Cold Store Humidity Control for Meat Industry

In the meat business, carcasses are usually hung for a period of time before the meat is cut and further processed. The conditions inside the cold storage facilities in which the carcasses are aged is really important. Temperature is obviously important to enable the meat to develop its flavour over time and to prevent the meat perishing, but so to is the humidity level in the store. Meat that has been stored in conditions which are too humid will become wet and sticky which not only makes it unpleasant to work with but also creates an unnessesary level of waste material, which is time-consuming to separate from the meat. If there is surface wetness on the meat for a prolonged period of time, such as during the maturing process in the cold store, then it can taint the meat and give it a musty flavour. A steady flow of warm fresh carcases into the store inevitably adds to the humidity level of the air in the cold store and left unchecked high humidity levels can be a real issue in cold stores for maturing and for curing meat.