Patent ID: 7625271

Claim:
A method of cooling a dressed carcass of a slaughtered animal halved along the backbone thereof while transferring the dressed carcass in a hanged attitude along a transport route passing through a cooling chamber maintained at a low temperature, the method comprising: moving the dressed carcass through a plurality of partitioned spaces provided along the transport route; adding water to the surface of the dressed carcass as the dressed carcass is moved through the plurality of partitioned spaces; and blasting cold air on to the dressed carcass as the water is added to the surface of the dressed carcass, wherein enhanced cooling of the dressed carcass is provided through vaporization of the added water; and wherein said partitioned spaces are arranged along said transport route with a relatively small distance between them in a zone where the surface of the dressed carcass is cooled quickly and with a relatively large distance between them in a zone where surface temperature of the dressed carcass has approached the temperature of the cooling chamber and the dressed carcass is cooled slowly.