What Two Items Are Assigned To A Beef Animal When It Goes Through The Slaughter Process

Techniques and hygiene practices in slaughtering and meat handling

EQUIPMENT

Slaughtering equipment, peculiarly for smaller-scale operations, need non exist elaborate and expensive. The amount of equipment volition depend on the slaughtering procedures employed. If possible, all equipment should be made of stainless steel or plastic, be rust resistant and easily cleaned and sanitized. Equipment which does non get in contact with the meat (due east.1000. overhead rails, working platforms, knocking pen) is usually fabricated of galvanized steel.

Basic equipment needed for the slaughtering functioning:

stunning gun, electrical head tongs or uncomplicated stunning equipment for direct blow
knives:
sticking - xv cm sharpened on both sides
skinning - 15 cm curved
a sharpening steel
oil or water sharpening rock
scabbard and belt for belongings knives
meat saw - hand or electrical and cleaver
cake and tackle or chain hoist strong enough to hold the weight of the animal to exist slaughtered
pritch, chocks or skinning rack (dressing cradle)
a potent beam, tripod or track two.four to 3.4 m from floor
spreader - gambrel or metal pipe
several buckets
working platforms
scalding barrel or tank
pot, barrel or arrangement for humid water
bell scrapers
solid scraping tabular array or platform
thermometer registering up to 70°C
hog or hay hook
torch or flame for singeing

The last seven items betoken boosted equipment required when hogs are scalded and scraped rather than skinned.

Useful additional equipment:

knocking pen
haemorrhage hooks (for vertical haemorrhage)
blood-catching trough
wash trough (tripe) Sanitation of hands and tools:
hand launder-basin
implement sterilizers

Means should exist available to make clean thoroughly all equipment coming into contact with carcasses or meat. Implement sterilizers are stainless-steel boxes belongings hot (82°C) water, shaped to suit particular equipmentknives, cleavers, saws, etc. (Fig. ii). Knife sterilizers should be placed in positions where every operator who uses a knife has firsthand access. Handles as well every bit blades must exist sterilized. Each operator should have at least two knives etc., one to use while the other sterilizes (Figs 10 and eleven).

Failure to sterilize all knives and equipment regularly will issue in carcass contamination. Bacteria will exist transferred from the hide to the carcass and from carcass to carcass (Fig. 12).

TREATMENT OF LIVESTOCK Before SLAUGHTER AND ITS Impact ON MEAT QUALITY

Stress in its many forms, e.g. impecuniousness of h2o or food, rough handling, exhaustion due to transporting over long distances, mixing of animals reared separately resulting in fighting, is unacceptable from an animal welfare viewpoint and should too be avoided because of its deleterious effects on meat quality. The about serious issue of stress is death which is not uncommon among pigs transported in poorly ventilated, overcrowded trucks in hot weather. From loading on the farm to the stunning pen animals must be treated kindly, and the lorries, lairages and equipment for livestock treatment must be designed to facilitate humane treatment. Stress immediately prior to slaughter, such every bit fighting or rough handling in the lairage, causes stored glycogen (sugar) to be released into the bloodstream. After slaughter this is cleaved downwardly in the muscles producing lactic acid. This high level of acerbity causes a partial breakdown of the muscle structure causing the meat to be pale, soft and exudative (PSE). This status is generally found in pigs.

Long-term stress earlier slaughter such as a prolonged menses of fighting during transport and/or lairage leads to exhaustion. The sugars are used up and then that less is available to be broken downward and less lactic acid is produced.

The reduced acidity leads to an abnormal musculus condition known every bit dark, business firm and dry out (DFD) in pigs or dark cutting in beefiness. The condition is rarer in lamb. Such meat has a loftier pH (to a higher place 6.0) and spoils very quickly as the depression acidity favours rapid bacterial growth.

Handling animals during send and lairage

An electrical goad (Fig. xiii) should exist used rather than a stick or tail-twisting non but to avert stress but as well to preclude carcass bruising. Grabbing sheep by the fleece too causes bruising (Fig. fourteen).

