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Why does tumbling food in a fluidized-bed freezer speed up freezing?
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frozen meal
Depositing of prepared meals in trays prior to freezing.
In a fluidized-bed freezer, food items such as peas or diced vegetables are placed on a mesh conveyor belt while cold air is directed upward through the mesh. This process causes the food particulates to float and tumble.
Tumbling is effective because it exposes all sides of the food to the cold air, which minimizes the resistance to heat transfer at the surface of the food. By maximizing surface exposure to the freezing medium, the freezer can remove heat from the food more efficiently and rapidly than stationary methods.1