Tips to keep meat fresh on cold days

Meat can be stored at 0 - 2 degrees Celsius for a maximum of 30 days for beef, depending on the number of microorganisms present in the meat, temperature, and relative humidity.

To help people preserve meat for Tet, the Food Safety Department (Ministry of Health) has provided detailed instructions. There are many popular methods of preserving fresh meat as follows:

+ No chemicals used: Drying, salt treatment, refrigeration, heat treatment, radiation and ionization.

+ Preservation by chemicals such as: Adding CO₂, adding biocides or other chemicals. This method is very limited by the laws of each country. Natural chemical preservation such as smoking plays an important role and is widely used.

+ The method of using low temperature for preservation is the most popular. In the method of using low temperature, people use refrigeration more than freezing.

Using low temperature for preservation is the most common method.

Cooling method

According to experts, fresh meat for sale in the EU must be cooled immediately in a cold room after inspection and kept at a constant temperature of <7 degrees Celsius for carcasses and cuts, and 3 degrees Celsius for offal. Except for meat for immediate distribution, a temperature of 7 degrees Celsius is too high to maintain good meat quality. This temperature is also the maximum applicable temperature for transport.

The storage time of meat at a temperature of 0-2 degrees Celsius for a maximum of 30 days for beef depends on the number of microorganisms present in the meat, temperature, and relative humidity. For example, for beef <5 degrees Celsius, the air velocity <1m . in the first 24 hours of cooling the beef carcass; about 1-2 weeks for pork, goat and lamb with a shorter time than beef.

Chilled meats are hung on tin-plated iron hooks, hung at least 0.6 m from the wall, and kept at least 0.9 m from the cold air duct. The rails used to hang beef must be at least 3.3 m high from the floor; 2.7 m for decapitated pork. Humidity in the chilled warehouse is kept at 81-92% to prevent meat from shrinking due to dryness, causing weight loss.

Freezing method

Processed meat is often stored frozen at various temperatures.

According to the regulations: for 1/4 of the beef counters accepted for freezing, this counter has a temperature of <7 degrees Celsius and is then frozen within 36 hours. The internal temperature is lower than minus 7 degrees Celsius. Store frozen at <- 17 degrees Celsius. For the pork counter, the temperature before freezing is 4 degrees Celsius, freeze at - 30 degrees Celsius until the counter reaches <-15 degrees Celsius. Finally, store frozen at - 20 degrees Celsius.

There are also many types of plate-type quick freezing at -35 degrees Celsius, air velocity of about 3-5m/s with a time of 10 hours. This method keeps meat for a longer time than the refrigeration method. Suitable for transporting meat by ship or needing to preserve meat in large quantities and for a long time.

According to SK&DS