To avoid fighting, animals not reared together must not be mixed during transport and lairage. Load and unload using shallow stepped ramps to avoid stumbles. Trucks should be neither over- nor underloaded. Overloading causes stress and bruising due to crushing. Underloading results in animals being thrown around and falling more than necessary. Drivers should not corner at excessive speed and must advance and decelerate gently.

The lairage should take pocket-size pens. Corridors must curve and not bend sharply so that stock can run into a way forrad. Stock must non be slaughtered in sight of other stock. Enough of clean water must be bachelor. The lairage must be well lit and ventilated. Do not concord stock in lairage for more than a day. Only fit, salubrious stock may be slaughtered for human consumption.

Fasting before slaughter reduces the volume of gut contents and hence bacteria and therefore reduces the adventure of contamination of the carcass during dressing. It is usually sufficient for the animals to receive their last feed on the mean solar day before slaughter. Stock should accept a residue period after arrival at the slaughterhouse. Yet, long periods in the lairage tin can lead to DFD if the animals are restless and fighting or mounting.

Animals should be as clean equally possible at slaughter. Producers should wash their animals before leaving the farm. Trucks used for transport must be done after each load and the lairage at the butchery should be kept articulate of faecal matter and frequently washed (Figs 15 and 16).

STUNNING AND BLEEDING OF SLAUGHTER ANIMALS

Stunning prior to bleeding

Virtually countries have legislation requiring that animals are rendered unconscious (stunned) by a humane method prior to bleeding. Exceptions are made for religions which require that ritual slaughter without prior stunning is practised, provided the slaughter method is humane. Stunning also makes sticking (throat-slitting) less hazardous for the operator. The animal must be unconscious long enough for sticking to be carried out, and for brain death to result from the lack of claret supply.

Methods of stunning

Direct blow to skull using a club or poleaxe. The blow must be dealt with precision and strength, and then that the skull is immediately smashed, causing instantaneous unconsciousness. In cattle the aiming point is in the middle of the forehead in line with the ears, where the skull is thinnest. Horses accept thinner skulls and are therefore easier to stun by this method. In sheep and goats the brain is more hands reached from the back of the cervix. Pigs have a well-adult frontal cavity then the blow should be aimed slightly above the eyes.

Slaughtering mask. A bolt held in the correct position by the mask is driven into the creature's brain by a hammer accident. The device is usually fitted with a spring which returns the bolt to its original position.

Free bullet fired from a pistol into the skull is constructive only unsafe. This method has been used on horses and cattle.

Captive-commodities pistols fitted with a blank cartridge are constructive on cattle and sheep but not pigs whose skulls are thicker (Figs 17 and eighteen). After firing, the bolt returns to its original position in the pistol. The commodities may or may not be designed to penetrate the skull. With penetrating types the brain becomes contaminated with hair, dirt and bone fragments. If brains are to exist saved equally edible tissue then the not-penetrating blazon with a mushroom-shaped head should be used.

Electric stunning. An current of loftier frequency but, in the case of manually operated equipment, of relatively low voltage (60–fourscore 5) is passed through the brain of an animal for a few seconds to produce unconsciousness. If practical correctly a deep land of unconsciusness is invariably achieved. Strict safety rules must be observed. Head tongs (Fig. 19) are suitable for pigs and sheep but not for cattle. The electrodes carried on the ends of the tongs must be accurately placed (Figs 20 and 21). Places where the skull is thick must be avoided. Electrical contact is impeded by hair and caked mud. Water or brine will improve contact just the head must non exist completely wet otherwise the current will have a short-circuit path fugitive the encephalon. The electrodes must exist applied with strong pressure.

	19. Head tongs are used to stun pigs and sheep electrically merely are not suitable for cattle. The electrode on the finish of each tong is ridged for better contact

17. Captive-bolt stunner suitable for cattle	twenty. The electrodes must be applied firmly to either side of the head so that the electric current passes through the brain causing unconsciousness in a few seconds

	21. Head tongs are also suitable for stunning pigs

xviii. Aiming signal for stunning cattle

Carbon dioxide stunning is used just in large pig abattoirs. Pigs are induced into a sleeping room and exposed to a concentration of 85 percent CO₂ for nearly 45 seconds. Although effective for anaesthetizing sheep, it is impractical because of large amounts of CO₂ collecting in the wool and affecting operators on the killing line.

