Abstract: A method for heating foodstuffs, particularly mixtures made up of small pieces of meat, comprises pressurizing the uncooked mixture to force the mixture through a flow resistance device (22) at a heating velocity. Sufficient force is applied to the uncooked mixture to produce frictional resistance heating in the uncooked mixture as the mixture travels through the flow resistance device (22). The frictional resistance heats the uncooked mixture from an initial temperature to a final temperature which may be above a cooking temperature. This final temperature converts the uncooked mixture to a desired processed mixture. The invention may also include forming the processed mixture into a desired shape and cooling the processed mixture to a setting temperature. A variable resistance device (40) may be included in the flow resistance device (22) and used to control the level of heating in the foodstuffs.