Abstract: A food patty molding method and apparatus, utilizing a cyclically driven mold plate containing one or more mold cavities, in which the fill passage connecting the food pump to the mold cavity has a cross sectional area, immediately adjacent the mold plate fill position, encompassing the entire mold cavity surface area; in one embodiment the fill passage comprises a multiplicity of orifices, and in another embodiment the fill passage is open and is matched to the mold cavity in size and configuration. In both embodiments the pressure on the food product is reduced to an intermediate level, a minor fraction of the fill pressure, during the transition interval when the mold cavity is moving away from the fill passage but still communicates therewith, following which the food product pressure is essentially relieved during the balance of the mold plate cycle until full fill pressure is required.