Preparation, Storage and Distribution of Coated and Uncoated Chicken Meat Products

Abstract

Abstract The production of coated foods using batters and breading is widespread in various meat, fish and vegetable products including poultry, i.e. chicken meat cuts. Thus, samples of coated and uncoated chicken meat cuts, i.e. leg and breast, fried or baked were applied in this study. Five batter samples as well as a breading coating sample were evaluated against non coated samples for physicochemical and sensory characteristics. The results indicated that batters enriched with protein produced coating systems with increased crispiness and adhesion while batters enriched with modified corn starches resulted in improved product yields. A combination of wheat flours with modified waxy corn starches resulted in products with excellent adhesive properties, desirable thickness, good crispness and appearance. The cooked meat pieces (coated and uncoated) were packaged after cooling in plastic bags and stored at ‒18C for further analysis, i.e. moisture, water activity, thiobarbituric acid (TBA) and pH values. The results showed reduction in moisture and water activity values and increase in pH and TBA values for the tested (coated and uncoated) products at 0, 1, 4, 8, 12, 16 and 24 weeks of testing periods. Sensory evaluation analysis showed a significant preference for the coated samples compared to the uncoated products.