1. Meat Patty Overview

Meat patties are usually made of ground meats. Originally, meat patty is made from beef (preferably lean cow meat), but nowadays, the meat patty industry has developed patties made from other meats. Chicken and mutton patties have become more common; at the same time, many other animal types of meat can be used to make meat patty, i.e. fish & seafood, wild game.

meat patties consumption trend report

beef burger patties

1.1 The market for meat patty served as hamburger

In commercial fast-food outlets, the meat patty always goes with bread rolls or buns as a typical server, which is a kind of popular food around the world, and the common name is hamburgers or simply burgers, which has a big welcome among the young people. Meat patty also can be consumed individually by BBQ, or pan-frying home. And for home consumption, hand-made meat patties are commonly used.
Originated in Germany, Burgers are a staple in most American's diets, and hamburger has been a favorite in the US for more than a century. According to Technomic's most recent "Burger Consumer Trend Report", there is a majority eating burgers at least weekly in the US. Burgers popularity has moved to numerous other countries around the world for the development of fast food industry. The meat patty served as hamburgers is available for many fast food services.
The rising teenage population and improving economic conditions have driven the revitalization of fast food industry, and the hamburgers are expected to be at the forefront of this expansion, which means a great meat patty market.

1.2 Alternatives to burger patties

Food-service customers are likely looking for healthier alternatives to meat patties. As a result, food services are promoting vegetarian and poultry patties, as well as the meat patties made from blends of beef and other ingredients of similar textures. Offering alternatives to meat patties has become more mainstream, as some chains of burger have rolled out vegetable patties for those with dietary restrictions or meat eaters looking for healthier options.

2. Meat Patties Industry Production

meat patty production and consumption

2.1 Manufacturers can produce meat patty with a different mouthfeel

Except for the types of meats used, the texture of the meat grind is also important for meat patty mouthfeel. In the production of the meat patty, fine or medium or coarse grind is chosen by patty manufacturers for creating different tastes.
♦ Fine grind gives a smooth mouthfeel because fine ground meat is of small fineness and most of the natural sinew or gristle is undetectable;
♦ Coarse grind has a rough and chunky mouthfeel because coarsely ground meat is of large fineness and the natural sinew is not completely ground;
♦ Medium grind is in the middle with a rougher mouthfeel but less chunkiness that is got from the coarse grind.
As the fine grind provides great eating experience, it is the most popular and versatile grind.

2.2 Most meat patties are made from ground beef

Ground Beef for making beef patties

The ground beef is considered by many to be the most popular meat for making patties. Most patties in the supermarkets and fast food restaurant chains are made from beef trimmings ground up with added fat, and by-products are most used. There are four kinds of typical examples of by-products:
♦ The muscle under animals' skin that shakes to swat away files;
♦ The meat and sinew that are scrapped from animal bones after the primal cut is collected;
♦ The trimmings extracted from neck bones and leftovers;
♦ The fat from the animal carcass.

2.3 Produce meat patty by ground beef

Taking the Beef Meat Patty as Example to Provide Every Single Operational Procedure.

2.3.1 Fresh/Frozen raw beef receiving and sorting

After the delivery of raw beef to the processing plant, working personnel inspect the beef to ensure there is no visible bones or foreign materials contained, and that the beef does not have an off-odor. Raw beef needs a routine test for the presence of bacteria, and sample beef may be taken to estimate its composition of lean-to-fat ratio. Before the beef is ready for grinding on a FIFO (First-In-First-Out) rotational basis, it is normally stored under the same state of refrigeration in which it was received.

2.3.2 Initial/First grinding

The initial/first grinding is to produce a "coarse ground" product, and the raw beef has to be visually inspected again for bones or foreign matter before being placed in the meat grinder machine, by which the beef is initially ground. The temperature is monitored and kept as close to 28°F as possible to minimize bacteria growth and to facilitate the forming of patties.

2.3.3 Mixing/Blending

After the initial coarse grind, the beef goes into a meat blender where the raw materials for making patties are mixed and blended. A sample of coarsely ground beef is taken to determine a more accurate lean-to-fat ratio, and if the composition needs any adjustment to meet customer specification requirements, it should be made. In this process, some approved food additives, such as salt, seasoning, binders, extenders, vegetable protein products, water, etc. can be added and then thoroughly mixed/blended to ensure a uniform and consistent distribution of all components.

2.3.4 Final/Second grinding

After mixing and blending, the beef is ground for the second time for a more finely ground product used for burgers; usually, this is the final grind. Bone chip and gristle eliminators are usually incorporated into the final grinding step, the bone crushing machine is needed at the moment.

2.3.5 Meat patty forming

meat_patties_forming_process

When the final grinding is finished, the product is taken to make patties by meat patty making/forming machines. At this point or prior, a metal detector is typically used to ensure there are no metal fragments in the final ground product that may be formed into patties based on specifications for thickness, size, and/or weight. If specified, a textured surface may be incorporated as part of the forming process.
—Patty sizes are identified in ounces or number of patties per pound. For example, 4/1 would be four 4-ounce patties per pound.
—Employing different forming molds, patties can be formed into many shapes, such as round, oval, square, hoagie-style, and home-style/natural.
—Scoring that allows for faster freezing and faster, more even cooking can be done on one or both sides of the meat patty.

2.3.6 Meat patty freezing systems

There are three basic types of freezing systems for meat patties:
—Blast freezing system
Usually, this system is used to freeze the prepackaged meat patties by employing a high-velocity blast of cold air with a temperature of -40°F to speed up and finish the freezing process.
—Mechanical freezing system
Mechanical freezing typically is used for Individual Quick Frozen (IQF) by using ammonia as the freezing medium to produce very cold air that is forced at high pressure and intensity over the individual unpacked product.
—Cryogenic freezing system
In the cryogenic freezing system, liquid nitrogen or carbon dioxide is used as the freezing agent to freeze ground beef patties. Due to the low temperature in cryogenic freezing, the ground beef patties may have a frosty white surface, which is not a freezer burn.

2.3.7 Storage

If stored at the proper temperature of -40°F, the shelf life for fresh beef patty without vacuum packed is usually 1-3 days; for vacuum-packed fresh patties, they recommend a 14-day shelf life by most manufacturers. To get optimum quality, the shelf life of frozen beef patty is generally up to 90 days under proper packing and storage conditions with 0°F or even colder temperatures.