Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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Amended pages 1 and 1a dated February 26, 1997
~D~HLE C,~rEN C SING
The invention relates to garlands of edible collagen
casings for producing sausages and other foodgtuff~3.
To produce sausages, natural intestines and
increasingly synthetic intestines based on collagen or
cellulose are used. For certain types of sausages, such as
$ratwurrt and wiirstchen, almost without exception natural
intea~t~.nes, specifically gheepgut, have been used, since
collagen-based casings have unt~.i now have bean until now
unable to meet traditional consumer expectations.
The~production of thin-walled straight collagen casings
is quite familiar to one skilled in the art, for instance
from US Patents 3,535,125, 3,620,'75, or 3,505,084, or from
German Patent 972 854. It is known from European Patent
Application 82 201 591 to extrude coagulatable amphoteric
high-molecular substnncea and aoagu~.ato them at the
isoeleatric point, optionally with prior treatment with
ammonia. From French Patent 1 583 367, the use of ammonia as
a coagulant in the interior of the tubular ,skin is described.
In German Published, Non-Examined Patent Application 22
o7 21~, garland casings of collagen for raw sausages are
already described, in which a salt treatment is effected by
gpray~.ng or dripping a salt solution before the drying
process of the 6~xtrudsd skin, to prevent sagging caused by
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variable longitudinal expansion or the tubular skin.
rt is also already known, as an alternative to the
thick-walled, tough garlands of pork intestine, to use
collagen casings as described for instance in German Patent 2
314 767. In these methods for producing garlands of sausage
casings, rotating, sonically continuous revolving surfaces
axe used: the extruded, inflated collagen casing is
transported over a plurality of sonically recessed supporting
elements disposed one after the other, with the aid of
adjustable hoisting devices, and at the same time dried with
air heated to 50"c. The garlands of collagen casings that
can be made in this way cannot compare, however, with
sheepgut in terms of their appearance or tests. 8y the
method described in German Patent 2 314 767, it is also not
possible to make thin-walled garland cases with a caliber
range from 13 to 23 mm on ...
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WO 96/25047 PCT/»P 96/00338
_ran industrial scale, because that
would require using low-viscosity collagen composition with a
dry collagen content of 3.5 to 6.0%. Such a collagen
compound is not sufficiently structurally firm, however, but
instead is sticky, so that the production technique described
in German Patent 2 314 767 is not suitable for producing such
goods.
It is therefore the object of the invention to develop
garlands of edible collagen casing that can be used as an
alternative to the sheepgut.
To attain this object, edible collagen casings, having
a caliber between approximately 13 and 23 mm and a wall
thickness of leas than 0.035 mm are proposed, which are
characterized in that they are produced by means of a
simultaneous treatment with ammonia and a coagulant that
takes place dixectly after the extrusion, and by an ensuing
garlanding process, known per se.
Surprisingly, it has now been found that tender thin-
wallsd garlands of edible collagen casings can be produced on
an industrial scale if the teaching o~ German Patent 2 314
767 is varied in such a way that the foil tube produced from
the collagen suspension is treated on both the inside and the
outside with coagulants directly downstream of the extrusion
head; ammonia is used in the interior o~ the tube, while for
the outer surface ammonia is again used, but preferably
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concentrated aqueous solutions of highly aoac~ulant inorganic
salts are employed. In this way, spontaneous coagulation of
the wlnerable collagen extrudate is necessarily brought
about. As a result of thi~ provision, both the stick~.nesa
and the structural weakness of the freshly e~ttruded, inflated
collagen tube is already minimized, before it is placed on
the conical transport segment of German Patent 2 314 767, far
enough that continuous produativn of thin-walled small-
aal~.ber garlands of collagen casings with a caliber between
13 and 23 mm and a wall thickness of less than 0.035 mm is
possible.
The delivery of the gaseous ammonia into the collagen
tube is preferably accomplished through a feed line
integrated with the extrussion head. Spraying the outer
surface of the tube with a saturated solution of~a strong
coagulant is preferably done through spray nozzles arranged
uniformly on the circumferential periphery of the tube.
Poliowi»g the coagulation, the collagen tube is predried and
then washed to remove the inorganic salts that havs~ formed;
after that, the subsequent steps of tanning, softening,
drying, remoiatening, and caili,ng up or gathering up are
completed as described in German Patent 2 314 767. These
method mteps are known and are state of the art, snd are not
the subject of this present invention.
The quantity of gaseous ammonia delivered to the
interior of the tube, and both the quantity and concentration
of the aoaguiant sprayed onto the outside of the surfaae.aan
be varied within wide limits, as long as rapid coagulation of
the freshly extruded tube of collagen compounds that are low
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in solids is reliably assured, whioh can be ascertained by
mimply preliminary taste.
