ES2872649A1 - Pork ham curing procedure and product thus obtained (Machine-translation by Google Translate, not legally binding) - Google Patents

Abstract

Procedure for curing pork ham and the product thus obtained, where the procedure comprises the following stages: (i) fresh extraction of the ham from the hip and femur bones, keeping the tibia and fibula together with their muscles, as well as the shank and the hoof: (ii) partial elimination of the muscle part of the club, corresponding to the cap; (iii) salting the boneless ham under the usual conditions for boneless hams:; (iv) placing the boneless part in a mesh for containment: (iv) applying pressure to the boneless area until the gaps in air produced in boning; (v) keeping the ham in molds or lying down; and (vi) hanging from the ham by the mesh, with the hoof facing down, keeping it in this position during the curing process. (Machine-translation by Google Translate, not legally binding)

Description

DESCRIPTION

Pork ham curing procedure and product thus obtained

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention is a new method of curing pork ham in which, prior to salting and curing the shoulder, the hip bone and femur have been extracted but keeping all the muscles except the upper half of the dough. muscle called mace and the bones of the tibia and fibula and preferably also the cane and the hoof.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Until now, different procedures are known for deboning pork hams, even in some cases, deboning is prior to curing the ham. This is the case of the Spanish patent ES2425715 referring to a “Procedure for the elaboration of cured ham after extraction of the fresh coxal bone”. In this patent reference is made to the previous deboning of the ham by extracting the coxal bone and exposing the head of the femur and the conditioning of the traumatized areas during extraction. In this patent no mention is made of the post-boning curing process, in addition to the fact that only the innominate bone is removed, but the femur is kept, which gives it consistency during the curing process.

Another precedent to cite is that of the Spanish patent ES2221796 referring to a "Procedure to protect, preserve and cure a ham or shoulder, boneless or not, of pork", in which reference is made to a way of protecting and curing the ham or the shoulder covering them with bacon, before curing, in the part of meat that does not have it as it is the part of the ham or the shoulder by which it was attached to the trunk of the pig before cutting.

Also noteworthy is the Spanish patent ES2127158 "Procedure for the manufacture of cured pallet centers" which describes a procedure similar to that of the present application in which it is disclosed (see figures 1 and 2; column 2, lines 32-56; column 3, lines 9-40; column 4, lines 9-35; claims 4-6) that it refers to:

Pork ham curing procedure that comprises the following stages:

• fresh extraction of the ham ( 1) from the hip bone ( 3) and femur ( 4) keeping the bones of the ulna and radius ( 2) with their muscles as well as the cane and the hoof with nails or not

• salting boneless ham in conditions similar to boneless ham; • placing a mesh in the boned area to contain the meat;

• application of pressure to the boning area for the time necessary for compaction of the meat and elimination of space and air from the gaps resulting from boning;

• keeping the ham lying flat after salting until it has sufficient hardness and does not deform when it is hung in the curing process; • cured

The difference between the present application and this patent is that, in addition to the fact that the ham is hung "upside down", that is, with the hoof down, in the boning process that also cuts a part of the hammer. Take into account that to cure a ham it is necessary to hang it in a natural or artificial drying room so that it is a product equal to one piece with the bone. Therefore, the hanging process is strictly necessary and since it only carries the bone in the part of The hoof, if it is hung from this part, which is where all the pieces of ham and shoulder are hung for maturation, the part of the bone would detach from the meat due to the effect of gravity. the mesh, it is achieved that the meat remains united with the bone, making possible the good drying of the piece.

Finally, it is worth highlighting the Spanish patent ES2719935 of the same owner of the present application, referring to a "Procedure for curing pork shoulders and the product thus obtained". The difference with this patent is that here it is a pork ham curing procedure and in the procedure there are some different and essential steps to get the right product. More specifically, the procedure is quite similar but in the process of boneless that also cuts a part of the top of the mace that is the semimembranous muscle or top.

No other antecedent with a special healing process is known because, when removing the hip bone, the femur and half of the muscle mass of the mace, the ham loses the consistency of a boneless ham and must be performed salting and curing in a specific way.

The result after boning and curing is a ham that has a part of it boned but with an appearance very similar to a boneless ham and similar organoleptic characteristics.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The process of the present patent begins by taking pork hams of any type or breed, cut from the fresh pork carcass. Similar to cut hams to salt and cure. The hip and femur bones are extracted as well as a part of the cap or semimembranous muscle that is a part of the mace (the upper part) to finish the fresh cut (in meat) before salting, keeping the bones of the tibia and fibula with their muscles, except the part of the cap removed, and skin as well as the possibility of leaving and hock and hoof, with nails or not, depending on the breed of pig from.

The reason why a part of the mallet cap is removed is because when the hip bone is removed, this part of the mallet muscle protrudes too much from the meat mass of the part.

When this part of the muscle of the club protrudes too much, the conformation is lost and can cause several problems:

1 - Deformation of the piece. The piece would be misshapen and would not look like a normal ham.

2 - When the piece is cured, defects in curing will appear such as excessive drying and poor curing of the meat, causing the piece to lose its characteristic aroma and flavor.

