FUNDAMENTALS OF FOOD TECHNOLOGY -
Lecture 5: Refrigeration and Freezing
Introduction
-Storage at low temperatures extends the shelf life
of many foods.
-The use of low temperatures to preserve foods is
based on the fact that the activities of food borne
microorganisms can be slowed at temperatures
above freezing and generally stopped at
subfreezing temperatures.
Refrigeration
-Molecular mobility is depressed and consequently
chemical reactions and biological processes are
slowed down at low temperature
-Does not destroy microorganisms or enzymes but
merely depresses their activity.
● Refrigeration retards spoilage but it cannot
improve the initial quality of the product.
● Refrigerated and even frozen foods have a
definite 'shelf life', the length of which
depends on the storage temperature
● The preserving action of cold exists only as
long as low temperature is maintained.
Traditional Refrigerated Foods
● Fresh foods (unprocessed), fruits and
vegetables, (fresh meats, poultry, fish)
● Processed foods: doughs, minimally
processed vegetables
● Refrigerated foods containing fruits and
vegetables: entrees, dinners, salads.
(Pasteurized dairy products cured meats)
Advantages of Refrigeration
1. There is very little change in flavor, color,
texture or shape.
2. Fresh foods can be kept at maximum quality
for a longer time.
3. The consumer can be offered a much larger
range of fresh and convenient foods.
4. Nutrients are not destroyed.
Requirements of Food Refrigeration
● Refrigeration/Cool storage of foods falls
between -2C to 16°C.
● A drop of 10°C slows down rate of
senescence by 2 to 3 times and microbial
growth by 3 to 6 times.
● Refrigeration temperatures inhibit the
growth of most disease-causing
microorganisms but can favor the
psychrotrophic microorganisms.
● Refrigeration storage of foods can not
improve the quality of a food item that is low
of quality when placed into cold storage.
What are the optimal conditions for refrigerated
storage of foods?
● During refrigerated storage of foods,
maintenance of controlled temperatures are
very important to ensure maximum storage
life of the foods and to prevent chill injury to
certain foods, especially some fruits and
vegetables
● Humidity and gas atmosphere composition
must be maintained to prevent dehydration
of the food while avoiding creation of
conditions that are so humid that mold
growth and food spoilage are favored.
● A controlled atmosphere refers to a
condition in which the atmosphere
surrounding a food product is different from
that of the normal atmosphere.
● Modified atmosphere refers to the creation
of atmospheric conditions around the
product that are different from the normal
atmosphere.
● Vacuum packaged processed or cured
meats are another example of MAP, except
in this case once the vacuum is applied the
product is packaged, there is no
backflushing with a gas mixture prior to
sealing the package. These products have a
much longer storage life than those stored
in air.
Changes in Food During Refrigerated Storage
● Staling of bread
● Loss of crispness in fruits and vegetables
● Change in colour of fresh meat
● Loss of flavour and nutrient value (e.g.
vitamins)
● Oxidative changes
● Drip or syneresis from fish
FREEZING
- Freezing changes the physical state of a
substance by changing water into ice when energy
is removed in the form of cooling below freezing
temperature. Usually, the temperature is further
reduced to storage level.
- Freezing provides a longer shelf life of food. It is
carried out at temperatures well below 0°C. In fact,
commercial freezing requires a minimum of -18°C.
Household freezers only reach temperatures of -12
to -14°C
- The basis for preservation by freezing/frozen
storage is that freezing permits longer term storage
than refrigerated storage due to:
● Lower temperatures used (temperatures
below -9.5c)
● Lower water activity (freezing the "free"
water present)
● Both factors slow down chemical and
enzymatic reactions as well as microbial
growth
Effect of Freezing on Food
● Low temperatures do not significantly affect
the nutritional value of food.
● Some flavors become weaker and some
become stronger when food is frozen.
Advantages of Freezing
● Many foods can be frozen.
● Natural color, flavor, and nutritive value
retained.
Crystal Gail M. Tangzo _BSND 2202
 ● Texture usually better
● Foods can be frozen in less time than they
can be dried or canned.
● Simple procedures.
Disadvantages of Freezing
● Texture of some foods is undesirable
● Initial investment and cost of maintaining
freezer is high.
● Storage space limited by capacity of freezer.
