Immersion chilling of hot cut, vacuum packed pork primals

Hot-cutting and immersion chilling of pork was compared with a conventional air chilling process. The right sides of eight pig carcasses were cut into primals whilst hot, vacuum packed and chilled in sodium chloride brine at 0°C, whilst the left sides were chilled conventionally in air at 0°C and 1 m/s, before being similarly cut and vacuum packed. The primals from both treatments were then stored in air at 0°C for either 24h or 15 days post mortem. The immersion process achieved an average saving in weight loss of 1·9% after both storage periods, and took between 2·5 and 3·5 h less than the conventional process to reduce meat temperatures to 7°C. It did, however, produce significantly tougher meat after 24 h, although not after 15 days. Sensory evaluation of odour and appearance suggested a reduced shelf-life and a darker meat coloration for immersion chilled pork.