defrosting technology

GEA Convenience-Food Technologies

Process Expo, Chicago IL, November 2011

Henrik Thrysoe

Defrosting Technology

GEA Convenience-Food TechnologiesHenrik Thrysoe – Toll Free 1800-388-2601 or 214-618-1100

GEA - Defrosting

A controlled process for fast thawing of meat by means of low

pressure steam and indirect heating to reduce defrosting time while

improving food safety, logistics, , shelf life and increasing yield.


Defrosting Application Drivers

1) Food Safety

2) Raw material availability and on-time delivery performance

3) Costs savings

4) Yield gains

5) Environmental (sewage)

6) Consistency in raw material quality

7) Labor involvement


Defrosting/Tempering Solutions in the Market

1) Defrosting in open vats with running water.• Long defrosting time.• Loss of meat juice (2 – 8% yield loss).• Food safety issues.• Drain / sewer issues.

2) Defrosting cabinets with hot air fans.• Long defrosting time.• Loss of meat juice (3 – 6 % yield loss).• Uneven defrosting temperatures.• Low guarantee of food safety.

3) Microwave tunnels with radio frequency waves.• Only suitable for tempering (max. -10 C).• Difficult to defrost uniformly (above 00 C) - product heat spots.• Loss of meat juice (yield loss).

4) Steam & Indirect heating defrosting.• Short, automatically controlled process.• High food safety and traceability.• Low cost of ownership (no yield loss, low operating costs).• High end product quality (bacteria killing process).


Many Challenges with existing process

1) Defrosting rooms / cabinets with hot air fans.• Double handling • Spacers• Labor heavy• Pallet hot surface – cold centers• Protein drip on floor• Rewrapping to prevent meat falling on floor• Microbial issues• 48 hours to 72 hours process time


GEA Defrosting Process

Part 1: Steam Step

Part 1: Steam Step

Part 2: Tempering Step

Part 2: Tempering Step

Part 3: Massage Step

Part 3: Massage Step

Steam supply

Heating

Cooling


Vacuum impact on steam temperature

212 º F 91 º F

= 1.00 bar = 0.05 bar(0 % vacuum) ( 95 % vacuum)


Water at 100 oC / 212 o F contains 418 kJ/kg energy

Steam at 100 oC / 212 o F contains 2.675 kJ/kg energy

Steam at 33 oC contains 2.562 kJ/kg energy

Energy content of cold dry steam


Safety Working Process Zone

65 mbar

50 mbar

37,5o C 98 F

33o C90 F

Product temperature development during processProduct temperature development during process

12,8o C 13,6o C

= Possible steam temperature variation

= Possible steam pressure variation

= Product temperature peaks during process


PLC based defrosting - Total Process Control


Temperatures During Defrosting Process

The graphs show that the product surface temperatures not to exceed 55° F / 12,7°C during the defrosting process, which is well below temperatures where there may be a risk of heat (protein) denaturation and of starting bacterial growth (above 800 F/280C).

The entire process is under 50 mb vacuum (no / micro oxygen atmosphere)

End product temperature typically: 33°F / +0.5 C to 37°F / 2.7°C

Riblets defrosting

-5

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Program steps

Te

mp

in F

are

nh

eit

Surface

Core


GEA Defrosting Range - Poultry

• Whole Chicken

• Chicken / Turkey Wings

• Chicken / Turkey Legs

• Chicken / Turkey Chunks

• Chicken / Turkey Drumsticks

• Chicken / Turkey Breast fillets

• Turkey Tenders **

** Turkey Tenders in > 5kg / 11 lb blocks is not applicable


GEA Defrosting Range - Pork

• Pork Loins

• Pork Bellies

• Pork Middles

• Pork Inside/outside and knuckle

• Pork Riblets

• Pork Flanks

• Pork Necks


GEA Defrosting Range - Beef

• Beef Knuckles

• Beef Hearts

• Beef Liver

• Beef Tongue

• Beef – Various cuts

• Beef Top Rounds


Typical Defrosting Times

• Defrosting time is subject to block size, start temperature, accepted pick-up from steam and end-product specification.

Chicken fillet IQF: 4-5 hours.

Chicken /Turkey fillets in blocks: 6-8 hours.

Chicken / Turkey wings IQF: 4-5 hours.

Chicken / Turkey wings in blocks: 6-8 hours.

Turkey thighs/breasts in blocks: 7-8 hours.

