Microcomputers Improve Quality and Safety for Blue Crab Heat Processing

摘要

The majority of blue crab processors on the Atlantic Coast rely on pressurized steam to retort live blue crabs prior to removing cooked meat from the crab bodies. The recovered meat, which is usually handpicked, is then marketed as 'fresh' crab meat with a refrigerated shelf life of 10 to 14 days, or is canned and pasteurized in a hot water bath to produce a refrigerated product with a shelf life greater than six months. Both the retorting and pasteurization processes require controlled time/temperature relationships to insure product safety, quality, and yield. Several hundred to several thousand pounds of live blue crabs are cooked to an internal temperature of 235F in large horizontal or vertical steam pressure retorts at 15 pounds per square inch. Traditional blue crab meat pasteurization specifications require that the 185F (85C) temperature be maintained at the geometric center of the can for one minute. Processing for too short a period or at much lower temperatures causes the meat to be undercooked, and in the potential development of toxins produced by Type E Clostridium botulinum.