Apparatus, Systems and Methods for Manufacturing Food Products

Abstract

Apparatus, systems and methods are disclosed for manufacturing semi-moist meatballs. An illustrative embodiment provides a method of manufacturing generally spherical pet treats comprising: (a) providing a ground mix of proteinaceous material, flavor enhancers and preservatives to a portioning device that divides said mix into smaller portions of roughly uniform volume, (b) placing said portions on a first belt of a first conveyor moving at a first speed in a longitudinal direction, (c) periodically pressing said portions with a second belt of a second conveyor, where said second belt operates in a plane at a height above, and substantially parallel to, said first belt, said second belt moving at a second speed in substantially the same longitudinal direction as said first belt, while also oscillating back and forth in a lateral direction that is at an angle to said longitudinal direction, such that said portions are transformed into generally spherical shapes.

1 . A method of manufacturing generally spherical pet treats comprising:
 (a) providing a ground proteinaceous mix to a portioning device that divides said mix into smaller portions of roughly uniform volume,   (b) placing said portions on a first belt of a first conveyor moving at a first speed in a longitudinal direction,   (c) periodically pressing said portions with a second belt of a second conveyor, where said second belt operates in a plane at a height above, and substantially parallel to, said first belt, said second belt moving at a second speed in substantially the same longitudinal direction as said first belt, while also oscillating back and forth in a lateral direction that is at an angle to said longitudinal direction, such that said portions are transformed into generally spherical shapes.   
     
     
         2 . The process of  claim 1  wherein said portioning is done using a fill and form molding process. 
     
     
         3 . The process of  claim 1  wherein said portioning is done by extruding said blend through at least one rectangular or circular die plate to form at least one rectangular or circular extrudate rod, followed by cutting said extrudate rod into roughly uniform pieces. 
     
     
         4 . The process of  claim 1  wherein said angle is approximately perpendicular. 
     
     
         5 . The process of  claim 1  wherein said height varies between A and B, where A is slightly less than the diameter of an equivalent sphere that has approximately the same volume as a said portion, and B is about 0.9 multiplied by A. 
     
     
         6 . The process of  claim 1  wherein at least one said first or second belts is textured. 
     
     
         7 . The process of  claim 1  wherein said second speed is between 40-80% faster than said first speed. 
     
     
         8 . The process of  claim 1  where said first and second belts are wire meshes. 
     
     
         9 . The process of  claim 1  where said portions are placed in such a way that the distance between any two portions placed adjacently is approximately between 1 and 3 times the desired diameter of the spherical pet treat. 
     
     
         10 . The process of  claim 1  wherein pressure exerted on said portions being pressed by said first and second belts is less than 10 psi. 
     
     
         11 . A pet treat made by the process of  claim 1  that contains from about 15% to about 75% by weight of said proteinaceous material, and where said proteinaceous material is selected from the group comprising one or more of the following: beef, chicken, pork, turkey, venison, offal, soy or vegetable protein. 
     
     
         12 . A semi-moist pet treat made by the process of  claim 1  having from about 15% to about 30% by weight of stabilized moisture content under normal storage conditions. 
     
     
         13 . A semi-moist substantially spherical pet treat made by the process of  claim 1  having a stabilized water activity between 0.60 and 0.78 under normal storage conditions. 
     
     
         14 . A pet treat made by the process of  claim 1  having a finished appearance substantially simulating a meatball made for human consumption by hand rolling coarse ground meat. 
     
     
         15 . An apparatus for making portions to be finished into food products, comprising:
 (a) a first conveyor belt operable at a first speed in a longitudinal direction,   (b) a second conveyor belt operable in a plane at a height above, and substantially parallel to, said first belt, said second conveyor belt operable at a second speed in substantially the same longitudinal direction as said first belt,   (c) said second belt also operable to oscillate back and forth in a lateral direction that is at an angle to said longitudinal direction, (d) such that said first and second conveyor belts can be simultaneously operated to move, between said belts, non-spherical pliable foodstuff portions, in said longitudinal direction, while simultaneously pressing and rolling said portions in said longitudinal and lateral directions, so as to convert said portions into roughly spherical shapes.   
     
     
         16 . The apparatus of  claim 15  wherein said angle is approximately perpendicular. 
     
     
         17 . The apparatus of  claim 15  wherein said height is between A and B, where A is slightly less than the diameter of the desired spherical product, and B is about 0.9 multiplied by A. 
     
     
         18 . The apparatus of  claim 15  wherein at least one of said first or second belts is textured. 
     
     
         19 . The apparatus of  claim 15  wherein said first and second belts comprise wire meshes. 
     
     
         20 . The apparatus of  claim 19  where the nominal size of openings of one of the said meshes is less than or equal to 25% of the average diameter of the desired spherical product, and the nominal size of the other said mesh does not exceed 90% of said average diameter of desired spherical product.