Pork or beef in blocks: 6-9 hours.

• The defrosting time is calculated on basis of max. Filling degree of tumbler (36-38% = about 8,300 lbs / 3,800 kg batch in ScanMidi10).

• The above-mentioned capacities exclude loading and unloading.


GEA Chicken / Turkey Defrosting with Consistent Results

Relevancy:No damage to product / meat fibers

Yield 103%


GEA Defrosting Results

Pork Shank after defrosting Out of the Tumbler

3% steam added


GEA Defrosting with Consistent Results

Pork Insides and Outsides – 3% added steam – Yield = 103

No Damage !No Meat dust !


Beef Skirts for Fajita

No damage to meat

structure


Turkey Thigh Defrosting


Pork bellies for Bacon

Defrosting high fat products (45% - 55%)

• Product: pork bellies,IQF frozen,

• Result• Process time: 6 1/2 hours• Steam addition: 3%• Start temperature: -6,8 °C

End temperature: +4 °C

• Product evaluation:Good, no fat smear on surface

CFS TemperingDefroster Room(left) (right)

End products


Block sizes for defrosting

Chicken Breast2 kg blocks

300 x 250 x 50 mm

Chicken Breast20 kg blocks

540 x 350 x 50 mm

Turkey Breast10 kg blocks

540 x 340 x 50 mm

Pork Riblets10 kg blocks

470 x 280 x 100 mm

Turkey Breast15 kg blocks

550 x 350 x 80 mm

Chicken Inner Wings15 kg blocks

500 x 350 x 100 mm

Turkey Breast - US18 kg blocks

470 x 460 x 100 mm

Deboned Turkey Legs19 kg blocks

490 x 320 x 130 mm


Block size range:

2 – 35 kg

Block sizes for defrosting

Pork Loins20 kg blocks

550 x 350 x 100 mm

Beef cuts (1-10 kg)25 kg blocks

580 x 370 x 130 mm

Pork Silverside25 kg blocks

540 x 340 x 150 mm

Pork Ham Cuts27 kg blocks

580 x 380 x 140 mm

Pork Necks31-35 kg blocks

560 x 340 x 220 mm(average)

Raw materialfor sliced ham35 kg blocks

560 x 360 x 220 mm


GEA Defrost Installation


GEA Defrost Installation GEA Defrost Installation


GEA Defrost In Production

Turkey Breast


Simple Block Feeding / Deboxing

Deboxing and

Frozen block feeding


Multi Purpose Functionality

Tumbling during the

day - Defrosting during the

night !!


GEA Defrosting Sanitation / Food Safety

Total visibility to food zone – No hidden corners or sharp edges !

Relevancy:Easy USDA inspection


Beef Pork TurkeyWeekly Requirement 100,000 100,000 100,000Fresh WIP Costs $/lbFrozen WIP Costs $/lb $2.60 $2.20 $1.50Difference

Fresh Meat Shrink (Yield %)Current Defrost Yield 94.00% 95.00% 95.00%CFS Defrost Yield 96.50% 100.00% 100.00%Difference 2.50% 5.00% 5.00%

Yielded Costs $/lb (Fresh Meat)Yielded Costs $/lb (Current Defrosted) $2.766 $2.316 $1.579Yielded Costs $/lb (CFS Defrosted) $2.694 $2.200 $1.500Difference $0.072 $0.116 $0.079

Batch Size (lb) 8,000 8,000 8,000Days/Week 5 5 5Batches/Week 13 13 13Weekly/Volume 104,000 104,000 104,000Weeks/Year 50 50 50Annual Volume (lb) 5,200,000 5,200,000 5,200,000Total Annual Volume (lb) 15,600,000

Annual Savings - Relative to Fresh MeatAnnual Savings - Relative to Current Defrost$372,616 $602,105 $410,526Current Defrosting Cost - $0.035/lb $182,000 $182,000 $182,000

Cost of Ownership ($92,674) ($92,674) ($92,674)Interest - 8.2% ($66,693) ($66,693) ($66,693)Net Savings $395,248 $624,738 $433,159Total Net Savings $1,453,145Capital Costs $2,440,000ROI 59.6%Payback (years) 1.68

Relative to: Existing Air Defrosting


Beef Pork TurkeyWeekly Requirement 100,000 100,000 100,000Fresh WIP Costs $/lb $2.90 $2.40 $1.75Frozen WIP Costs $/lb $2.60 $2.20 $1.55Difference $0.30 $0.20 $0.20

