Conventional air defrosting was performed on a laboratory scale
using a programmable Binder incubator (400 Â 400 Â 330 mm)
(Model No. KB 53, Binder GmbH, D-78502 Tuttlingen, Germany).
The time temperature profile used for conventional defrosting
was developed based on data supplied from industry contacts,
tempering was achieved in 8 h 30 min while thawing needed
50 h 20 min. To represent industry practice, a programme consisting of 20 stages each of different duration and temperature was
developed (Fig. 3). The only difference between tempering and
thawing was expressed in the last stage where temperature of
+5 °C was held for 3 h 50 min (tempering) and 45 h (thawing). Individual meat boxes were placed inside the incubator to ensure optimum distribution of air-flow around the product.