Marination and Thermal Processing 101

The Marination & Thermal Processing 101 Short Course focuses on the basics of marination and thermal processing technologies. You will learn tangible and actionable tactics you can use to improve yields, consistency, quality, and profitability for your meat product.

This course is a combination of classroom training and hands-on experience in our Innovation Center.

Participants will go through the process of making beef jerky during the course and be able to take home the jerk they have made.

Topics Covered

During the course, you will learn:

• Defining the terms “marination” and “marinade” from a regulatory and end-user standpoint.
• Why marination is important to the processor, various customer types, and the end consumer.
• Understanding the ingredients we use, why we use them, and how they interact with each other.
• The importance of temperature control with respect to yields and finished product attributes.
• Understanding injection and vacuum tumbler technologies, how they function, and the limitations each has with respect to final product expectations.
• The principles of oven design
• What is the breakpoint and how it affects product yields and consistency
• How to control humidity in a smokehouse
• How different heat sources affect your product
• Why you should always evenly space products and trucks throughout your smokehouse
• How to improve yields and consistency in your cook process

Schedule

Day 1:

• 1pm – Course begins with classroom instruction on marination
• 5pm – Class ends
• 6pm – Dinner

Day 2:

• 8am – Hands-on instruction creating jerky in the Innovation Center
• 12pm – Lunch
• 1pm – Classroom instruction on thermal processing and hands-on instruction in the Innovation Center
• 5pm – Class ends
• 6pm – Dinner

Day 3 (optional):

• 8am – Review your specific projects and questions and pick up the jerky you made on Wednesday
• 11am – End of course

Meals

Lunch: Provided on Wednesday
Breaks: coffee, soda, bottled water, and snacks will be available all day in the Innovation Center
Dinners: provided by Fusion Tech at local restaurants on Tuesday and Wednesday

Details

Standard clothing is required. Pants (no shorts allowed), t-shirts and/or polo shirts are acceptable. A portion of this course is held in our Innovation Center — a small food processing plant. Warm clothes or a jacket and steel-toed shoes are recommended.