Analysis of comminuted meat products

Claim 2

A process as set forth in claim 1 wherein the percentage of moisture is determined as a function of the constant amount of moisture in the residue, the amount of moisture liberated less the amount of protein released with the liberated moisture.

Claim 3

A process as set forth in claim 3 wherein the percentage of protein is determined as a function of the constant percentage of protein in the residue plus the amount of protein liberated with the moisture.

Claim 4

A process as set forth in claim 1 wherein the actual percentage of ash is the sum of the constant percentage of ash in the residue.

Claim 5

A process as set forth in claim 1 wherein said comminuted meat product is comminuted beef.

Claim 6

A process as set forth in claim 1 wherein said comminuted meat product is beef and wherein the substantially constant chemical analysis of said cooked residue is approximately between 2 and 3 percent moisture, between 70 and 71 percent protein, between 23 and 24 percent fat, and between 2 and 3 percent ash.

Claim 7

A process as set forth in claim 1 wherein said predetermined period is in the range of 2 to 5 seconds for each gram of sample weight.

Claim 8

A process for the determination of fat content of edible comminuted meat products comprising the steps of providing a sample of known weight, the weight of said sample being the same or different for each determination of fat content, exposing said sample to microwave energy to heat said sample uniformly for the rendering of fat and moisture, said microwave energy being operative to effect release of said moisture directly as vapor and to release said fat as a liquid, said exposing step being for a length of time sufficient to render as a liquid all of the fat in said sample having a molecular chain length of about 19 carbons and less and to char said sample, collecting said released liquid fat, and determining the percentage of fat in the sample as a function of the weight of the collected fat and the weight of the sample.

Claim 9

A process for the calibration of a microwave oven for use in rendering a comminuted meat sample for determination of the content of fat, moisture, protein, or ash, or combinations thereof, comprising the steps of preparing a sample of comminuted meat product of substantially uniform composition, introducing a preweighed portion of said sample of said meat product into said oven and heating for a predetermined period of time short of charring to achieve a steady state condition in which the residual percentage of fat, moisture, protein and ash in said sample residue remains constant, said heating step being operative to render some of the fat in said sample and to varporize some of said moisture and a portion of the protein in said sample, and analyzing said solid residue for the percentage of fat, moisture, protein and ash therein to determine the relative amounts thereof in said solid residue, said percentages being the same from sample to sample and whereby the percentage of fat in the solid residue and the percentage of rendered fat may be used in determining the amount of fat in a sample.

Claim 10

A process as set forth in claim 10 further including the steps of determining the percentage of protein in said sample from the percentage of protein in said solid residue, determining the percentage of moisture in said sample from the percentage of moisture in said solid residue and the loss in weight of said sample due to release of moisture therefrom, analyzing an uncooked portion of said sample to determine the percentage of moisture and Protein therein to provide a correction factor for use in subsequent determination of the percentage of protein and moisture in a meat sample rendered by a microwave oven of essentially the same design of the calibrating oven.