NOTE: Students are required to fill in the

followings clearly before submission.

Lecturer’s Name:

Dr. Pui

FACULTY OF APPLIED SCIENCES ..................................................................

DEPARTMENT OF FOOD SCIENCE & NUTRITION

Subject code & Name:

LABORATORY REPORT SUBMISSION

Experiment Title : Lab 5: Burger Patties Production

Group :2

STUDENTS DECLARATION OF WORK

We declare that the work submitted is our own. We confirm that we have read and
understood the University regulations with regard to Plagiarism, Collusion and
Cheating in this work will be penalised.

No. Student ID Group Members Signature

1. 1002058607 Oo Wei Hong Wei Hong
2. 1002162512 Yong Zhi Wei Zhi Wei
3. 1002058088 Chuan Yik Shuan Yik Shuan
4. 1002162103 Shaggy Santosh Shaggy

LECTURER’S ASSESSMENT CRITERIA

Criteria Wtg. Mark

Awarded Percentage
Introduction & objective 1
Marks: Gained:
Materials & Methods 1
Results & calculations 2
Discussion & precaution 2
steps
Conclusion 1 10
Questions 1
References 0.5
Format & cover page 0.5
Performance 1

Total 10

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 Lecturer’s Remarks/ Comments (if applicable):

Objectives

1. To study the process of burger production.

2. To study the effects of water content and lecithin on quality of burger patties.

Introduction

Burger is a minced meat product that is seasoned with spices, salt, and pepper. The origin of
the burger is known as the hamburger which was originated in the United States in the late
19th or early 20th century. Burgers typically consist of a beef or chicken patty and is
seasoned with salt and pepper and cooked on a grill. The patty is cooked on a grill or frying
pan and served between two pieces of bread, typically a soft bun with various condiments and
toppings. The type of seasonings use varies depending on the taste requirement from mild to
hot and spicy. For a mild burger, common seasonings include salt, black pepper, garlic
powder, and onion powder. These seasonings provide a basic flavor profile that is acceptable
to most people.

Burgers have become incredibly popular among the younger generation in Malaysia due to
their delectable taste, distinctive texture, and visually appealing presentation even though it is
originally not an ASIAN food. The texture of a burger is a crucial aspect of its overall quality
and can be influenced by several factors such as the type of meat, the type of binder, the
mixing time and other factors like temperature of cooking and cooking time (Beltrán &
Bellés, 2019).

Substitution of the main meat component will contribute to the change in the texture of the
burger produced as different meats have different levels of fat content, which affects the
juiciness and tenderness of the meat. Ground beef is the traditional and is the commonly used
meat for making burgers. However, there are many other meats that can be used as a
substitute, such as ground turkey, chicken or plant-based varieties such as tofu and seitan.
Then, soy proteins are often added in different proportions to reduce production costs when

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making patties. The color of the patties depends on the type of muscle used, as well as the
quantity of coloring compounds that are added during production and it is important to store
burgers in a frozen state. In this experiment, students are going to explore the process of
burger production and how it impacts the texture, flavor, and appearance of the final product
and different factors that contribute to the texture of the burger, such as the type of meat,
binder, mixing time, and temperature and time of cooking.

Apparatus and Equipment

 Minced meat
 Burger mold
 Weighing machine
 Plastic liner
 Wrapper freezer
 Pan
 Stove
 Oil

Materials

 Minced beef- 375g

 Salt- 3g
 Sugar- 5g
 Garlic powder- 6g
 Black peppers- 2g
 Egg yolk- 9g
 Warm water- 0, 2, 4, 8g

Procedure

1. All ingredients were mixed for about 15 min or until ingredients were homogenous.
2. Homogenous mixture was transferred into a mold.
3. Mold was pressed to obtain a patty.

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 4. Patties were placed in a stack of 5 with plastic liner in between. Patties were
overwrapped in a plastic bag.
5. The weight of burger patties was determined before freezing.
6. The other evaluation was done on the frozen patties in following week.

Analysis
1. The actual weight of mixture and the number of patties in a plastic bag were
determined (before freezing).

To be carried out the following week

The diameter and the cross section of the frozen burger were measured.

Burger preparation

1 teaspoon of oil was added, and the burger was cooked in a hot stick pan.

