Poultry Carcasses Chilled by Forced Air, Water Immersion and Combination of Forced Air and Water Immersion

Abstract Conventional chilling methods such as forced air ( FA ) and water immersion ( WI ) are used in the industry to chill poultry carcasses from approximately 40 to 4 C , which is essential to improve safety. Besides both processes, a combined method ( CO ) of WI and FA has been reported in the literature. The objective of this investigation was to compare the chilling of poultry carcasses by FA , WI and CO using an experimental apparatus specially designed for this purpose. Time‐temperature evolutions of pectoral muscle and carcass mass variations during the chilling processes were determined under different chilling conditions, comprising different air velocities and relative humidities ( RH ). The results showed that it is possible to reduce the water loss (approximately 50%) and chilling time (reduction between 14.5 and 1.5%) of FA process using CO process. Air velocity and RH ranges can be varied to take advantage of evaporative chilling and to reduce the carcasses water loss. Practical Applications In the factories, poultry carcasses are chilled from approximately 40 to 4 C by water immersion, which is crucial to ensure safe products. However, air chilling ( AC ) has been often used for safety reason and due to the limited availability of water. On the contrary, wetting the carcasses avoids excessive moisture loss in air chillers, whereas the evaporation of the water adhered to the carcass surface may assist the chilling process. The present paper evaluates the effectiveness of AC and of a combined chilling method ( CC ) ( AC combined with water immersion chilling) of poultry carcasses at different relative humidity and air velocities. The results showed that the CC process was shorter and reduced carcasses weight loss compared with the AC process.