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Scampi

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Posted 13 September 2018 - 01:52 PM

You  will only know the answer after you've tried filling your blast freezer with product

 

BEST advice, have the blast freezer set a meeting up with you and your boss so you can fully understand the capabilites.

 

If you have a blast freezer that has meat going into it at 65C and partially frozen meat, what could happen is the cooked meat ends up in the danger zone whereby you've created a microbe haven and they multiply like crazy............while you freeze it solid after the micro load is still present and will not all die off at -18C, and as soon as said product is thawed they multiply like crazy and you've made someone sick

 

So, you need the blast freezer company to help your company do the math on the size of the blast and how much HOT product it can take at a time

 

Ideally yes, product needs to be rapidly cooled, but your quality may take a hit if it goes from 65C directly into a blast...........the moisture left in it will crystalize and those crystals will cut your finished product and you will lose shelf life as a result

 

If i had all the money in the world, i would have double door ovens.

 

Push raw in side A

Push cooked out side B

side B enters directly into cooler

Cooler enters directly into blast freezer

Blast enters directly into freezer work room for boxing and storage

 

Door

Oven

Door

Cooler

Door

Blast Freezer

Door

Storage Freezer

 

You need to fully understand the hazards present with meat in order to fully understand why these steps are just as important as your cook step


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Kylo

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Posted 22 September 2018 - 06:38 AM

Dear Scampi
Thanks for the input.
Regarding the cooler, how does it look like.
1. Is there any specified temperature for the cooler?
2. Cooler, is like a chiller or a full height wall with room temperature controlled?
3. In real practice, how to manage the cooked products? I am in the opinion it must be cooled down in a separate room from the cooking area with different ppl, tools, equipment etc before move to dedicated blast freezer.

Your kind comments is much appreciated.

Rgds.

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Brendan Triplett

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Posted 22 September 2018 - 01:07 PM

Kylo,

Incredibly important to freeze directly. I agree with Charles. FDA recommends getting your product out of the microbial growth range (40-140) as quickly as possible and says this:

Freeze Rapidly
Freeze food as fast as possible to maintain its quality. Rapid freezing prevents undesirable large ice crystals from forming throughout the product because the molecules don't have time to form into the characteristic six-sided snowflake. Slow freezing creates large, disruptive ice crystals. During thawing, they damage the cells and dissolve emulsions. This causes meat to "drip" and lose juiciness.

Ideally, a food 2-inches thick should freeze completely in about 2 hours. If your home freezer has a "quick-freeze" shelf, use it. Never stack packages to be frozen. Instead, spread them out in one layer on various shelves, stacking them only after frozen solid.

The USDA says this about food that remains in the microbial growth area:

Throw away all perishable foods that have been left in room temperature for more than 2 hours (1 hour if the temperature is over 90° F.

It would not be too difficult to find some scientific literature to prove this point. As a note you might notice that in placing your product directly to the freezer that there is an increase in the run time of your freezer condensers which will manifest itself as an increased electrical bill. I would justify this to your team as the cost of doing business.

Cheers!


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Brendan Triplett


Charles.C

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Posted 23 September 2018 - 02:56 AM

Hi kylo,

 

As a corollary to the previous Post, what size/shape/thickness of items are you anticipating to freeze ?

 

You wii see from some older threads here that anything of substantial, eg several inches, thickness/bulk can represent a major "slow-down" with respect to achieving a -18degC core temperature.

 

After working with both batch and continuous IQF freezers, the microbiological results, eg plate count, for the latter are often significantly better. The investment is also significantly higher of course.


Kind Regards,

 

Charles.C


Kylo

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Posted 23 September 2018 - 11:20 AM

Dear Brendan, Charles
Well noted with thanks.
The blast freezer will freeze poultry breast meat, whole leg, and parts like drummet, wings etc.
Size will depend on the birds but might reach 5 cm for older bird, especially the breast meat.
Raw meat and cooked meat is in the same room. Once the meat is cooked and out from oven and held on rack, it is expose to environment prior freezing.

What is the proper method handle cooked products?
Is it need to be cooled in a totally separate room like cooler before freezing?

Rgds



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Scampi

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Posted 24 September 2018 - 12:56 PM

The cooler should be kept at 4C even when fully loaded with hot product..............once chilled, then blast freeze, and yes a purchased cooler that looks just like any room except it's been built by Cool Master or some such company 

 

http://master-bilt.c...alk-in-freezers

https://www.katom.co...or-freezer.html

http://www.uscooler.com/

 

At my last post carcasses where chilled to about 15C before they entered the blast freezer..............but they only took 1/2 hour to freeze solid (very small carcass---open cavity) and final room the carcasses ended up in was kept at 10C  AND i had to validate my process (which took a month) to get federal approval to do it my way (because of how the regulation is written)

 

You should be using the USDA rules for chilling, unless duck is considered a non amenable species, then you're governed by FDA

 

www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/wcm/connect/7a0a728e-3b29-49e9-9c1b-ec55f2f04887/Chilling-Requirements-1014.pdf?MOD=AJPERES

 

A. All poultry that is slaughtered and eviscerated in the official establishment shall be chilled immediately after processing so that the internal temperature of poultry carcasses and major portions weighing under 4 pounds was reduced to 40 °F or below within 4 hours of processing; carcasses weighing 4 to 8 pounds, within 6 hours of processing; and those weighing over 8 pounds, within 8 hours of processing unless such poultry is to be frozen or cooked immediately at the official establishment. Once chilled, poultry to be packaged and shipped is to be stored at 40 °F or less.

 

I will reiterate, get the pros in (on site) so you can all talk with them about what you need and what units are capable of 


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Kylo

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Posted 25 September 2018 - 12:11 PM

Dear Scampi, Charles, Brendan, 3560lynne
Many thanks for the advice.


Rgds.

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