Patent Application
20120114803
This invention relates generally to frozen food products and, more particularly, to a method for producing a frozen fish product having a generally uniform thickness, and the frozen fish product produced thereby.
It is commonly understood that certain cuts of meat from various portions of an animal command a higher sale price than cuts from another portion of the same animal. For example, in the seafood industry, a “loin” portion of a fish generally refers to the locally thicker portion of a fillet, proximate the backbone or spine. Such cuts frequently have a higher value than other portions of the fish. To provide a loin portion of commercially viable size, however, the fish must be of a certain minimum size. Some prior art methods are known to adjust thickness.
See, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 7,384,330 and German Patent Publication No. DE 19806003, the entire disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein. U.S. Pat. No. 7,384,330 discloses methods and apparatus for providing a fillet of generally uniform thickness, by cutting a thick loin portion of a fish fillet and folding the resulting butterflied portion over a thin belly portion of the fillet. German Patent Publication No. DE 19806003 discloses a method of providing a fish fillet of a relatively uniform thickness and an approximately standard width, by folding in the thin belly and tapered tail regions of a fish fillet; In addition or instead, tapered and thick regions of successive fillets are overlapped.
Methods for creating reconstituted meat products of preselected shapes from multiple trims of meat are also well known, such as the methods disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,248,381 and International Patent Application No. PCT/US2004/005597, the entire disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein. These methods bind together trims of meat via the freezing of a “purge” formed by liquid emitted by the rupture of cells present in the meat. Such methods, however, involve additional equipment, materials, and processing steps, which increase cost, and are not as desirable to consumers, many of whom prefer minimally-processed food products.
Some types of frozen meat products can have sear and/or grill marks applied thereto, to increase flavor and appearance. For example, known processes of applying localized grill marks to a frozen fillet of fish can be done effectively using high temperature grill irons pressed into the frozen fish fillet momentarily. Only a small amount of thermal energy is transferred to the frozen fish and in localized areas, maintaining the bulk of the fish in the frozen state for further processing and packaging.
One challenge is to create a more uniform and extensive sear, reminiscent of char broiling, to an entire surface of a frozen fish fillet. However, the high temperature involved and the duration of exposure to achieve the desire surface effect causes an increase in bulk temperature of the frozen fillet. Partial thawing of the fillet results in: (1) loss of volume and weight (due to melting/dripping water); and (2) partial cooking of the entire fillet, especially at the edges, rather than only having the upper surface seared. These characteristics are compounded when surface searing technique is applied to fillets of a fish species that are relatively thin (e.g., Tilapia). These impact the cost of goods and complicate downstream processing (e.g., the addition of a flavor coating and refreezing of the entire fillet).
Examples of existing fish processing methods neither contemplate nor satisfy the combined needs of creating a fish portion with natural structure and texture in a size and configuration that transforms a relatively thin inexpensive starting fillet into a loin-type cut that is substantially thicker.
Accordingly, there is a need to transform thin flat fillets into more desirable, thicker loin-type cuts and optionally facilitate external surface processing to enhance consumer appeal.
In one aspect, the present invention is generally directed to a method for producing a minimally-processed frozen fish product from a whole fish fillet. The frozen fish product has many of the characteristics of a loin portion, including enhanced resistivity to partial thawing during the application of heat.
According to this aspect and related aspects, the invention relates to a method for processing a fish and a comestible fish product produced thereby, wherein the method includes the steps of providing a whole fish fillet having a lateral line generally disposed along a backbone of the fish, folding the whole fish fillet approximately in half, and freezing the folded fish fillet.
In various embodiments of the invention, the whole fish fillet may be skinned, deep skinned, or super deep skinned. Relatively flat whole fish fillets, such as Tilapia, may be used. In one embodiment, the whole fish fillet is folded along the lateral line; whereas, in another embodiment, the whole fish fillet is folded from head to tail. The fish fillet may be folded skin-side to-skin side. In one embodiment of the invention, the folded fish fillet has a minimum thickness of at least about 1.5 cm, whereas in another embodiment the folded fish fillet has a minimum thickness of about 1.9 cm.
The whole fish fillet may be trimmed after folding and prior to freezing, and may also be groomed for appearance prior to freezing. In one embodiment, a glaze (e.g., water with optional flavoring, tint, or other additive) is applied prior to or subsequent to freezing the folded fish fillet.
