With the increased focus on reducing salt and fat in meat products, what are the challenges that processors face in producing formed products, such as patties, nuggets, etc.?
During the forming process, there are two points of concern, one is in properly filling the mold cavity of the forming machine to produce a product of consistent shape and size, and the other is maintaining that desired shape of the formed product as it is delivered to the conveyor belt for freezing or cooking. The viscosity of the meat mixture seems to be the most important characteristic of the meat mixture for successfully forming these products.