Major Groups of Commercially Frozen Foods
● Fruits either whole or pureed, or as juice
concentrates
● Vegetables
● Fish fillets and sea foods
● Meats as carcasses, boxed joints or cubes,
and meat products
● Baked goods
● Prepared foods
Freezing Methods
a. Air Freezing
1. Air blast freezer
2. Fluidized-bed freezer (IQF)
b. Indirect Contact Freezing
1. Single plate
2. Double plate
3. Pressure plate
4. Slush freezer
c. Immersion and Cryogenic Freezing
1. Heat exchange fluid
2. Compressed gas
3. Refrigerant spray
Air Freezing
1. Air blast freezing is a moderately fast
freeze because of vigorous circulation of
cold air.
- The product is placed on trays or
mesh belts and passed slowly
through an insulated tunnel.
- In different systems the temperature
may range from -18°C to 34°C, with
an air velocity of 100-3500 lineal feet
per minute, with a counter current air
flow.
2. Fluidized-bed Freezer (Individually Quick
Frozen)
- Solid particles ranging in size from
peas to strawberries are being
exposed through a movement of the
cold air (-18C to -34°C) at high
velocity as they pass along a
conveyor belt.
- The cold air being forced upward
through the bed lifts and suspends
the food particles, thus fluidization
occurs.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Air blast
freezing; Fluidize-bed freezing (IQF)
Advantages
● Economical
● Can freeze various sizes and shapes of
food
● IQF has more efficient heat transfer,
increased rate of freezing
Disadvantages
● Possible excess dehydration
● Undesirable bulging of the packages may
occur
● Non-uniform products can not be fluidized
easily
Indirect Contact Freezers
- Food is placed on belts or trays and a
refrigerant circulates through a wall beside
the food. As the food comes into "contact"
with the cold wall, it quickly cools down and
freezes.
- During plate freezing food products are
placed in contact with a metal surface which
is cooled by a cold brine, or a vaporizer
refrigerant such as ammonia
- The slush freezers or scraped surface heat
exchangers. These freezers can be used
only for fluid food products.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Indirect
Contact Freezing
Advantages:
● Economical
● Minimal dehydration
● Minimal package bulging
Disadvantages:
● Slow freezing process
● Products must be of uniform thickness
Immersion and Cryogenic Freezing
1. Immersion freezing involves the immersion
of packaged or unpackaged food products
directly in a non-toxic refrigerant fluid.
2. Cryogenic freezing is accomplished with
cryogenic liquids, with liquid nitrogen being
the most commonly used. This is a very
rapid freezing method in which un-packaged
or thinly packaged foods are exposed to
extremely cold freezant.
- Liquid nitrogen cryogenic
freezing: The product is first placed
on conveyor belt and is moved into
the pre-cooling part of the freezing
unit The food is allowed to
equilibrate to the desired final
temperature (between -18°C to
-30°C).
Advantages and Disadvantages of Immersion/
Cryogenic Freezing
Advantages:
● Rapid freezing process
● Almost no dehydration
● Oxygen is excluded
● Less freezing damage
Disadvantages:
● Difficult to find suitable freezants
● Cost of operating is high
Crystal Gail M. Tangzo _BSND 2202
Types of Freezing Equipment
Two principal groups:
1. Those integrated into the processing line for
continual flow.
Selection and Preparation of Foods for Freezing
2. Those operating in batches.
Depending on the heat-transfer method, freezing
equipment can also be classified into three main
groups:
● Air-Blast Freezers- Simply use moving,
Freezing of Vegetables
frigid air to cool the food.
● Contact Freezers - Conduction is the main
method of heat transfer in contact freezers.
● Cryogenic Freezers - This technology uses
liquefied gases
Air-Blast Freezers
● Sharp Freezers -Also known as blast
rooms, sharp freezers are cold storage
rooms. There usually isn't any forced
Freezing of Fruits
airflow, resulting in a slow freezing rate.
● Tunnel Freezers - Refrigerated air is
circulated over the product that's placed on
trays or special spacers.
● Belt Freezers - Single-, multi-, or spiral-belt
freezer systems typically use a vertical
airflow, forcing cold air through a product
layer that's evenly distributed over the entire
belt area.
● Fluidized-Bed Freezers - Fluidization
occurs when individual food particles of
relatively uniform shapes and size (i.e.,
peas) are subject to an upward airstream.
Contact Freezers
● Immersion Freezers - These consist of a
tank of a cooling solution, such as salt,
sugar, or alcohol and water.
● Plate Freezers - Either vertical or
horizontal, manual or automatic, plate
freezers sandwich the product between two
metal plates for rapid heat transfer.
● Freezers -These are used to freeze thin
product layers.
Cryogenic Freezers
● Require a cryogenic fluid, either liquid
nitrogen or carbon dioxide, to achieve quick,
low-temperature freezing used as a pre
freezer for quick crust freezing for wet,
sticky, or otherwise sensitive products that
can then be handled by either airflow or
contact freezers.
