A fish bone separator for small-scale production (FBSM) was designed, built, tested and evaluated. A comparison between the FBSM and a conventional rubber band meat separator (RBM) has been carried out. Integration of processing variables, descriptive sensory and instrumental analysis and economic analysis has shown the benefits of the new machine proposed for small-scale operation. Process yield using RBM, 1st pass resulted 5% smaller than the ones obtained with the FBSM, and 13% smaller for RBM, 2nd pass. It was also found that the amount of bones using a 2-stage process for RBM burgers was around twice the bones found in the FBSM ones. FBSM burgers had lower hue-angle and higher chroma values than RBM ones, indicating a higher redness and a more vivid colour. Residual relaxation force in FBSM burgers was around 8.1 ± 0.6 N, pointing out greater elastic properties than RBM burgers (5.0 ± 0.4 N). For small-scale units, burger processing with FBSM machine result in lower unit operating costs until the point of equivalence, which was determined at 3600 kg of raw material per day