Rupturable Seal Package Assembly for Controlled Meat Marination
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for tenderizing meat are inefficient, as they often result in over-tenderization due to uncontrolled exposure to proteolytic enzymes and can lead to contamination and inconsistent quality, especially when marinating packaged meat.
Innovation Solution
A package assembly comprising a first package with a hard seal and a second package with a rupturable seal, where the second package contains a food additive that mixes with the food product only when exposed to a predetermined pressure, ensuring controlled marination and minimizing contamination risks.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the meat is exposed to the marinade for prolonged contact time to enhance tenderness and flavor, then the meat quality is improved, but the meat becomes over-tenderized and the texture becomes unsatisfactory
Solution Approach 1:
The package is divided into separate compartments: a first compartment for the meat product and a second compartment for the marinade. This segmentation prevents premature contact between the meat and marinade, allowing controlled exposure only when needed, thus avoiding over-tenderization while still enabling sufficient marination time when desired.
Solution Approach 2:
The package incorporates a rupturable seal that transitions from an intact state (preventing contact) to a compromised state (allowing contact) when a predetermined pressure threshold is reached. This dynamic mechanism enables precise control over when the marinade contacts the meat, ensuring consistent texture quality while allowing adequate marination time.
2Ease of operation
If the meat is removed from its shipment package and transferred to a second bag or tray for marinating, then the meat can be exposed to the marinade, but the meat is exposed to outside conditions that introduce contamination
Solution Approach 1:
The invention merges the marinade container and meat container into a single integrated package assembly. The marinade remains sealed in its compartment until the rupturable seal breaks, at which point it automatically mixes with the meat in the same sealed environment. This eliminates the need to remove the meat from its protective shipment package, thereby preventing contamination from outside conditions while still enabling effective marination.
3Reliability
If a tenderizer is used to enhance meat tenderness, then the meat quality is improved, but the proteolytic enzyme overly softens the meat resulting in unsatisfactory texture
Solution Approach 1:
The marinade is prepared and packaged in advance with the tenderizing agents already included, but the contact with the meat is prevented by the intact rupturable seal. When the user applies sufficient pressure to break the seal, the marinade is released to contact the meat for a controlled duration. This preliminary preparation ensures the tenderizing agents are ready to work effectively without causing over-tenderization, as the exposure time can be precisely controlled by when the seal breaks and how long the package remains pressurized.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution allows for controlled application of food additives, preventing over-tenderization and maintaining product integrity, while reducing contamination risks and ensuring consistent quality by separating the food additive and product until mixing is desired.
Implementation Method 1
The second package includes a rupturable seal configured to rupture when exposed to a predetermined pressure
Implementation Method 2
The first package includes a hard seal configured to withstand the predetermined pressure and prevent leaking of the food additive and food product from the first package during the mixing
Data Source
AI summary
A package assembly including a first package a second package is provided. The first package can contain two or more compartments. A first compartment can substantially contain the second package and a second compartment can substantially contain a food product, such as a meat. The second package can contain a food additive, such as a marinade. Although substantially contained within the first compartment of the first package, the second package includes a reputable seal located proximate the second compartment of the first package. Applying pressure to the first compartment and, thus, the second package can break the rupturable seal to distribute the food additive from the second package to the food product in the second compartment. The first package can include a perimeter hard seal configured to withstand the pressure and, thus, prevent the leaking of any of the food product or the food additive from the first package during the distribution of the food additive.