Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
~C53777
This invention relates to a process for the prepara-
tion of a flavoured dried meat which may be used in partic-
ular in rapidly reconstituted foods.
It is known, for example from FR-PS 1 538 975, that a
dehydrated precooked meat capable of being rapidly recon-
stituted can be prepared by cooking of the meat, mixing
with a salt and sodium glutamate, dehydration and coating
of the dehydrated meat with a fat. However, the meat taste
of the reconstituted product is not very pronounced. The
meat taste can be strengthened by addition to the meat of
a flavouring agent obtained, for example, by thermal
reaction of an amino acid with a reducing sugar and a fat.
However, the product thus obtained does not have a charac-
teristic meat taste and does not keep for very long.
The problem addressed by the present invention was to
provide a process for the preparation of a flavoured meat
in dried form which would have good organoleptic properties
and a pronounced meat taste and which would keep for long
periods.
To this end, the process according to the invention
for the preparation of a dried flavoured meat is charac-
terized in that a meat is cooked, the juice and the fat are
separated from the meat, a mixture containing 7 to 15 parts
by weight reducing sugar and 1 to 7 parts by weight of at
least one sulfur-containing substance is prepared, the
mixture is partly reacted by heat treatment, 1 to 3 parts
of the heat-treated mixture are added to 10 parts cooked
meat and the flavoured meat obtained is dried.
The process according to the invention is distin-
guished in particular by the fact that the thermal reaction
is carried out in two steps. The reaction is initiated
during the heat treatment of the mixture containing the
reducing sugar and the sulfur-containing substance and
brings about partial development of the aromas from the
mixture. The partial reaction is completed during drying
2CS3777
of the flavoured meat in the course of which the aromas
penetrate into the meat and become attached to the fibres,
possibly reacting with the constituents of the meat. The
dried flavoured meat obtained has a pronounced and charac-
teristic meat taste which it retains for a long time.
One advantage of the process according to the inven-
tion is that it enables the aromas to be fully developed
and effectively attached by a milder heat treatment than
those normally applied. Another advantage of the process
is that the taste of the flavoured meat can be varied by
varying the proportions of the various constituents. A
further advantage is that a characteristic meat taste can
be obtained without the use of meat juice.
The process according to the invention can be carried
out semi-continuously or continuously.
Any type of meat, for example beef or poultry, may be
used to carry out the process according to the invention.
Before cooking, the meat may have been completely or partly
freed from bones and skin. The meat may also have been cut
up, for example into 1 to 10 kg pieces, to allow more rapid
cooking.
The meat may be cooked for 40 to 120 minutes at a
temperature of 95 to 140C under a pressure of 1.3 to 1.8
bar. In one particular embodiment of the process according
to the invention, poultry meat is cooked for 40 to 60
minutes or beef for 90 to 110 minutes at a temperature of
120 to 125C and under a pressure of 1.6 to 1.7 bar.
Water, citric acid and an antioxidant composition may
be added to the meat before cooking. The antioxidant
composition may be, for example, a composition containing
1.5 to 2% by weight of an antioxidant such as, for example,
propylene glycol, propyl or octyl gallate, butylhydroxy-
anisole or a mixture thereof, 7.5 to 8% poultry fat and 90
to 91~ concentrated meat juice having a dry matter content
of 38 to 40~. In one particular embodiment of the process
3 ~C53777
according to the invention, 15 to 20 parts by weight water,
0.01 to 0.03 part by weight citric acid and 0.02 to 0.05
part by weight of the above-mentioned antioxidant composi-
tion are added before cooking to 100 parts by weight
poultry meat. In another particular embodiment of the
process according to the invention, 20 to 25 parts by
weight water, 0.01 to 0.02 part by weight citric acid and
0.05 to 0.08 part by weight of the above-mentioned anti-
oxidant composition are added before cooking to 100 parts
by weight beef.
A cooked meat is thus obtained from which the cooking
juice and the fat which it contains are removed, for
example by draining. The cooked meat may then be complete-
ly deboned and cut into small pieces.
In the process according to the invention, a mixture
containing 7 to 15 parts by weight reducing sugar and 1 to
7 parts by weight of at least one sulfur-containing sub-
stance is prepared. The reducing sugar may be, for ex-
ample, a monosaccharide and, more particularly, a pentose,
such as xylose or arabinose, or a hexose, such as glucose,
or a galacturonic acid or a mixture of these compounds.
