Microwave retort system, method for heating food product using microwave retort system, and food product formulated for microwave retort

A microwave retort system, a method of heating a food product using the microwave retort system, and a food product formulated for microwave retort are presented. Provided herein are microwave retorting systems, and methods of using microwave retorting systems for heating food products, for example to pasteurization and/or sterilization temperatures, as well as food products formulated for treatment in microwave retorting methods. In one aspect, a microwave retort system includes a microwave zone having one or more microwave temperature sections wherein the liquid medium is maintained at a temperature below a sterilization temperature during the microwave treatment. The methods and systems described herein heat the product to a pasteurization or sterilization temperature while preventing the product, including the outer surface, from reaching temperatures greater than 135 DEG F. Microwave retorting methods and systems advantageously provide such products. The products have taste and organoleptic properties eq