Thawing in meat production
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General Description
Thawing is often considered as simply the reversal of the freezing process. Thawing refers to the melting process of conversion from a frozen to a liquid state (melt) or to become free from the effect (as stiffness, numbness, or hardness) of cold as a result of exposure to warmth. Thawing is the final stage of chilling and storage during which meat is restored to the prefreezing state with a primary goal of retaining the quality attributes as close as possible to that which is typical of fresh, never-frozen meat. Thawing is a quite important process following the freezing in terms of meat quality.
Methods of thawing
- Refrigerator Thawing
- Cold Water Thawing
- Microwave Thawing
- Thawing at room temperature
- High pressure thawing
- Ohmic thawing
- Acoustic thawing
Typical parameters of the process
Thawing is usually regarded as complete when the centre of the block or joint has reached 0°C, the minimum temperature at which the meat can be boned or cut by hand. Lower temperatures (e.g. -5°C to -2°C) are acceptable for meat that is destined for mechanical chopping, but such meat is ‘tempered’ rather than thawed.
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