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How to preserve meat

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COOLING ROOMS FOR MEAT

Meat is a perishable product that requires a correct preservation at each stage before consumption.

 

An important point to obtain an apted meat for human consumption is to know and apply the different coolant techniques that guarantee the preservation, because meat requires ideal temperature, humidity, and air speed conditions.

 

By cooling the product, we reduce any possibility of physical, biochemical, or microbiological change that may affect to the meat quality.

TYPES OF MEAT

Red meat includes cattle, sheep, or ox meat, being the main characteristic a more succulent meat and high levels of iron.

 

White meat includes birds and rabbit meat, having a high level of biologic proteins.

PRESERVATION

Meat preservation starts in the slaughterhouse, where a correct cooling and storage in meat cooling rooms must be done, meat cannot leave the slaughterhouse without a proper cooling, only for exceptional and authorised cases.

 

When coolant temperature is lower than 4ºC microbes’ metabolism is reduced, so it is recommended to maintain a lower temperature inside the room.

 

Regarding the frozen meat conservation, we need a temperature lower than -12ºC so we recommend  a temperature around -18ºC.

 

It is recommended to defreeze meat slowly to avoid high meat leak, and ice break that may damage meat.

 

RH (relative humidity) inside the coolant room is really important, so excessive humidity favours fungus and bacteria to appear on the meat surface, on the opposite, with short humidity meat loses weight.

WHAT YOU MUST KNOW

There isn’t a regulated normative for the RH, but it must be around 85-90%.

Bacteria metabolism slow down as much lower the temperature is, same as muscle chemical reaction.

Carcass, half carcass and quarters transport should be done with coolant vehicles at a maximum temperature of 7ºC and 3ºC for waste.

It is essential to mantain the cold chain to guarantee the food security and to assure that products are in well conditions for the end consumer.