DESCRIPTION

The present invention refers to a method for preparing cooked ham, from an anatomical piece of beef . The term beef is meant to comprise veal, bullock, ox and similar meats.

Moreover, in the present invention, the definition anatomical cut is meant to comprise any anatomical cut with a different trade name including, as a non-limiting example, those known as "roast beef ham", "bacon", "flank" and "rump ham".

As known, the product with the commercial name ham preferably and generally consists of pork. However, for religious reasons, or for diet reasons, eating pork-based ham is often refused by many communities and ethnicities.

The use of beef thus seems to be a valid alternative to pork for preparing a product, which can have the typical appearance of pork and is able to replace it, for example, in the Muslim religious communities and others.

The use of beef for the aforementioned purposes, however, means having to deal with different technological problems deriving from the structural and organoleptic properties of beef with respect to pork, including the lower tenderness of beef with respect to pork, the different flavours according to the different breeds of cattle, as well as according to the age of the animal that has been slaughtered, and the effects deriving from the different type of feed adopted during farming. The main purpose proposed of the present invention is therefore to have a method for preparing cooked ham with beef that makes it possible to obtain a homogeneous product in all of its parts, with meat that is tender, of constant flavour also by using meats coming from cattle of different breeds, different ages and fed with different feeds.

A further purpose of the invention is to obtain a cooked beef ham the colour of which remains stable over time even after it has been vacuum-packed.

The last but not least purpose of the invention is to improve the shelf life of the product obtained, extending it up to around 8 months.

These and other purposes, which will become clearer from the rest of the description, are achieved by the method according to the invention for preparing cooked ham from an anatomical piece of beef which comprises the steps of:

- selecting the anatomical piece of beef,

- providing a treatment brine comprising at least one derivative from maple sap,

- injecting a predetermined amount of said treatment brine into the selected anatomical piece of beef,

- immersing said anatomical piece, injected with brine, in a bath comprising the same brine and keeping it immersed for a certain time period,

- carrying out a vacuum churning treatment on said anatomical piece,

- subjecting said anatomical piece to cooking with steam while held in a containing mould,

- reducing the cooking temperature, - stabilizing the cooked and cooled anatomical piece.

In accordance with the invention, the essential ingredient in the provision of the brine is a derivative of maple sap, conventionally known as maple syrup that, injected into the anatomical piece of beef with a mixture of other balancing ingredients which will be referred to in the rest of the description, activates a natural ageing process of beef.

Indeed, it has been found that the natural sugars present in maple sap feed and revitalise the bacterial load present in slaughtered meat with the consequence that the same bacterial flora, present in the meat, attacks the fibres and the collagen of the muscles taking care of tenderizing the meat and making it homogeneous in all of the parts of the selected anatomical piece with a totally natural process.

The method according to the invention will now be described more with reference to an embodiment thereof illustrated in the attached figure 1 that represents a flow diagram of the method.

With reference to the aforementioned figure 1, reference numeral 1 indicates the step of selecting the anatomical piece of beef to be subjected to treatment.

This is selected among anatomical cuts preferably comprising arm clod, no more than 7 days after slaughter and with a Ph preferably comprised between 5.5 and 5.9.

Reference numeral 2 indicates the step of preparing the brine used for ageing the meat. In accordance with the invention, the brine comprises sea salt, soya proteins, yeast extract, sugar, powdered molasses, maple sugar, sodium erythorbate, sodium nitrite, sodium inosinate and sodium guanylate, smoke flavours, sodium bicarbonate, vegetable oil.

The amount of maple sugar, with respect to the total amount of components of the brine, is represented by a value comprised between 12% and 18% by weight.

Preferably, the preparation of the brine comprises the formation of the mixture of ingredients indicated as step 2A, the drying of the mixture obtained, indicated as step 2B and, possibly, the grinding thereof.

At the end of the preparation of the mixture of ingredients, step 2 foresees that the dilution in water be carried out in the proportion of 14- 15 parts of diy mixture, possibly reduced to fine powder through grinding, with 86-85 parts of water.

Preferably, the water is kept at a temperature comprised between 0°C and -4°C and the whole thing is mixed for at least 5 minutes and then rested for at least 10 minutes before it is used.

Once the brine has been prepared and the anatomical piece has been cleaned of the tendons, skin and possible bone parts, the method according to the invention foresees to inject a predetermined amount of said brine into the selected anatomical piece of beef in the ponderal proportion of 30 parts of brine and of 70 parts of beef.

This step is indicated in the flow diagram with reference numeral 3.

The injection of the brine into the anatomical piece of beef is carried out through a conventional injecting machine, for example the one sold on the market by MET ALB UD LTD, called TIPO MHM-39/156, preferably using an injection pressure comprised between 0.9 and 1.1 bar.

At the end of step 3 of injecting the brine, the anatomical piece of beef is placed in a suitable container, not shown because it is conventional, alone or, preferably, together with a plurality of pieces and subjected to a step, indicated with 4 in the flow diagram, wherein the anatomical piece is kept completely immersed in the brine for a time of no less than 48 hours with a temperature of the brine comprised between 0°C and -2°C and taking care of carrying out at least one position change of the anatomical piece immersed in the brine after the first 24 hours, without letting it emerge from the brine itself.

The method proceeds with a step, indicated with 5 in the flow diagram, during which the anatomical piece is subjected to a massaging operation at a temperature comprised between 0°C and -2°C, for a time period of at least 1 hour using conventional machines called chums.

At the end of step 5 of churning the single anatomical pieces of beef are placed in respective containers or moulds that are inserted into conventional steam cooking cells in which the step indicated with 6 in the flow diagram is carried out in a conventional manner at a temperature of about 70°C.

At the same time as cooking step 6 it is possible to foresee a step 6A of smoking the product.

The method proceeds with the step indicated with 7 in which the reduction of the cooking temperature takes place. Such a step is carried out with said piece of beef arranged in an environment kept at a temperature comprised between - 10°C and - 1 5 °C for a time comprised between 4 and 12 hours.

The method according to the invention concludes with a step of stabilizing the product, indicated with 8, carried out by keeping said anatomical piece of beef in an environment with a temperature comprised between 0°C and +4°C for a time comprised between 24 and 48 hours.

Once the product has been obtained it can be vacuum-packed whole or sliced, as indicated in the flow diagram in steps 9 and 10, respectively.

If it is kept in a cool environment with a constant temperature of about 10°C and with a relative humidity level, it has been found experimentally that the product, packaged unsliced, possesses a shelf life of about 4 months without alterations.

Although in the above description reference has been made to a single anatomical piece of beef in order to illustrate the steps of the method and the characteristics thereof, it should be understood that the method is preferably applied to a plurality of pieces.

The method as described above can also undergo numerous variants all of which are, however, covered by the invention as claimed hereinafter.