Patent ID: 7662422

Claim:
A method of making a meat-based food product, comprising: forming meat into a bulk form; heating the bulk form to at least approximately 130° F.; slicing the heated bulk form into a plurality of slices that have first and second sides spaced apart by a thickness no greater than about 1 mm; drying the slices in a first drying stage in a first dryer to produce partially dried slices, the first and second sides of the partially dried slices being sufficiently dry to allow the partially dried slices to lay atop one another without substantially adhering to one another; moving the partially dried slices from the first dryer to a second dryer; and further drying the partially dried slices in a second drying stage in the second dryer by passing a drying medium through a mass of the partially dried slices in which at least a substantial minority of the partially dried slices at least partially overlie at least one other partially dried slice.