To get the most out of your brine chiller, the operating brine temperature should be set at approximately 10° F (5.5° C) below the target endpoint temperature for your product. For example, if you want your product to be chilled to a 35° F (2° C) endpoint, then your brine solution should be running at 25° F (-3.5° C) or colder and your brine solution should be mixed to a freezing point of 20° F (-6.5° C).

There are some exceptions. Some products like turkey breast are sensitive to crust freezing. Turkey breast generally freezes at 26° to 28° F (-3° to -2° C), so to prevent crust freezing, your brine operating temperature should be 25° F (-4° C) or warmer. Another exception is skinless viennas. Typical endpoint temperatures for viennas are 28° to 30° F (-2° to -1° C), but if the brine operating temperature is set at 20° to 22° F(-7° to -5° C) it will sometimes over-chill the product surface and cause peeling problems. For this reason, viennas are typically chilled to 28° to 30° F (-2 to -1° C) using 24° to 26° F (-4° to -3° C) brine.