Relation between loss of fluid from thawing chicken carcasses and uptake of water during processing

Synopsis The fluid which is released from frozen eviscerated chicken carcasses during thawing has been studied. Variation has been observed in the amounts of fluid lost by different carcasses thawed under standardised conditions and this has not been adequately‐explained by variations in pre‐slaughter treatment (a long or a short journey between farm and factory) or by variations in processing after slaughter (long or short cuts before evisceration, mechanical or static water chilling or, in static chilling, different ratios of ice: water: chicken). A preliminary study of the composition of the exudate formed during thawing and subsequent holding at 1° C. has indicated a progressive increase in the amounts of blood pigment, total nitrogen and total solids during a period of 6 days. Under similar conditions the amounts of blood pigments and solids were greater in the exudate from carcasses that had not been chilled before freezing. When comparable carcasses were thawed at ambient temperatures between 1° C. and 30° C., the times for the temperature of the deep muscle to rise from ‐20° to + 1° C. ranged from 96 hr to 4 hr and the corresponding amounts of fluid lost were 2.91 and 1.25 per cent of the frozen wrapped weight.