Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
333
S P E C I ~ I C A T I O N
This invention relates generally to innovations and
improvements in the production of bacon bits.
Bacon bits of satisfactory quality have heretofore
been produced by a process wherein bacon material, usually
bacon ends and pieces, are ground, cooked, drained to remove
~ readily separable fat, and then pressed in a hydraulic press
to remove additional fat and red~ce the fat content to the
desired level. The resultin~ press cake is then dislntegrated
or ground into the finished bacon bits product for pac~aging.
; The object of the present invention, generally stated,
is the provision of a new and improved method of producing bacon
bits offering important advantages over the prior art process
and yielding a high quality bacon bits product.
The bacon bits produced in accordance with the present
invention have uniform fat content, color, particle size, and
free-flowing properties. The process of the present invention
offers the following advantages: composition of the finished
product can easily be controlled; fat content of the finished
product can be varied from 5~ to 40% to suit specific requiré-
ments; particle size can be controlled by the grind size of the
uncooked bacon material; specific particle size ranges can be
; obtained by sieving the finished product or by varying the meshsize of the centrifuge retainin~ bags; degree of crlspnes~ and
brownness of the product can be controlled by cooking to
- speci~ic temperatures; and flavorings can be readily added if
~-- desired.
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For a more complete under~tanding of the nature and
~- 30 ~cope of the invention reference may now be had to the following
detailed description wherein the general method and a presently
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preferrecl working example are set forth.
In the accompanying drawings, Figures 1-3 are curves
or graphs of certain operating conditions.
Bacon ends and pieces constitute the main type of
"bacon material" from which bacon bits are made since bacon
ends and pieces are usually the most economical starting
material, However, other bacon materials may be used, includ-
ing cured bacon bellies. The bacon material utilized in
producing bacon bits is ground to within the size range of
from l/16 inch to 1 inch depending upon the desired particle
size of the finished product. If frozen bacon material is
utilized, it should be tempered to brlng it within the rangeD
of 32-40F. prior to grinding. The ground bacon material, at
a temperature not exceeding 50F., is introduced into a
cooking
heated/vessel provided with some type of temperature control
(e.g., heated jacket) whereby the temperature of the ground
bacon material can be raised to a final temperature of from
about 212-250F. depending upon the desired degree of crispness
and brownness of the finished product. ~ -
After being raised to the final desired temperature,
the bacon material is unloaded from the cooking vessel and
introduced into a centrifuge so as to controllably reduce
the fat content of the finished product to the desired level
within the range of from 5-40% by weight. A particular final
fat content can be obtained by varying (1) the centrifugal
force, (2) the time in the centrifuge and/or (3) the feed
rate of introducing cooked bacon slurry into the centrifuge.
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If a centrifuge is used of the type that utilizes a retaining
-~ ba~g, the particle size of the product can be varied by sèlecting
~ ~o the ~esh ~iZe o~ the retaining bag. For best result$, the
;~ - cooked bacon slurry should be ;ntroduced into the centrifuge
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while the basket or bowl is spinnin~, The centrifugal force
(i.e., g-force) developed during c-entrifuging should not be
excessive since otherwise it will be diEficult to control the
fat content of the finished product. Desirably, -the g~force
should be such that during "brake time" at the end of the run,
some fat or oil will be removed but at a greatly reduced rate.
The degreased or defatted batch which has been
removed from the centrifuge and broken up in a mixer may be
either packaged directly in known manner or blended or mixed
with a flavoring material (such as wood smoke concentrate of
known commercial type, e.g. Charoil). This is a ve~etable oil
smoke-flavored
extract of aqueous/solution prepared by extraction ~ith edible
oil of an aqueous solution of natural wood-smoke flavors. The
mixing can be carried out in any suitable piece of equipment
and, preferably, the mixing is done at reduced pressure.
The following working example will serve to disclose
a specific procedure which has been satisfactorily employed
in practicing the present invention and will suggest to those
skllled in the art variations by which the invention may be
practiced.
Example
Three-hundred fifty pounds of frozen bacon ends and
pieces (not more than thirty days old) are air-defrosted and
air-tempered to a temperature of 32-40F. The tempered bacon
ends are ground in a Hobart meat grlnder (6 inch head) equipped
with a plate having 3/8 inch diameter openings and a ~our-
bladed knife.
~n this example, ~ 50~gallon steam-jacketed stainless-
steel kettle o~ kno~n type equipped ~ith a rotating agitator may
be used (e.g., a Groen cook kettle). The kettle is preheated by
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333
admitting steam at 80 psig (324E.) to the jacket and the
agitator is started (35 rpm). The 350 pounds of ground
bacon at a temperature below 50F. are introduced into ~he
preheated ]cettle with the agitator rotating. The temperature
of the kettle contents is monitored with a thermocouple
recorder and allowed to increase to 219-221F. (abou-t 27-31
minutes from the s~art) whereupon the steam pressure is shut
off and the cook kettle outlet opened. Figure 1 is a tempera-
ture profile produced on the recorder during typical cook.
