The average time to reach 20 C in M. semimembranosus was 7 h 20 min, and there was a significant difference between the slaugterhouses ( p < 0 :001; Table 1).The shortest time to cool to 20 C was 5 h 56 min, and the longest 9 h 41 min. The lowest temperatures at 24 h were 4 C and 10 C, and differed significantly between the slaughterhouses ( p < 0 :05). When the temperature was 20 C, the pH of individual muscles varied between 5.46 and 6.05