Experiments on Freeze Drying of Meat

Investigations of the freeze drying of precooked meat were carried out to standardize conditions of drying, namely tray loading and surface temperature and compare the contact and radiant methods of heat transfer. Freeze dried mutton of satisfactory quality was obtained by arranging cooked meat on trays at the rate of 9.76 kg/m/sup 2/ and dehydrating it by contact heat at a surface temperature of 50 degree centigrade. When the material is arranged in double layers, with an aluminium mesh insert in between and a total loading density of 18.3 kg/m/ sup 2/ tray surface, time for dehydration increases, but not proportionately with the loading density. The radiant method of heat transfer yields a better product, with reduction in dehydration time as compared to the contact method of heat transfer