3 - By removing this part of the muscle from the mace, it becomes easier to heal since the salt penetrates better and the healing can be accelerated by making the piece more homogeneous internally.

The hams will be salted without these bones on the days that are deemed appropriate so that they do not come out salty or too sweet and so that they do not spoil and keeping them in a chamber between 0 and 6 degrees with high humidity and coarse or fine salt. In the traditional way or injected

Once the salting process is finished, or even before, a mesh is put on it, as a containment of the meat, to keep the piece compact.

Once the salting is finished and for the piece to compact and maintain an appearance similar to normal or very similar, enough pressure is applied for several hours or days so that the meat compacts and sticks and there are no deboning holes left in it. no air. In the case of not applying this pressure, air is kept in the hollows of the boning which leads to oxidation and deterioration of the interior meat of the ham.

The hams are not hung after salting but are kept either in molds or lying in a box until they are hard enough so that when they are hung they do not deform.

Once hung, it will be processed like a normal ham, with its curing times and temperature necessary for it to acquire the normal flavor of each type of ham, except that the mesh will continue to be maintained and it will be hung on the appropriate hangers to finish the healing process. The hanging process is made of the same mesh and the ham is hung upside down (not hanging from the hoof). The process of hanging upside down is strictly necessary and by carrying only the bone in the part of the hoof, if it is hung by this part, which is where all the pieces of ham and shoulders are hung for maturation, the part of the bone would detach from the flesh under the effect of gravity. By hanging it upside down and through the mesh, it is achieved that the meat remains attached to the bone in the piece, making it possible to dry the piece properly.

The product obtained is a semi-boned ham from the hip bone and femur but keeping the tibia and fibula as well as the shank and the hoof, which means that the appearance is that of a normal ham with bone but lacking the two indicated bones. Even lacking muscle mass and due to the pressing and meshing of the piece.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

To complement the description that is being made, and in order to help a better understanding of the characteristics of the invention, the following figures are attached to the present specification, as an integral part thereof:

Figure 1 in which the product resulting from the process is seen with a partial deboning.

Figure 2 that represents the different bones of the ham.

Figure 3 which represents a diagram of a ham in which its bones and muscles can be seen.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

Pork hams curing procedure that has a series of well differentiated phases:

- Fresh extraction of the ham (1) from the hip bones (4) and the femur (3), keeping the bones of the tibia and fibula (2) with their muscles. Optionally, the bones of the tibia and fibula (2) and the cane and hoof with nails or not can be boned or kept so that it has a more similar appearance to a ham without partially boning;

- partial elimination of between 30% to 70% of the part of the muscle of the club (5) that corresponds to the semimembranous muscle or cap (6);

- salting of boneless ham in conditions similar to boneless hams in a chamber between 0 and 6 degrees with high humidity and coarse or fine salt or injected into brine;

- once the salting process is finished, or even before, a mesh is placed in the boned area to contain the meat;

- pressing by applying pressure to the boning area for several hours or even days to compact the meat and eliminate the voids resulting from partial boning and the air existing in them;

- maintenance of the ham after salting in molds or lying down until it has sufficient hardness and does not deform when it is hung in the curing process;

- hanging from the ham by the mesh with the hoof facing down and keeping it in this position during the curing process. Once hung, it will be processed like a normal ham with its necessary curing times and temperature so that it acquires the normal flavor of each type of ham.

The product obtained through the procedure described is a ham (1) semi-boned from the hip bone (4) and the femur (3), but keeping all the muscles except partially the part of the muscular mass of the lid (6) of the mace (5), in addition to the bones of the tibia and fibula (2) as well as the hoof, with which the appearance and organoleptic characteristics are those of a normal ham with bone but lacking the indicated bones.

Once the nature of the present invention has been sufficiently described, as well as some ways of putting it into practice, it only remains to add that said invention may undergo certain variations as long as said alterations do not substantially vary the characteristics claimed below.

Claims (2)

1. - Pork ham curing procedure that comprises the following well differentiated stages: - fresh extraction of the ham (1) from the hip bone (4) and the femur (3) but keeping the bones of the tibia and fibula (2) with their muscles as well as the cane and the hoof with nails or not; - partial elimination of between 30% and 70% of the part of the muscle of the club (5) that corresponds to the semimembranous muscle or cap (6); - salting the boneless ham in conditions similar to boneless shoulders; - placing a mesh in the boned area to contain the meat; - applying pressure to the boning area for several hours or even days until the space and air have been removed from the gaps resulting from boning; - maintenance of the ham after salting in molds or lying down; - hanging from the ham by the mesh with the hoof facing downwards and keeping it in this position during the curing process; 2. - Product obtained by the procedure described in the first claim that consists of a ham (1) semi-boned from the hip bone (4), the femur (3) and in which the part of the muscle mass of the the mallet (5) that corresponds to the lid (6) and maintains the rest of the muscles in addition to the bones of the tibia and fibula (2) as well as the shaft and the hoof and that has the organoleptic appearance and characteristics of a normal ham with bone.