Rapid chilling of lamb carcases shows promise for processing industry

A new rapid chilling system, used in horticulture, has proven promising for red meat processors. The Australian Meat Processor Corporation (AMPC) recently funded a trial using a retrofitted fruit chilling system to rapidly chill lamb carcases in Victoria.  

The system gives red meat processors options to chill lamb carcases faster using less space and significantly less energy.

The trial looked at the impact on meat quality, and the project results also outline the benefits to the red meat processing industry, including a detailed cost-benefit analysis that was undertaken.

AMPC Program Manager Stuart Shaw said, “Australian meat processors are looking for solutions to reduce energy, increase throughput, optimise chiller space, and improve overall efficiencies. The ‘rapid chill system’ used in these trials showed the potential for this possibility.”

Currently, carcases are put into large chillers and chilled over a 24-hour period. This uses up space, energy and takes time. 

AMPC worked together with the University of New England research scientists, who investigated the impact of the rapid chill system on lamb carcases from a meat science perspective. 

Lead scientist Dr Peter McGilchrist said, “We investigated the impact of the rapid chill system on shear force, carcase temperature decline and ultimate pH. The trials showed the loin was below 0°C in less than five hours post-mortem, which is the window identified in literature as necessary to generate super-contractions of the meat, making it more tender. The results showed no difference in ultimate pH and meat colour. The loin had a lower shear force than the control group, meaning it was more tender at three days and five days post-mortem. However, there was no benefit of rapid chilling on the butt and forequarter muscles tested.”

Senior Business Analyst at Greenleaf Enterprises Ken Bryan said, “We identified direct benefits to processors from using the rapid chill system from an energy and efficiency gain perspective. There was a $6.42/head gain and a payback period of 1.36 years for a plant processing 3600 smallstock per day (without spray chilling) with a split of 80 per cent lamb and 20 per cent mutton.”

FreshXpress CEO Michael Panuccio said, “We knew the rapid chill system had applications in the red meat industry from a small trial we did back in 2007. So, this was a great opportunity to test and validate eating quality and temperature decline across a wide range of lamb carcases.”

Benefits to the red meat processing industry

The rapid chill system provides a low-cost alternative solution for carcase chilling compared to existing technology.

The rapid chill system provides the opportunity for industry to reduce ‘carcase shrinkage’, reduce energy use, water for cleaning, and carbon footprint. It also increases throughput of processing plants that have bottlenecks in chillers and cold rooms. 

The new system can help processing plants that are space-constrained to expand their boning rooms using space from their existing chiller, which would no longer be needed. 

Stuart said, “A potential next step is to develop a small pilot-scale rapid chilling system to test under continuous production conditions.”