The Influence of Temperature and Bag Breakage on the Quality of Frozen Turkey Carcasses ,

Abstract

FROZEN foods undergo quality change, the seriousness of which depends upon the product and the conditions that the product is exposed to through market channels. Stewart and Lowe (1948) state that frozen poultry must be held under low temperatures and move rapidly to maintain quality. Munter et al. (1953) point out that foods have a great diversity of exposures to time and temperature as they move through the market channels.More specific findings relative to the characteristics of turkey meat were reported by Mecchi et al. (1953), who showed turkey fat to be quite subject to oxidative rancidity due to its unsaturated nature. They also found that turkey fat was more susceptible to rancidity than chicken fat due to a lower tocopherol content.Another characteristic of importance to the quality of poultry meat is moisture content. Margolf et al. (1956) reported differences in moisture loss from frozen poultry due to…