Research Note: Impact of applied thermal treatment on textural, and sensory properties and cooking loss of selected chicken and turkey cuts as affected by cooking technique

Abstract

The effect of various cooking methods (roasting, broiling, grilling, frying, and stewing) on cooking loss (CL) and textural and sensory properties of selected chicken (breast fillet, thigh, and thigh fillet) and turkey (breast fillet, thigh) cuts in relation to the applied apparatus was evaluated. Diverse results were recorded according to the method, the type of poultry meat, and the cut of poultry meat. Additionally, CL and shear force (SF) values in all examined samples were influenced by the culinary technique, the type of poultry meat, and the poultry meat cut. The lowest CL and shear SF values were reported when the samples were treated using a method with higher heating rates and/or temperatures and shorter cooking times. Additionally, lower values of CL and SF were obtained for chicken meat compared to turkey meat (thighs). In general, the applied culinary technique affected the sensory properties of the samples tested. High sensory scores were recorded for grilled chicken breast fillets and fried turkey breast fillets (irrespective of the applied apparatus). On the whole, it could be stated that culinary techniques at high temperature requiring shorter times (such as frying, grilling, and roasting) were evaluated to be more effective (in terms of CL and SF).

Keywords: cooking; cooking loss; poultry meat; sensory properties; shear force.