Thawing of meat blocks in polythene wraps and in cartons

Abstract

The thawing of cartoned and plastic-wrapped meat blocks, mostly 170 mm thick, in circulating air was investigated. The results showed that the thawing of large blocks of meat is a difficult process to control. Using longer times or higher temperatures than strictly necessary resulted in poor product appearance and often odour problems. The effects of wrap, product position, product thickness, air temperature, humidity and air velocity on thawing time, drip loss and sensory qualities were investigated. A Plank-type equation was used to correlate thawing times, but due to the complex and changing heat transfer situation at the meat surface, the heat transfer coefficient had to be found by curve-fitting. Drip loss was lower at air velocities above 1 m/s. Odour and appearance were generally better at lower air temperature, but could deteriorate at temperatures as low as 5°C.