KR-20260063337-A - Method for Preprocessing of Meat

Abstract

The present application relates to a method for pre-treating meat that can improve the yield of heat-treated meat and achieve rich juiciness and a tender texture.

Inventors

• 김광일
• 서용기
• 유영
• 서우덕
• 박준명

Assignees

• 씨제이제일제당 (주)

Dates

Publication Date

20260507

Application Date

20241030

Claims (8)

1. A meat pretreatment method comprising the following steps: (a) a step of immersing meat in an immersion solution containing carbonates or phosphates; and (b) A step of mixing the above-mentioned immersed meat in an immersion solution containing carbonate or phosphate and tumbling it.
2. In claim 1, A method for pre-treating meat, wherein in step (a) above, carbonate or phosphate is included in the immersion solution at a content of 0.5 to 4 weight percent relative to the weight of the meat.
3. In claim 1, A method for pre-treating meat, wherein in step (b) above, carbonate or phosphate is included in the immersion solution at a content of 0.25 to 2 weight percent relative to the weight of the meat.
4. In claim 1, A method for pre-treating meat, wherein the above carbonate is a mixture of sodium carbonate and sodium bicarbonate.
5. In claim 4, A method for pre-treating meat, wherein the weight ratio of sodium carbonate to sodium bicarbonate is sodium carbonate : sodium bicarbonate = 1:9 to 5:5.
6. In any one of claims 1 to 5, A method for pre-treating meat, wherein the pH of the soaking solution is adjusted to 9 to 11.
7. In claim 1, A method for pre-treating meat, wherein the immersion in step (a) above is performed for 30 minutes to 5 hours.
8. In claim 1, A method for pre-treating meat, wherein in step (b) above, tumbling is performed for 5 minutes to 1 hour.

Description

Method for Preprocessing of Meat The present application relates to a method for pre-treating meat. Specifically, it relates to a method for pre-treating meat that improves the yield of heat-treated meat and enables rich juiciness and a tender texture. With recent economic growth and the increase in various leisure activities, dietary consumption patterns have also been influenced, leading to a surge in popularity for foods that can be conveniently prepared using simple cooking methods or eaten out. Along with these changes, it has been reported that the proportion of multi-person households is decreasing, while the growth rate of single-person households increased by 3.9% in 2010 compared to 2005, and it is predicted that the proportion of households with two or fewer members will rise to 52% by 2030. Due to changes in dining-out consumption patterns caused by the increase in single-person households and dual-income couples, sales of various Home Meal Replacement (HMR) convenience foods—such as stews, rice bowls, and side dish substitutes containing meat products—have been steadily increasing. As the demand for processed HMR foods grows, the consumption of meat HMR products, which are the most commonly consumed items, is on the rise. These products offer the advantage of allowing consumers to easily prepare delicious meat dishes without having to purchase meat ingredients and cook them themselves. Among these meat HMR products, there has been a continued need for raw meat for frozen and room-temperature HMR that can be stored for a long time. However, in order to produce stable products, heat treatment processes are required, which leads to increased cooking loss due to muscle shrinkage caused by protein denaturation and structural changes, and issues such as a decrease in product value due to deterioration in texture quality have been continuously raised, and consequently, the need for quality improvement has been continuously demanded. Although various pretreatment technologies are being developed to prevent quality degradation during the heat treatment of meat and to maintain sensory elements, pretreatment under incorrect conditions can lead to an overall decline in food quality. This is because excessive shrinkage caused by microstructural damage, destruction of cell membranes, and protein denaturation results in reduced yield and changes in texture. Therefore, it is necessary to establish appropriate pretreatment methods and conditions tailored to the specific characteristics of raw meat. The immersion method is a pretreatment process that allows the brine solution to penetrate the raw material through osmosis and is typically applied to materials that cannot be processed using the tumbling method. While the immersion method enables chemical surface reactions without physical shock depending on the composition of the immersion solution, it has the disadvantages of being time-consuming and difficult to penetrate uniformly to the interior. The tumbling method is a commonly used process in meat processing for curing meat products. The tumbling method allows the brine solution to penetrate the meat relatively quickly and uniformly, and by affecting the solubility of myofibrillar proteins, it helps improve water retention and texture. In addition, physical impact and chemical reactions proceed simultaneously, causing proteins extracted and bound to the inside and outside of the meat to combine with moisture, resulting in improved sensory properties such as juiciness and yield. Figure 1 is a photograph showing the appearance of the raw material and the leachate after pretreatment and heat treatment of the immersion solution of chicken breast (chicken meat). Photograph A: Example 1 (carbonate tumbling after carbonate immersion); Photograph B: Comparative Example (water tumbling after water immersion); Photograph C: Example 2 (phosphate tumbling after carbonate immersion); Photograph D: Example 3 (phosphate tumbling after phosphate immersion); Photograph E: Example 4 (carbonate tumbling after phosphate immersion). Figure 2 shows the results of measuring the hardness of the texture of each sample after pretreatment with the immersion solution and heat treatment of chicken breast. Example 1 is a carbonate immersion and carbonate tumbling sample, Comparative Example is a water immersion and water tumbling sample, Example 2 is a carbonate immersion followed by phosphate tumbling sample, Example 3 is a phosphate immersion and phosphate tumbling sample, and Example 4 is a phosphate immersion and carbonate tumbling sample. Figure 3 shows the results of measuring the chewiness and gumminess of the texture of each sample after pretreatment with the soaking solution and heat treatment of chicken breast. Example 1 is a carbonate soaked and carbonate tumbling sample, Comparative Example is a water soaked and water tumbling sample, Example 2 is a carbonate soaked and phosphate tumbling sample, Example 3 is a phosphate soa