Method for flavoring collagen casing

Abstract

A method for producing a collagen casing having one or more flavor ingredients incorporated therein is provided. The flavor ingredients may be added during processing of the collagen to produce the collagen casing; before, during, or after drying the collagen casing; before, during, or after moistening the collagen casing; before, during, or after shirring the collagen casing; before or after stuffing the casing with a meat product; during cooking of the collagen casing stuffed with a meat product; and / or before packaging the meat product. The flavor ingredients may be water-based flavor ingredients, oil-based flavor ingredients, powdered flavor ingredients, microencapsulated flavor ingredients, or a combination of two or more of these types of flavor ingredients. A collagen casing having one or more flavor ingredients incorporated therein is also provided.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] This application claims priority pursuant to 35 U.S.C. §119(e) to U.S. Provisional Application No. 62 / 627,970, filed February 8, 2018, and U.S. Provisional Application No. 62 / 572,601, filed October 16, 2017, the entire contents of both of which are incorporated herein by reference.

[0002] In one aspect, the present invention is directed to a method of flavoring a collagen casing by adding one or more flavor ingredients during processing of collagen to produce the collagen casing; before, during, or after drying of the collagen casing; before, during, or after moistening to add moisture to the collagen casing; before, during, or after shirring of the collagen casing; before or after stuffing the casing with a meat product; during cooking of the collagen casing stuffed with a meat product; and / or before packaging of the meat product. In another aspect, the present invention is directed to a collagen casing having flavor ingredients added thereto that are incorporated therein. [Background technology]

[0003] The reconstituted collagen is used to manufacture tubular casings for meats, e.g., sausages. The collagen used for these casings is typically derived from the corium layer of beef hides. The collagen raw material is crushed and mixed with acid to form a collagen gel. The collagen gel is extruded to form the casing in the shape of a continuous tube. The casing may be neutralized by injection of gaseous ammonia or contact with a liquid salt solution. The casing is washed with water to remove neutralizing salts, plasticized by passing through successive baths, and dried while expanding. Examples of such processes are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,535,125, U.S. Pat. No. 3,821,439, U.S. Pat. No. 4,388,331, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,820,812, the entire contents of each of which are incorporated herein by reference. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] U.S. Patent No. 3,535,125 [Patent Document 2] U.S. Patent No. 3,821,439 [Patent Document 3] U.S. Patent No. 4,388,331 [Patent Document 4] U.S. Patent No. 5,820,812 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] It may be desirable to add one or more flavorings to the casing to provide a desired flavor to the meat product. For example, it may be desirable to flavor the collagen casing with compositions typically referred to as smoking ingredients to impart a "smoked" flavor and aroma to the meat product. The flavoring ingredients are typically added to the surface of the collagen casing. For example, water based flavoring ingredients are typically added to the surface of the collagen casing after extrusion and before drying. Oil based flavoring ingredients are typically added after the casing is dried and before rolling. It would be desirable to have a collagen casing with a flavor incorporated therein. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In one aspect, the present invention is directed to a method of flavoring a collagen casing by adding one or more flavor ingredients during processing of collagen to produce the collagen casing; before, during, or after drying of the collagen casing; before, during, or after moistening to add moisture to the collagen casing; before, during, or after shirring of the collagen casing; before or after stuffing the casing with a meat product; during cooking of the collagen casing stuffed with a meat product; and / or before packaging of the meat product. In another aspect, the present invention is directed to a collagen casing having a flavor ingredient incorporated therein.

[0007] The edible collagen tubular casing is produced by processing the corium layer of animal hides. The corium layer is separated from the grain layer of the animal hide with a de-hide machine. In one embodiment, the corium layer is treated with an ammonium sulfate solution, a water wash, and further treated with a citric acid / sodium citrate solution, followed by a water wash. The treated corium layer is chopped and ground to reduce the particle size of the corium material. In one embodiment, the corium material is ground to a quarter grind having a particle size of about ¼ inch. One or more flavor ingredients may be added to the ammonium sulfate solution, the wash water, or the citric acid / sodium citrate solution.

[0008] The ground corium material is dispersed in water and chopped to form a wet mass. The chopped corium material is blended with an acid and cellulose dispersion. In one embodiment, one or more flavor ingredients are added to the cellulose-acid dispersion, which is then blended with the ground corium material. In another embodiment, flavor is added during blending of the cellulose-acid dispersion with the ground corium material.

[0009] After blending, the mixture of shredded corium material and acid-cellulose dispersion is stored in an aging tank where the comminuted corium material is converted into a collagen gel. After the comminuted corium material is converted into a collagen gel in the aging tank, the collagen gel is pumped from the aging tank, homogenized, and stored in a storage tank. One or more flavor ingredients may be added to the collagen gel in the aging tank or during homogenization of the collagen gel.

