What is a Better Burger in Customers' Eyes

The quality of the meat used in the burger is an important attribute to consumers.

“This can mean different things to different people but some of the top initiatives happening at foodservice include hormone-free, free-range, grass-fed beef and transparency of ingredients and sourcing,” Freier says.

“Better burgers” are still going strong as consumers still value hamburgers with some sort of better-for-you claim, Baker says.

“That is a trend we’ve seen for several years and shows no sign of slowing down,” she says. “However, we’re now starting to see varied ways in which the consumer defines a ‘better burger.’”

For example, Baker notes one of the strongest trends lately is an increase in preference for specific high-quality beef cut patties such as sirloin or brisket to produce premium burgers.

“Consumers have also shown an increased focus on the ingredients of the burger beyond the patty such as specific buns and high-quality toppings,” Baker says. “So, we’re starting to see that health and quality continue to be a top priority for consumers, but there’s more than one way for operators to fulfill that need because quality is perceived in multiple ways.”

Looking at burgers from a larger industry-wide perspective, “natural” is set to be the most important buzz word for consumers in 2016, says Bryant, as 27 percent of consumers say they will be looking for natural ingredients more this year than last.

“Burgers can hop on this trend by using all natural ingredients, as well as making everything in house if possible,” says Bryant.

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High Pressure Processing of Meat

What is High Pressure Processing (HPP)?

High Pressure Processing (HPP) is a cold pasteurization technique by which products, already sealed in its final package, are introduced into a vessel and subjected to a high level of isostatic pressure (300–600MPa/43,500-87,000psi) transmitted by water.
Pressures above 400 MPa / 58,000 psi at cold (+ 4ºC to 10ºC) or ambient temperature inactivate the vegetative flora (bacteria, virus, yeasts, moulds and parasites) present in food, extending the products shelf life importantly and guaranteeing food safety.
High Pressure Processing respects the sensorial and nutritional properties of food, because of the absence of heat treatment, and maintains its original freshness throughout the shelf-life.

High Pressure Processing Flow Chart

Necessary supply

The HPP process demands water in potable water quality. That water can be reused after each cycle. Therefore, wastewater or waste products do not occur. The amount of electricity needed varies in dependence on the plant capacity.

Suitable Products for HPP

HPP for Processing Meat

Advantages of HPP for Processing Meat

The high pressure processing of meat and sausages denaturises pathogenetic germs and fungi. Nevertheless, that non-thermal process preserves vitamins, flavouring and colour pigments. As food is processed in the final packaging, that process meets maximum hygienic requirements, because a later contamination is excluded. Additives are not used; thus the product maintains its pure and biological state.

Examples of products

The HPP processing is optimally appropriate for the extension of shelf life of sausage and ham; thus, it is made sure that detrimental germs are denaturised. This applies to both, cold cuts and piece goods. Even today many meat processors worldwide apply HPP to gently and safely process their products being worth several billions of Euros.

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What is a Great Meatball

The secret to a great meatball, Swedish or otherwise, is its consistent spherical shape that holds together during processing, transportation, cooking and serving.

So you need quality meatbll forming machines to make qulity meatballs and then use the sepacial meatball soring machine by weight to ensure the meatball size and quality of each batch are similar for packing. Therefore meaball weighing machine should involve a number of special features including concealed fixings to prevent puncture; sloping surfaces to prevent each piece ‘snowballing’ and picking up excessive speed; and cushioned inserts within each double-opening hopper to absorb impact, etc.

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Have You Eaten Meatball Made from Lab-grown Meat?

The promise of lab-grown meat — made from pieces of lab-grown muscle tissue instead of living animals — has dangled in front of us for decades. Now it's actually happening.
A Bay Area-based startup called Memphis Meats has figured out how to make a real meatball in the lab using beef cells, no livestock required. Take a look:

Memphis Meats cofounder and CEO Uma Valeti laid out the three main problems he sees with today's meat industry: the demand for meat is growing faster than we can keep up with it, there are looming health risks like E.Coli and antibiotic resistance, and it takes takes 23 calories of grain to make one calorie of beef — an unsustainable amount. 

The lab-grown meat process goes something like this, according to Valeti. Find ultra-high quality cows and pigs. Take meat cells from a pork shoulder or other cut of meat. Find the cells capable of self-renewal and cultivate them in a sterile environment. The cells are harvested early for tender cuts of meat, and harvested later for textured cuts. 

Since lab-grown meat doesn't need to snack on grain to survive, the energy inputs can be significantly lower than with "real" meat. It requires just three calories of energy input for one calorie of energy output.

There's also little risk of antibiotic contamination since the lab-grown meat is grown in a pathogen-free space. Take a look at the difference in antibiotic and bacteria contamination of  cuts of lab-grown pork and beef compared to organic meat bought from the grocery store.

No one making lab-grown meat has gotten around the fact that they need to use fetal bovine serum, which comes from unborn calves, to start the cell culture process. That means lab-grown meat, as of now, still requires the use of real animals. But Valeti told the Wall Street Journal that he'll be able to replace the serum with something plant-based in the near future.

The cost to make lab-grown meat has dropped dramatically recent years. When Mark Post, a researcher at Maastricht University in the Netherlands, created a burger made from lab-grown meat in 2013, it cost $325,000. In 2015, Post said that he'd been able to bring the price down to just over $11 for a burger. 

Still, scaling up will be the main hurdle for Memphis Meats. People aren't going to want to pay a premium for an unfamiliar product like lab-grown meat, so the company will have to get the cost down to the price of normal beef (if not lower). Post has said he thinks it will be up to 30 years before lab-grown meat is commercially viable, but Memphis Meats clearly doesn't plan to wait that long. 

The meatball is just a proof of concept, but the startup hopes to have a product in stores within the next half decade or so. 

Email: info@meat-machinery.com

Website: www.meat-machinery.com