Precooling process characteristics of some products cooled with water

A simple technique is discussed for determining the precooling process characteristics, in terms of the cooling coefficient, lag factor, half cooling time, seven-eighths cooling time, and the Dincer number, of food products subject to cooling. An experimental investigation was conducted to measure the center temperatures of individual tomatoes, pears, cucumbers, and squash cooled with 1 degrees C water. Batches of 5, 10, 15, and 20 kg from each food commodity were arranged and placed in cases. Observed experimental center temperature distributions of individual products were regressed in. exponential form. Using the present models, the precooling process characteristics of these products in different batches were found. As a result, the one-half and seven-eighths cooling times and the Dincer number for an individual product increased with increasing crate load from 5 to 20 kg.