History and invention of meat choppers

The mortar and pestle is a traditional type of food processing equipment that’s been used since about 35000 BC. Referring to ground beef as hamburger dates to the invention of the mechanical meat choppers during the 1800s.

It was not until the early nineteenth century that wood, tin, and pewter cylinders with wooden plunger pushers became common.

In Germany, meat grinder was invented by Karl Drais (full name: Karl Friedrich Christian Ludwig Freiherr Drais von Sauerbron), who lived in 19th century. He was a forest official by education and profession, but also had an outstanding acumen for mechanics and machinery construction. In 1842 the first meat grinder, called the Universal was patented in the United States

The earliest form of the meat grinder was hand-cranked and forced meat into a metal plate that had several small holes, resulting in long, thin strands of meat.

E. Wade received Patent Number x5348 on January 26, 1829 for what may be the first patented “Meat Cutter.” The patent shows choppers moving up and down onto a rotating block. G.A. Coffman of Virginia improves on Wade’s invention, receiving a patent 16 years later for his meat-grinding apparatus. He received Patent Number 3935 on February 28, 1845 for an “Improvement in Machines for Cutting Sausage-Meat” using a spiral feeder and rotating knives something like a modern food grinder.

Current models of electric meat grinders have different attachments, such as sausage, kebbe, and juicing attachments which have really broadened the way meat grinders are used.
History and invention of meat choppers

History of modified atmosphere packaging

Modified atmosphere packaging can be defined as an alteration in the composition of gases in and around fresh produce by respiration and transpiration when such commodities are sealed in plastic films.

Much of original work was done in Australia and New Zealand when beef and lamb carcasses were shipped in the 1930s to the UK was stored in carbon dioxide to help maintain freshness.

During the 1940s and 1950s fresh apples and pears were placed in enclosed warehouse. The natural respiratory activities of the fruit reduced the oxygen and increased the carbon dioxide within storage areas sufficiently to slow respiration markedly.

The stored apples or pears could be consumed as much as six months after the original harvest: and extensions of about double the normal chilled storage shelf-life. In the 1970s, modified atmosphere packages were used for some retail packs of meat and fish.

The new techniques have been developed, including micro-perforation, anti-fogging layers to improve product visibility.

The use of modified atmosphere packaging technology received a significant boost when the retail chain of Marks and Spencer introduced a wide range of fresh MAD meat products in the UK in 1981.

Today, modified atmosphere packaging is used to package anything from fresh salads or individual meat portions, to sandwiches and snacks.
History of modified atmosphere packaging

History of meat curing process

Prior to the development of refrigeration and cooling technologies, large quantities of salt were added to meats for long term preservation. The history of nitrate usage as saltpeter, in meat curing is lost in antiquity, but preservation of meat with salt preceded the intentional use of nitrate by many centuries.

The origin of meat curing can be traced back to the third century BC, when Cato recorded careful instructions for the dry curing of hams.

As early as 3000 BC in Mesopotamia, cooked meats and fish were preserved in sesame oil and dried, salted meat and fish were part of the Sumerian diet.

The early processed meat products were prepared with one purpose in mind: their preservation for use in times of scarcity.

During 900 BC, salt was being produced in ‘salt gardens’ in Greece and dry salt curing and smoking of meat were well established.

The Romans in 200 BC learned the use of salt from the Greeks and besides curing fish, the Romans preserved various types of meat, such as pork with pickles containing salt and other ingredients. It was during this time that the reddening effect of salting was noted.

By medieval times, treating meat with salt, saltpeter and smoke was common place and saltpeter’s effect to ‘fix’ the red color was well recognized.

Meat curing was more of an art than a science in the early nineteenth century, but as a greater understanding of the curing process evolved in the late 1800s and early 1900s, the role of nitrate and nitrite in the formation of cured meat color and flavor became apparent.

Toward the end of the nineteenth century, significant changes in meat curing had occurred. Various method of curing, namely dry, wet or pickle cures and combinations of the two were commonplace. The first dry cured meat products were probably inferior by today’s standards.

Scientific principles of curing meats were not applied until the later part of the nineteenth century when the growing meat packaging industry began to search for ways to improve the quality.

Since the mid 1920s, much advancement has been made in the meat curing industry. The direct use of nitrite greatly reduced the time for curing, since waiting for reduction of nitrate to nitrite was no longer required.
History of meat curing process