The Influence of Commercial-Scale Electrical Stimulation on Tenderness, Breast Meat Yield, and Production Costs

Abstract

Post-mortem electrical stimulation (ES) has only recently been proven effective and commercially feasible for use with poultry. Now that a stimulator has been installed in a commercial broiler processing plant, studies were conducted to verify that commercial-scale ES results in tender meat deboned without aging, to evaluate the meat yield, and to conduct a cost analysis of the aging period. Fillets were harvested at 2 or 8 hr post-mortem from chilled broiler carcasses that were either stimulated or stimulated and injected with a phosphate solution. Shear values of all ES-treated meat were reduced by 50%. Sensory panel responses indicated that all ES-treated meat was at least “slightly tender” or “moderately to very tender.” With injection, ES-treated meat was as tender as that deboned from control carcasses 8 hr post-mortem.The results indicated that deboning breast fillets at 2 hr post-mortem would increase meat yield by 3.4% compared to deboning at 11 hr post-mortem, but only if the deboning was manual. These studies demonstrate the effectiveness of commercial-scale ES and provide economic justification for its implementation.