Process for production of protein-containing food employing continuous heating method by internal heating

Abstract

Provided is a method for producing a processed food which is produced by continuously heating/molding a fluid raw material containing a protein, a lipid, and water. A method for heating a material to be heated continuously by an internal heating system while moving the material in a tube comprising: (a) arranging the tube vertically or substantially vertically (a tilt of not greater than 15°) and heating/molding a mixture while feeding the mixture upward from a bottom in the tube and/or (b) heating/molding the mixture while rotating the tube around a rotation axis, the rotation axis being a center line in a length direction of the tube. The internal heating system is preferably microwave heating, Joule heating, or high-frequency heating. The method for producing a processed protein food employs the heating/molding method for production of a processed protein food wherein a material to be heated, which is a fluid mixture containing a protein, a lipid, and water, is molded by thermally coagulating the mixture continuously by an internal heating system while moving the mixture in a tube.

1 - 9 . (canceled) 
     
     
         10 . A processed protein food comprising as a raw material:
 a protein;   a lipid; and   water,   wherein the raw material has been heated and molded into a tubular form, and   the processed protein food has been heated uniformly around a rotation axis that is a center line in a length direction of the tubular form.   
     
     
         11 . The processed protein food according to  claim 10 ,
 wherein the processed protein food comprises a protein raw material selected from the group consisting of fish meat, fish egg, livestock meat, chicken meat, chicken egg, and bean, as the protein.   
     
     
         12 . The processed protein food according to  claim 10 ,
 wherein the processed protein food has a lipid content in a range from 2 to 35 wt. % in the raw material.   
     
     
         13 . The processed protein food according to  claim 10 ,
 wherein the raw material of the processed protein food is a kneaded product comprising:   
       as a primary raw material, livestock meat or a marine product-derived meat as the protein, which mainly contain myofibrillar-derived salt-soluble protein; and 
       a secondary raw material,
 the primary raw material and the secondary raw material are thoroughly mixed and kneaded so as to form the kneaded product, and 
 the kneaded product has a lipid content in a range from 2 to 35 wt. %. 
 
     
     
         14 . The processed protein food according to  claim 12 ,
 wherein the processed protein food is at least one product selected from the group consisting of a ham and sausage, having no casing.   
     
     
         15 . The processed protein food according to  claim 10 ,
 wherein the lipid contained in the raw material comprises at least one material selected from the group consisting of solid oil and fat, which retain a solid state at a temperature of the raw material before heating.   
     
     
         16 . The processed protein food according to  claim 15 ,
 wherein the at least one material is edible and has a melting point of at least 7° C. greater than the temperature of the raw material before heating.   
     
     
         17 . The processed protein food according to  claim 15 ,
 wherein the at least one material is edible and has a melting point of no lower than 15° C.   
     
     
         18 . The processed protein food according to  claim 15 ,
 wherein a content of the at least one material in the raw material is no less than 2 wt. %.   
     
     
         19 . The processed protein food according to  claim 10 , further comprising a composition that passes through a middle portion of the tubular form and is different from a composition comprising the raw material that has been heated and molded into the tubular form.