Prerigor Versus Chilled Boning of Beef Carcass Sides on the Rail: Measurement of Time, Effort, Yield, and Space Requirements

Abstract

Twenty-four mixed-breed heifers were slaughtered in groups of four. Their slaughter ages were from 18 to 20 months and the hot carcass weights ranged from 218 to 277 kg. A time study of on-the-rail boning of prerigor “hot” and chilled sides showed that chilled sides required 30% more time to process. Boning of chilled sides was more difficult and demanded about 49% more effort than the boning of hot sides. The yield of boneless meat was 0.51% greater when removed hot than the boneless meat removed after 24 h in a 0°C cooler. The shrink and cutting loss for chilled-boned sides was 2.46% with 2.19% shrink during overnight storage in the chill cooler and 0.27% cutting loss. It is suggested that hot-boned meat be transferred to further processing immediately or rapidly chilled to below 8°C to maintain the microbiological integrity. The space requirements for storing carcasses and boxed meat is 81% less when the conventional cold-boning process is replaced by the accelerated hot-boning process.