Conveyor system for chilling food products

The method of chilling warm food products comprising the steps of:

• passing the warm products through water over a longitudinal path through an elongated water tank, and chilling the water in the tank at a plurality of chilling stations disposed along the longitudinal path by flowing chilled input water in a water flow path transverse to the path of the products to flow over the products as a function of the temperature of the products.

The method of chilling warm food products comprising the steps of:

• passing the warm products through water over a longitudinal path through an elongated water tank, and chilling the water in the tank at a plurality of chilling stations disposed along the longitudinal path by flowing chilled input water in a water flow path transverse to the path of the products as a function of the temperature of the products,
• wherein the flow rates at different chilling stations are individually controlled.

The method of recirculating cooling water through a food product cooler tank that conveys warm food products beneath a body of cooling water, comprising the steps of:

• providing the cooler tank with a plurality of water flow paths through food products being processed, collecting the water from said paths and passing it through a heat exchanger for cooling the water, recirculating the cooled water through the water flow paths, and controlling the exit temperature of each of the water flow paths to maintain a substantially uniform temperature increase through the respective flow paths.