IE54013B1

IE54013B1 - A method for treating poultry meat prior to cooking to improve the organoleptic properties thereof

Info

Publication number: IE54013B1
Application number: IE474/83A
Authority: IE
Original assignee: Grove Tuerkeys Ltd
Priority date: 1983-03-04
Filing date: 1983-03-04
Publication date: 1989-05-10
Also published as: IE830474L; GB2137066B; GB2137066A; GB8400017D0

Abstract

A heat stable, oil-in-water emulsion comprising an edible fat suspended in an aqueous medium and a stabilizer consisting of a mixture of a glycomannan and a polysaccharide hydrocolloid. The stabilizer is present in the emulsion at a concentration sufficient to maintain the emulsion in a pseudoplastic state below the set temperature of the stabilizer. The emulsion may be used to inject poultry meat prior to cooking to improve the organolectic properties thereof.

Description

The present invention relates to a method for treating poultry meat prior to cooking to improve its organoleptic properties, while at the same time simulating normal basting as carried out by a cook. .5 it is known from British Patent Specification No. 1,129,689 to inject a raw dressed poultry carcass with an edible fat so that the edible fat flows onto the skin during cooking from fat depots located beneath the skin. The edible fat may serve as a medium for introducing L0 phosphates into the meat, which phosphates are suspended by agitation in the fat which is then injected into the carcass. The phosphates used are anhydrous polyphosphates. A problem encountered with this technique is the plugging of the needles used to inject the poultry such that the injection process breaks down.

One. explanation for this problem is that small amounts of water present in the equipment react with the anhydrous phosphate resulting in the hydration of the phosphate to form hard, rock-like structures which are too large to -° pass through the injection needles. - 3 A solution to the above problem is proposed in Irish Patent Specification No. 38035 wherein a hydrated polyphosphoric acid salt of sodium or potassium is mixed with a liquid edible fat to suspend the salt and which suspension is then used to inject poultry without apparently the aforementioned disadvantage of plugging of the needles.

Irish Patent Specification No. 38036 discloses a. process for injecting poultry meat with fat wherein the fat contains a minor proportion of fat in the form of crystals but which acts as a liquid, such that congealment of the fat after injection is accelerated and there is less tendency for the fat to leak out of the injection sites after injection.

With all of these known processes there is a release of injected fat from the body of poultry meat essentially throughout the cooking process.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a process of injecting poultry meat to improve the organoleptic properties while at the same time simulating normal basting as carried out by a cook and which is normally carried out at the end of the roasting process so as to maximize the effect of basting.

The invention provides a method for treating a body of poultry meat prior to cooking to improve the organoleptic properties thereof, which method comprises injecting into said body of meat,which has a temperature less than 4°C, a composition which comprises an oil-inwater emulsion composed of an edible fat suspended in an aqueous medium and a stabilizer consisting of a mixture of a glycomannan and a polysaccharide hydrocolloid in a ratio of 10:90 to 90:10, said stabilizer being present in a quantity sufficient to maintain the emulsion in a pseudoplastic state below the set temperature of the stabilizer. - 4 Preferably, the glycomannan is a glucomannan or a galactcmannan.

Further, preferably, the glycomannan is locust bean gun, also known as carob-seed gum, or konjac gum, but especially locust bean gins.

Konjac gun is a glucomannan derived from Amorphophallus konjac. Other glucomannans derived from Amorphophallus species are also suitable for use in the method according to the invention.

Preferably, the polysaccharide hydrocolloid is xanthan gum or carrageenan, especially xanthan gum.

Preferably, the ratio of glycomannan to polysaccharide hydrocolloid is in the range 80:20 to 20:80.

An especially preferred stabilizer is one comprising equal parts of locust bean gum and xanthan gins. Such a mixture is sold under the trade name FOODAID T and is . supplied by. Gel Systems Limited, London, United Kingdom. Further, preferably, the stabilizer is present in the emulsion at a concentration in the range 0.05-1% by weight of the emulsion.

Xn any event, the stabilizer should be used at a level which is sufficient to permanently suspend and prevent coalescence of the oil droplets below the set temperature of the stabilizer after cold shear activation of the components of the emulsion.

The edible fat may be a saturated or polyunsaturated fat. A preferred saturated fat is butter whereas a preferred polyunsaturated fat is a vegetable oil such as com oil.

Also, preferably, the fat is present in the emulsion at a concentration in the range 30-70% by weight of the emulsion. - 5 10 . 15 Preferably, the body of poultry meat comprises a raw, dressed poultry carcass or a portion thereof or i pre-formed poultry meat. The preferred poultry is turkey or chicken.

