Apparatus and associated methods relate to producing jerky by marinating and cooking a sliced piece of meat in a period of time less than 1 hour. In an illustrative example, the sliced piece of meat may marinate for a time between 3 minutes to 5 minutes. The sliced piece of meat may then cook for 30 minutes, for example, at a temperature of about 350-degrees Fahrenheit. The sliced piece of meat may include a dimension between about 1/7 and about 1/9 of an inch. Advantageously, a user may fully prepare a sliced piece of tender jerky in less than 1 hour.

One aspect of the present invention pertains to a method of marinating food. Another aspect of the present invention pertains to an apparatus for marinating food.

An apparatus for marinating a food in a marinade, storing the food during marination, keeping the food warm after cooking, and supporting the food for cutting is provided, the apparatus including a vacuum-sealable marination chamber; a warming chamber; and a cutting board.

A dried food product is prepared from two or more protein sources. The protein sources may include muscle meats and vegetable protein sources. The method for preparing the dried food product includes size reduction, mixing, and drying.

Pre-cooked turkey wing food products are made by a method comprising: providing a plurality of partitioned turkey wing segments; applying a marinade to the partitioned turkey wing segments to form a marinade/partitioned turkey wing segment composition having a ratio of marinade to partitioned turkey wing segments of at least 5:100 by weight; cooking the marinade/partitioned turkey wing segment composition in an environment that retains at least a majority of the marinade in the composition throughout the cooking process, for a time of at least 0.5 hours per pound at an ambient temperature of at least 160 F to provide a cooked marinade/partitioned turkey wing segment composition; cooling the cooked marinade/partitioned turkey wing segment composition; and providing the cooked marinade/partitioned turkey wing segment composition in a packaging format suitable for distribution. In an embodiment, the partitioned turkey wing segments are sub-partitioned midwing portions.

A pre-seasoned, ready to cook or packaged frozen food product comprising a base food component such as meat or poultry, coated with a Jamaican jerk spice seasoning comprising herbs, spices and salt for a predefined period of time, followed by aseptic packaging and freezing for attaining optimum shelf life. The seasoning composition may comprise either a dry mix of spices or a wet marinade.

A first brine free of salt and phosphate for treating a food product by injection of the brine into the food product. The brine is formed from an emulsion consisting of water, saltless flavoring and protein. The protein is from the same type of food product as the food product being injected with the brine. A second brine especially for ham with the bine being similar to the first brine, but with a low sodium content of a maximum of 0.5% to 1.0% of the weight of the food product. A third brine for pork bellies without phosphate.

A method for improving the moisture retention of marinated meats and inhibiting growth of pathogenic and spoilage microorganisms is described. In various embodiments, vinegar is neutralized, concentrated, and blended with non-neutralized vinegar in appropriate proportions to achieve the desired water binding and antimicrobial effects.

A method for preparing meat jerky is provided. A whole slab of raw meat is sliced into multiple whole, single slices of meat. A marinade is prepared including dark brown sugar, liquid smoke, worcestershire sauce, clover honey, a hot sauce, and a teriyaki sauce. The whole, single slices of meat are marinated for a predetermined amount of time and temperature in a refrigerator. The marinated whole, single slices of meat are flavored with one of multiple flavoring agents, for example, black pepper, cayenne pepper, jalapeno pepper, sriracha, lemon pepper, garlic, herbs, a barbeque spice blend powder, etc., to obtain the corresponding flavoring agent flavor. The marinated and flavored whole, single slices of meat are cooked in a cooking appliance at a predetermined temperature for a predetermined amount of time. The cooked whole, single slices of meat are then cooled to room temperature to produce whole, single slices of meat jerky.

The present invention is a food product and a method of creating the food product that satisfies the need for a homogenized dispersion that disperses throughout meat, wherein the particle size of macromolecular ingredients within the dispersion is reduced to form a more stable homogenized dispersion with increased ingredient functionality. This permeated meat offers added health benefits such as the substitution of the anti-oxidant rich olive oil for problematic animal fat.