Improving flavour and shelf life

To achieve the needed food safety and cooking efficiencies, many meat and poultry items such as hams, turkeys and chickens are today cooked in a pouch or bag and then chilled.

However, when processors need to add colour, texture or flavourful seasonings to these items, additional post-processing is required. The question is, what is the best way to attain those desired effects and also maintain extended shelf life?

The answer for many processors is a technology that can roast, flavour, sear and colour meat and poultry while providing the needed surface pasteurisation to extend shelf life.

‘Tunnel of fire’ pasteurising and flash roasting systems take the cooked and chilled product from the chiller and place it on a belt that moves through an enclosed flame that colours, sears and surface-pasteurises the product so it is ready for immediate packaging. Because of the speed of the process - 30 to 60 seconds - complete surface pasteurising and searing is achieved, yield loss is minimal and a long shelf life is ensured.

Flame tunnels such as Unitherm Food Systems’ Tunnel of Fire also include a dispensing unit that sprays browning and flavouring agents like liquid smoke or other seasonings onto products as they enter the tunnel. This allows the colour, texture and flavour of products to be easily and consistently controlled.

Using this flash-roasting and pasteurising process, finished products maintain their cool core temperatures and can be immediately packaged for distribution. This eliminates food safety problems that can occur when products are cooled in the open air prior to packaging, which exposes them to cross-contamination that can limit shelf life to a few days rather than weeks.

Comercializadora Andina SA (Comansa) of Santiago, Chile, produces a line of foods sold to supermarkets, including chicken, beef and other meats, plus a ready meal line.

One of the company’s primary products is roasted chicken, which is sold to supermarkets at a rate of about 80,000 units per month. Eduardo Carvajal, Comansa Operations Manager, says that providing these chickens in a rotisserie style and an assortment of seasonings has enhanced sales and offers other benefits.

“We cook the chicken in bags in a steam tank for about three hours, then chill it in the same unit,” he explained. “Afterwards we put the chicken through the Unitherm Tunnel of Fire to keep the surface pasteurising, get the colour and develop the seasonings. This is all done in just 30 to 35 seconds.”

Carvajal says that using the flame tunnel provides benefits besides the assurance that each chicken is exposed to the air for only seconds before it is surface pasteurised and put in retain bags immediately afterwards.

“The colouring process of the flame tunnel is very important because our customers prefer that finish rather than a plain white colour,” Carvajal said. “Also, the same equipment enables us to provide a variety of seasonings, including spicy, barbecue, butter and sweet flavours.”

One of the most important benefits of the flame pasteurising process is the extended product shelf life. While many roasted chickens have a typical shelf life of about three days, Carvajal’s is considerably longer.

“After we ship the chicken, we are certain of a shelf life of 42 days,” Carvajal said, “and that is an important reflection of our high standards.”

Luka Meats (Luka Vleeswarenfabriek NV), Vilvoorde, Belgium, produces a variety of cooked hams, including smoked, roasted and extra lean hams as well as Strasbourg meat loaves.

Until recently, the hams and Strasbourg loaves were pasteurised, browned and seared by hand, using a handheld torch, but handling 1200 hams and 300-400 loafs per week proved too time-consuming.

“We used to spend an average of two hours a day finishing these products by hand,” said Thomas Leemans, Luka Meats founder and owner.

Recently, Luka Meats automated its pasteurising process with a Unitherm Tunnel of Fire flash roasting system.

“This new equipment makes quite a difference in productivity,” Leemans said. “We now save approximately 60% of the time it used to require to brand our products by hand, as well as considerable labour.”