Pork meat prepared by different cooking methods. A microstructural, sensorial and physicochemical approach

Abstract

The influences of four different cooking methods—pan, ohmic, vacuum and sous vide—were studied with regard to the microstructural, sensorial and physicochemical characteristics of pork meat. The end point temperature to all cooking methods was 70 °C. Pan cooking resulted in a softer meat with higher overall liking by the consumers, and ohmic cooking produced firmer (p < .05) meats and myofibrils, with higher alignment compared to the pan-cooked meat as well as a golden colour. Sous vide-cooked meats were perceived as insipid, while vacuum-cooked meats showed loss of structure and were perceived as drier (p < .01) and paler (p < .01). No statistically significant differences were found for cooking loss and water-holding capacity (p > .05). The results suggest that consumers preferred pan-cooking, as they described these samples as juicy, tender and tasty. Ohmic-cooked meat, which required shorter cooking times, showed similar characteristics to pan-cooked meat and could be used as alternative to pan cooking in the catering industry.