Bleeding after stunning

The objectives of bleeding are to kill the animal with minimal damage to the carcass and to remove quickly as much claret as possible as blood is an ideal medium for the growth of bacteria.

Sticking, severing the major arteries of the neck, should immediately follow stunning. Care must be taken non to puncture the chest cavity or it volition fill with claret.

Cattle. Insert the sticking pocketknife carefully but above the breastbone at 45° pointed toward the caput. Ensure that the carotid arteries and jugular veins are severed in one movement.

Sheep. Depict the pocketknife across the jugular furrow close to the head severing both carotid arteries. Alternatively, the pocketknife may be inserted through the side of the cervix, though this requires more skill (Fig. 22).

Pigs. Equally for cattle but do not become in too far or a pocket of blood will collect at the shoulder (Fig.23). To reduce contamination by the scalding tank water the cut should be as minor every bit possible.

Bleeding on a rail

The most aseptic system of bleeding and dressing is to shackle the animal immediately later stunning, and then hoist it on to a moving runway. The animal is stuck while being hoisted to minimize the delay later on stunning. Bleeding continues until the blood period is negligible when carcass dressing should begin without further delay (Fig. 24)

Blood for man use must be collected with special equipment to avoid contamination from the wound, the gullet of the knife. A hollow knife directs blood away from the wound into a covered stainless-steel container without touching the skin or hide. The knife may be connected to a hose to reduce the risk of contamination. The hose may fifty-fifty be connected to a pump to speed the blood menses. Between 40 and threescore pct of the full blood book will be removed though this will be reduced if sticking is delayed. To forbid coagulation, citric acid solution made upwards with one office citric acid to two parts water is added at a rate upward to 0.2 percent of the blood volume. The main sources of contagion during sticking and haemorrhage include the knife, the wound and the nutrient-pipe. The knief should exist changed afterwards each performance and returned to a sterilizer. Cutting the hibernate of sheep and cattle and opening out to make a clean entry for the sticking knife reduces contamination from the wound. If the nutrient-pipage is pierced semi-digested food may be regurgitated contaminating the claret and neck wound.

Horizontal haemorrhage

Horizontal haemorrhage is claimed to give faster bleeding rates and a greater recovery of claret. This may be due to certain organs and blood vessels existence put under pressure level when animals are hoisted, thus trapping blood and restricting the flow. Bleeding on the floor is very unhygienic. The functioning should have place on a peculiarly designed, easily cleaned stainless-steel tabular array which should be cleaned oft. If blood is to be saved information technology must not come in contact with the tabular array before reaching the collecting vessel.

	24. Later on sticking, the animal should be left to bleed until the blood flow becomes negligible	25. Scalding/dehairing tank which accommodates four pigs: one pending immersion, two immersed and one just completing immersion. When the confined are rotated the pigs alter position

		26. After immersion any remaining loose hairs are scraped from the pare
27. Simple tank for combined scalding/ dehairing. The tank is filled with water at 60°C, a sus scrofa is lowered in, the lid is airtight and the paddles rotate, the rubber tips loosening the hairs

Bleeding without stunning

The Jewish and Muslim religions forbid the consumption of meat which was killed by any method other than haemorrhage. Since it is difficult to guarantee that all animals volition recover consciousness afterward beingness stunned by whatsoever particular method, stunning is not more often than not allowed. There are exceptions, all the same. Some communities practise accept low-voltage electrical stunning.

Because animals are fully conscious at the time of sticking, ritual slaughter may exist less humane than sticking after stunning. To reduce the suffering operators must exist highly skilled and so that a successful gash cut severing all the veins and arteries is fabricated quickly at the first attempt. Unlike communities take dissimilar regulations as to the orientation of the animal at sticking, some favouring a position lying on its side, others insisting information technology lie on its back. The fauna should not exist hoisted until unconsciousness due to lack of claret supply to the brain is complete.

