cold room for meat, freezer room for meat

Cold room for meat, freezer room for meat (www.coldroomplus.com)

Fresh meat of all kinds needs strict temperature control to ensure maximum longevity as well as meeting food safety requirements. The ideal temperature for storage of vacuum packed fresh meat is -2C, the same as for fish. This equates to OnlyKem Medium temperature units.

But if you intend to hang meat for several days – e.g. to mature it – the temperature needs to be lower, -5C, which will require a different temperature zone to be maintained as part of your cold storage. This -5C temperature is not to be confused with the storage of frozen meat, which needs to be stored at -18C or below.

As well as maintaining the proper temperature, your cold room storage also needs to allow good air circulation around the produce. Lack of air circulation can lead to unintended “warm spots”, especially if the meat was not at the intended temperature when it entered the refrigeration area. This means that you need sufficient storage space so that meat products are not packed in close together. For large joints or carcasses, hanging rails provide the necessary air circulation.

Fresh meat also needs to be kept away from other produce, especially any produce which is not going to be cooked again prior to use, such as chilled foods, salads, vegetables and fruit.

Even if most of your stored meat is frozen, it needs to be thawed out prior to use in a slow, controlled way, both to ensure quality and safety. You will therefore need a meat cold storage area where frozen meat can be safely thawed. A OnlyKem combi cold room could be the perfect way to manage the safe thawing of frozen meat.