Food crust freezing

Food crust freezing & preservation in King Son Convertible IFP Superchiller: usually 3 to 4 mm thick freezing on the surface of food, above -2℃/28.40℉ for food process

• Crust-freezing is the process of taking a food product to a temperature where a substantial amount of the water in the product is in the form of ice but not all the water has turned to ice.
• Crust freezing: usually 3 to 4 mm thick freezing on the surface of food, above -2℃/28.40℉ for food cut process.  
• Crust-freezing is often used to aid the cutting of foods by making the outside of the product rigid and thus easier to cut. This is fine for some products rapid chilling to a uniform temperature and rigidity throughout is crucial for the yield of high quality undamaged slices in some products.
• Crust Freezing in Canada
  • Rapid chilling methods which temporarily freeze a thin outer layer of skin and muscle (usually 3 to 4 mm thick) may be allowed under the following conditions:
    • the operator must submit to the Inspection in Charge, a written documented protocol for each product, outlining how the product will be identified and segregated into lots, the packaging method, type and temperature of the coolant, the duration of exposure to subfreezing temperatures and the time period and location for the equilibrium of internal and external product temperatures such that an internal temperature is achieved at or below 4℃/39.20℉ (but above -2℃/28.40℉);
    • the surface crusting must disappear within 2.5 hours (150 minutes) of completing the crust freezing process;
    • the process must be monitored, by a designated plant employee, a minimum of every two (2) hours for crust disappearance and internal product temperature;
    • the product must be labelled as either "previously frozen" or "frozen" whenever crust disappearance takes more than 150 minutes; and
    • records demonstrating compliance with all of the above listed requirements must be stored at the establishment for at least one year for each lot of product which is crust frozen.