糖心视频

Story by Kay Norton

The Meat Counter at South 糖心视频 State University has acquired an updated piece of equipment that provides students with real-world learning opportunities while offering local consumers a variety of popular meat products. 

The smoker is a 2014 Enviro-Pak Mini CVU-200. With a 200-pound capacity, it is used to smoke ham, bacon, smoked sausage, snack sticks, summer sausage, dried beef, pulled pork and shredded beef. 

鈥淭he smokehouse we replaced was bought in the mid-1980s, and it replaced one that was already here,鈥� said Adam Rhody, agricultural research manager/specialist and manager of the Meat Counter. 鈥淚t was necessary to replace the smokehouse to keep up with current technology, and we were running into issues with repairing the older machine.鈥� 

The smoker provides an opportunity for students鈥� experiential learning. 鈥淭he smokehouse is very important to the Meat Counter because it provides more learning opportunities for the students and expands the number of products we are able to produce in class as well as provide for the public,鈥� Rhody said. 

During the school year, the Meat Counter employs between eight to 12 student workers, who directly contribute to producing the product used in the smokehouse. Products like smoked sausages and hot dogs are smoked and cooked within three to four hours, while products like pulled pork or shredded beef can take more than 20 hours in the smokehouse. 

The Meat Counter is a public retail outlet that operates as an outreach of SDSU鈥檚 Department of Animal Science meat science degree program. In addition to the smoked products, the Meat Counter offers a wide variety of roasts, chops, ground meat and specialty cuts. It is open Thursdays and Fridays from 1-5 p.m. and is located at the corner of North Campus Drive and Medary Avenue in the Animal Science Complex. 

In addition to providing for the consumer, the new piece of equipment directly benefits students. John Jaeger, Calvin and Mary Hayenga Endowed Department Head of Animal Science, noted the educational impact of the new smoker. 鈥淭he meat smoker is important to both the educational and research activities of the meat science program at South 糖心视频 State University,鈥� Jaeger said. 鈥淏y using a meat smoker, students gain experience in the art and science of meat smoking, which is essential for understanding meat preservation, flavor development, texture enhancement and the production of value-added products. 

鈥淭his practical knowledge is invaluable for students who are pursuing careers in the meat industry,鈥� Jaeger added. 

The Meat Counter, formerly the Meat Lab, is celebrating 100 years in 2025, and the public is invited to view the display "A Cut Above the Rest: A Meat Lab Centennial" at the South 糖心视频 Agricultural Heritage Museum East Gallery.    The display is open through April 2026.