In various embodiments of the invention, the freezing step is accomplished by individual quick freezing, blast freezing, and/or tunnel freezing. In any of these embodiments, the folded fish fillet may be vacuum sealed prior to freezing. One embodiment of this aspect further includes providing, folding, and freezing a second whole fish fillet, wherein the folded fish fillets are frozen in a single layer, with spacing therebetween.
The invention further may include the step of processing at least a portion of an external surface of the frozen fish fillet. In various embodiments of this aspect, the processing may entail application of a marinade, searing, and/or char marking. As necessary, depending on the processing, the invention further includes the step of refreezing the processed fish fillet. The method may further include the step of cooking the processed frozen fish fillet.
In another aspect of the invention, the invention relates to a comestible fish product, wherein the comestible fish product is a whole fish fillet that has been folded approximately in half and frozen.
In one embodiment of the invention, the whole fish fillet is folded along a lateral line generally disposed along a backbone of the fish, whereas in another embodiment, the whole fish fillet is folded head to tail. The whole fish fillet is relatively flat prior to folding and may be Tilapia. The whole fish fillet may be skinned, deep skinned, or super deep skinned. In one embodiment of the invention, the folded fish fillet has been folded skin-side to skin-side. In various embodiments, the folded fish fillet has a minimum folded thickness of at least about 1.5 cm, or about 1.9 cm.
In one embodiment of the invention, the folded fish fillet has a groomed appearance, whereas in another embodiment, the folded fish fillet has a trimmed profile. In various embodiments of the invention, the folded fish fillet may be individually quick frozen, blast frozen, and/or and tunnel frozen. In any of these embodiments, the folded fish fillet may be vacuum sealed prior to freezing.
In one embodiment of this aspect, the fish fillet has a surface glaze and the surface glaze may be water with optional flavoring, tint, or other additive. In one embodiment of this aspect, the fish fillet has a processed external portion over at least a portion thereof. In various embodiments, the processed portion may be seared, marinated, and/or include char marking.
These and other objects, along with the advantages and features of the present invention herein disclosed, will become apparent through reference to the following description, the accompanying drawings, and the claims. Furthermore, it is to be understood that the features of the various embodiments described herein are not mutually exclusive and can exist in various combinations and permutations.
In the drawings, like reference characters generally refer to the same parts throughout the different views. Also, the drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead generally being placed upon illustrating the principles of the invention. In the following description, various embodiments of the present invention are described with reference to the following drawings, in which:
In accordance with the invention, the whole fish fillet 10 is folded approximately in half, producing a folded fillet 20. As discussed herein, “folding” includes both folding an intact fillet, such as that depicted in
The folded fillet 20 may have a minimum thickness “t” of at least about 1.5 cm at the thickest portion of the folded fillet 20. In another embodiment of the invention, the folded fillet 20 has a minimum thickness “t” of about 1.9 cm. Additionally, prior to freezing, the whole fish fillet 10 or the folded fillet 20 may be trimmed and/or groomed for appearance. For example, the whole fish fillet 10 or the folded fillet 20 may have the tail cropped or undesirable portions thereof removed, and the folded fillet 20 may be manipulated to tuck in one or more portions thereof, such that a generally uniform shape is formed. Depending on the shape and profile of the whole fish fillet 10 and amount of trimming and/or grooming, the folded fillet 20 may have a substantially uniform thickness or may be tapered and somewhat thinner at the open edges and ends. In any event, the thinnest part of the folded fillet 20 will be thicker than the thinnest part of the whole fillet 10, making the folded fillet 20 more suitable for subsequent processing.
In accordance with this aspect of the invention, the folded fillet 20 is then frozen. The freezing step may be accomplished by any method known in the art, including individual quick freezing (IQF), blast freezing, and tunnel freezing. Prior to freezing, multiple folded fillets 20 may be placed in a single layer, with spacing “s” between the fillets to avoid overlap, and are frozen at one time. The spacing “s” prevents the occurrence of two or more fillets becoming frozen to one another, which is undesirable for subsequent processing. In another embodiment of the invention, and as shown in
Accordingly, a relatively thin flat fish fillet, such as Tilapia, can be formed into a more substantial, thick loin-type portion. The increased thickness permits high temperature searing, char marking, and other processes to be performed effectively, without substantially increasing the bulk temperature (i.e., thawing) of the frozen fillet. Sole, flounder, and other thin flat fillets may be used, with similar advantageous results.
Having described certain embodiments of the invention, it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that other embodiments incorporating the concepts disclosed herein may be used without departing from the spirit and the scope of the inventions. The described embodiments are to be considered in all respects as only illustrative and not restrictive.
