AbstractThe aim of the study was to determine the effects of unintended freezing during cold storage (deep chilling conditions) and low freezing temperatures (−10 °C) of raw pork loins, cured and smoked, on their histological structure and some physicochemical characteristics. The experimental products after freezing at −10 °C, were stored at the same temperature for 0, 2, 4 and 6 days, thawed thereafter and immediately deep chilled at near cryoscopic temperature (−3 °C) for 0, 2, 4 or 6 days.These conditions were changing the histological structures of pork loin, the water holding capacity (WHC) was reduced by frozen storage but improved by deep chilling; the maximum shear force and energy were increased. The more the freezing at −10 °C was prolonged, the more unfavourable were the changes in structure, WHC and tenderness. Deep chilling at −3 °C after thawing of the experimental material on the other hand favourably affected the parameters measured. Freezing at −10 °C and deep chilling at −3 °C did not affect the electrophoretic picture of pork loin proteins nor the water activity. Freezing itself had no influence on WHC. Changes