Refrigeration in the food trades - meats and fish

In the meat industry, the main applications of mechanical refrigeration are  

Chilling of carcases directly after slaughter and dressing 

Cooling of meat-handling rooms such as butcheries 

Storage conditions in terms of air movement and humidity will be different to those used when initially chilling the carcase. Chilled meat on the bone is stored at about 0°C, up to the point of sale. The humidity of the surrounding air is also critical in the case of fresh meats - too dry and the meat will lose weight and discolour, too humid and a slime will form on the surface. 

A lot of meat is now boned or produced as the final cuts, in the factory. For this, the meat needs to be at 0°C or just below, i.e. just above the temperature at which it starts to freeze hard. 

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