Late May typically signals the end of the school year, but for the processors enrolled in Koch College it marked the start of a new learning experience. From 25-27 May, a group of "students" gathered in Koch's headquarters building in Kansas City, MO, for a three-day seminar covering myriad processing essentials, refinements, and tricks of the trade, from bowl cutter and sausage-making techniques to brine preparation and smokehouse cook cycles.

Warren Devore, of Devore Custom Meats in Steele, ND, had seen it all before, but he was back again of his own volition. Devore is new to the processing side of the business, having cut the ribbon on a 3,200-square-foot custom-built plant on 10 March 2004. A long-time cattleman, he decided to set up his own wholesale and retail operation utilizing local herds- "all home raised and corn finished," he says proudly. He now makes several varieties of sausage, jerky, and bratwurst; smokes and cures bacon and ham; and offers all the standard cuts-burgers, roasts, steaks, even pork chops from a neighbor's hogs.

So why did Devore become a repeat attendee?

"It's a lot of information to absorb in just three days," he recalls. In the interval between the two classes he had made his dream come true and set up shop, installing several pieces of equipment and mastering their basic operation. "Now I have questions, and would like to do some fine-tuning," he says the week before the class. "Once you have hands-on experience, there are always tricks to learn to make product better."

A particular objective was exploring the capabilities of his smokehouse. "Everything's computerized, but there are different ways to add humidity and adjust the amount of smoke you put into product," he notes. "My product is pretty good now, but I don't know if you can find anybody more knowledgeable than Doug [Rock, the Koch processing specialist who leads the seminar]."

After the second class, Devore is full of enthusiasm about all the new tips he had picked up. "In the smokehouse, I wasn't keeping the water temperature up as high as it should be, so I've got that fixed," he relates. The session on bowl cutters was also productive: "I learned how to blend sausages better so I get more pounds of product with less cost."

For a short-course on flavorings, Rock brought in a specialist, Jay Hall, president of Excalibur Seasoning. "He was very helpful, talking about how different ingredients you put in product do different things," says Devore. "I had been using a single cure for bacon and ham, but I found out there are actually two different cures."

Another attendee, Chuck Crapo, had a different set of expectations. A professor of seafood technology at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks, Crapo also serves as an extension agent with the school's Marine Advisory Program, counseling the state's seafood processors on ways to develop new foodstuffs, especially those that can fill profitable niche markets.

"The trend I see is looking at innovative ways of using seafood-for example, replacing meats in traditional things like sausages and smoked products. The course is an opportunity to get up to speed on current technology and processes," he says.

Just after the course, he returned to Alaska for several weeks of outreach with salmon processors at the height of the season. Further processing wasn't an immediate priority, but come August he hopes to apply what he learned in Kansas City to make some new products. "It won't be easy or instantaneous", he admits: "Fish are a different muscle food than meat, a lot softer and more delicate. Handling them in a formulation for sausages in particular is an interesting challenge, but I think it can be done. It's just a matter of playing around."

Overall, the course content and contact with his counterparts in the meat business provided what Crapo wanted: a healthy dose of fresh ideas. "Seeing these operations got the thought processes going about potential opportunities," he says. "Many of the small processors up here have considered creating meat analogues, and hopefully we can help them do it."

Since its debut in 1997, the seminar has welcomed students from "all over the map," Rock says-and he means that literally as well as figuratively. More than 360 processors from 42 states and 22 countries have participated, with class enrollment ranging from 6 to 20 at a time. Owners often send their employees for a refresher course or in search of inspiration, one of Rock's favorite topics.

At the end of every session, the main question I ask is, what can't you produce now?" he says.

For further information, contact Doug Rock at doug.rock@kochequipment.com.