Claims
- 1. A method for treating a carcass of a bovine red meat slaughter animal, the method comprising:
separating a vertebra of the carcass prior to rigor mortis; electrically stimulating the musculature of the carcass; and disinfecting the carcass.
- 2. The method of claim 1 wherein the act of separating is performed prior to the act of electrically stimulating.
- 3. The method of claim 2 wherein the act of electrically stimulating is continued for a sufficient period of time to substantially deplete the glycogen in the musculature of the carcass.
- 4. The method of claim 1 wherein the act of disinfecting is accomplished by steam pasteurization of the carcass.
- 5. The method of claim 1 wherein the act of disinfecting is performed after the act of electrically stimulating the carcass.
- 6. The method of claim 1 wherein the act of disinfecting is performed prior to the act of electrically stimulating the carcass.
- 7. The method of claim 1 wherein the act of separating is performed by sawing through the vertebra of the carcass.
- 8. The method of claim 1 wherein the act of separating is performed at commercial chain speeds.
- 9. The method of claim 1 wherein the act of separating is performed on the thirteenth thoracic vertebra of the carcass.
- 10. The method of claim 9 wherein the act of separating further includes separating the tissue between the feather bones of the thirteenth thoracic vertebra and the twelfth thoracic vertebra.
- 11. The method of claim 1 wherein the act of separating is performed on the twelfth thoracic vertebra of the carcass.
- 12. The method of claim 11 wherein the act of separating further includes separating the thirteenth rib of the carcass.
- 13. A method for treating a carcass of a bovine red meat slaughter animal, the method comprising:
separating a vertebra of the carcass prior to rigor mortis; and focusing electric current along the animal carcass midsection to provide an animal carcass having electrically stimulated muscles in the midsection and non-electrically stimulated muscles in the anterior and posterior end sections.
- 14. The method of claim 13 wherein the act of separating further includes separating the tissue between the feather bones of the thirteenth thoracic vertebra and the twelfth thoracic vertebra.
- 15. The method of claim 13 wherein the separating step is performed on the twelfth thoracic vertebra of the carcass.
- 16. The method of claim 15 wherein the act of separating further includes separating the thirteenth rib of the carcass.
- 17. The method of claim 13 wherein the midsection of the carcass includes rib section and loin.
- 18. The method of claim 13 wherein the anterior end section includes chuck, and the posterior end section includes round.
- 19. The method of claim 13 further comprising a step of cooling the carcass to provide an internal muscle temperature in the first and second end sections of less than about 70° F. before onset of rigor.
- 20. The method of claim 13 wherein the step of focusing electric current is performed after the step of separating a vertebra.
- 21. The method of claim 20 wherein the separating step is performed on a vertebra located along the midsection, such that the focusing step focuses electric current across the separation.
- 22. A method for processing an animal carcass having at least a first section and a second section, the first section having a substantially lower muscle thickness than the second section, the method comprising:
separating a vertebra of the carcass prior to rigor mortis; focusing electric current to the first section to stimulate the muscle of the first section; and isolating the second section, such that the electric current applied to the first section is inhibited from stimulating the muscle of the second section.
- 23. The method of claim 22 wherein the act of separating further includes separating the tissue between the feather bones of the thirteenth thoracic vertebra and the twelfth thoracic vertebra.
- 24. The method of claim 22 wherein the separating step is performed on the twelfth thoracic vertebra of the carcass.
- 25. The method of claim 24 wherein the act of separating further includes separating the thirteenth rib of the carcass.
- 26. The method of claim 22 wherein the midsection of the carcass includes rib section and loin.
- 27. The method of claim 22 wherein the anterior end section includes chuck, and the posterior end section includes round.
- 28. The method of claim 22 further comprising a step of cooling the carcass to provide an internal muscle temperature in the first and second end sections of less than about 70° F. before onset of rigor.
- 29. The method of claim 22 wherein the step of focusing electric current is performed after the step of separating a vertebra.
- 30. The method of claim 22 wherein the step of focusing electric current is performed after the step of separating a vertebra.
- 31. The method of claim 30 wherein the separating step is performed on a vertebra located along the midsection, such that the focusing step focuses electric current across the separation.
- 32. The method of claim 22 wherein the act of focusing electric current is continued for a sufficient period of time to substantially deplete the glycogen in the musculature of the first section.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/162,469, filed on Jun. 3, 2002, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09/771,760, filed on Jan. 29, 2001, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,478,667, issued on Nov. 12, 2002, which claims priority from U.S. provisional application No. 60/178,836, filed Jan. 28, 2000, which is hereby incorporated by reference.
Provisional Applications (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60178836 |
Jan 2000 |
US |
Continuations (2)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
10162469 |
Jun 2002 |
US |
Child |
10438503 |
May 2003 |
US |
Parent |
09771760 |
Jan 2001 |
US |
Child |
10162469 |
Jun 2002 |
US |