Spray chilling of deer carcasses-Effects on carcass weight, meat moisture content, purge and microbiological quality

Twenty red deer carcasses were included in the study. Two treatments were applied to the carcasses; control (air chilling) and spray chilling (n = 10 for each treatment). Carcass weight and temperature change were registered during over-night chilling. Meat moisture content was measured in the shoulder, loin, flap and leg before and after the chilling treatments; purge, cooking loss and tenderness were measured in loin samples stored at 1.5 degrees C for 3 and 9 weeks. Microbiological status was assessed on swabs taken at the lumbar end of the loin before and after the chilling treatments. Spray chilling reduced carcass weight loss significantly; air chilled and spray chilled carcasses lost 1 kg and less than 0.01 kg, respectively. No effects of spray chilling on tenderness, purge and cooking loss were found. Bacterial levels were low in general even after 9 weeks of vacuum packaged chilled storage. (C) 2010 The American Meat Science Association. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.