Preferably, the body of poultry meat is injected with the composition at a concentration of less than 20% by weight of the body of meat, more particularly 1-10% and especially 2.5% by weight.

The aqueous medium may include a phosphate material as conventionally used in the treatment of poultry meat, more particularly a polyphosphate material.

The aqueous medium is preferably comprised of poultry stock which enhances the flavour of the cooked meat.

The composition may also include a quantity of common salt at a concentration in the range 0.5-2% by weight of the emulsion, suitably 1% by weight.

Polyunsaturated fats are preferred as the edible fat component of the composition in the method according to the invention since they are complementary to the fats occurring naturally in poultry meat and which are also polyunsaturated. Also polyunsaturated fats are less likely to go rancid and furthermore polyunsaturated fats are desirable from the point of view of diet and health considerations.

It will be appreciated that when the edible fat used is butter it will be necessary to include an antioxidant such as butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) or butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) or a mixture of these two antioxidants or other suitable antioxidant conventionally used with fats and oils.

The emulsion enters a pseudoplastic state which resembles chewing gum within the body of poultry meat and remains in this state until the set temperature of the i I I t - 6 stabilizer is reached during cooking, the set temperature of the stabilizer being approx-irately :''SC.

Although not wishing to be bound by a../ theoretical explanation of the invention, it would appear that the stability of the emulsion is due to the fact that there is a synergistic effect between the glycomannan and the hydrocolloid components of the stabilizer, since neither of them alone has a high cold viscosity.

When the stabilizer, whether present in the emulsion or not, is heated above the set temperature, the glycomannan and the hydrocolloid become fully soluble and the viscosity changes from the synergistic pseudoplastic viscosity state which is assumed by the stabilizer below the set temperature to a purely additive viscosity. When the latter state is reached, the fat globules coalesce and separate from the aqueous phase because the stabilizer no longer has a sufficient yield value to keep the . globules separated. The yield value is a measure of the ability of the stabilizer to hold the fat globules permanently in suspension against the force of gravity.

The stabilizer must have a synergistic pseudoplastic viscosity in the cold state with a yield value which is sufficient to permanently suspend fat globules of a size produced by the shearing action of the mixer used.

When a body of poultry meat has been injected prior to cooking in accordance with the method of the invention, the meat and hence the depots of emulsion progressively reach the set temperature of the stabilizer during cooking from the outside in. Accordingly, there is a progressive release of fat for basting towards the end of cooking so that one simulates normal cooking procedures where one bastes towards the end of the - 7 5 4 0 13 cooking process with the juices produced by the meat.

When the emulsion breaks, the aqueous phase remains within the muscle so that succulent juices are released at a late stage in the cooking process.

With known self-basting procedures,the injected fat is released essentially throughout the cooking period.

It will be appreciated that an aqueous medium is present if required for the addition of polyphosphates so avoiding the possibility of phosphate insolubility and jamming of injection needles, which has previously been encountered with known techniques of injecting poultry with polyphosphates.

The invention will be further illustrated by the following Examples.

EXAMPLE 1 0.1 parts of a 50:50 mixture of locust bean gum and -xanthan gum (sold under the trademark FOODAID T) was added to 50 parts of cold chicken stock and mixed in a high speed mixer. One part of salt was then added with stirring followed by 50 parts of vegetable oil. The mixture was then emulsified in a high speed mixer to give a stable emulsion having pseudoplastic properties, six raw, dressed chilled turkeys ranging in size from 5-12 pounds in weight were injected with 100 ml. of the emulsion prepared above. The emulsion was brought to a temperature greater than 50 C to convert it to a liquid state suitable for injection purposes. The turkeys were injected with a two-prong injection device with the individual prongs having a diameter of 3 mm. The device was introduced horizontally into the breast of each turkey. Upon withdrawal of the prongs, the emulsion was found to congeal immediately within the breast muscle and no emulsion oozed out at the injection site. 4 0 13 - 8 The six turkeys and a control which had not been injected were then frozen.

The frozen turkeys were later thawed to a carcass temperature of approximately 0 C. The skin of the breast was perforated by a fork and the turkeys were roasted at 190 C in an electric oven for a time dependent on the weight of the turkey.

When the turkeys were roasted they were evaluated by a panel of four for succulence, flavour, appearance and tenderness.

The turkeys which had been injected with the emulsion were rated as being far superior in all respects to the untreated turkey, special comment was made by the panel on the appearance of the treated turkeys before carving which had a golden brown colour and basted appearance, in contrast, the control turkey had a dry appearance.

