“We educate students in culinary arts,” says Chef Mike Artlip, Chair, AAS Culinary Arts, The School of Culinary Arts at Kendall College. “We have a culinary arts program [offering both associates and bachelors degrees] and a baking and pastry program. As part of our bachelor’s degree program, we like to do research and development. We’ve done work for clients like Nestle, Hollymatic, and others.”

Hollymatic has been working with the college for many years primarily with their sausage equipment, such as mixers and stuffers. In working with Chef Chris Koetke, dean of the college, Hollymatic ultimately delivered a hamburger former to Kendall College.

“In turn, they asked us to develop ten recipes to assist them in marketing this piece of equipment. We did a photo shoot on it a little while ago to give them an opportunity for some marketing materials.” Artlip says. Casey’s Supermarket, Naperville, IL, displayed these new burgers to consumers.

Burgers developed by Kendall College include the All-American Burger, BBQ Burger, :Chipotle Burger, Chorizo Burger, Taco Burger, and Uncle Ivan’s Beef Burger – all of which were made of ground beef and a variety ingredients. Other innovative hamburger products developed were the Brat Burger (ground pork), Gyros Burger (cubed lamb and cubed beef), Italian Sausage Burger (ground pork), and the Kielbassa Burger (ground pork).

“We’ve done other ground meat projects in recent years, but this was the first time we concentrated on hamburgers,” Artlip says.

These burgers are examples of what can be done in hamburger product development. “Different, innovative burgers will be in more demand in the future,” Artlip predicts.” NP