Meat grinders are composed of a combination of individual functional elements (e.g., screw conveyor, perforated plates, knives). This setup, and in particular the chosen cutting set, influences the characteristics of ground meat and hamburgers produced.
German Researchers took a closer look at the effect of cutting set variations and process parameters on structural, functional, and physicochemical properties of beef hamburgers produced. It was found that the specific mechanical energy input during grinding increased when cutting levels, i.e., a set of one hole plate and one knife, were increased, causing more cell disintegration (r=0.387, p=0.02). Surprisingly though, an influence on the functional and quality parameters of the hamburgers could not be found for most parameters tested.
The findings, published in the European Food Research and Technology journal, indicate that variations in the cutting set affect the process parameters and the stress applied to the meat, but residence times in this zone are too small to cause noticeable effects on the analytical and qualitative properties of hamburgers. As such, there are options for energy and cost optimization of industrial grinding processes without sacrificing quality.
