Chapter I

INTRODUCTION

Cold Storage is a special kind of room, the temperature of, which is kept very low with

the help of machines and precision instruments. Cold storages are essential for extending the

shelf life, period of marketing, avoiding glut, reducing transport bottlenecks during peak period

of production and maintenance of quality of produce. The development of cold storage industry

has therefore an important role to play in reducing the wastages of the perishable commodities

and thus providing remunerative prices to the growers. Cold storage is the one widely

practiced method for handling of the perishables between production and marketing

processing. It is one of the methods of reserving perishable commodities in fresh and whole

some state for a longer period by controlling temperature and humidity within the storage

system. Maintaining adequately low temperature is critical, as otherwise it will cause chilling

injury to the produce. Also, relative humidity of the storeroom should be kept as high as 80-

90% for most of the perishables, below or above which his detrimental effect on the keeping

quality of the produce.

Air temperature must be maintained in the region of 0°C, unstable temperature

specially dropping below-1oC could freeze the meat because even though the freezing point

of water is 0°C, the freezing point for meat is -2°C.

Air speed can range from 0.25 to 3.0 m/s. However, for economic reasons the most

common speeds in use are from 0.75 to 1.5 m/s in the empty section of the cold chamber.

Air speed has a great impact in the chilling process of poultry meats for the reason that

if the air speed is increased, the cooling process would be reduced but it has a limit as there

is a threshold above which fan-power consumption increases more than the chilling rate and

as a result, the operational cost will also increase. Another factor of air speed is that the greater

the air speed the greater the weight loss.

 Another factor to consider in chilling process is the relative humidity and is the most

difficult factor to control for it is needed to be kept high to prevent excessive weight loss. There

is a recommended rate ranging between 90 to 95 percent.

Chicken is the culinary name for meat from a domestic chicken (gallus gallus

domesticus). It is the most common type of poultry in the world. Since the latter half of the

20th century, prepared chicken has become a staple of fast food Chicken can be prepared in

a vast range of ways, including baking, grilling, barbecuing, frying, and boiling, among many

others, depending on its purpose. Chicken is eaten both freshly cooked and

preserved. Curing extends the shelf life of the chicken products. Chicken nuggets is an

example of preserved chicken. The chicken nugget was invented in the 1950s by Robert C.

Baker, a food science professor at Cornell University, and published as unpatented academic

work. Chicken nuggets have been the subject of food challenges, social media phenomena,

and many more forms of public notoriety.

 CHAPTER II

MANUFACTURING PROCESS

2.1 Process Flow Diagram

The process for storing chicken nuggets begins with the slaughtering of the

chicken from the slaughtering house. Before transporting it to the cold storage plant, it

must undergo processes such as stunning, evisceration, cleaning, then the separation

of the different parts of the chicken and gathering the chicken breast. After grinding the

chicken breast and deboning it, it will be mixed with various ingredients as well as the

chicken skin for consistency and flavour. It will now be formed into various shapes and

partially fried, then frozen before being packed.

Pre-Slaughtering Evisceration Cleaning and

and Slaughtering Chilling
60°C
4°C

Forming and Partial Deboning and

Chilling and Storage
Frying Grinding
-18°C
70°C 60°C
2.2 Manufacturing Process

From the farm to the mouths of the people, this chapter describes the entire

manufacturing process of how chicken nuggets are made. From live chicken to the

crispy, delicious chicken nugget that most of us adore today.

The process starts with the pre-slaughtering of chicken then slaughtering them

humanely. Cleaning and evisceration of the carcass and chilling it. After deboning and

mixing it, although it doesn’t look like a chicken nugget, it is closer than you think. After

shaping, forming, and pre-frying, it is ready to be chilled and delivered to the public.

2.2.1 Pre-Slaughter and Slaughtering

Once birds arrive at the processing plant, workers trained in humane handling

carefully suspend them by their feet on a moving line. In a matter of seconds, the

chickens become calm due to “rub bars,” which provide a comforting sensation on the

chicken’s chest. This, combined with low lighting, is used to keep birds calm.

In modern poultry processing plants, every attempt is made so that chickens are

processed quickly and painlessly. First, they are rendered unconscious and unaware

of pain, prior to slaughter.

There is one primary method of stunning broilers prior to slaughter in the U.S. and

that is “electrical stunning.” It is the predominant method of rendering bird’s

unconscious. There are a limited number of facilities in the U.S. that utilize controlled

atmosphere stunning (CAS) systems for broilers. These systems utilize carbon dioxide

to render birds insensible. Another CAS system utilizes a reduction of atmospheric

pressure to stun birds.

