Selection criteria for beef carcass chilling

The strategies for selecting a suitable scheme for beef carcass chilling were developed by keeping air velocity at 0.5 m/s and relative humidity at 90%. Faster chilling after 10 h post-mortem resulted in lower chilling time and mass loss compared with faster chilling after 24 h post-mortem at -5°C ambient temperature. Including pre-rigor chilling at 15°C for I h further reduced the mass loss. Based on predicted meat quality, the most desirable chilling scheme was with a pre-rigor chilling period at - 15°C for 1 h and a post-rigor chilling after 10 h post-mortem at 0°C ambient temperature. For accelerated beef processing with reasonable meat quality, the most desirable chilling scheme was with a pre-rigor chilling period at 15°C for 1 h and a post-rigor chilling after 10 h post-mortem at 5°C. However, the longissimus dorsi and undoubtedly other portions of the carcass were partially frozen, which is generally unacceptable in the commercial meat trade.