Spray chilling of deer carcasses—Effects on carcass weight, meat moisture content, purge and microbiological quality

Twenty red deer carcasses were included in the study. Two treatments were applied to the carcasses; control (air chilling) and spray chilling (n = 10 for each treatment). Carcass weight and temperature change were registered during over-night chilling. Meat moisture content was measured in the shoulder, loin, flap and leg before and after the chilling treatments; purge, cooking loss and tenderness were measured in loin samples stored at −1.5 °C for 3 and 9 weeks. Microbiological status was assessed on swabs taken at the lumbar end of the loin before and after the chilling treatments. Spray chilling reduced carcass weight loss significantly; air chilled and spray chilled carcasses lost 1 kg and less than 0.01 kg, respectively. No effects of spray chilling on tenderness, purge and cooking loss were found. Bacterial levels were low in general even after 9 weeks of vacuum packaged chilled storage.