Process for making low calorie and low cholesterol muscle meat

Abstract

The invention enables processed meat to absorb and retain a large quantity of water without causing the processed meat to ooze water, especially over an extended shelf life. The water replaces the fat in muscle meat. A first step is achieved by dissolving and removing fat and myosin from the muscle meat, thereby leaving a matrix of muscle fixers. By marinating the meat in a brine, water is introduced into the matrix, much as a dry sponge soak up water. Then, the meat is further processed by cooking it to entrap the water within the meat by closing and sealing the fiber of the matrix over it. The inventive process includes a preparation of a 'bag' of ingredients which may be dropped simultaneously into a processing vat filled with water, as opposed to a system where the processing ingredients are added one at a time, in a prescribed sequence and time program. Among other things in the bag of ingredients, perhaps, the most important are isolated soy protein and carrageenan.