[0010] The collagen gel is extruded to form a collagen gel. In one embodiment, the collagen gel is pumped from a storage tank and filtered before extrusion. One or more flavoring ingredients may be added to the collagen gel after pumping and filtering and before extrusion. Alternatively, one or more flavoring ingredients may be added to the collagen casing after extrusion.

[0011] After extrusion, the collagen casing is treated to neutralize the acid and coagulate the collagen. One or more flavor ingredients may be added to the collagen during or after neutralization.

[0012] After neutralization, the collagen casing is washed and sent through a plasticizer solution, which may contain one or more flavoring ingredients to flavor the collagen casing.

[0013] The collagen casing is dried and then sent through one or more moisturizing chambers. One or more flavoring ingredients may be added to the collagen casing after the drying step or during or after the moisturizing step.

[0014] The finished collagen casing is shirred. One or more flavoring ingredients may be added to the collagen casing before, during, or after the shirring process. During shirring, one or more flavoring ingredients may be added internally to the collagen casing through a mandrel.

[0015] One or more flavoring ingredients may also be added to the collagen casing prior to or during packing of the meat into the collagen casing.Flavoring ingredients may also be added during cooking of the cooked meat product, during the smoking cycle, or immediately prior to packing of the meat product.

[0016] During the process of making the collagen casing, one or more flavor ingredients may be added during some of the steps described above.

[0017] The one or more flavor ingredients added to the collagen gel can be water-based flavor ingredients, oil-based flavor ingredients, powdered flavor ingredients, microencapsulated flavor ingredients, or a combination of two or more of these ingredients.For example, maple flavor, pepperoni flavor, sweet and sour flavor, ranch dressing flavor, garlic, curry, jalapeno, onion, bacon, mustard, salt, pepper, or a combination of these flavors can be added to the collagen gel.The present invention is not limited in this respect, and any type of desired flavor ingredient can be added to the collagen gel to produce a flavored collagen casing.

[0018] In some embodiments, the collagen casings produced by the methods described herein include flavor ingredients that are blended into the collagen prior to extruding the collagen into the collagen casing. In these embodiments, the flavor ingredient or ingredients are uniformly distributed throughout the collagen. A collagen casing having one or more flavor ingredients distributed throughout the collagen is superior to a collagen casing that has flavor ingredients added only to the surface of the collagen casing.

[0019] Advantages of the described and claimed process and products include that a flavored collagen casing can be produced in which flavors are incorporated into the collagen to improve the flavor of a meat product packed in the collagen casing. Other advantages of the process and resulting products will be apparent to those skilled in the art based on the description of the embodiments of the invention provided below. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0020] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 shows one embodiment of the process by which limed hide is processed into edible collagen casings, and is a schematic showing where flavor ingredients can be injected into the collagen gel in various embodiments of the process. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0021] The present invention is directed to a method of flavoring a collagen casing by adding one or more flavor ingredients during processing of collagen to produce a collagen casing; before, during, or after drying of the collagen casing, before, during, or after humidifying to add moisture to the collagen casing; before, during, or after shirring of the collagen casing, before or after stuffing the casing with a meat product; during cooking of the collagen casing stuffed with a meat product; and / or before packaging of the meat product.

[0022] The flavoring ingredient may be a water-based solution, an oil-based solution, a powdered ingredient, a microencapsulated flavoring ingredient, or a combination of two or more of these types of flavoring ingredients. In some embodiments, the flavoring ingredient may be smoked flavor, pepperoni flavor, sweet and sour flavor, maple flavor, ranch dressing flavor, garlic, curry, jalapeno, onion, bacon, mustard, salt, pepper, or a combination of these flavors added to the collagen gel. It is understood that the present invention is not limited to the addition of these flavoring ingredients, and that other types of flavoring ingredients may also be added to the collagen gel before extrusion using the present invention in the manner described below.

[0023] Conventional processes for producing edible collagen casings are known and are described, for example, in U.S. Patent No. 5,820,812, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. The steps and equipment used in one embodiment of a typical process are shown in schematic diagram form in FIG. 1. The invention is not limited in this respect, and flavor ingredients may be added to the collagen gel produced by any process prior to extruding the collagen gel to produce the collagen casing.

[0024] In one typical process for producing collagen casings, animal hides from freshly slaughtered animals are trimmed of meat, washed with water, and limed to remove hair. The limed animal hides are shredded in a skinner to separate the grain from the corium, and the corium is used to produce collagen casings. Referring to FIG. 1, the limed corium 1 is stored in a refrigerated storage room maintained at 0-4° C. until further processing as described below.