Prior to the completion of a cook when the tempera-
ture of the kettle contents reaches 217-219F., a Bock 24-inch
diameter single-speed perforate basket batch centrifuge of 1.1
cubic feet capacity provided with a 1400-1500 u retention bag
is started and allowed to reach full speed of 1180 rpm (475g.).
The centrifuge requires approximately two minutes to attain this
speed during which time the temperature of the cook kettle ~ -
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! contents increases to 219-221F. With the cook kettle outlet
opened, a constant pressure centrifuge feed pump connected with
the kettle outlet is started and allowed to run discharging into
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the centrifuge basket until one-half of the bacon slurry has been
; transferred into the centrifuge. Operating at a feed rate of 80~:
pounds a minute, the pump requires two minutes to pump one-hal
of the bacon slurry into the centrifuge. At the end of the two
minutes, the feed pump is stopped and the centrifuge allowed to
spin at full speed for 1.5 addi~ional minutes whereupon the
centrifuge is turned off. Thereafter, it requires about one
minute for the bowl to decelerate, After the howl stops
spinnin~, the retention bag containing 52-58 pounds of
degreased bacon bits is lifted out of the centrifuge. Another
1400-150Q u retention bag is placed into the centrifuge, the ;
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333
discharge end of the feed ~LImp is again placed into the cover
openiny, and the centrifuge started~ After the centri~uge again
reaches full speed in two minutes, the feed pump is run until
the cook kettle is empty, approximately two minutes. The bowl
is again allowed to spin for 1.5 additional minutes after which
the centriEuge is shut off and allowed to decelerate. The
nylon bag ~ith the second half of the batch of degreased bacon
bits is removed after the bowl has s-topped spinning in about
one minute. In Figure 2, the rate at which oil is expelled
from the centrifuge is plotted for a typical batch.
~ ithin not more than thirty minutes after degreasing,
the contents of each nylon bag are weighed and separately
placed in a 75-pound capacity stainless steel vacuum paddle
mixer. With the paddle moving, 0.75% by weight of hickory
~haroil is added to the contents over a period of about thirty
seconds. The mixer cover is closed and mixer allowed to
operate for sixty seconds under a vacuum of 27 inches of
mercury.
The finished bacon bits are free-flowing with little
free or superficial grease on the surface of the particles.
They have the color~ odor and flavor of well-cured and smoked
bacon and are free of all off-flavors and odors. Not more
than 20% are retained on a 1/4 inch opening U. S. Standard
Sieve while not more than 1.0% of the particles are smaller
than a 20 U. 5. Standard Sieve. The proximate analysis based
on 31 ~atches was as follows;
Moisture 34.5~
Protein 35,o%
Fat 19.1%
Salt 5.8%
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Based on 100 pounds of uncooked ~round bacon ends and
pieces, the following results were obtained:
Cook shrinlc = 16.8%
: Grease
expelled from ?
centrifuge = 51.6%
Degreased
bacon bits
- yield = 31.6~
- Using thé equipment described.in the Example, bacon
; bits can be produced at the rate of 840 pounds in an eight-hour
shift. Usin~ the same procedure, the production rate can be
increased to 5,400 pounds per shift by using the following
equipment: three 150-gallon cook kettles (1200 pounds ground
bacon each per bath); one DeLaval ATM Mark III bottom unloading
centrifuge having 9 cubic feet capacity and equipped with an ~ i:.
automatic plow for unloading; one constant pressure rotary
pump equipped with Varidrive and capable of delivering 240 .:.
pounds ~er minute; and a vacuum ribbon mixer having a 400 pound .~;
.. capacity.
Trials were made with equipment used in the Example .~
but with the basket of the Bock centrifuge spinning at 1840 rpm ~.
at maximum speed (equal to centrifugal force of 1156 g). The
results of three degreasing runs are plotted in Figure 3. .It
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will be noted that during the centrifuge brake time the rate of . .
oil discharge (0.61 pounds per second) is some, but not much, : ::
lower than the rate (0.76 pounds per second) when the centrifuge
: .:
is running at full speed. At the hi~her speed of 184d rpm, the
-- fat content of the product tended to be too low with the bacon ~.
bits dry and tending to compact into clumps. Also the higher
speed, brake times tended to vary substantiati~g making it
difficult to consistently contral the fat content By reducing
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333
the speed to 1180 rpm (475 y) much yreater control was
achieved over the amount of oil e~pelled and thereby over the
uniformity of -the product. Accordingly, it was concluded and
tests have shown, that the centrifuge should be operated in
such manner that during deceleration or brake time an appre-
ciable amount of oil should be discharged but at a rate which
is a small fraction of the rate of discharge prior to brake
`~ time.
Although this invention has been described in detail
with particular reference to preferred embodiments thereof, it
will be understood that variations and modification can be
effected within the spirit and scope of this invention as
described above and as defined in the appended claims.
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