The sulfur-containing substance may be, for example,
cysteine, cystine, methionine or thiamine or a mixture of
various sulfur-containing substances.
The mixture may also contain 0 to 12 parts by weight
sodium glutamate, 0 to 2 parts by weight inosine monophos-
phate and 0 to 1 part by weight vegetable fats. The
mixture may additionally contain 0 to 20 parts by weight
sodium chloride. Water is added to the mixture formed to
obtain a dry matter content of 70 to 85% by weight.
The mixture may be worked, for example for 10 to 15
minutes, with a stirrer rotating at 100 to 120 revolutions
per minute to give it a homogeneous pasty texture.
The mixture is partly reacted by heat treatment,
preferably at a temperature of 93 to 99C, for 40 to 240
4 2C53777
minutes.
The heat treatment may be carried out under reflux so
that the water present in the mixture does not evaporate.
The mixture may be worked, for example with a stirrer
rotating at 80 to 100 revolutions per minute, during all or
part of the heat treatment to homogenize its texture and to
ensure the correct transfer of heat, i.e. a uniform reac-
tion, throughout its mass.
After the heat treatment, the mixture may be rapidly
cooled to stop the reaction and to obtain a mixture having
a temperature of 60 to 70C after 5 to 10 minutes.
A salt, such as sodium chloride, may then be added to
the heat-treated mixture to obtain a paste-like mixture
which is easier to handle. The salt may be added in a
quantity of 0 to 2.5 parts by weight per 10 parts by weight
of treated mixture, after which the salt-containing mixture
may be worked for 5 to 15 minutes at 60 to 70C to obtain
a homogeneous mixture. The mixture thus formed is added to
the cooked meat cut into small pieces, preferably in a
quantity of 1 to 3 parts by weight mixture to 10 parts by
weight cooked meat. The flavoured meat obtained may be
worked with a stirrer to obtain a homogeneous product. The
flavoured meat thus obtained is then dried, for example for
4 to 8 hours at 65 to 80C under a pressure of 10 to 30
mbar, to a dry matter content of 96 to 99% by weight.
The invention is illustrated in more detail in the
following Examples in which parts and percentages are by
weight.
Example 1
An antioxidant composition containing 132 g propylene
glycol, 40 g butylhydroxyanisole, 20 g propyl gallate, 8 g
citric acid, 800 g poultry fat and 9 kg meat juice concen-
trated to 40% by weight dry matter is prepared.
100 kg deboned beef in the form of 25 kg pieces, 20
5 ;~C53777
litres water, 10 g citric acid and 50 g antioxidant compo-
sition are introduced into an autoclave. The meat is
cooked for 100 minutes at a temperature of approximately
120C under a pressure of 1.7 bar.
After cooking, the juice and the fat are separated
from the cooked meat by draining.
58.3 kg cooked meat are obtained. It is cut into
pieces and put to one side.
A mixture containing 1.7 kg glucose, 0.27 kg cysteine,
0.81 kg xylose, 2.1 kg sodium chloride, 1.8 kg sodium glu-
tamate, 0.16 kg inosine monophosphate and 0.08 kg vegetable
fat is prepared in a double-jacketed tank, approximately
1.5 litres water being added to obtain a dry matter content
of 82%. The mixture is worked for 10 minutes with a
stirrer rotating at 100 revolutions per minute, after which
the mixture is heated with continued stirring by introduc-
tion of steam into the double jacket. The mixture is left
to react for 1 hour at a temperature of 97 to 98C. The
mixture is then cooled to a temperature of approximately
65C by introduction of cold water into the double jacket.
1.5 kg sodium chloride are added to the mixture thus
obtained, the salt-containing mixture is worked for 10
minutes at 65C and 9.9 kg heat-treated mixture having a
dry matter content of 85% are obtained.
A flavoured meat to be dried containing 50 kg cooked
beef, 7.0 kg treated mixture, 1.5 kg egg white and 0.3 kg
antioxidant composition is then prepared. The meat is
worked for 20 minutes using a stirrer rotating at 50
revolutions per minute to obtain a homogeneous product.
The flavoured meat is then dried in an oven for 6
hours under reduced pressure (15 mbar) at approximately
70C to a dry matter content of approximately 98% by weight
and a water activity of 0.2. The dried flavoured meat is
then ground to a particle size of approximately 2 mm.