EXAMPLE 2 The procedure of Example 1 was repeated except that the stabilizer used was a 40:60 mixture of konjac gum and xanthan gum. Comparable results were obtained.

EXAMPLE 3 The procedure of Example 1 was repeated except that 10 turkey legs were injected with the emulsion. The roasted legs were evaluated by a panel of four and were pronounced as being very succulent and tender compared with two control turkey legs.

EXAMPLE 4 The procedure of Example 1 was repeated except that the vegetable oil was replaced by 50 parts of liquefied butter which included an antioxidizing amount of an equal mixture of butylated hydroxyanisole and butylated - 9 5 4 0 13 hydroxytoluene.

Six treated turkeys and a control were roasted and were then evaluated by a panel of four for succulence, flavour, appearance and tenderness.

The turkeys which had been injected with the butter emulsion were rated as being far superior in all respects to the untreated turkey. Special comment was made by the panel on the excellent flavour of the treated turkeys.

Claims

1. CLAIMSi1. A method for treating a body of poultry meat prior to ccoking to improve the organoleptic properties thereof, which method comprises injecting into said body 5 of meat, which has a temperature less than 4°C, a composition which comprises an oil-in-water emulsion composed of an edible fat suspended in an aqueous medium and a stabilizer consisting of a mixture of a glycomannan and a polysaccharide hydrocolloid in a ratio of 10:90 to 10 90:10, said stabilizer being present in a quantity sufficient to maintain the emulsion in a pseudoplastic state below the set temperature of the stabilizer.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the glycomannan is a glucomannan or a galactomannan. 15

3. A method according to claim 2, wherein the galactomannan is locust bean gum.

4. A method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the glycomannan is a glucomannan.

5. A method according to claim 4, wherein the 20 glucomannan is konjac gum.

6. A method according to any preceding claim, wherein the polysaccharide hydrocolloid is xanthan gum or carrageenan.

7. A method according to claim 6, wherein the 25 polysaccharide hydrocolloid'is xanthan gum.

8. A method according to any preceding claim. 5 4 ν 1 3 - 11 wherein the ratio of glycomannan to polysaccharide hydrocolloid is in the range 80:20 to 20:80.

9. A method according to claim 1, wherein the stabilizer comprises equal parts of locust bean gum and 5 xanthan gum.

10. A method according to any preceding claim, wherein the stabilizer is present at a concentration in the range 0.05-1% by weight of the emulsion.

11. A method according to any preceding claim, 10 wherein the edible fat is a polyunsaturated fat.

12. λ method according to claim 11, wherein the polyunsaturated fat is a vegetable oil.

13. A method according to claim 12, wherein the vegetable oil is corn oil.

14. 15 14. A method according to any one of claims 1-10, wherein the edible fat is a saturated fat. 15. A method according to claim 14, wherein the saturated fat is butter.

15. 16. A method according to claim 14 or 15, wherein 20 the emulsion includes an antioxidant.

16. 17. A method according to claim 16, wherein the antioxidant is butylated hydroxyanisole or butylated hydroxytoluene or a mixture thereof.

17. 18. A method according to any preceding claim 540i 3 . - 12 wherein the edible fat is present at a concentration in the range of 30-70% by weight of the emulsion.

18. 19. A method according to any preceding claim, wherein the aqueous medium includes a phosphate material. 5

19. 20. A method according to claim 19, wherein the phosphate material is a polyphosphate material.

20. 21. A method according to any preceding claim, wherein the aqueous medium is a poultry stock.

21. 22. A method according to any preceding claim which 10 includes common salt at a concentration in the range 0.5-2% by weight of the emulsion.

22. 23. A method according to any preceding claim, wherein the body of poultry meat comprises a raw, dressed poultry carcass or a portion thereof. 15

23. 24. A method according to claim 23, wherein the body of poultry meat comprises pre-formed poultry meat.

24. 25. A method according to claim 23 or 24, wherein the poultry meat is turkey.

25. 26. A method according to claim 23 or 24, wherein 20 the poultry meat is chicken.

26. 27. A method according to any preceding claim, * wherein the body of poultry meat is Injected with the composition at a concentration of less than 20% by weight of the body of meat. 54G13 - 13 26. λ method according to claim 27, wherein the body of poultry meat is injected with the composition at a concentration in the range 1-10% by weight of the body of meat. 5 29. A method according to claim 28, wherein the body of poultry meat is injected with the composition at a concentration .of 2.5% by weight of the body of meat.

27. 30. A method according to claim l for treating a body of poultry meat, substantially as hereinbefore described 10 with particular reference to the accompanying Examples.

28. 31. Poultry meat, whenever treated by the process according to any of claims 1 to 30.