Many of the challenges that processors face with grinding and stuffing is that raw materials vary widely. Those variations can have a big impact on grinding. Processors also have to be aware of how their grinding systems can handle foreign materials, such as bone and cartilage. For stuffing, challenges remain with achieving uniformity, and aligning the right equipment and correctly sized equipment versatility, says Jeff Sindelar, professor and extension meat specialist in the Department of Animal and Dairy Science at the University of Wisconsin, in Madison.
To combat these challenges, processors are trying to manage the raw materials and understand how the different raw materials create challenges in uniformity and consistency in grinding. They then try to identify these raw materials so they either are ground differently or are used in certain applications for specific products, Sindelar explains.