When operating properly, both systems are equally humane as both require

monitoring, proper adjustment and management to ensure they are meeting humane

care standards.
 Technology makes slaughter extremely quick to minimize discomfort. While

making a single cut to the throat of an unconscious bird is largely effective, should the

blade miss for any reason, trained workers stand by to quickly euthanize remaining

birds. Proper maintenance of equipment and this back-up “human” system is key to a

fast and humane slaughter process.

Micro-organism growth is a temperature-dependent process. To avoid it, it is

essential to reduce the temperature of the meat, especially on the surface, immediately

after dressing. Cooling must therefore be carried out in the slaughterhouse itself. This

operation is known as primary chilling which is completed when the warmest point of

the carcass has reached a temperature of about 7°C (3°C for edible offal).

Source: https://www.upc-online.org

Figure 2.2.1: Neck Cutting Process

2.2.2 Evisceration

After slaughter, birds enter a process where their feathers are removed. This

is necessary in order to prepare the bird for processing. This begins by putting the

chicken through a bath of hot water, which is designed to help loosen feathers which

the water reaches 60°C. Feather removal is performed by a machine called a “picker,”

which includes hundreds of little rubber “fingers” that rotate around to remove the

feathers.
 After feathers are removed, the birds are sent to an “eviscerating” line which

removes internal organs and feet, also known as “paws.”

Every single part of the bird is used —for example, chicken feet are considered

a delicacy in Asian countries, and feathers are rendered and used as protein in some

animal feed.

Source: https://chickenchek.in

Figure 2.2.2: Evisceration

2.2.3 Cleaning and Chilling

After the organs are removed, the carcasses are then cleaned before being

inspected. As an added measure to further reduce bacteria, water and an organic rinse

may be applied to each bird. Any substance used for this purpose is closely regulated

by both the USDA and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and has been approved

for use in food production.

Research has confirmed that the use of these rinses does not pose human

health concerns; rather their use does improve the wholesomeness of finished

products. Before this process, which includes chilling the birds to a lower temperature

to keep fresh and clean, company quality assurance and food safety personnel inspect

them once again for quality, food safety and wholesomeness. They follow strict

regulatory and company standards for each bird entering the chilling process.

Stored chilled meat is mainly intended to serve as buffer stock between

production and shipment and/or consumption. During storage, ageing (ripening) of the
 meat also occurs, progressively increasing tenderness and developing taste through

the proteolytic activity of meat enzymes. Ageing depends on temperature and can be

accelerated by increasing it, but for hygienic reasons it is recommended that 4°C be

used with a relative humidity of 85–95 percent. In these conditions ageing takes place

in a few hours for poultry.

2.2.4 Deboning and Grinding

The process of making Chicken Nuggets starts in the deboning department with

whole chickens. The chicken breast meat is gathered while the other chicken cuts are

separated. Workers trim the chicken breasts of fat and send them along an assembly

line and collected into a bin.

The cart of chicken breast meat travels across the factory to the “blending room”

which is essentially a giant chamber that will transport it to the blender. Then the meat

is dumped to the grinder. The mashed-up meat pours out of the grinder and straight to

the blender. Inside the blender, the ground chicken meat is mixed with some

seasonings and chicken skin for flavouring.

Source: https://www.mic.com

Figure 2.2.4: Mixing

2.2.5 Forming and Partial Frying

In the “forming room”, the blended chicken meat is portioned into several

chicken nugget shapes that can range from various shapes, logos, and even the

alphabet. Then the nuggets travel down the assembly line to be covered in a light

batter. After being dipped in the light batter, they are covered in a second, thicker

batter. The chicken nuggets look more like sugar cookies before they are sent into a

fryer.

The nuggets come out of the fryer looking ready to eat, but they have only been

partially cooked. Breaking a partially fried nugget in half can immediately make

someone realize that it is still raw inside. The nuggets will now be frozen and after,

bagged, boxed, and prepared for shipping and are now ready to be served to millions

of people worldwide.

Source: https://www.perdue.com

Figure 2.2.5: Packaged Chicken Nuggets

2.2.6 Chilling and Storage

The partially fried chicken nuggets are now chilled and stored into the cold

storage and are ready to be shipped to stores and restaurants. They will be fully

cooked once ordered but until then, it is kept inside a cold storage for preservation.

How long do cooked chicken nuggets last in the freezer? Properly stored, they

will maintain best quality for 2 to 3 months but will remain safe beyond that time. The

freezer time shown is for best quality only - cooked chicken nuggets that have been

kept constantly frozen at 0°F will keep safe indefinitely for 1 to 2 weeks but for storage

of 1 to 2 months, the temperature should be at least -18 °C.

Source: https://www.indiamart.com

Figure 2.2.6: Chicken Nuggets Cold Storage