The cold chain: chilling, freezing, deep-freezing, transport, breaks
A clean carcass at 8 am can be dangerous at 2 pm: all it took was leaving it on a table, at 32 °C, while serving customers. Cold is not a comfort for the slaughtered chicken, it is the only barrier that stops microbes from multiplying. This lesson gives the temperatures, durations and actions: how much ice to chill a lot, the difference between freezing and deep-freezing, how to transport without breaking the chain, and what to do when it has broken anyway.
14 min read · 5-question quiz at the end
By Abdul Hussein ChoumanFounder of NEXTEKCI · Agnibilékrou hatchery since 2006Lesson reserved for students following the steps
This lesson is part of Level 12 — From farm to customer: slaughter, eggs, sales. It opens to registered students who have passed the level 11 exam. Levels 1 to 5 and the tracks remain readable by everyone.
What you will learn
- ✓Explain why temperature decides the speed at which microbes multiply and where the danger zone lies
- ✓Chill a lot of carcasses below 4 °C at the core and calculate the ice needed
- ✓Distinguish chilling, freezing and deep-freezing: temperatures, shelf lives, quality
- ✓Transport under cold, keep the temperature log and recognise a break in the cold chain