U.S. patent application number 14/958297 was filed with the patent office on 2016-06-30 for method for slicing tenders.
The applicant listed for this patent is MAS MARKETING HOLDING COMPANY, LLC. Invention is credited to Mike Ensley, Andres Garcia, Michael Sheets, Mark Sosebee, Gordon Tatro.
Application Number | 20160183540 14/958297 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 50825889 |
Filed Date | 2016-06-30 |
United States Patent
Application |
20160183540 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Ensley; Mike ; et
al. |
June 30, 2016 |
METHOD FOR SLICING TENDERS
Abstract
A method of processing a jumbo tender of a meat tender or
poultry breast into strips having a desired weight and thickness
with minimal losses requires two diagonal cuts across and through
the jumbo to yield three portions which are substantially the same
in weight and thickness.
Inventors: |
Ensley; Mike; (Epworth,
GA) ; Garcia; Andres; (Gainesville, GA) ;
Tatro; Gordon; (Gainesville, GA) ; Sheets;
Michael; (Dawsonville, GA) ; Sosebee; Mark;
(Gainesville, GA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
MAS MARKETING HOLDING COMPANY, LLC |
Dawsonville |
GA |
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
50825889 |
Appl. No.: |
14/958297 |
Filed: |
December 3, 2015 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
13782322 |
Mar 1, 2013 |
|
|
|
14958297 |
|
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Current U.S.
Class: |
452/149 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A23L 13/52 20160801;
A22C 17/0033 20130101; A22C 21/003 20130101; A23V 2002/00 20130101;
A22C 21/00 20130101 |
International
Class: |
A22C 21/00 20060101
A22C021/00 |
Claims
1. A method for slicing a portion of an irregularly shaped meat
product having one substantially flat side and an opposing side
which varies in thickness from the substantially flat side into a
group of substantially uniform strips comprising the steps of: a.
placing the meat product on a cutting surface with the
substantially flat side of the meat product down against the
cutting surface; b. slicing across and through the meat product
along a first diagonal line from near the thickest section of the
meat product so as to remove from the meat product a strip of meat
having the desired characteristic weight and thickness; c. slicing
across and through the meat product along a second diagonal line
beginning at substantially the thickest portion of the meat product
and extending substantially parallel said first diagonal line, to
yield a second strip of meat from the meat product, said second
strip also having the desired characteristic and weight and
thickness, and a residual meat portion.
2. A method for slicing a meat product as defined in claim 1
further comprising trimming said residual meat portion to yield a
strip of meat having substantially the same thickness as said first
and second strips of meat.
3. A method for slicing a meat product as defined in claim 1
wherein thickness of a strip of meat produced by the method is
always measured on the thickest portion of the strip, as the strip
is lying flat with the longest dimension as the length, the second
largest dimension as the width, and the smallest dimension as the
thickness.
4. A method for slicing a meat product as defined in claim 3
wherein the second diagonal line is spaced from the first diagonal
line a distance substantially the same as the thickness of the
strip of meat removed in the first slicing step.
5. A method for slicing a meat product as defined in claim 4
further comprising trimming said residual meat portion to yield a
strip of meat having substantially the same thickness as said first
and second strips of meat.
6. A method for slicing a meat product as defined in claim 4
wherein the meat product is a poultry breast.
7. A method for slicing a meat product as defined in claim 5
wherein the step of slicing along said first diagonal line yields a
strip of meat having a thickness of between about 0.30 to about
0.60 inches.
8. A method for slicing a meat product as defined in claim 6
wherein the step of slicing along said first diagonal line yields a
strip of meat having weight between about 20 and about 27 grams.
Description
PRIORITY CLAIM
[0001] This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application
Ser. No. 13/782,322 filed on Mar. 1, 2013 which claims priority
from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/662,564 filed on
Jun. 21, 2012, both of which are relied upon and incorporated
herein in its entirety by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates to the field of food
preparation and more particularly to the preparation of poultry
strips or tenders. In greater particularity the present invention
relates to a method of slicing tenders to achieve the maximum
number of substantially equal sized tenders.
[0003] Food safety guidelines call for cooking poultry products to
a safe minimum internal temperature of 165.degree. F. (about
74.degree. C.) and cooking most beef, pork and other red meats,
other than organ meats, the a safe minimum internal temperature of
145.degree. F. (about 63.degree. C.) as measured using a food
thermometer. Typically, such temperature measurements are taken at
the thickest portion of the poultry or meat product. However,
poultry products such as chicken or turkey breasts or tenders and
beef or pork tenderloins can have irregular shapes which often vary
in thickness. As referred to herein, tenders will encompass any
meat products which have these irregular or tear drop shapes. The
term tender may refer to a product which has not been sliced into
smaller portions or the resulting smaller portions. The term jumbo
or jumbo tender, as used herein, refers to a meat product that will
be reduced in size as by slicing in accordance with the disclosed
method.
