Hey,
We are looking to introduce a freeze, thaw process in our cooked meat and vinegar line of an existing ready to eat product. From a food safety/micro perspective the original aim was to thaw using refrigerated storage <0 farenheit at no longer than 2 days storage before product is moved into the vinegar process step.
However at 2 days thawing under refrigerated conditions we are seeing large ice content/incomplete thawing of the meat. Proceeding into the vinegar process step would then act to increase our vinegar pH (CCP) and has implications on product quality due to the meat continuing to thaw after vinegar addition. My understanding is as long as temperature is to be maintained outside the danger zone (which it is) during thawing we could essentially thaw for as long as required to achieve complete thawing? Obviously the aim will be to minimise the duration of the thawing step but currently we are finding it takes approximately 4 days to thoroughly thaw the meat under refrig conditions. I am essentially looking for a bit of guidance here as to the best way of doing this and the risks of thawing for up to 4 days under refrigerated conditions (which appear minimal) - thawing in water is not an option due to difficulty we would have in monitoring the water temperature.