More and more attention is paid to vacuum spray cooling (VSC) because it can effectively reduce the water loss rate in the process of food vacuum cooling. This study investigates the effects of spray height

spray flow

spray time

and spray inclination angle on the cooling time and water loss rate of tofu during VSC. The results show that the spray height has a significant effect on reducing mass loss. With an increase in the spray height

the cooling time increases

and the water loss rate first declines and then remains unchanged. When the spray height is the same

a lower spray flow rate (5–14 mL/min) does not significantly affect the water loss rate; however

the cooling time increases with an increase in the spray flow rate. The cooling time increases as the spray time increases; however

the water loss rate significantly decreases. When the spray time increases from 0 min to 14.50 min

the cooling time increases by 91.83%

from 8.08 min to 15.50 min

and the water loss rate decreases by 72.07%

from 10.49% to 2.93%. When the spray inclination angle is reduced from 90° to 45°

the water loss rate increases from 2.97% to 6.44%

and the cooling time decreases first and then remains unchanged.