The coagulation also re~,iably preventm sticking to the
conical carrying arid transport segments of the apparatus of
German Patent ~ 314 767, and moreover the simultaneous dual
coagulation from the inside.and the outside assures that
tearing open of the tube when the extrudate is inflated with
calibrating air will be lastingly prevented.
In principle, the dual coagu~,ation from both the inside
and the outside can be done with ammonia, but it is preferred
that liquid coagulants be used far the outer surface, since
they have a much more effective separating and ~,ubricating
action between the outer surface of the tuba and the conical
revolving faces. If only ammonia in gaseous form is used for
both the inside and the outside, then the~separating and
lubricating effect is much less and is just barely
acceptable, so that recurrent interruptions in production
must be expected.
The collagen casings according to the invention
preferably have an inside diameter of the garland ring of
approximately 10o to 350 mm, because than they have an
appearance equivalent to that of sheepgut. The wall
thick»esses of the casing may either be equal, or it is also
possible to use different wail thiaknesses; preferably, the
wall thickness of the inside diameter of the garland ring it3
slightly greater than that of the outside diameter of the
garland ring.
The invention will be described schematically below in
conjunction with rigs. 1-3.
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Fig. 1 shows the apparatus according t~ the invention
for producing the ring casings.
Fig. 2 shows a preferred embodiment of the coagulating
apparatus in a section along the line A-A.
Fig. 3 shows the apparatus of the invention in the
direction X,
The apparatus of the invention has the extruder 1 with
an extruder head shown in a direct spatial vicinity of the
cup shaft 3 that extends through the dryer 4. The extruded
collagen tube 5, after leading the extruder head, is set down
on the chronologically synchronized cup shaft having the
conical transport eagment8; the fixation of the garland ring
is done by the known method of German Patent 2 314 767.
From the section taken along the line A-A, it can be
seen that directly following the extrudsr head, whose air
supply is provided with a feed line for gaseous ammonia, the
inflated tubular skin reaches the mpray nozzles 8a, 8b and 8c,
spaced apart by short distances, which assure a uniform
superficial application of a liquid coagulant. Pram Fig. 3,
the spatial relationship between the extrt~dar head with
ammonia delivery and the nozzle arrangement can be seen in
detail.
The invention will also be dasaxibed in terms of the
following examples:
Example 1
From a collagen compound made in a known manner, for
instance by the method of German Patent 972 864, with a
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collagen content of 5/0% referred to the dried collagen, a
slightly curved tube with a diameter of 16.2 mm is extruded
at a speed of l0 m/min through a nozzle with an eccentrically
adjusted core, Tho collagen tube, inflated with head air to
the desired mtarting diameter, is acted upon on its inside
with a continuous stream of ammonia, and simu~,taneously is
sprayed avor the entire outside surface with saturated table
salt solution, by means of three special nozwles disposed at
g0° angles on the circumferential periphery. The disposition
of the coagulation apparatus is as shown in front view in the
aforementioned Fig. 3 and in section in Fig.
The collagen tube, which coagulates rapidly because of
this treatment, is imm~diately thereafter deposited on the
gar~.an8lng apparatus known from German Patent 2 314 7&7,
wh~.ch rotates at exactly the extrusion speed of the collagen
tube. After predrying with heated six, the .collagen tube in
the course of further transport in the conduit, first passes
through a stretch that has a water shower, so that the casing
can be freed of the salts that have formed, such as ammonium
chloriQe and table salt. Next, in a manner known per se,
tanning, softening, drying, remoistening and coiling up are
done.
The edible collagen casing garJ.and thug obtain~d has a
wall thickness of 0.025 to 0.028 mm and a filling caliber of
17 mm. It is excellently well suited for producing so~called
Nurnberger Eratwurstahen, When grilled arid sautsed, and when
the sensory properties are compared, no significant
difference can be found between this collagen casing garland
and the Bratwiiretchen made with a sheepgut.
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A particular advantage of the collagen casings of the
invention, in contrast to sheepgut, however, is that
Wiirstchen with a Constant weight and an exactly reproducib~.e
geometry can be made.
Example 2
The collagen compound is treated as described in
Example Z, but the coagulation is brought about by means of a
42% ammonium sulfate solution, using an eccentrically
adjusted nozzle with an inside diameter of 19.5 mm. The
proces~ produces a collagen caging garland with a rated
caliber of 21 mm. The product has properties that axe
comparable to those of Example 1.
Exempla 3
The collagen aompaund is extruded as desczibed in
Example 1, but without ammonia treatment of the interior o~
the collagen tube directly setter the extrusion. Tho
structurally weak, sticky, extruded tube tears frequently and
has weak points when inflated with the calibrating air.
Continuous production ie not possible in this way.
Example 4
Tho collagen compound is extru8ed as in Example 1, but
the outer surface is not sprayed with a liquid coagulant.
In this method, the extruded tube immediate7.y sticks to
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the garlanding segment and tear. Continuous production is
impossible.
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