SCALDING AND DEHAIRING OF PIGS (USING Unproblematic EQUIPMENT)

Scalding in h2o at around sixty°C for almost six minutes loosens the hair in the follicle. Too low a temperature and the pilus will not be loosened and too high a temperature and the peel will be cooked and the hair hard to remove. The simplest equipment consists of a tank into which the pig is lowered by a hoist. The h2o is heated past oil, gas, electricity or an open steam-pipage.

To check the effectiveness of the scald, rub the pare with the thumb to see if pilus comes away easily. Some machines have the thermostatic controls and timers. To reduce contagion, scalding h2o should be changed frequently, pigs should be equally clean as possible at sticking, and bleeding should be fully completed before immersion.

In large factories pigs are transported through scalding tanks with rotating bars (Fig. 25) or through long scalding tanks stretching from the sticking bespeak to the dehairing point in the time required for an effective scald.

Dehairing is done with a specially formed scraper (bell scraper or knife). If the scald is effective all the hair can exist removed by this manual method (Fig. 26). Some other simple method is to dip the pig in a bath containing a hot resin adhesive. The pig is removed from the bath and the resin allowed to set partially when it is peeled off pulling the hair with it from the root. This is less labour-intensive than scraping and produces a very clean skin. After utilize the adhesive is melted once again, strained to remove the hair and returned to the tank.

Another method of removing dirt and hair in one operation is to skin the carcass though this is only done when the skin is required for leather goods.

With the simple scalding tank, dehairing and scalding may be combined in i operation. Inside the tank are rotating rubber-tipped paddles which are started afterward closing the lid. As the pilus is loosened by the scalding h2o it is removed past the rubbing effect of the paddles confronting the skin (Fig. 27).

Singeing removes whatsoever remaining hairs, shrinks and sets the skin, decreases the number of adhering micro-organisms and leaves an attractive clean appearance. It may exist washed with a paw-held gas torch (Fig. 28). Automated systems transport the grunter into a furnace and get out it long plenty for an effective singe.

After singeing, black deposits and singed hairs are scraped off (Fig. 29) and the carcass is thoroughly cleaned earlier evisceration begins.

SKINNING OF CATTLE AND SMALL RUMINANTS

Cattle

The outer side of the hide must never touch the skinned surface of the carcass. Operators must not touch the skinned surface with the hand that was in contact with the skin.

Combined horizontal/vertical methods

Head. Subsequently bleeding, while the fauna is still hanging from the shackling concatenation, the horns are removed and the head is skinned. The caput is detached by cutting through the neck muscles and the occipital joint. Hang the head on a claw (Fig. 30). Lower the carcass on its back into the dressing cradle.

Legs. Skin and remove the legs at the carpal (foreleg) and tarsal (hind leg) joints. The forelegs should not be skinned or removed before the carcass is lowered on to the dressing cradle or the cutting surfaces will exist contaminated. The hooves may be left attached to the hide.

	32. In the combined horizontal/ vertical dressing method the carcass is lowered on to a cradle, the legs, brisket and flanks are skinned, so the carcass is raised to the half-hoist position. Notation that this is much less aseptic than verticaldressing on a rail

	33. Annotation the possible contamination of the carcass past the intestines and the hibernate dragging on the flooring in the combined horizontal/vertical dressing method

31. Right cutting lines for hide removal

Flaying. Cutting the peel forth the centre line from the sticking wound to the tail. Using long house strokes and keeping the knife upwardly to prevent pocketknife cuts on the carcass, peel the brisket and flanks, working backwards toward the round (Fig. 31). Skin udders without puncturing the glandular tissue and remove, leaving the supermammary glands intact and fastened to the carcass. At this signal raise the carcass to the half-hoist position, the shoulders resting on the cradle and the rump at a skillful working height (Figs 32 and 33).

Clear the skin carefully from around the vent (anus) avoiding puncturing it and cutting the intestinal wall advisedly around the rectum. Tie off with twine to seal information technology. Skin the tail avoiding contagion of the skinned surface with the hide. Raise the carcass free of the floor and finish flaying.

