Stable meat product for a food product environment and a method for making such a product

Abstract

The present invention is directed to a stable meat product and method of making such a product by mixing a raw communicated meat with a salt mix and a carotenoid stabilizing composition to form a complex that after thermal processing allows the meat product to retain its interior and exterior color, flavor, and/or texture during storage in a food composition.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The numerous advantages of the present invention may be better understood by those skilled in the art by reference to the accompanying figures in which:

FIG. 1 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for producing a stable meat product in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating a presently preferred method for forming a liquid egg composition in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating a presently preferred method for forming ham slurry for incorporation in liquid egg in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a table illustrating the color value (Hunter colorimeter a-value) for various ham products in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a table illustrating the oxidative potential of various products in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a table illustrating the presently preferred preparations of stable ham compositions that were made in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 7 is a table illustrating the flavor degradation trend of prior art ham products relative to ham products that were made in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention which have been stored in liquid egg.

Claims

1. A method for retaining interior and exterior color, flavor, and texture of a meat product in a food composition, comprising: adding a salt mix to a raw comminuted meat composition to form a tacky meat composition;mixing a carotenoid stabilizing composition with the tacky meat composition to form a meat precursor;processing the meat precursor thermally to form a processed meat precursor; andadding the processed meat precursor to a food product,wherein the carotenoid stabilizing composition interacts with at least one of fat, protein, and myoglobin of the tacky meat composition to form a complex after thermal processing upon protein denaturation that allows at least one of the interior and exterior color, the flavor, and the texture of the meat product to be retained for at least a shelf-life of the food product.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the raw comminuted meat composition is comminuted by grinding.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising, adding liquid smoke to the tacky meat composition.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the raw comminuted meat composition includes at least one of ham, bacon, sausage, turkey, and Canadian bacon.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the carotenoid stabilizing composition is added in an amount ranging from about 0.05% to about 0.25% by weight of the raw comminuted meat composition.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the food product includes at least one of a soup and a liquid egg product.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the carotenoid stabilizing composition includes a fat composition.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the fat composition includes an oleoresin composition.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the oleoresin composition is extracted from paprika.

10. A meat product for storing in a food composition comprising: a raw comminuted meat composition;a salt mix added to the raw comminuted meat composition to form a tacky meat composition;a carotenoid stabilizing composition mixed with the tacky meat composition and thermally processed to form a meat precursor; anda food product for receiving the meat precursor,wherein the carotenoid stabilizing composition interacts with at least one of fat, protein, and myoglobin of the tacky meat composition to form a complex after thermal processing upon protein denaturation that allows at least one of interior and exterior color, flavor, and texture of the meat product to be retained for at least a shelf-life of the food product.

11. The meat product of claim 10, wherein the food product includes at least one of a soup and a liquid egg product.

12. The meat product of claim 10, wherein the raw comminuted meat composition is comminuted by grinding.

13. The meat product of claim 10 further comprising, liquid smoke added to the tacky meat composition.

14. The meat product of claim 10, wherein the raw comminuted meat composition includes at least one of ham, bacon, sausage, turkey, and Canadian bacon.

15. The meat product of claim 10, wherein the carotenoid stabilizing composition is added in an amount ranging from about 0.05% to about 0.25% by weight of the raw comminuted meat composition.

16. The meat product of claim 10, wherein the carotenoid stabilizing composition includes a fat composition.

17. The meat composition of claim 16, wherein the fat composition includes an oleoresin composition.

18. The meat product of claim 17, wherein the oleoresin composition is extracted from paprika.

19. A method for utilizing an oleoresin of paprika to create a meat product for storage in a food composition comprising: adding a salt mix to a raw comminuted meat composition to form a tacky meat composition;mixing the oleoresin of paprika with the tacky meat composition to form a meat precursor;processing the meat precursor thermally to form a processed meat precursor; andadding the processed meat precursor to a food product,wherein the oleoresin of paprika interacts with at Least one of fat, protein, and myoglobin of the tacky meat composition to form a complex that after thermal processing upon protein denaturation allows at least one of interior and exterior color, flavor, and texture of the meat product to be retained for at least a shelf-life of the food product.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the food product includes at least one of a soup and a liquid egg product.

21. The method of claim 19, wherein the raw comminuted meat composition is comminuted by grinding.

22. The method of claim 19, further comprising, adding liquid smoke to the tacky meat composition.

23. The method of claim 19, wherein the raw comminuted meat composition includes at Least one of ham, bacon, sausage, turkey, and Canadian bacon.

24. The method of claim 19, wherein the oleoresin of paprika is added in an amount ranging from about 0.05% to about 0.25% by weight of the raw communicated meat composition.

25. A color stable ham, comprising a piece of whole ham stabilized with a carotenoid containing composition.

26. A color stable meat product, comprising a piece of whole meat stabilized with a carotenoid containing composition.

27. The meat product of claim 26, wherein said carotenoid is a carotene.

28. The meat product of claim 26, wherein said carotenoid is a xanthophylls.