Families put the frozen turkey into a sink full of water to thaw it quickly, and that works like a charm in the home arena. However, most families don’t need to thaw 4,400 pounds of frozen turkey (no matter how much breast meat dad can pound down at Thanksgiving).
In an industrial setting, speed is king when defrosting whole-muscle meats, and superior product integrity rules the land. That’s why our Challenge RMF industrial microwave thawing system sits squarely on the throne of productivity and yield management.
Using adjustable microwave energy in combination with our patented Meat-on-Meat Massage™ technology, our microwave thawing system helps your processing plant efficiently up-temper deeply frozen products.
Whether the next step for your product involves chilled processing, flavor and yield enhancement in our massager/marinater, or a straight shot to a cooking unit—our commercial thawing equipment increases your thawing speed while reducing payroll hours.
Call us to discuss your thawing and defrosting challenges. At Challenge RMF, our team offers decades of experience in solving processing-line issues with customized equipment and expert installation. We have some cool ideas for defrosting systems that can get your processing started in a quarter of the time steam thawing requires.
Read our blog to understand more about this hot topic.
How Commercial Microwave Thawing Works
Microwave energy doesn’t actually “cook” meat. Water molecules present in the meat absorb the microwave energy, which causes them to vibrate. This vibration generates heat that transfers to the surrounding tissues, raising the temperature throughout the muscle.
Microwave energy penetrates the food, generating heat throughout and allowing for more even thawing compared to methods that heat from the surface inward.
That being said, one problem with microwave heating, from conventional home products to industrial lines, is the microwave “hot spot.”
You’ve probably experienced this issue at home. You heat leftovers, and one bite is still refrigerator-cold while the next resembles molten lava. Concentrated microwaves cause this issue.
Microwaves Can Bounce in the Same Direction
As the waves of energy disperse inside the microwave oven, they bounce off surfaces until the water molecules in the food products absorb them.
Sometimes those microwaves cross in a specific spot, and when food sits in that area, the water heats up more quickly in that part of the product. Or, the waves can converge and “double” their strength in a specific area. It’s a fact of life inside a microwave heating machine.
Challenge RMF addresses hot spots with our Meat-on-Meat Massage™ technology.
Fast Industrial Defrosting Without Loss
Industrial microwave thawing systems should rapidly and evenly thaw frozen meats and large-muscle items. To do this without the thermal damage and loss caused by hot spots, Challenge RMF’s microwave thawing system uses the same principle of internal action as our massager/marinater.
As the microwaves heat the water in the muscle tissue, the unique design of our thawing system’s helical flights gently moves the frozen product along a precise, curved path.
This constant meat-on-meat motion not only keeps product from lingering in any hot spots, it also allows heat to migrate between the thawing pieces as well as inside each piece. Thermal distribution occurs more evenly as the muscles cycle through the drum.
Eliminating Drip Loss
Another concern in the thawing process involves drip loss, which occurs as the meat thaws and ice within and outside the tissue melts. The Meat-on-Meat Massage™ technology inside our industrial microwave thawing system helps the system deliver faster and more uniform thawing to minimize moisture drip.
This massaging action also reincorporates any expelled moisture via a repeated process of compression and relaxation.
The natural weight of the meat creates pressure on the lower layers as the helical flights roll the meat over and move it along the flights. That pressure eases as those layers rotate to the top of the load.
As the meat approaches your prime thawing temperature, this controlled compression and relaxation of fibers leaves the whole muscle intact, with softened connective tissue for a more tender, unbroken, and cohesive final product. By minimizing damage to the food structure caused by slow or uneven thawing, microwave thawing can help maintain the original flavor, color, and texture of the product.
Not only do you keep your yield, you improve your product.
Rapid, Uniform Heating Also Reduces Microbial Growth
When batch thawing whole muscle meats, the Challenge RMF microwave thawing system significantly reduces thawing times. This rapid process reduces the time product spends in the “danger zone” temperature range (between 40°F and 140°F). where bacteria multiply most rapidly.
I Came, I Thaw, I Conquered with Challenge RMF
Our microwave thawing equipment comes custom-engineered to suit your specific processing line applications. The design behind each piece, along with our stringent manufacturing protocols, ensures reliability and efficiency starting the first day on the line.
Inside our drum, frozen blocks (0°F) begin to separate after about an hour. As the muscle temperatures approach the latent zone (approximately 36°F), the system’s program controls slowly increase RPM while reducing microwave power.