26 kg dehydrated flavoured meat having a characteris-
6 2C53777
tic taste of beef are obtained.
Example 2
150 kg poultry meat in the form of whole chickens each
weighing approximately 1 kg, 25 litres water, 15 g citric
acid and 30 g of an antioxidant composition prepared as in
Example 1 are introduced into an autoclave.
The meat is cooked for 40 minutes at a temperature of
approximately 120C under a pressure of 1.7 bar.
10After cooking, the juice and the fat are separated
from the cooked meat, the meat is completely deboned and is
then cut into small pieces. 68.5 kg deboned meat are
obtained.
A mixture containing 1.6 kg glucose, 1.3 kg cysteine,
150.25 kg xylose, 1.9 kg sodium chloride, 1.6 kg sodium
glutamate, 0.15 kg inosine monophosphate, 0.08 kg vegetable
fats and approximately 1.5 litres water is prepared; it has
a dry matter content of 82% by weight.
The mixture is worked for 10 minutes at 100 r.p.m. and
then heated with continued stirring to 97-99C. The
mixture is left to react for 1 hour at that temperature and
is then cooled to 65C.
1.5 kg sodium chloride is added to the mixture thus
obtained, the salt-containing mixture is worked for 10
minutes at 65C and 9.8 kg heat-treated mixture having a
dry matter content of 85% are obtained.
A flavoured meat to be dried containing 50 kg cooked
and cut poultry meat, 7.0 kg treated mixture, 0.5 kg egg
white and 0.3 kg anti-oxidant composition is prepared. The
meat obtained is worked at 50 revolutions per minute for 20
minutes and is then dried for 6 hours at 70C under a
pressure of 15 mbar to reach a dry matter content of 98%
by weight and a water activity of 0.2.
The flavoured meat is then ground into granules
approximately 2 mm in size. 25 kg dehydrated flavoured
7 2~5;~'f 7'7
meat having a characteristic taste of poultry is obtained.
Example 3
The flavoured meats prepared in accordance with
Examples 1 and 2 are stored at various temperatures for 24
months. During this time, samples of flavoured meat are
taken and reconstituted for consumption by immersion in a
stock for 5 minutes at 95 to 100C.
The reconstituted samples are tasted and their organo-
leptic characteristics are marked on a scale of 1 to 9 asa function of the storage temperature and storage time, a
mark of 9 representing a meat having good organoleptic
qualities and a pronounced meat taste and a mark of 5
representing the limit below which the meat is no longer
organoleptically edible.
The results obtained for the flavoured beef prepared
in accordance with Example 1 are set out in Table 1 while
those obtained for the flavoured poultry meat prepared in
accordance with Example 2 are set out in Table 2.
8 2C53777
TABLE 1
Storage temp. Storage time (months)
3 6 9 12 15 18 24
Appearance 4C 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9
and colour 20C 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9
25C 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9
30C 9 9 9 9 9 9 8.5 8
Odour 4C 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9
20C 9 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 8 8 7.5
25C 9 8.5 8.5 8 8 7.5 7.5 7
30C 8.5 8 8 8 7 7 7 6
Taste and 4C 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9
quality 20C 9 8.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 8 8 7.5
25C 8.5 8 8 8 8 7.5 7.5 6.5
30C 8 7.5 7.5 7.5 7 7 7 5.5
onsistency: consistency remains constant at a value of 9, irrespec-
tive of the storage temperature and storage time
9 2C53777
TABLE 2
Storage temp. Storage time (months)
1 3 6 9 12 15 18 24
Appearance 4C 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9
and colour20C 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9
25C 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 g
30C 9 9 9 9 9 8 8 8
Odour 4C 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9
20C 9 8.5 8.5 8.5 8 8 8 7.5
25C 9 8.5 8 8 7.5 7 7 6.5
30C 8.5 8 8 7.5 6.5 6 6 5.5
Taste and 4C 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9
quality 20C 9 8.5 8.5 8 7.5 7 7 6.5
25C 8.5 8 8 7.5 7 6 6 5.5
30C 8 7 7 6.5 5.5 5 5 4.5
onsistency: consistency remains constant at a value of 9, irrespec-
tive of the storage temperature and storage time
