Meat processing

1. A meat quality and yield improvement process comprising the steps of:—

hanging a carcass or a part thereof;

applying an additional pulling force of from 50 to 500 kgf to muscles of the carcass in

order to stretch the muscle filaments; and

maintaining this force until rigor is complete.

2. The process as claimed in claim 1 wherein the additional pulling force applied is from 100 to 400 kgf.

3. The process as claimed in claim 1 wherein the pulling force is applied for a period of from 18 hrs to 168 hrs.

4. The process as claimed in claim 1 wherein the additional pulling force is applied to the leg and back muscles of a carcass.

5. The process as claimed in claim 1 comprising the step of hanging the hind leg(s) of the carcass at an angle of from 90 to 170 degrees to the vertical.

6. The process as claimed in claim 1 comprising the step of joining portions of the carcass with a contraction device and rigid connectors having sufficient tensile strength to apply/resist the additional pulling force applied.

7. The process as claimed in claim 6 wherein the contraction device is attached to the shank of a carcass and to a rib bone of the carcass via connectors.

8. The process as claimed in claim 7 wherein the contraction device is adjustable in length.

9. The process as claimed in claim 7 wherein the contraction device comprises a ram having a cylinder and a rod, a hook at the end of the cylinder and a hook at the end of the rod, the ram being activated to apply a pulling force to the leg/back muscles of the carcass.

10. The process as claimed in claim 9 wherein the ram is adapted to apply, on retraction of the rod, a pulling force of about 150 kg.

11. The process as claimed in claim 9 wherein the rod has a stroke length of from 150 to 250 mm.

12. The process as claimed in claim 1 wherein the stretched carcass is subjected to a meat conditioning process comprising:—

chilling a carcass in a first conditioning stage in which the carcass is maintained in air circulated at a temperature of from 10 to 12° C.;

after the first conditioning stage, further chilling the carcass in a second conditioning stage in which the carcass is maintained in air circulated at a temperature of from 4 to 6° C.; and

after the second conditioning stage, further chilling the carcass in a third conditioning stage in which the carcass is maintained in air circulated at a temperature of from +2° C. to −1° C.

13. The process as claimed in claim 12 wherein:—

the first conditioning stage takes place over a period of from 9 to 17 hours after stunning of the animal from which the carcass is produced;

the second conditioning stage takes place over a period after the first conditioning stage of up to 24 hours after stunning; and

the third conditioning stage takes place over a period after the second conditioning stage of up to 90 days after stunning.

14. The process as claimed in claim 12 wherein:—

air is circulated during the first conditioning stage at a speed of from 0.5 to 1.5 metres/second;

air is circulated during the second conditioning stage at a speed of from 0.3 to 1.0 metres/second; and

air is circulated during the third conditioning stage at a speed of from 0.3 to 1.0 metres/second.