[0004] As a result of the irregularities in shape, some portions of
the poultry or meat may be over cooked while other portions may be
undercooked resulting in a food product that is less palatable.
Additionally, due to variations in thickness cooking times may be
prolonged or extended in order to achieve the safe minimum internal
cooking temperatures. Such prolonged cooking times may also result
in a meat or poultry product having a less palatable texture or
taste due to loss of moisture and/or degradation of the
proteins.
[0005] Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3, the prior art method of preparing
tenders from poultry breast is depicted. In FIG. 2 the standard
breast from FIG. 1 is laid on its flat side and the substantially
uniform portion of the breast is removed by starting the incision
just below the thickest part of the breast. The uniform portion is
then split into two substantially uniform tenders weighing between
22 and 31 grams per the industry standard. Conventionally,
thickness has always been considered measuring vertically through
the thickest portion of a tenderloin placed on a flat surface with
the membrane side either facing down or up.
SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
[0006] It is an object of the present invention to facilitate the
processing of meat and poultry products into strips or tenders that
are uniform in thickness. The forgoing object of the invention
furthers yet another of object of the invention which is to insure
the proper cooking of tenders on the basis of the time the tenders
are cooked. The aforesaid objects facilitate the further object of
avoiding sickness from undercooked poultry. Yet another object of
the invention is to reduce the amount of waste meat and poultry
created with traditional methods of processing the breast meat.
[0007] These and other objects and advantages of the invention will
become apparent from the following detailed description of the
preferred embodiment of the invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0008] The method for processing tenders is depicted in the
accompanying drawings which form a portion of this disclosure and
wherein:
[0009] FIG. 1 is photographic depiction of a chicken breast
prepared for slicing into chicken tenders
[0010] FIG. 2 is a photographic depiction of the initiation of the
first cut in the prior art method.
[0011] FIG. 3 is a photographic depiction of two chicken tenders as
prepared in the prior art.
[0012] FIG. 4 is a photographic depiction of the scrap left by the
prior art method.
[0013] FIG. 5 is a photographic depiction of the initial cut of the
new method.
[0014] FIG. 6 is a photographic depiction of the second cut of the
new method.
[0015] FIG. 7 is a photographic depiction of the three tenders and
scrap cut by new method.
[0016] FIG. 8 is a photographic depiction of the two original
breasts.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0017] Referring to the FIGS. 5-8 for a clearer understanding of
the invention, it may be seen that the preferred embodiment of the
invention contemplates a method for slicing meat tenders or poultry
breasts into to strips or tenders having a substantially uniform
thickness and weight. It is to be understood that thickness of a
resulting tender is always measured on the thickest point, as the
tender is lying flat with the longest dimension as the length, the
second largest dimension as the width, and the smallest dimension
as the thickness. The commercial specifications for sliced chicken
tenders require that they have a maximum thickness of 0.60
inches=/-0.4.
[0018] As you can see in FIG. 5, the jumbo chicken breast is laid
as flat as possible on a supporting surface and a first cut 11 is
begun on a side of the breast at a point 13 about two-thirds
(2/3rds) of the length of the jumbo tender from the thinner end of
the jumbo at a point just below the thickest part of the breast.
The cut is made by slicing diagonally across the jumbo with the
knife blade inclined from vertical about twenty degrees
(20.degree.). This cut creates the first tender 15, thus the
beginning and end points of the cut need to be determined so as to
remove a first tender or strip from the jumbo that falls within the
specifications for commercial chicken tenders, namely that it have
a thickness of between 0.30 to 0.60 inches and weigh between 20 and
27 grams. As shown in FIG. 6, the second cut begins substantially
at the thickest end of the jumbo and is spaced from first cut a
distance that defines the thickness of resulting tender 17. The
knife is drawn along a line parallel to the first cut and the blade
is angled to keep the thickness of the resulting tender about the
same along the length of the cut. This cut creates the second
tender and the third tender, however, the third tender may require
some trimming to reduce it to optimum thickness.
[0019] The savings in waste of the new method is significant. The
jumbo's used to create the tenders as shown in the prior art FIG.'s
1 to 3 and in the present embodiment shown on FIGS. 5 to 7 each
weighed about 82 grams when the cut was started. In the prior art,
the cutting method resulted in two tenders each weighing between
about 20 and 27 grams and yields a typical waste component that
would range from 28 to 40 grams per jumbo. The present method
yields three tenders weighing between 20 and 27 grams and yields a
typical waste component of between less than 10 grams. It is to be
understood that the form of the invention shown is a preferred
embodiment thereof and that various changes and modifications may
be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention
or scope as defined in the following claims.
* * * * *