Meat Ageing Coldroom

[doormaster2008]

Has anybody had any experiance with meat ageing rooms. I have to work out what equipment i need for a room 3mtrs x 1.7mtrs x 2mtrs high. Polyeurothane panels with a concrete floor. Sales engineers seem to shy away from sizing equipment in case it does'nt work. Any ideas.

[cadwaladr]

Quick answer is no,but I looked up(what does meat aging mean) on Google and there are some interesting answers on there?.

[hookster]

Has anybody had any experiance with meat ageing rooms. I have to work out what equipment i need for a room 3mtrs x 1.7mtrs x 2mtrs high. Polyeurothane panels with a concrete floor. Sales engineers seem to shy away from sizing equipment in case it does'nt work. Any ideas.

That is because we have a mass of 'sales engineers' who can only select AC from published data with no idea!

Is this for a commercial application? What is your design Kg throughput in product load (Meat). Without this it's impossible to select.

You need to select your equipment to hold room at 0 - 4 degC, Set point at 2 DegC with a diff on 1 DegC. The RH on selection of your Evaporator should be aimed at 70 - 80 % RH (optimal 78%). Over size your fans from standard evaporator selections as you want continuous full air flow across the meat at all times 0.5 - 2 m/s. Evaporator should be full stainless steel. I like to select my equipment with high evaporation temperatures to minimise cold draft affecting enzyme action on the meat being affected.

For a commercial application you need to consider adding humidity control via humidifier and fresh air make up with filtration to reduce yield loss and UV sterilisation. Key is temperature band RH 2 DegC & 78% RH. Achieve that and your client will be pleased, fail and their yeild loss is too great to be profitable business (Dry aging is an expensive meat production process)

[chemi-cool]

I would suggest to use a double discharge evaporator with low air blow so that cool air will not blow straight on the meat. It will make it dry.

[doormaster2008]

That is because we have a mass of 'sales engineers' who can only select AC from published data with no idea!

Is this for a commercial application? What is your design Kg throughput in product load (Meat). Without this it's impossible to select.

You need to select your equipment to hold room at 0 - 4 degC, Set point at 2 DegC with a diff on 1 DegC. The RH on selection of your Evaporator should be aimed at 70 - 80 % RH (optimal 78%). Over size your fans from standard evaporator selections as you want continuous full air flow across the meat at all times 0.5 - 2 m/s. Evaporator should be full stainless steel. I like to select my equipment with high evaporation temperatures to minimise cold draft affecting enzyme action on the meat being affected.

For a commercial application you need to consider adding humidity control via humidifier and fresh air make up with filtration to reduce yield loss and UV sterilisation. Key is temperature band RH 2 DegC & 78% RH. Achieve that and your client will be pleased, fail and their yeild loss is too great to be profitable business (Dry aging is an expensive meat production process)
Hi Hookster. Its a local butcher who will be hanging 2 sides of beef which will be in for about 4 weeks. There will be a u v light and himalayan salt blocks. The main concern is the humidity which is scaring the sales engineers off because they dont know how to keep it up to 78%.

[chemi-cool]

Put a small humidifier in the room.

[doormaster2008]

Would you use an oversize or undersized evaporator

[chemi-cool]

Would you use an oversize or undersized evaporator

I dont see any reason, get a slower speed fans.

[charlie patt]

You need a temp range from plus two to plus 18 depending on type of meat
Humidity control either dryer or steam pot usually around 70 to 80 rh
Some require a fresh air input
I've nevery needed one that requires heat
Then you need a program that ramps the temp down over days ie two days at 18 two days at 16 two days at 14 etc etc it depends on bacteria required on product
Your kws depends on load really kilo of weight and time ta charlie

[hookster]

Hi Hookster. Its a local butcher who will be hanging 2 sides of beef which will be in for about 4 weeks. There will be a u v light and himalayan salt blocks. The main concern is the humidity which is scaring the sales engineers off because they dont know how to keep it up to 78%.

You will want to oversize the evaporator to raise your suction temperature, TD is the crucial design factor to maintain your RH. The smaller the difference in temperature between the evaporator surface and the room, the higher the relative humidity in the chamber. Design and set up system for 8 - 9 K TD and your chamber RH will be 80 - 76 % RH. You will not need any additional humidity control on this small chamber.

Salt walls are the trendy thing at the moment but it is just BS in my book. but at least it keeps the salt cutters in the Punjab employed!

[doormaster2008]

Thanks hookster. That is very helpful.the sales engineer said smaller cooler but that will reduce suction pressure and rh