Table 1. — Temperatures of facilities, rinse solutions, and meats during the processing of bay scallops by both 



the standard commercial and mechanical systems. 



Processing components 

 investigated 



Temperature of: 



Standard 

 commercial 

 processing 

 components 



Mechanical processing components 

 associated with: 



Lot 1 (which was 



taken directly 



from the line 



without final 



rinse) 



Lot 3 (which was 



taken from the line, 



stored 3 hours under 



ice and given a final 



rinse) 



Shell-stock storage room 



Processing-house air 



Shell-stock shock water 



Rinse water used on the vibrating screen 



Scallop meat from the vibrating screen 



Brine used for flotation (8 percent NaCl) 



Rinse water used in the eviscerator 



Scallop meats just before being packed into containers 

 Final rinse water 



°c. 



4.4 

 12.2 

 92.2 

 13.3 

 23.8 

 17.2 

 16.6 

 15.5 

 16.6 



Temperatures were recorded (table 1) for 

 (1) shell stock in storage, (2) processing-house 

 air, (3) processing fluids at the various stages 

 in the process, and (4) scallop meats at the 

 various stages. 



The control lot and the mechanically treated 

 Lots 1 and 3 were analyzed after being held in 

 chill storage for 2, 5, 7, 9, and 13 days at 3° C. 

 or after being held in frozen storage for 14 days 

 at -27° C. 



The analyses were for (1) total bacterial 

 count, (2) drip, (3) total volatile base, (4) pH, 

 and (5) panel ratings of the raw meat for odor, 

 texture, and appearance. In addition, panel rat- 

 ings of the cooked meat for odor, texture, ap- 

 pearance, and flavor were obtained after stor- 

 age of the fresh samples for 5 days and after 

 storage of the frozen sample for 14 days. 



The samples from Lot 2 were analyzed for 

 bacterial count after being held in chill storage 

 for 2, 5, 7, 9, and 13 days. 



All analyses were determined as was de- 

 scribed by Webb and Thomas (1968). 



Results and Discussion 



The temperature of the storage room for the 

 shell stock was 4.4° C. (table 1). The scallop 

 meats were efficiently shucked at this storage 

 temperature, even after being held in storage 

 for 48 hours. This finding is important, owing 



to the need under some operating situations 

 for the shell stock to be prechilled for several 

 hours before it is transferred to the processing 

 facility. The heat-shock treatment did not 

 measurably change the final temperature of the 

 meats in comparison with the temperature of 

 those in the control samples. The data do not 

 indicate that any significant temperature 

 change occurred in the meats due to the me- 

 chanical processing operation. 



A comparison of the data on drip, total- 

 volatile-base, and pH in table 2 with panel rat- 

 ings shows that these data were not of much 

 value in indicating the onset of spoilage. Gen- 

 erally, the total-volatile-base level increased 

 during storage to about the point of spoilage 

 (9 days) and then decreased. This peak effect 

 may have been due to the breakdown of unde- 

 tected end products. Our results for total- 

 volatile-base level agree with those of Waters 

 (1967). 



The mechanically processed meats, which 

 were sampled immediately after being pro- 

 cessed (Lot 1), were not appreciably different 

 from the control samples initially and during 

 storage as evaluated by the panel and by bac- 

 terial counts (fig. 9). When no delay occurred 

 prior to sampling, the initial bacterial counts 

 were essentially the same for the mechanically 

 processed samples as for the control samples. 

 Storage under iced condition for 3 hours re- 

 sulted in no drop in center can temperature 

 but resulted in an appreciable increase in 



