LPT 321: Meat Science (1+1)

PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN CHILLING OF MEAT

• The temperature of carcasses must be brought to close to the freezing point of meat as quickly as possible.
• The EU (European Union) regulations recommend that meat must be chilled immediately after post-mortem inspection and must be kept at a constant temperature of not more than + 7 ˚C for carcasses and cuts and + 3 ˚C for offals.
• The important considerations in chilling are the velocity of air over the carcass, the uniform airflow throughout the chill room, the circulation rate of the air, temperature and relative humidity (RH).
• High temperatures and air velocities and low relative humidity increase the weight loss due to drying out.
• It has been estimated that beef carcass stored in chill rooms can lose as much as 0.1% per day while lambs can lose 0.5% in a RH of 90%.
• Smaller items of meat lose relatively more because of their relatively larger surface area.
• Higher air circulation rates (70 to 110 times the room volume per hour) tend to reduce both temperature and surface water vapour of the carcass and hence loss of weight is lesser.
• On the other hand, high RH increases spoilage due to yeast and mold growth.
• A temperature of + 7 ˚C appears to be suitable for initial chilling with mean air speed above 0.75m/sec while for storage a temperature of -1 ˚C to + 5˚C with mean air speed above is ideal with a RH of below 95% for less than 72 hours storage and for greater durations a is RH below 90% is recommended.