ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the mechanisms of beef carcass cooling processes and the associated challenges in terms of cooling efficiency and beef carcass quality. The use of computational fluid dynamic modeling techniques to understand the heat and mass transfer phenomena and to improve the carcass cooling process at industrial scale is discussed. During cold air cooling of beef carcass, heat is transferred from the carcass to the cooling air by convection, evaporation and radiation. The chapter discusses the heat and mass transfer mechanisms at the surface and inside the beef carcass. Chilling of freshly harvested beef carcasses is essential not only for food safety but also to maintain the required meat quality. The commonly used methods for chilling of beef carcasses are: cold air cooling, spray cooling, vascular perfusion cooling, and cooling enhanced by hot boning. Most prediction studies assumed the carcass as homogenous material and average thermophysical properties are calculated from the values and mass fraction of the individual components.
