Packaged cooked ground meat products and methods of making the same

A method of forming a cooked ground meat product comprising the steps of:

• mixing raw ground meat wth at least one moisture absorbing additive to obtain formulated meat mixture;
• shaping the formulated meat mixture into a ground meat portion defining a structure comprising a plurality of elongate sub-portions arranged such that each of the sub-portions define first and second face surfaces and an outermost portion of the sub-portions defining and an edge surface, where the first and second face surfaces are generally parallel to each other and the edge surface extends between the first and second face surfaces, and the ground meat portion has a thickness dimension extending between the first and second face surfaces;
• forming a plurality of cavities in the first and second face surfaces to obtain a perforated ground meat portion, where the cavities have at least one physical characteristic;
• sealing the perforated ground meat within an envelope to obtain a vacuum-packaged, perforated, ground meat portion;
• applying heat to the packaged, perforated, ground meat portion to obtain a tenderized, cooked, packaged, perforated, ground meat portion, where a portion of any moisture discharged from the package, perforated, ground meat portion during heating is absorbed by the moisture absorbing additive and a portion of the remaining moisture discharged from the packaged, perforated, ground meat portion during heating collects within the plurality of cavities;
• and
• breaking apart the tenderized cooked ground meat portion to obtain cooked ground meat.

A method of forming a cooked ground meat product comprising the steps of:

• mixing semi-frozen raw ground meat with at least one moisture absorbing additive to obtain formulated meat mixture;
• shaping the formulated meat mixture into a frozen ground meat portion having a structure comprising a plurality of sub-portions arranged such that each of the sub-portions define first and second face surfaces of the ground meat portion and an outermost portion of the sides of the sub-portions defining an edge surface of the ground meat portion, where
• the first and second face surfaces are generally parallel to each other and the edge surface extends between the first and second face surfaces, and
• the ground meat portion has a thickness dimension extending between the first and second face surfaces;
• forming a plurality of cavities in the first and second face surfaces to obtain a perforated ground meat portion, where the cavities have at least one physical characteristic;
• freezing the mixed ground meat portion;
• placing the frozen, mixed ground meat portion between first and second sheets;
• forming a vacuum-packaged, perforated, frozen ground meat portion by removing ambient air from between the first and second sheets and sealing the first and second sheets together to form an envelope;
• applying heat to the vacuum-packaged, perforated, frozen ground meat portion, until the internal temperature of the packaged, perforated, ground meat portion is substantially between 160° F. and 180° F., to obtain a cooked, packaged, perforated, ground meat portion, where a portion of any moisture discharged from the packaged, perforated, ground meat portion during heating is absorbed by the moisture absorbing additive and a portion of the remaining moisture discharged from the packaged, perforated, ground meat portion during heating collects within the plurality of cavities;
• and
• breaking apart the cooked ground meat portion to obtain cooked ground meat;
• wherein
• the physical characteristics of the cavities in the first and second face surfaces are predetermined such that the cavities alter the grain structure of the ground meat portion in a manner that does not materially interfere with the breaking apart of the cooked ground meat portion to obtain cooked ground meat.

A method of forming a cooked ground meat product comprising the steps of:

• mixing raw ground meat wth at least one moisture absorbing additive to obtain formulated meat mixture;
• shaping the formulated meat mixture into a ground meat portion having a structure defining a plurality of elongate sub-portions arranged such that each of the sub-portions define first and second face surfaces and an outermost portion of the sub-portions defining and an edge surface, where the first and second face surfaces are generally parallel to each other and the edge surface extends between the first and second face surfaces, and the ground meat portion has a thickness dimension extending between the first and second face surfaces;
• forming a plurality of cavities in the first and second face surfaces to obtain a perforated ground meat portion, where the cavities have at least one physical characteristic;
• sealing the perforated ground meat within an envelope to obtain a vacuum-packaged, perforated, ground meat portion;
• applying heat to the packaged, perforated, ground meat portion to obtain a cooked, packaged, perforated, ground meat portion, where a portion of any moisture discharged from the packaged, perforated, ground meat portion during heating is absorbed by the moisture absorbing additive and a portion of the remaining moisture discharged from the packaged, perforated, ground meat portion during heating collects within the plurality of cavities;
• and
• tenderizing the package, perforated, cooked, ground meat portion to mix at least one of air and moisture within the package into the ground meat portion.

A method of forming a cooked ground meat product comprising the steps of:

• mixing raw ground meat with at least one moisture absorbing additive to obtain formulated meat mixture;
• shaping the formulated meat mixture into a ground meat portion having a structure defining first and second face surfaces and an edge surface, where
• the first and second face surfaces are generally parallel to each other and the edge surface extends between the first and second face surfaces,
• the ground meat portion has a thickness dimension extending between the first and second face surfaces, and
• the ground meat portion comprises a plurality of elongate sub-portions arranged such that each of the ends of the sub-portions define the first and second face surfaces and an outermost portion of the sub-portions defining the edge surface;
• sealing the ground meat portion within an envelope to obtain a vacuum-packaged, ground meat portion;
• applying heat to the packaged, ground meat portion to obtain a cooked, packaged ground meat portion, where a portion of any moisture discharged from the packaged ground meat portion during heating is absorbed by the moisture absorbing additive;
• and
• breaking apart the tenderized cooked ground meat portion to obtain cooked ground meat.