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re: how many chickens...
4 jan 2004
ann wrote:
>> jmartin wrote:
>>
>>>i gotta have enough freezer space for 300 chickens. they should weigh
>>>about 5 pounds, dressed.
>>
>> water weighs about 64 pounds per cubic foot, so you might fit about 12,
>> as an upper limit.
>>
>> i'd put them in plastic bags. otherwise, thawing could be a problem :-)
>out of curiosity, if one was to pack them in tight, with minimal space for
>air to circulate, how long would it take for the ones "in the center" to
>freeze?
a long time. a 300 w freezer might move 900 w of heat, ie about 3k btu/h,
and freezing a pound of water at 32 f takes 144 btu, so we might freeze
1500 pounds in 144x1500/3k = 72 hours, even with lots of air circulation,
starting with hydrocooled chickens(?) at 32 f.
thawing seems more of a food-safety problem. a 3' cube with no insulation
would thaw in about 144x1500/((70-32)6x9x1.5) = 70 hours in 70 f room air,
but it needs insulation to keep the outer birds at say, 40 f until the
inner ones defrost, so thawing would take a lot longer.
nick
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