Primary chilling of red meat 6.1 Introduction The increased application of temperature legislation in many countries. coupled with economic requirements to maximise throughput, minimise weight loss and operate refrigeration systems in the most efficient manner, has created a very large demand for process design data on all aspects of carcass chilling Concurrently there has been a growing realisation of the importance of chilling rate on meat saleability, in terms of drip potential (see Chapter 2), appearance(see Chapter 4), and eating quality, particu- larly texture(see Chapter 3). EU temperature legislation governs the chilling of beef, pork and lamb for the majority of abattoirs within the community. The only derogations are for very small abattoirs and for retail shops cutting meat for direct sale to the final consumer. The EC legislation does not define a chilling time, only a maximum final meat temperature of 7C before transport or Abattoir management and refrigeration contractors require reliable design data, relating processing variables to chilling time and weight loss, so that they can specify and design carcass cooling systems to meet differ ng requirements To optimise fully such systems, knowledge is also required of the product heat load, and its variation with time, so that the refrigera tion machinery can be sized to achieve the required throughput It is also important that the industry is made aware of a growing number of alternatives to conventional batch air chilling systems. Many of the alter native systems offer significant advantages in terms of increased through- put, lower costs and increased product quality6 Primary chilling of red meat 6.1 Introduction The increased application of temperature legislation in many countries, coupled with economic requirements to maximise throughput, minimise weight loss and operate refrigeration systems in the most efficient manner, has created a very large demand for process design data on all aspects of carcass chilling. Concurrently there has been a growing realisation of the importance of chilling rate on meat saleability, in terms of drip potential (see Chapter 2), appearance (see Chapter 4), and eating quality, particu￾larly texture (see Chapter 3). EU temperature legislation governs the chilling of beef, pork and lamb for the majority of abattoirs within the community. The only derogations are for very small abattoirs and for retail shops cutting meat for direct sale to the final consumer. The EC legislation does not define a chilling time, only a maximum final meat temperature of 7 °C before transport or cutting. Abattoir management and refrigeration contractors require reliable design data, relating processing variables to chilling time and weight loss, so that they can specify and design carcass cooling systems to meet differ￾ing requirements.To optimise fully such systems, knowledge is also required of the product heat load, and its variation with time, so that the refrigera￾tion machinery can be sized to achieve the required throughput. It is also important that the industry is made aware of a growing number of alternatives to conventional batch air chilling systems. Many of the alter￾native systems offer significant advantages in terms of increased through￾put, lower costs and increased product quality