Meat analog

Claim 2

A process of making meat analogs which comprises forming a dry protein mix wherein the protein is a water hydratable heat-coagulable protein, adjusting the moisture content of the dry mix to form a dough-like protein wet mix, sheeting the protein wet mix to form a coherent workable protein dough sheet, cutting the sheet to form fiber-like strands, aggregating the strands into a desired fiber alignment, and stabilizing the fibers to form a coherent fiber mass resembling meat in appearance, texture, and eating quality.

Claim 3

The process of claim 1 wherein the dry protein mix comprises from 30 to 100% by weight of protein.

Claim 4

The process of claim 2 wherein the dry protein mix comprises from 50 to 100% by weight of protein.

Claim 5

The process of claim 3 wherein the dry protein mix comprises not in excess of 80% by weight of protein.

Claim 6

The process of claim 4 wherein the dry protein mix comprises not in excess of 70% by weight of protein.

Claim 7

The process of claim 1 wherein the wet mix comprises from 10 to 90% dry mix and the remaining portion water.

Claim 8

The process of claim 6 wherein the wet mix comprises from 15 to 35% by weight of water.

Claim 9

The process of claim 7 wherein the wet mix comprises from 20 to 30% by weight of water.

Claim 10

The process of claim 1 wherein an additional step prior to stabilization comprises adding fat composition to the fiber-like strands.

Claim 11

The process of claim 9 wherein the fat composition is added at a weight ratio of from 1:0.1 to 1:4 of fibrous material to fat material.

Claim 12

A process of making meat analogs which comprises forming a dry protein mix, wherein the protein is a water hydratable protein, adjusting the moisture content of the dry mix to form a dough-like protein wet mix, sheeting the protein wet mix to form a coherent workable protein dough sheet, cutting the sheet to form fiber-like strands, aggregating the strands into a desired fiber alignment, coating the aligned fibers with an edible binder material, and stabilizing the binder-coated fibers to form a coherent fiber mass resembling meat in appearance, texture and eating quality.

Claim 13

A process of making meat analogs which comprises forming a dry protein mix, wherein the protein is a water hydratable protein, adjusting the moisture content of the dry mix to form a dough-like protein wet mix, sheeting the protein wet mix to form a coherent workable protein dough sheet, cutting the sheet to form fiber-like strands, aggregating the strands into a desired fiber alignment, coating the aligned fibers with an edible binder material, and stabilizing the binder-coated fibers to form a coherent fiber mass resembling meat in appearance, texture and eating quality.

Claim 14

The process of claim 11 wherein the protein of the dry mix is a non-heat-coagulable protein.

Claim 15

The process of claim 11 wherein the dry protein mix comprises from 30 to 100% by weight of protein.

Claim 16

The process of claim 13 wherein the dry protein mix comprises from 50 to 100% by weight of protein.

Claim 17

The process of claim 14 wherein the dry protein mix comprises not in excess of 80% by weight of protein.

Claim 18

The process of claim 15 wherein the dry protein mix comprises not in excess of 70% by weight of protein.

Claim 19

The process of claim 11 wherein the wet mix comprises from 10 to 90% dry mix and the remaining portion water.

Claim 20

The process of claim 17 wherein the wet mix comprises from 15 to 35% by weight of water.

Claim 21

The process of claim 18 wherein the wet mix comprises from 20 to 30% by weight of water.

Claim 22

The process of claim 11 wherein the edible binder material comprises from 60 to 80% by weight of water.

Claim 23

The process of claim 20 wherein the edible binder material comprises from 65 to 75% by weight of water.

Claim 24

The process of claim 20 wherein the weight ratio of fiber material to binder material is from 95:5 to 5:95.

Claim 25

The process of claim 22 wherein the weight ratio of fiber material to binder material is from 75:25 to 20:80.

Claim 26

The process of claim 22 wherein an additional step prior to stabilization comprises adding fat composition to the fiber-like strands.

Claim 27

The process of claim 24 wherein the fat composition is added at a weight ratio of from 1:0.1 to 1:4 of fibrous material to fat material.

Claim 28

The process of claim 1 wherein stabilization is accomplished by heating.

Claim 29

The process of claim 11 wherein stabilization is accomplished by heating.

Claim 30

The process of claim 27 wherein the temperature during heating is from 155° to 400° F.

Claim 31

The process of claim 28 wherein the temperature is from 170° to 300° F.

Claim 32

The process of claim 26 wherein the temperature during heating is from 155° to 400° F.

Claim 33

The process of claim 30 wherein the temperature is from 170° to 300° F.

Claim 34

The process of claim 6 wherein an additional step subsequent to cutting the sheet but prior to stabilization comprises heat treating the fibers to produce strong, distinctly defined chewy fibers especially adapted for use in duplicating the eating quality of coarse meats.

Claim 35

The process of claim 6 wherein during sheeting the sheet is heated to temperatures within the range of from 155° to 210° F to provide some heat coagulation of protein during sheeting.

Claim 36

The process of claim 17 wherein an additional step subsequent to cutting the sheet but prior to stabilization comprises heat treating the fibers to produce strong, distinctly defined chewy fibers especially adapted for use in duplicating the eating quality of coarse meats.

Claim 37

The process of claim 17 wherein during sheeting the sheet is heated to temperatures within the range of from 155° to 210° F to provide some heat coagulation of protein during sheeting.

Claim 38

The product of the process of claim 11.

Claim 39

A process of making meat analogs which comprises forming a dry protein mix, wherein the protein is a water hydratable protein, adjusting the moisture content of the dry mix to form a dough-like protein wet mix, sheeting the protein wet mix to form a coherent workable protein dough sheet, metering the coherent workable protein dough sheet into a rotary cutter comprising an assembly of space knife blades mounted on a cylindrical shaped member wherein the coherent workable dough sheet is cut at an angle perpendicular to the machine flow direction to provide a plurality of individual strands of a length equal to the width of the coherent workable dough sheet, aggregating said strands into a desired fiber alignment, coating the aligned fibers with an edible binder material, and stabilizing the binder coated fibers to form a coherent fiber mass resembling meat in appearance texture and eating quality.

Claim 40

A process of making meat analogs which comprises forming a dry protein mix, wherein the protein is a water hydratable protein, adjusting the moisture content of the dry mix to form a dough-like protein wet mix, sheeting the protein wet mix to form a coherent workable protein dough sheet, metering the coherent workable protein dough sheet into a rotary cutter comprising an assembly of space knife blades mounted on a cylindrical shaped member wherein the coherent workable dough sheet is cut at an angle perpendicular to the machine flow direction to provide a plurality of individual strands of a length equal to the width of the coherent workable dough sheet, aggregating said strands into a desired fiber alignment, coating the aligned fibers with an edible binder material, and stabilizing the binder coated fibers to form a coherent fiber mass resembling meat in appearance texture and eating quality.

Claim 41

The process of claim 37 wherein aggregation of said strands is accomplished by collecting them on a conveyor belt as they are removed from said rotary cutter.