leaving the separation device, the so-called fish mince has a particle size between 2 and 6 mm. The fish mince can be routed to a temporary store 4 for temporary storage. The temperature in the temporary store 4 is lower than 10° C., a temperature between 4 and 5° C. is particularly suitable.

[0081] The fish mince is fed from the temporary store 4 to the mixing device 7. In this mixing device, the fish mince is mixed with ice water from water tank 5 as well as with the stabiliser and salt from the container 6 for stabiliser and dry components. Salt need not necessarily be added. It is equally possible for further dry components to be added. The ice water solution which is fed to the mixing device 7 has a pH value ranging from 7 to 8. Fish mince and ice water solution are mixed in the mixing device 7. The temperature in the mixing device is lower than 5° C. The pH value ranges from 6 to 8. The composition of the salmon brine was as follows:

[0082] 81.4 wt % water

[0083] 18% salmon mince

[0084] 0.6 wt % stabiliser

[0085] HydroTOP SB 15 by the Hydrosol company was used as a stabiliser.

[0086] The salmon brine thus produced arrives in the comminuting device 9 via the pump 8. Here, the brine is comminuted to a particle size of 1 to 2 mm. The temperature of the brine rises by up to 3 K due to the comminution process. From the comminuting device 9, the fish brine is conveyed to the injection tank 10. Here, the fish brine is cooled so that it has a temperature of below 7° C., in particular of 5 to 6° C.

[0087] Parallel to production of the fish brine, the salmon fillets are conveyed on the principal product line 11. In doing so, they can be transported straight to the injection device 12. Similarly, it is also possible that they pass through further method steps and the corresponding devices (not shown) before being injected. The fillets can thus be further refined, for example by trimming, i.e. by removing further bones and/or ventral fins and/or the back fat. Skinning is another option.

[0088] Before entering the injection device 12, the salmon fillets are weighed on a weighing device (not shown). In the injection device 12, the fish brine is then injected into the fish fillets via injection needles. This takes place at a pressure ranging from 0.4 to 2.0 bar. Any excess fish brine is returned to the injection tank 10 via a recirculation loop 14. After injection, the fish fillets usually have excess fish brine. On the one hand, this is detrimental to the visual impression, on the other hand, fish brine is consumed without being permanently present in the product, since fish brine on the surface is removed during washing and in particular during cooking or frying. The fish fillet is therefore fed to the cleaning device 13 where the fillet is cleaned. This can be carried out using a so-called air knife with which water is first applied and then sucked off together with the excess brine. The excess brine is also returned to the injection tank via the recirculation loop 14.

[0089] After cleaning, the fish fillet is weighed again on a weighing device (not shown) before being deep-frozen in a freezing device 15.