Understanding the effect of different rehydration water temperatures on a novel vacuum sublimation-rehydration thawing method

Abstract

The rehydration water temperature is a key factor in the novel vacuum sublimation-rehydration thawing (VSRT) method. This study aimed to understand the effects of the rehydration water temperature on the thawing time and efficiency and the energy consumption of the VSRT method. Further, this study also compared parameters with that of the vacuum steam thawing (VST) method. At a rehydration water temperature was approximately 25 °C, the thawing time was relatively short (42.3 min). Further, the thawing loss (0.56%), total color difference (1.68), and system-specific energy consumption (41.7 × 10−3 kWh/kg) were also relatively low. This study found that, compared with the VST method, the thawing time could be shortened by 38.9%, and the thawing loss, total color difference, and system-specific energy consumption could be reduced by 71.6%, 68.8%, 28.6%, respectively. Further, the texture of thawed pork was closer to that of the raw fresh pork in the VSRT method. Thus, in comparison to the VST method, the VSRT method is more advantageous in terms of increasing the appearance of thawed food and decreasing energy consumption during the thawing process.