When the product defrosts and ice crystals turn to water, the thermal processor goes into equilibration mode. In minutes you achieve even product temperature throughout the muscle tissue, getting product from frozen block to process-ready with maximum efficiency.
Meat processing companies use the Challenge RMF microwave thawing system to thaw frozen raw materials, and in some cases it can even be utilized for cooking applications.
Impressive Thaw Rates
With Challenge RMF in your processing line, you can achieve thaw rates that take as little as 25% of the time required by steam injection systems. You can more efficiently:
- Schedule frozen product inventory.
- Reclaim costly refrigerated space.
- Reduce maintenance costs and work hours.
- Efficiently manage energy usage.
Challenge RMF’s industrial microwave thawing system can bring 4,400 lbs. (2,000 kg) of large-muscle beef or ham from 0°F to a 33 to 37°F range in about 2 hours. We accomplish this feat with no purge and no product damage.
If you were using a tumbler with steam injection, you would need about 4 systems going at once to match the Challenge RMF output.
The Right Features for Meat Processing
Some more features you’ll discover include:
- Unique, patented rotating and folding action for uniform thawing and cooking.
- Practically zero product degradation.
- Heavy-duty stainless steel plate construction for increased performance longevity.
- Precision seam welding for faster and easier cleanup sanitation.
- Total design flexibility.
- The widest range of drum sizes on the market.
Our system requires no additional equipment, cooling, moisture, or heat load. By combining advanced microwave technology with the unique Challenge RMF Meat-on-Meat Massage™ system, our industrial microwave thawing defrosts frozen meat fast.
How Microwave Thawing Trumps Steam Thawing
We understand the appeal of steam thawing systems. They can provide added water weight when used in conjunction with a massager.
At Challenge RMF, we can customize your microwave thawing system to include steam injection if you wish. But even with our shorter thawing time, the Meat-on-Meat Massage™ action works more moisture into the muscle for enhanced yield.
When you look for commercial meat thawing systems for your processing plant, our microwave system offers cost-effective advantages over standard steam thawing systems—along with the ability to add steam should you need it.
Much Faster Thawing
Thawing with microwave energy speeds up the defrosting stage, taking about 25% of the time of external heating. It heats the muscle tissue evenly, both internally and externally.
Steam thawing requires the heat to transfer from the surface tissue inward, which takes much more time than the internal heating created by microwave defrosting.
Improved Quality and Yield
Because our rapid, uniform thawing and massaging action minimizes drip loss and thermal damage, your processing line achieves higher product yield with improved texture, flavor, and nutritional retention.
Steam requires a much longer thawing time, but has an uneven thawing process, causing greater drip loss as ice crystals have more time to damage cell structures. To remediate the drip loss issue, steam thawing alone takes longer as the massager works to reincorporate liquid back into meat.
Enhanced Microbial Control
Because meat thaws more rapidly in Challenge RMF’s industrial microwave thawing systems, it greatly reduces the time the food spends in the temperature danger zone.
Steam thawing often leaves meat in the danger zone for longer periods, which increases the risk of bacterial proliferation and batch contamination.
A Smaller Footprint
Challenge RMF’s industrial microwave thawing system provides a powerful punch in a smaller space. Steam thawing systems on the commercial scale often require significant floor space for the thawing chambers and associated steam-generating equipment.
But with Challenge RMF, you won’t need to add facility processing space for large-scale steam thawing rooms or microwave tunnels that would be required for comparable throughput.
Greater Automation and Control
Our sophisticated control systems allow you to precisely adjust power levels and processing times based on the type and size of your frozen muscle blocks.
The steam thawing process often works less precisely, depending more on factors like steam pressure and airflow.
Possible Energy Savings
The Challenge RMF microwave thawing system requires high power—but across a very short processing time. This can make microwave thawing energy-efficient when compared to the energy required to support longer, sustained steam thawing cycles.
Call Us for Fast Talk on Industrial Thawing Equipment
Schedule a time to discuss your project and your needs with us. Our team can design, fabricate, and deliver customized industrial microwave thawing solutions for your processing line to maximize product quality and company profitability.
We may even be able to test equipment at your site. Call us at 816.765.4101 or email us at info@rmfworks.com to learn more.
About Challenge RMF
For decades, our team has designed and manufactured massager/marinaters, vacuum loaders, dumpers, cryogenic marinating technology, and more for meat processors.
Challenge RMF has helped companies the world over by manufacturing and installing customized products in a diverse number of production situations.
From brand-new equipment to replacement parts and repair service, we’re there when you want us and here when you need us. Come explore what’s possible with Challenge RMF.