Analysis

1. The weight, diameter, and cross-section of cooked patties were measured, and the
average weight was calculated.

Sensory evaluation

1. The texture of the cooked patty and the 5-point hedonic scale were evaluated.
1 – like extremely
2 – like moderately
3 – neither like nor dislike
4 – dislike moderately
5 – dislike extremely

2. The flavour of the cooked patty was evaluated based on the same scale of texture.

Results

Table 1.0 Actual weight of mixture and the number of patties before freezing

Group 1 2 3 4
Actual weight of mixture 400.88 419.23 356.38 388.18

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 before freezing (g)
Number of patties 5 5 4 5

Table 2.0 Analysis of burger patties in different volume of water

Volume of water (g) 0 2 4 8

Diameter of burger patties before cooked (cm) 7.2 7.0 7.4 7.5
Diameter of burger patties after cooked (cm) 6.8 6.5 6.0 5.8
Height of burger patties before cooked (cm) 2.0 3.0 2.0 1.8
Height of burger patties after cooked (cm) 2.3 2.3 1.7 2.5
Weight of burger patties before cooked (g) 78.10 83.85 81.32 77.55
Weight of burger patties after cooked (g) 59.70 74.33 66.23 67.60
% of weight lost 23.56 11.35 18.56 12.83

Calculations:

Weight of burger pattiesbefore cooked ( g )−Weight of burger patties after cooked (g)
% of weight lost = x 100 %
Weight of burger patties before cooked (g)

0g of water added:

78.10 g−59.70 g
% of weight lost = x 100 %
78.10 g

= 23.56%

2g of water added:

83.85 g−74.33 g
% of weight lost = x 100 %
83.85 g

= 11.35%

4g of water added:

81.32 g−66.23 g
% of weight lost = x 100 %
81.32 g

= 18.56%

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8g of water added:

77.55 g−67.60 g
% of weight lost = x 100 %
77.55 g

= 12.83%

Table 3.0 Sensory evaluation of burger patties

Warm water (g) 0 2 4 8

Texture 4 3 1 2
Flavour N/A N/A N/A N/A

Discussion

In this experiment, minced beef was used to make into burger patties with the addition of
several ingredients including salt, sugar, garlic powder, black pepper. These ingredients were
served as additives in order to enhance the flavour and eliminate the growth of
microorganisms. Besides, egg yolk as had also been added into the minced beef as an
emulsifier to aid in binding the meat together with all the ingredients added (Chen, 2015).
With the addition of egg yolk, the burger patties were able to hold its shape throughout the
cooking session and is not easily to disperse. On the other hand, water was also an important
ingredient that had been added into the burger patties. The presence of water in the burger
patties were able to improve the tenderness and juiciness of the meat product, and as well as
providing a medium for the addition of the other water-soluble ingredients (Beltrán & Bellés,
2019). With the addition of water, the meat will not be easily to spoil due to the presence of
microorganisms since the water will aid in temperature control.

Based on the procedure listed above, volume of warm water added inside the burger patties
was differed from groups. For instance, 0g, 2g, 4g and 8g of water were added inside the
burger patties for Group 1 Group 2, Group3, and Group 4 respectively. With the addition of
all the ingredients, the burger patties were mixed well and formed into shape using a circular
mold. After that, the total weight of the burger patties was being measured and recorded
before being stored for one week. Based on the results shown in Table 1.0, the addition of
water did not provide significant effect on the weight of the burger patties before storage.

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On the other hand, Table 2.0 shown the analysis of burger patties with addition of different
grams of water, after storing for one week. As can be seen clearly in the table, the diameter
difference for burger patties before cooking and after cooking was increased with the volume
of water added. This might be due to the water loss during the cooking process. As more
water added inside the burger patties, more water will be lost once heat treatment was
applied.

While for the weight difference of burger patties before and after cooking, the % of weight
lost were calculated and recorded. Can be seen clearly from Table 2.0 above, the % of weight
loss for the addition of different volume of water were 23.56%, 11.35%, 18.56, and 12.83%
respectively. Supposedly, with the increasing amount of water added, the water content inside
the burger patty will also increase (Aaslyng et al., 2003). In this case, the volume of water
being released during cooking will be higher and thus will lead to the higher % of weight lost.
However, as looking at the results, the % of weight lost were shown in an decreasing
direction with the increasing of volume of water added. This might be due to the way of
handling the burger patties during cooking session. When the flame is in high level, the water
will tend to easily be removed when compared to cooking at lower level of flame.

