7 replies to this topic

[riominicer]

Why does meat that is stored in cold storage but is not expired have a yellowish part?
What are the possible causes?
This happened on pork meat but in frozen state.



Thank you in advance!

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[Setanta]

To me, this looks like the fatty part of the meat.

Has this pork been exposed to ambient atmosphere in the freezer? I would think that would add the to degradation of the meat.

[Scampi]

That looks like good old fashioned freezer burn to me

The meat is probably quite wet going into your freezer, and the rapid drop in surface temperature causes the moisture to crystalize pulling bits of the meat up and dehydrating it which in turn causes the change in colour

[AltonBrownFanClub]

I think Setanta and Scampi nailed it. A mix of dehydration and oxidation. Both symptoms of freezer burn.

 

If you find that the pieces near the top of the box are worse than those on the bottom, I would suspect oxidation.

The large ice crystals suggest a slow freeze cycle. The longer it takes to freeze, the larger (and more damaging) those crystals will be.

 

Are the pieces individually frozen before being packed in the box? Or is the whole box placed in the freezer just like in the picture?

A big box like that will take a long time to freeze completely.

[riominicer]

I think Setanta and Scampi nailed it. A mix of dehydration and oxidation. Both symptoms of freezer burn.

 

If you find that the pieces near the top of the box are worse than those on the bottom, I would suspect oxidation.

The large ice crystals suggest a slow freeze cycle. The longer it takes to freeze, the larger (and more damaging) those crystals will be.

 

Are the pieces individually frozen before being packed in the box? Or is the whole box placed in the freezer just like in the picture?

A big box like that will take a long time to freeze completely.

Yes, the top are worse than the bottom, however some of the products which are stored in the same room was in good condition. 

This was received in frozen state.

Thank you for your help. 

[riominicer]

To me, this looks like the fatty part of the meat.

Has this pork been exposed to ambient atmosphere in the freezer? I would think that would add the to degradation of the meat.

To be honest, yes it is. temperature drops up to -0 instead of -18. 

Im just getting some information about yellowish meat. How I will defend it to my client. My boss was insisting that freezer burn gets only when temperature is below -23 or stored for a long time in the freezer. 

[Setanta]

To be honest, yes it is. temperature drops up to -0 instead of -18. 

Im just getting some information about yellowish meat. How I will defend it to my client. My boss was insisting that freezer burn gets only when temperature is below -23 or stored for a long time in the freezer. 

 

I'd love to see where he got that information. -22 it's ok -23 freezer burn!

And he should be able to tell you what a 'long time' is.

[ok_crispy.]

I agree with the previous comments - I would also consider if the meat was not properly covered by the case liner, it could explain this discoloration/freezer burn in some cases but not others that are stored under the same conditions. I see this often with frozen vegetables where a tote liner did not properly cover the product resulting in product to dry out.