Importance

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Abstract

An improved method and apparatus is provided for the crust-freezing and slicing of comminuted meat products in order to produce patties, all without the use of conventional casings and freeze/temper cycles. The preferred method involves supplying an elongated, preformed body (60a, 160a) of substantially uncooked, peripherally unrestrained comminuted meat, typically through use of a pumping device (12, 112) and an associated delivery horn (18, 118). The preformed meat bodies are then subjected to a cryogenic freezing operation in order to form a continuous circumscribing peripheral frozen crust (62) and a non-frozen central section (64) in each body (60a, 160a). The crust frozen bodies (60a, 160a) are suitable for direct slicing to yield the desired patties. Handling of the bodies (160a) can be accomplished by direct immersion of a meat stream (160) in a cryogenic fluid (125a) in a freezer (122), followed by a downstream severing and patty formation. Alternately, use can be made of a conveyor (46) supporting plural, end-to-end, perforate racks (48 ) which receive comminuted meat from the pumping device (12) and support the same during crust-freezing in a freezer (22).

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First Claim