Meat analogue products and methods of making these products are provided.
The products are made from compositions comprising a mixture of
ingredients, including a vegetable protein, a dough conditioner, and less
than about 25% by weight flour. These compositions can optionally further
comprise: thermally-preformed, texturized, protein components; oils
and/or fats; flavors; spices; seasoning; colors; acids; and
preservatives. These products can be provided in a log or slab formation
and cut into dices, slices, cubes or any other desired geometry, and
packaged and/or further processed as necessary (e.g., added to pizza
products). Novel methods for the continuous manufacture of these products
using a forming heat exchanger are also provided. This continuous process
provides casingless food products analogous to meat products such as
pepperoni.