This study deals with the chilling of rabbit carcasses with constant or time-variable air properties, this latter situation being closer to industrial chilling conditions. The experiments have been carried out with carcasses with weights in the range of 0.8–2.0 kg (1) in constant chilling conditions, 55 trials using six carcasses each, covering the following range: air velocity 0.3–2 m s −1, air temperature −3 to 10°C, relative humidity 70–90%, and (2) nine trials, each using two carcasses, have been performed with time-variable air velocity, between 0.5 and 2.0 m s −1, or time-variable air temperature, between −5 and +5°C. The analysis of the kinetics was based on the slopes of the curves of the dimensionless temperature logarithm versus time. The influence of the carcass weight and of the air properties was assessed. A hidden variability of the cooling conditions was evidenced and explained by water evaporation. A model, based on analytical solutions relative to an infinite cylinder, was adapted to take into account the variation of the chilling conditions. A shape factor and an equivalent surface area have been fitted from the experiments performed with constant chilling condition. The calculated results were compared with the measurements for both constant and time-variable chilling conditions. The average difference between calculated and measured temperature kinetics was in any case lower than 1°C. The weight loss, calculated as a percentage of the initial weight, was predicted with an accuracy of 0.1%. The relative errors in chilling times were lower than 9%.