[0025] In the embodiment of the process shown in FIG. 1, the corium layer is first processed to prepare the corium material for extrusion into casings. The corium layer is weighed 2 and processed in a buffering drum 3, which can handle up to 3000 Kg of product. In the buffering drum, the corium layer is treated with an ammonium sulfate solution and then washed with water. In one embodiment, the ammonium sulfate concentration is in the range of about 0.5-2.2% (w / w). The corium layer is then further treated with a citric acid / sodium citrate solution and then washed again with water. In one embodiment, the citric acid / sodium citrate concentration is in the range of about 0.0725-0.29% (w / w). One or more flavor ingredients may be added to the ammonium sulfate solution, the citric acid / sodium citrate solution, and / or the wash water. The pH of the corium layer is lowered to about 4.3-4.9 by the buffering process. An assay is performed to ensure the product reaches the proper pH. The buffered dermis is discharged 4 and the buffered dermis is placed in refrigerated storage 5 until further processing is required.

[0026] If additional ingredients are required for processing, the corium layers are conveyed 6, chopped 7, and ground to ¼ inch grinds (i.e., corium layers having a particle size of about ¼ inch) at less than about 25°C 8. One or more flavor ingredients may be added to the corium before or during chopping of the corium layers. The ¼ inch grind corium material is composited 9, cooled 10, and held at a temperature of about 18°C.

[0027] The cooled, ¼ inch ground corium material is piped to a prep line for extrusion. The solids are sized 11 and weighed 12, and the ¼ inch ground corium material is dispersed in water 13. One or more flavor ingredients may be added to the water used to make the ¼ inch ground dispersion. The dispersed ¼ inch ground corium material is pumped 14 to a high speed cutting mill 15 where the corium material is further shredded to form a wet mass. The wet mass is stored and kept mixed in a pulp dispersion tank 16. One or more flavor ingredients may be added to the wet corium mass in the pulp dispersion tank. In a separate blend tank 18, a dispersion of cellulose, HCl, and water is prepared at 0-10°C. The dispersion may be prepared, for example, at 5°C. In one embodiment, one or more flavor ingredients are added to the cellulose-acid dispersion 40.

[0028] An amount of ¼ inch ground wet corium material from the pulp dispersion tank 16 is metered 17 into the blender 20. Simultaneously, an amount of cellulose-acid dispersion from the blending tank 18 is metered 19 into the blender 20 and blended with the ¼ inch ground wet corium material to form the gel product. Alternatively, one or more flavor ingredients may be added 41 into the blender 20 and mixed with the corium material and cellulose-acid dispersion.

[0029] After an initial blending period of about 15-60 minutes, the gel product is stored in an aging tank 21 under vacuum for about 20 hours. One or more flavor ingredients may be added to the gel product while it is stored in the aging tank 21. The temperature of the aging tank is kept below 20°C. The gel product is then pumped 22 to a homogenizer 23. In one embodiment, one or more flavor ingredients are added to the collagen during homogenization. After homogenization, the collagen gel is sent to a degassing / storage tank 24 where it is degassed under vacuum. One or more flavor ingredients may be added to the gel product while it is stored in the degassing / storage tank 24. The gel product thus obtained has the following approximate composition:

[0030] [Table 1]

[0031] The gel product is held in a storage tank 25 at about 25°C. One or more flavouring ingredients may be added to the gel product while it is stored in the degassing / storage tank 25. The gel product is pumped from the storage tank 26 through a series of filters, which may be any suitable type of filter. Automatic self-cleaning filters may be used. In one embodiment, one or more flavouring ingredients are added 42 to the collagen gel before extrusion and after the pump and filter 43. The filtered gel product is metered 27 and sent to an extruder 28 to form the collagen casing. The extruder is preferably a disc extruder. In the extruder, the gel is extruded and formed, typically to a thickness of 0.075 to 1.2 thousands, and expanded with air to the desired diameter, typically about 13 to 34 mm.

[0032] After extrusion, the collagen casing is treated with anhydrous ammonia in neutralization section 29. The ammonia reacts with and neutralizes the HCl in the product, resulting in coagulation of the collagen. One or more flavor ingredients may be added to the collagen casing after extrusion and prior to neutralization. Alternatively, one or more flavor ingredients may be added during or after the neutralization step.

[0033] The neutralized collagen casing is washed 30 in a fresh water bath to remove ammonium salts. One or more flavoring ingredients may be added to the water in the fresh water bath. The washed collagen casing then moves through a series of baskets 31 containing a plasticizer. The plasticizer solution is an aqueous solution containing about 2%-6% glycerin, about 0.20%-1.6% sodium carboxymethylcellulose or sodium alginate, and about 0-20 ppm sodium hypochlorite. This process dehydrates the casing for drying purposes and may introduce glycerin for elasticity purposes. One or more flavoring ingredients may be added to the plasticizer solution to flavor the collagen casing.