Vertical methods

High-throughput plants have overhead runway which convey the carcass from the sticking indicate to the chills. Hide removal is carried out on the hanging carcass (Figs 34, 35 and 36). The operations are every bit in the combined horizontal/vertical method, but as it is not possible to reach the hide from basis level more than one operator is needed. A single operator may work with a hydraulic platform which is raised and lowered every bit required.

Automatic hide pullers are used in high-throughput slaughterhouses. Some types pull the hide down from the hind, others from the shoulders up toward the rump.

Automation of hibernate removal reduces contamination since there is less handling of the carcass and less utilize of knives. Moving overhead rails also improve hygiene by reducing carcass contact with operators, equipment such equally dressing cradles and with each other since carcasses are evenly spaced.

Small ruminants

Sheep fleeces can behave big volumes of dirt and faeces into the slaughterhouse. It is impossible to avoid contamination of sheep and lamb carcasses when the fleece is heavily soiled. The fleece or hair must never touch the skinned surface, neither must the operator bear upon the skinned surface with the manus that was in contact with the fleece.

34. The leg is freed from the skin and the hock cut off

Combined horizontal/vertical method

The creature is turned on its dorsum and cuts are made from the knuckles down the forelegs. The neck, cheeks and shoulders are skinned. The throat is opened upwards and the gullet (food-pipe) is tied off (see Fig. 41). The skin on the hind legs is cutting from the knuckles downwards to the tail root. The legs are skinned and the sheep is hoisted past a gambrel inserted into the Achilles tendons. A rip is made down the midline and skinning gain over the flanks using special knives or the fists (meet Fig. 39). The pelt is then pulled downward over the courage to the head. If the head is for human consumption it must be skinned or it will be contaminated with claret, clay and hairs.

Moving cratch and rail system. The hanging carcass is lowered on to a horizontal conveyor made upward of a serial of horizontal steel plates, bowed slightly and divided into sets large enough to cradle a unmarried animal. Two operators ordinarily piece of work together on each lamb performing the legging operations and opening the skin to the stage where it tin can exist pulled off the dorsum. When the gambrel is inserted into the hind legs it is hoisted on to a dressing rails.

Vertical method

At sticking the animal is shackled past one hind-leg and left to bleed. Dressing commences with the free leg which is skinned and the human foot removed (Fig. 37). A gambrel is inserted into this leg and hung on a runner on a dressing runway. The second leg is freed from the shackle, skinned and dressed, then hooked on to the other end of the gambrel. The pare is opened down the midline and cleared from the rump.

A spreader frame (a bar U-shaped at each cease) spreads the forepart legs to simplify work on the neck, chest and flanks. The front toes are held in each stop of the frame which is and so slung up on to a split up travelling hook. The animal is therefore suspended by all four legs abdomen uppermost (Figs 38 and 39). Skinning continues as in the combined horizontal/vertical method. To clear the shoulders and flanks, the forelegs are freed from the spreader and the feet removed, the fauna returning to a vertical position. The skin can at present be completely pulled off (Fig. xl), including the head if this is for consumption, though this takes some work with the pocketknife. In both methods, afterwards fleece removal the vent and food-pipage are cleaned and tied off (Fig.41).

37. Fleece removal starts with skinning the costless hind leg. Intendance must be taken to avoid the hide touching the skinned surface or the carcass volition be contaminated with faecal affair

38. With forelegs in a spreader frame and hind legs in a gambrel, the sheep is suspended in a horizontal position	40. After skinning the neck and chest, the front legs are freed and skinning continues in the vertical position with the flanks and dorsum

39. The fists can be used to clear the fleece from the breast
	41. After skinning the neck, the food-pipe is freed and tied off to prevent regurgitation of stomach contents

EVISCERATION

With all species intendance must be taken in all operations not to puncture the viscera (Fig. 42). All viscera must be identified with the carcass until the veterinary inspection has been passed. After inspection the viscera should be chilled on racks etc. for better air circulation (Fig. 43).