Fresh Meat Shrink (Yield %) 99.50% 99.50% 99.50%CFS Defrost Yield 96.50% 100.00% 100.00%Difference 3.00% 0.50% 0.50%

Yielded Costs $/lb (Fresh Meat) $2.915 $2.412 $1.759Yielded Costs $/lb (Current Defrosted)Yielded Costs $/lb (CFS Defrosted) $2.694 $2.200 $1.550Difference $0.220 $0.212 $0.209

Batch Size (lb) 8,000 8,000 8,000Days/Week 5 5 5Batches/Week 13 13 13Weekly/Volume 104,000 104,000 104,000Weeks/Year 50 50 50Annual Volume (lb) 5,200,000 5,200,000 5,200,000Total Annual Volume (lb) 15,600,000

Annual Savings - Relative to Fresh Meat $1,145,416 $1,102,714 $1,085,729

Cost of Ownership ($92,674) ($92,674) ($92,674)Interest - 8.2% ($66,693) ($66,693) ($66,693)Net Savings $986,049 $943,346 $926,361Total Net Savings $2,855,755Capital Costs $2,440,000ROI 117.0%Payback (years) 0.85

Relative to: Fresh Meat


Independent Lab Quality Analysis

• ”Silliker BV” Institute for Food Safety & Quality Solutionwas asked to test, fresh material versus defrosted material

• Samples of Chicken Breast were performed according to the form: ”Routine Product Evaluation” from The National Food Laboratory

• Products were evaluated on:Chemical, Microbial and Sensoryaccording to the 5-point scale


Chemical Results

SAMPLE FRESH DEFROSTED

Fat 1.7% 1.5%

Salt 0.83% 0.77%

Moisture 71.5% 71.6%

Protein 25.0% 25.5%

The chemical compounds meet specifications, no difference between the fresh or defrosted meat.


Sensory Results

Sample Initial After Hold

3 hours (65C)

Initial After Hold

3 hours (65C)

Initial After Hold

Sweet 1 1 1 1 1 0

Salty 5 5 4.5 4.5 4.5 5

Sour 0 0 0 0 0 0

Bitter 0 0 0 0 0 0

Fresh Meat Defrosted Meat Specifications


Microbial Results

SAMPLE FRESH DEFROSTED

Total Plate Count/g

(max. 25,000)

240 360

Total Coliforms/g

(max. 100)

<10 <10

The microbial compounds meet specifications – no difference between the two tests.


Product Attribute Summary

Microbial.

• Microbe numbers constant or reduced relative to frozen.

• Safer than water defrosting.

Color/appearance:

• No difference.

Aroma:

• No difference.

Flavor:

• No difference.

Texture:

• Only small difference – Defrosted meat lightly more tender compared to fresh meat.


Sensorial Results - Conclusion

The Sensory evaluation shows only differences where all aspects meet

specifications, also after hold on 65°C


Microbiological results from defrosted Riblets.

Comparing frozen vs. Defrosted surface samples.

CFS defrosting process is a safe bacteriological process that CFS defrosting process is a safe bacteriological process that contributed to a bacterial reduction in the order of up to log 2 .contributed to a bacterial reduction in the order of up to log 2 .

Bacterial Reduction During CFS Defrosting

0

50,000

100,000

150,000

200,000

250,000

300,000

350,000

400,000

Surface,Frozen

Surface,Defrosted

Bac

teri

a P

er G

ram

Microbial Investigation 1


Microbial Investigation 2

Microbiological results from defrosted Pork Muscles. Comparing surface microbes on CFS vs. air defrosted pork.

CFS defrosting process is a safe bacteriological process that CFS defrosting process is a safe bacteriological process that compares favourably to air defrosted meat.compares favourably to air defrosted meat.

Surface Microbes After Defrosting

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

40,000

45,000

50,000

CFS CFS Air Defrost

CF

U's

CFS

CFS

Air Defrost


Microbial development – Test


Microbial development = Zero


GEA Convenience-Food Technologies - Microbial Safety Statement

Validation on microbial safety at customers and by local authorities has shown that GEA defrosting process is considered safe and even better compared to existing approved defrosting processes.

CFS process has no microbial growth !!!

defrosting technology

Documents

temperature of steam

steam process

warm steam

energy content of steam

low temperature

lower temperature

low pressure steamtempering

raw material costs