Optimizing Ingredients

The Making Of A Moister Meat Patty

A Midwestern manufacturer of hamburger patties for use in school lunches wanted help overcoming a lack of moistness in the product – and avoiding chewiness. Additionally, he claimed that his hamburger meat was sticky and adhering to his equipment.

After a fact-finding conversation, the manufacturer revealed to us that he was using considerable amounts of raw salt-sodium chloride in his patties. By nature, raw salt promotes the exudation of moisture, which was contributing to the dryness and chewiness of the product, and at the same time, was causing the gumming up of the production line.

We sent him two samples of our microencapsulated slow-release salt, and 30 days later the manufacturer requested boxes of our 70% salt and 85% salt, which he wanted to use to develop a spice blend.

The 70% salt worked to overcome the moisture migration from his hamburger patties and prevented slow down on the production line. It also solved the chewiness issue. The manufacturer said that although our salt was more costly, on a cost-in-use basis, he was realizing a savings because he was using less. He was also eliminating the downtime associated with adhesion of meat on his equipment. And best of all, his customers were more satisfied about the quality of his patties.

In the end, the manufacturer requested that we not tell anyone about the use of slow-release salt to overcome issues like he experienced because he wants to maintain a competitive edge. Then he realized that we’ve already been supplying customers with salt for use in this application for years!

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