[0034] The collagen casing travels through a dryer 32, which uses dry heat up to 205° F. The dryer may have multiple stages at different temperatures. One or more flavor ingredients may be added to the collagen casing before, during, or after the drying step. After drying, the collagen casing is sent through a humidification chamber (not shown) at about 85% relative humidity. One or more flavor ingredients may be added to the collagen casing before, during, or after the humidification step.

[0035] The collagen casing is folded and wound onto a reel 33. One or more flavor ingredients may be added to the collagen casing prior to winding. The wound collagen casing is passed through a second humidification chamber where final moisture is added to the casing. One or more flavor ingredients may be added to the collagen casing as final moisture is added to the casing. The casing is then sent for finishing and shipping.

[0036] During finishing, moisture is again added to the casing by humidification 34. The product is then shirred into individual lengths 36 and placed into boxes which are overwrapped and vacuum packed 37. One or more flavor ingredients may be added to the collagen casing before, during, or after the shirring process. During the shirring process, one or more flavor ingredients may be added internally to the collagen casing through the mandrel used in the shirring process.

[0037] The finished collagen casings are then placed into FDA approved cardboard boxes38 that are labeled, bar coded, and scanned into the company's lot control system for traceability. The ventilated box of slugs may then be placed in a humidity chamber where forced humidified air is used to set the moisture content of the product within specifications.

[0038] One or more flavoring ingredients may be added to the collagen casing prior to or during packing of the meat into the collagen casing. The flavoring ingredients may be added during the cooking of the cooked meat product, during the smoking cycle, or immediately prior to packaging of the meat product.

[0039] The collagen casings produced by the methods described herein have flavor ingredients incorporated into the collagen. As a result, the flavor ingredients are more stable and remain intact, providing a better flavor to meat products stuffed into the collagen casings. Although specific embodiments are described herein, the invention is not limited to these embodiments, and the flavor ingredients may be added at any desired step in the process of producing the collagen casings.

[0040] As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art based on the teachings herein, numerous modifications and variations may be made to the above-described and other embodiments of the invention without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, multiple extrusion preparation lines and multiple storage tanks for the gel product may be used to ensure a constant supply to the continuous extrusion lines. Thus, this detailed description of the preferred embodiments should be understood in an illustrative and not limiting sense. [Explanation of symbols]

[0041] 1 Lime Treatment Split 2. Measure the weight 3. Buffering 4 Emission 5. Refrigerate 6. Transportation 7 Pre-crushing 8. Crushing 9 Synthesis 10 Cooling 11 Solid state measurement 12. Measure the weight 13 Grinding and Dispersion 14 Pumping out 15 Miniaturization 16 Pulp Dispersion 17 Measurement 18 Cellulose-acid dispersion 19 Measurement 20 Blend 21 Aging 22 Pumping out 23 Homogenization 24 Degassing-storage 25 Storage 26 Pumping and filtering 27 Measurement 28 Extrusion 29 Neutralization 30 Washing 31 Plasticization 32 Drying 33 Winding 34 Humidification 35 Oil / Polysorbate 36 Shirring 37 Overlapping 38 Packaging 39 Shipment 40 addition

Claims

1. 1. A method for producing a flavored collagen tubular casing for a meat product, comprising introducing two or more flavor ingredients into a collagen casing, (a) separating the corium layer from the grain layer of an animal hide; and (b) a step of processing the dermis layer to produce a collagen casing, the step of processing the dermis layer comprising: (i) pulverizing the dermis layer of one or more animal hides and dispersing the pulverized dermis in water; (ii) blending the comminuted dermis material dispersed in water with a dispersion of cellulose and acid to produce a collagen gel; (iii) adding a flavor component to the collagen gel; and (iv) extruding the flavored collagen gel to form a collagen casing that is subjected to drying, humidification to add moisture to the collagen casing, and shirring, wherein another flavor ingredient is further added to the collagen casing from the inside through a mandrel during shirring, the flavor ingredient being a water-soluble smoke flavor ingredient. Process including A method comprising:

2. The method described in claim 1, further comprising a step of exposing the collagen casing to a plasticizer solution containing a flavor component after extruding the flavored collagen gel in step iv) and before drying.

3. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the flavoring ingredient is added to the cellulose and acid dispersion prior to step ii) of blending the cellulose and acid dispersion with the comminuted corium material.

4. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the flavoring ingredient is added during step ii) of blending the comminuted corium material with the cellulose and acid dispersion.

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