Surface pasteurization method

A method for processing a food product comprising transporting said food product through a plurality of stations including a pasteurization station, pasteurizing the surface of said food product at said pasteurization station by applying a pasteurizing medium to said food product at said pasteurization station and convectively transferring heat from said pasteurizing medium to the surface of said food product at a sufficiently high heat transfer rate such that the surface heat transfer coefficient becomes sufficiently higher than the food product conductance coefficient that the surface temperature is substantially instantaneously elevated above temperatures which are instantly lethal to microbes which may be present.

A method for processing a food product comprising transporting said food product through a plurality of stations including a loading station, a pasteurization station, and a closing station, said loading station loading said food product in a package, said pasteurization station pasteurizing the surface of said food product after said loading station, said closing station closing said package with said food product therein after said pasteurization station.

A method for processing a non-encased food product comprising surface pasteurizing said non-encased food product in a pressurized chamber by introducing a pasteurizing medium into said chamber and venting said pasteurizing medium from said chamber at a slower outflow rate than the inflow rate of said pasteurizing medium into said chamber such that pressure in said chamber increases, to increase the temperature of said pasteurizing medium to an effective temperature for killing bacteria.