Effect of Preparation Methods on Moisture Content, Fat Content and Sensory Characteristics of Breaded Food Items Served in School Lunches

Abstract

LEARNING OUTCOME: To determine effects of three preparation methods on moisture content, fat content and sensory characteristics of chicken nuggets and beef steak fingers. Level of fat in school lunches is a current concern of many nutrition professionals. Purpose of this study was to determine effect of preparation methods on moisture content, fat content and sensory characteristics of convenience breaded food products commonly served to school children. Chicken nuggets and beef steak fingers were prepared by baking, deep fat frying and hot air frying. Hot air frying is an innovative variation of convection baking that uses a hot air fryer. Samples were dried in a vacuum oven to determine moisture content before fat was measured by Goldfisch fat extraction method. Preparation methods caused moisture content of products to decrease in an almost inverse proportion to increase in fat content. Fat content of chicken nuggets (initially 14.9g per 100g of dry sample) decreased to 12.6g after baking and 8.2g after hot air frying while deep fat frying caused an increase to 18.4g. Fat content of beef steak fingers (initially 19.8g per 100g of dry sample) decreased to 19.1g after hot air frying, but increased to 20.9g after baking and 22.4g after deep fat frying. Untrained panelists compared the appearance, flavor, crispness, mouthfeel and over-all likability of products using paired preference tests. A significant number of panelists preferred deep fat fried products over baked and hot air fried product for most attributes. However, tests comparing hot air fried and deep fat fried chicken nuggets showed no significant panelist preference for either product on over-all likability, flavor and appearance. Hot air frying can be recommended as a method which will reduce fat content of chicken nuggets without having a significant effect on consumer preferences.