A food processing system includes a food processing chamber for processing a food product, such as meat products such as hot dogs, sausages, poultry, fish, and other food items. A high speed serial to parallel loading station delivery system is provided. The food product is loaded onto a conveyor in the processing chamber having a plurality of two-piece food product cradles having openings receiving the food product at the loading station and discharging the food product at the unloading station and having gaps between food product carriers distally oppositely spaced from the openings and defining food product cavities therebetween, the width of the openings varying during traversal of the conveyor through the chamber from the loading to the unloading stations.