Cattle

The brisket is sawn downwardly the centre (Fig. 44). In the combined horizontal/ vertical system this is done with the animal resting on the cradle. The carcass is then raised to the half-hoist position and when hide removal is consummate the abdominal cavity is cutting carefully along the middle line. The carcass is and then fully hoisted to hang clear of the flooring so that the viscera fall out nether their ain weight (Fig. 45). They are separated into thoracic viscera, paunch and intestines for inspection and cleaning (Figs 46 and 47). If any of the stomachs or intestines are to be saved for human being consumption, ties are made at the oesophagus/stomach, stomach/duodenum boundaries, the oesophagus and rectum having been tied off during hide removal. This prevents cross-contamination between the paunch and the intestines.

Modest ruminants

A minor cut is made in the abdominal cavity wall just above the brisket, and the fingers of the other hand are inserted to lift the body wall away from the viscera as the cut is continued to within about 5 cm of the cod fat or udder.

The omentum is withdrawn, the rectum (tied off) loosened, and the viscera freed and taken out. The food-pipage (tied off) is pulled up through the diaphragm. The breastbone is dissever down the eye taking intendance non to puncture the thoracic organs which are and so removed.

Pigs

Loosen and tie off the rectum. Cut along the middle line through the skin and body wall from the crotch to the cervix (Fig. 48). Cut through the pelvis and remove the float and sexual organs. In males the foreskin must not be punctured as the contents are a serious source of contamination. All these organs are considered inedible.

42. When cutting through the abdomen wall, if the viscera are punctured their contents will severely contaminate the carcass	43. A portable rack suitable for hanging offal for chilling

44. A mechanical saw speeds the splitting of the brisket just intendance must be taken not to puncture the viscera

47. A portable cart suitable for communicable cattle stomachs and intestines with a separate tray for edible offal such equally liver, centre and lungs

Remove the abdominal and thoracic viscera intact. Avoid contact with the floor or standing platform.

The kidneys are commonly removed afterward the carcass has been split down the courage. The head is usually left on until after chilling.

SPLITTING, WASHING AND DRESSING OF CARCASSES

Hygienic carcass splitting with elementary equipment

Cattle

Work facing the back of the carcass. Dissever the carcass downwardly the backbone (chine) with a saw or cleaver from the pelvis to the neck (Figs 49 and l). Sawing gives a better result but bone dust must be removed (Fig. 51). If a cleaver is used, information technology may exist necessary to saw through the rump and loin in older animals.

The saw and cleaver should be sterilized in hot (82°C) water between carcasses. Ability saws increment productivity.

48. The body wall is split down the midline taking care non to puncture the viscera

49. Mechanical saw for splitting the backbone (chine) of beef carcasses	51. Carcasses should be spray-done to remove visible staining, paying particular attention to bone grit and the internal surface, merely without using excessive amounts of h2o

50. Mitt-saws are much slower than mechanical saws though they are preferable to cleavers which splinter bones

Pigs

These are suspended and are split down the backbone every bit for cattle, merely the head is more often than not left intact (Fig. 94).

Sheep

Sheep and lamb carcasses are generally sold entire. If necessary they can exist split past saw or cleaver, just a saw will probably be necessary for older animals.

Carcass washing

The chief object of carcass washing is to remove visible soiling and blood stains and to improve appearance after spooky (Fig. 51). Washing is no substitute for good hygienic practices during slaughter and dressing since it is likely to spread bacteria rather than reduce total numbers. Stains of gut contents must be cutting off. Wiping cloths must not be used.

Carcass spraying will remove visible dirt and blood stains. Water must be clean. Soiled carcasses should be sprayed immediately after dressing before the soiling material dries, thus minimizing the time for bacterial growth. Nether factory weather bacteria will double in number every 20 or xxx minutes.

In addition to removing stains from the skinned surface, detail attention should exist paid to the internal surface, the sticking wound and the pelvic region.

A wet surface favours bacterial growth so only the minimum amount of h2o should be used and chilling should start immediately. If the cooler is well designed and operating efficiently the carcass surface volition apace dry out, inhibiting bacterial growth.

Bubbling of the subcutaneous fatty is caused past spraying with water at excessively high pressure, which may be due to the pressure in the system or a result of holding the spray nozzle too close to the carcass.

