The invention relates to a method for monitoring a meat processing machine having a meat processing unit for processing input meat products fed thereto into output meat products, an input sensor unit, and a control unit for controlling the meat processing unit, wherein the control unit is connected to the input sensor unit, comprising the steps: feeding input meat products to the meat processing unit, acquiring input product data, in particular geometric data and/or weight data, of the input meat product fed to the meat processing unit by means of the input sensor unit, and determining a tolerance variable for a yield-relevant processing parameter by means of a mathematical model or a database, in each case depending on the acquired input product data. The invention further relates to a meat processing machine for performing the method.