Abstract
Currently, more and more attention is paid to the quality of food products and especially products that are sold in a chilled state. This is due to the fact that these products have a limited shelf life and to a greater extent must retain all quality characteristics. At the same time, refrigeration processes bear the main burden in terms of energy consumption, and therefore directly affect the cost and quality of the product. In this regard, reasonable refrigeration regimes are an integral part of production. This paper presents a study of various ways of cooling chicken meat, with the simulation of various parameters of the process of heat removal in the refrigerator. The studies were carried out on an operating experimental facility at various temperatures and air speeds, both simple air cooling and air-drop cooling were carried out. In the course of the study, the duration and dependences of the temperature of the cooled sample and the drying of the product on the mode of refrigeration were established. As a result of mathematical processing for the most optimal mode, analytical dependences of the shrinkage value of the test sample were obtained. As a result of the research, the most appropriate mode of refrigeration treatment of chicken meat was recommended, which allows to reduce the weight loss of products during the cooling process.