Home Freezing Equipment
● Upright Freezers: These appliances have
the same general shape and appearance as
home refrigerators. They have one or two
outside doors and from three to seven
shelves for storing food.
● Chest Freezers: Freezers of this type
require more floor area than the uprights but
are more economical to buy and operate.
These freezers lose less cold air each time
they're opened.
● Refrigerator-Freezer Combination: This is
a single appliance with one or two doors. It
has one compartment for frozen foods and
another for refrigerated foods.
● Choose Freezer-Friendly Foods
● Chill
● Store
● Freeze Quickly
● Prepare the produce
● Blanch
● Dip the vegetables in a bowl of ice water
● Drain the water and pat dry.
● Take out a freezer-safe container or baking
sheet.
● Once frozen, pack them into freezer bags or
use a vacuum sealer
● Wash and sort fruit carefully. Discard poor
quality fruit or use for another purpose.
● Prepare fruit as you will use it when you
remove it from the freezer.
● Fruits that tend to brown should use an
anti-browning treatment.
● Use dry sugar, or sugar syrup:
1. Dissolve sugar needed in cold water.
2. Stir.
3. Allow to stand until sugar is
completely dissolved. Do not heat.
4. You may hold sugar syrup 2 days in
the refrigerator.
5. If you are preparing a sugarless
pack of fruit that browns, be sure to
treat with ascorbic acid or other
anti-browning agents.
● Pack into plastic freezer bags, freezer
containers or freezer jars.
1. Allow %-inch headspace for
expansion.
2. Pack fruit, such as peaches which
darken easily, in rigid containers and
cover with syrup.
3. Place crumpled wax paper between
lid and fruit to help prevent
browning.
● Preventing Discoloration:
1. Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C) is
effective in preventing discoloration
in most fruits. It adds nutritive value
as well. Leaving fruit in this solution
for two minutes will prevent
discoloration.
- In Syrup or Liquid Packs -
Add powdered or crushed
ascorbic acid to cold syrup
shortly before using. Stir it in
gently so you do not stir in
air. Keep syrup refrigerated.
- In Sugar or Dry Packs -
Dissolve the ascorbic acid in
two to three tablespoons of
cold water and sprinkle
Crystal Gail M. Tangzo _BSND 2202
 dissolved ascorbic acid over - Vegetables and fruits can be cooked without
fruit just before adding sugar. thawing. Thawing meat before cooking generally
2. Lemon Juice - is sometimes used in produces a product that receives uniform heating.
place of ascorbic acid; however,
- When thawing food in the microwave, cook
lemon juice has little anti-darkening
immediately
effect unless used undiluted and can
mask natural fruit flavors. - Do not thaw food at room temperature.
Changes during Freezing - Discard any thawed food that reached room
temperature and remained there two hours or
A. Chemical Changes
more.
● Enzymes cause loss of color, flavor
changes and nutrient loss
● Blanch vegetables to inactivate enzymes
● Add ascorbic acid to fruit to control enzymes
● Limit air during freezing
B. Textural changes during freezing
- Fruits and vegetables that are much softer
when frozen and thawed
- When the water freezes, it expands and the
ice crystals cause the cell walls to rupture.
Consequently, the texture of the produce,
when thawed, will be much softer than it
was when raw. This textural difference is
especially noticeable in products which are
usually consumed raw.
C. Changes caused by fluctuating temperature
- Fluctuating temperatures in the freezer can
cause the migration of water vapor from the
product to the surface of the container. This
defect is sometimes found in commercially
frozen foods which have been improperly
handled.
D. Moisture loss
- Moisture loss, or ice crystals evaporating
from the surface area of a product,
produces freezer burn - a grainy, brownish
spot where the tissues become dry and
tough.
E. Microbial growth in the freezer
- The freezing process doesn't actually
destroy the microorganisms which may be
present on fruits and vegetables. While
blanching destroys some microorganisms
and there is a gradual decline in the number
of these microorganisms during freezer
storage, sufficient populations are still
present to multiply and cause spoilage of
the product when it thaws.
F. Nutrient value of frozen foods
- Freezing, when properly done, is the
method of food preservation which may
potentially preserve the greatest quantity of
nutrients.
Thawing of Frozen Products
The recommended ways to thaw foods are:
● Placing package in the refrigerator
● Putting package in cold water in a
waterproof wrapping
● Using microwave oven
Crystal Gail M. Tangzo _BSND 2202