Introduction of thawing process step in a cooked meat and vinegar line
Hey,
We are looking to introduce a freeze, thaw process in our cooked meat and vinegar line of an existing ready to eat product. From a food safety/micro perspective the original aim was to thaw using refrigerated storage <0 farenheit at no longer than 2 days storage before product is moved into the vinegar process step.
However at 2 days thawing under refrigerated conditions we are seeing large ice content/incomplete thawing of the meat. Proceeding into the vinegar process step would then act to increase our vinegar pH (CCP) and has implications on product quality due to the meat continuing to thaw after vinegar addition. My understanding is as long as temperature is to be maintained outside the danger zone (which it is) during thawing we could essentially thaw for as long as required to achieve complete thawing? Obviously the aim will be to minimise the duration of the thawing step but currently we are finding it takes approximately 4 days to thoroughly thaw the meat under refrig conditions. I am essentially looking for a bit of guidance here as to the best way of doing this and the risks of thawing for up to 4 days under refrigerated conditions (which appear minimal) - thawing in water is not an option due to difficulty we would have in monitoring the water temperature.
What is your initial frozen temp going into thawing ?
What is your initial frozen temp going into thawing ?
Minimum frozen temp is 0 Fahrenheit.
The orignal post is also <40 Fahrenheit during the refrigerated storage thawing process
I am confused.
You thaw at <= 0deg F =< (-)18degC ?
Surely impossible.
Typical target for non-gigantic frozen items might be overnight at chilled refrigerator temperature, ie ideally 0-4 degC.
Processing plants typically thaw large quantities of frozen fish blocks in stirred water tanks at 0-10degC overnight.
PS - just noticed post4, seems some mixed up temp.scales
vac. pack ? thawed in packaging ?
You are correct in assuming that as long as you can prove the product does not go into the danger zone, you can thaw for as long as you want.
Hey,
We are looking to introduce a freeze, thaw process in our cooked meat and vinegar line of an existing ready to eat product. From a food safety/micro perspective the original aim was to thaw using refrigerated storage <0 farenheit at no longer than 2 days storage before product is moved into the vinegar process step.
However at 2 days thawing under refrigerated conditions we are seeing large ice content/incomplete thawing of the meat. Proceeding into the vinegar process step would then act to increase our vinegar pH (CCP) and has implications on product quality due to the meat continuing to thaw after vinegar addition. My understanding is as long as temperature is to be maintained outside the danger zone (which it is) during thawing we could essentially thaw for as long as required to achieve complete thawing? Obviously the aim will be to minimise the duration of the thawing step but currently we are finding it takes approximately 4 days to thoroughly thaw the meat under refrig conditions. I am essentially looking for a bit of guidance here as to the best way of doing this and the risks of thawing for up to 4 days under refrigerated conditions (which appear minimal) - thawing in water is not an option due to difficulty we would have in monitoring the water temperature.
Regarding red ^^^^^^
Are you familiar with the concept/derivation of chilled food shelf lives ?
Or the tolerable storage duration of fresh meat on ice ?
Or .....