Hot boning is an energy saving tech

Hot boning is an energy saving technique for the meat processing industry. It has received considerable attention in recent years when increased pressure for energy conservation has. accentuated the need for more efficient methods of processing the bovine carcass. Cooling of an 5 entire carcass requires a considerable amount of refrigerated space, since bone and trimmable fat are cooled along with the muscle. It is also necessary to space the carcasses adequately in the refrigerated room for better air movement and prevention of microbial contamination, thus adding to the volume requirements for carcass chillers.

10 Conventional handling of meat involves holding the beef sides in the cooler for 24 to 36 hours before boning. Chilling in the traditional fashion is also associated with a loss of carcass weight ranging from 2% to 4% due to evaporation of moisture from the meat tissue.

15 Early excision, or hot boning, of muscle prerigor followed by vacuum packaging has several potential advantages. By removing only the edible muscle and fat prerigor, refrigeration space and costs are minimized, boning labor is decreased and storage yields increased.

20 Because hot boning often results in toughening of meat, a more recent approach, hot boning following electrical stimulation, has been used to reduce the necessary time of rigor mortis. Some researchers have found this method beneficial in maintaining tender meat, while others have found that the meat also becomes tough after electrical stimulation.