Carcass dressing

The object of carcass dressing is to remove all damaged or contaminated parts and to standardize the presentation of carcasses prior to weighing. Specifications will differ in detail for dissimilar authorities. Veterinary inspection of carcasses and offal can only be carried out past qualified personnel. Where signs of disease or damage are found the entire carcass and offal may be condemned and must not enter the food chain, but more often the veterinary will crave that certain parts, for instance those where abscesses are nowadays, exist removed and destroyed. Manufactory personnel must not remove any diseased parts until they have been seen by the inspector otherwise they may mask a general condition which should consequence in the whole carcass being condemned. Any instructions from the inspector to remove and destroy certain parts must exist obeyed.

REFRIGERATION, HANDLING AND Send OF CARCASSES AND MEAT

Refrigeration of carcasses

Carcasses should get into the cooler equally soon as possible and should be as dry out equally possible. The object of refrigeration is to retard bacterial growth and extend the shelf-life. Spooky meat post-mortem from 40°C down to 0°C and keeping information technology common cold will give a shelf-life of up to iii weeks, provided high standards of hygiene were observed during slaughter and dressing.

Carcasses must be placed in the cooler immediately after weighing. They must hang on rails and never touch the floor (Fig. 52). After several hours the exterior of a carcass will feel absurd to the bear upon, simply the important temperature is that deep inside the carcass. This must be measured with a probe thermometer (not glass), and used as a guide to the efficiency of the cooling.

52. Sheep carcasses in the chill-room, hung on rails clear of the floor and spaced to allow air circulation to speed drying

The rate of cooling at the deepest point will vary according to many factors including the efficiency of the cooler, the load, carcass size and fatness. As a general guide a deep muscle temperature of half-dozen–7° C should be achieved in 28 to 36 hours for beef, 12 to 16 hours for pigs and 24 to xxx hours for sheep carcasses. Failure to bring down the internal temperature chop-chop volition result in rapid multiplication of bacteria deep in the meat resulting in off-odours and bone-taint.

High air speeds are needed for rapid cooling but these volition lead to increased weight losses due to evaporation unless the relative humidity (RH) is also loftier. However, if the air is near to saturation point (100 percent RH) then condensation will occur on the carcass surface, favouring mould and bacteria growth. A compromise between the ii problems seems to be an RH of about ninety percent with an air speed of about 0.5 m/2d. Condensation will besides occur if warm carcasses are put in a cooler partially filled with cold carcasses.

The cooler should not be overloaded across the maximum load specified past the manufacturers and spaces should be left betwixt carcasses for the cold air to circulate. Otherwise cooling will be inefficient and the carcass surface will remain wet, favouring rapid bacterial growth forming slime (see beneath).

In one case filled, a cooler should be closed and the door opened equally little equally possible to avoid sudden rises in temperature. When emptied, it should be thoroughly washed before refilling. Personnel handling carcasses during loading and unloading operations should follow the strictest rules regarding their personal hygiene and wear and should handle carcasses as fiddling as possible.

Marketing of meat under refrigeration

Chilled meat must be kept cold until it is sold or cooked. If the cold concatenation is broken, condensation forms and microbes grow apace. The aforementioned rules most not overloading, leaving space for air circulation, opening doors every bit piffling as possible and observing the highest hygiene standards when handling the meat utilise. An ideal storage temperature for fresh meat is just to a higher place its freezing point, which is about - i°C (- 3°C for bacon because of the presence of salt). The expected storage life given by the International Establish of Refrigeration of diverse types of meat held at these temperatures is every bit follows:

Type of meat	Expected storage life at - one°C
Beefiness	up to 3 weeks (4–5 with strict hygiene)
Veal	1–3 weeks
Lamb	10–15 days
Pork	1–2 weeks
Edible offal	7 days
Rabbit	5 days
Bacon	4 weeks (at - iii°C)

Under commercial atmospheric condition, meat temperatures are rarely kept at - one°C to 0°C, so actual storage times are less than expected. The times would besides be reduced if RH were greater than 90 percent.

