What is the purpose of tempering frozen meat items?

Tempering frozen meat items primarily serves the purpose of handling and separating them before cooking. The process involves gradually bringing the temperature of frozen meat closer to that of refrigeration, which helps to make the meat easier to cut, portion, and prepare for cooking. This step is important in food service because it promotes safety and efficiency in handling the meat, ensuring that it can be properly thawed and prepared without the introduction of bacteria.

While ensuring even cooking and reducing cooking time might be benefits of a well-managed tempering process, these are not the main purpose of tempering itself. Enhancing the flavor of meat does not directly relate to tempering; flavor is influenced more by seasoning, marinating, and cooking methods rather than the tempering process.