Furthermore, the sensory evaluation of burger patties has also been carried out to analyze the
texture and flavour of the burger patties. In this case, since all the burger patties were not
fully cooked, the flavour analysis was ignored. Based on Table 3.0, the arrangement of
texture of burger patties was burger patties with 4g of warm water added, followed by 8g, 2g
and lastly is 0g. From these results, the texture of burger patties with 4g of warm water added
was found to have the best texture among all the groups. This is because, the addition of
water inside minced beef will aid in enhancing the tenderness and juiciness of the meat
product. And thus, the texture was the best among all. While for burger patties with 8g of
warm water added, the amount of water added was too high, and thus the burger patties
become mushier since the water holding capacity of the patties had exceed its limit. While
lastly for the burger patties with no water added, the texture if the patties were the worst since
no water content inside the patties that can contribute to the tenderness and juiciness.

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When doing this experiment, several precautions needed to be taken care. For instance, hand
must be washed with clean water before mixing process to avoid contamination occur.
During the mixing process, the all the ingredients are required to be fully mixed with the
minced beef until the disappearance of pinkish colour. Besides, gloves must be worn during
the whole process to avoid contamination as well. During storage, each burger patties are
required to be put separately with one plastic linear placed between each other to prevent
sticking together. When cooking the burger patties, the level of flame must be controlled and
should not be too high to avoid any incidence occur.

Questions

1. What is the role of the fat in the production of burger like product? Discuss

Fat contributes significantly to the taste and aroma of the burger. The Maillard reaction
occurs when fat is heated, resulting in the formation of complex flavor compounds that give
the burger its characteristic taste (Liu et al., 2022). Fat provides the juiciness and mouthfeel
to the burger. When fat melts during cooking, it creates a moist environment that helps to
keep the meat tender and flavorful. Other than that, Fat can also act as a binder to hold the
burger together. It helps to form a cohesive mixture of meat, seasonings, and other
ingredients, which can be shaped into patties. Fat will also serve as a cooking medium. When
the burger is cooked, fat renders and spreads over the surface of the patty, creating a delicious
crust and preventing the meat from sticking to the pan or grill.

2. Brief on the role of salt in the making of burger.

Salt is a flavor enhancer that brings out the natural flavors of the meat, making it taste savory
and more delicious. It can also help to balance out the sweetness of other ingredients that may
be used in the burger. Salt can also in improving the texture of the burger by helping to retain
moisture in the meat. When salt is added to the meat, it draws out the protein and creates a
more tender and juicier patty. Salt also acts as a natural preservative that can help to extend
the shelf life of the burger by inhibiting the growth of bacteria (Lina et al., 2020). Moreover,
salt also aids in the browning of the burger. When the patty is cooked, the salt helps to create
a flavorful crust and enhances the appearance of the burger.

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Conclusion

In a nutshell, the different volumes of water will affect burger patties’ sensory and physical
characteristics. It can be showed that the texture of burger patties with 4g of warm water
added was found to have the best texture among all the groups in this experiment. Students
learned the factors such as the mixing time and temperature that contribute to burger texture.

References

Aaslyng, M. D., Bejerholm, C., Ertbjerg, P., Bertram, H. C., & Andersen, H. J. (2003).
Cooking loss and juiciness of pork in relation to raw meat quality and cooking
procedure. Food Quality and Preference, 14(4), 277–288.
https://doi.org/10.1016/s0950-3293(02)00086-1

Beltrán, J. A., & Bellés, M. (2019). Effect of freezing on the quality of meat. Encyclopedia of
Food Security and Sustainability, 493–497. https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-08-100596-
5.22461-x

Chen, L. (2015). Emulsifiers as food texture modifiers. Modifying Food Texture, 27–49.
https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-1-78242-333-1.00002-4

Lina, T., Hashem, M. A., Hossain, M. M., Rahman, S. M., & Sorower, M. G. (2020). The
effect of salt on quality and storage stability of Beef Patties. Journal of Agriculture,
Food and Environment, 01(01), 34–42. https://doi.org/10.47440/jafe.2020.1106

Liu, S., Sun, H., Ma, G., Zhang, T., Wang, L., Pei, H., Li, X., & Gao, L. (2022). Insights into
flavor and key influencing factors of Maillard reaction products: A recent update.
Frontiers in Nutrition, 9. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2022.973677