Meat should be placed in the fridge immediately post-obit receipt. Any parts which show signs of mould growth or bacterial slime should be trimmed off and destroyed. Hands must be thoroughly done after handling such trimmings and knives must exist sterilized in humid h2o. The fridge should be thoroughly cleaned after finding such meat and should likewise be cleaned on a regular basis.

Carcasses, quarters and large primals should not be cut into smaller portions before it is necessary as this will expose a greater surface expanse for bacteria to grow. Freshly cutting surfaces are moist and provide a improve medium for bacterial growth than the desiccated outer surfaces of cuts that have been stored for some fourth dimension.

An authentic thermometer should be placed in the refrigerator and checked regularly. The temperature should remain within a narrow range (0° to + 1°C).

Transport of meat

Vehicles for transporting meat and carcasses should exist considered as an extension of the refrigerated storage. The object must be to maintain the meat temperature at or near 0°C. Meat should be chilled to 0°C before loading. Meat should hang on rails, not on the floor. If stockinettes are put on carcasses they must be make clean. Meat trucks should not behave anything other than meat.

The refrigeration is usually produced by injecting liquid nitrogen or carbon dioxide (CO₂) into the compartment or past blowing air over CO_two chunks (dry ice). The temperature in these vans can be prepare and controlled to minimize the temperature ascension and to avert condensation on the meat surface (Fig. 53).

Insulated vans without refrigeration may exist refrigerated past adding dry ice. While this is a reasonably good alternative to the refrigerated truck it does not allow the temperature to be controlled.

Uninsulated vans and open trucks should not be considered as suitable transport for meat, specially in hot climates. In addition to the temperature abuse, condensation will occur when the meat goes back into refrigeration, and in open up trucks the meat is exposed to attack from insects. Loading and unloading should be done quickly. If there are any unavoidable delays then dry-ice blocks should exist placed in the partly filled van.

53. Insulated vans with refrigeration units should be used for transporting meat

Carcass and meat handling and marketing without refrigeration

Where refrigeration is unavailable either attributable to financial or technical reasons (due east.grand. no power supply), the shelf-life of meat is reduced to days or hours, not weeks. Slaughter and dressing must exist near the bespeak of auction and information technology must be quick and clean. If carcasses and meat are kept in well-insulated rooms, the temperature can be reduced with dry-ice blocks, if these are bachelor. Since it is easier to chill boneless cuts rather than whole carcasses, hot-boning should be considered.

Stock must exist handled carefully to avoid producing high-pH meat which volition spoil more than quickly. Rooms used for slaughter and handling meat must exist clean and well ventilated, but out of direct sunlight, dust-free and verminfree (rodents and insects). Hot water (82°C) must be bachelor to clean all equipment and surfaces and personnel must work very hygienically. Receive all claret into sealed containers and have dissever skips on wheels for hooves, skins, greenish offal and trimmings.

54. Processing and packing of offal must be done in a room separated from the slaughter hall or other meat-handling facilities

Dressing on a vertical hoist will minimize contamination past flooring or cradle contact. Let nothing drib on the floor, merely into skips. Personal hygiene must be scrupulous. Any spills of gut contents on to the meat should be cutting off, simply careful work will avoid this. The dressed carcass should be hung on rail. If beefiness is quartered to facilitate handling, the cutting surface is at take a chance.

Red offal should be hung on hooks. Any offal processing must exist in rooms away from meat-handling facilities (Fig. 54). Intestines for homo consumption must be thoroughly cleaned and washed.

Storage and transport without refrigeration

Meat should be put on sale within a twenty-four hour period of slaughter. If it has to be held it should be hung in a make clean, well-lit hall with good ventilation. Insects, rodents and birds must be kept out, dust must non blow in. Trays of offal should be on shelves, not on the floor. Barrows for wheeling carcasses and quarters are amend than carrying on shoulders, as they can exist cleaned frequently. All staff must wear clean clothing and discover strict personal hygiene. Transport of non-refrigerated meat is very hazardous. If meat is to exist put in stockinettes and sacks these must be very clean. Meat should be on rails in the truck or wagon, and it is not advisable to acquit it more than a day's journeying earlier sale.