Nutrition III

S OF PAPERS 235 90 Creep compliance of chicken nuggets at different frying temperatures. T. Yalamanchili*1, P. Takhar2, and C. Z. Alvarado1, 1Texas A&M University, College Station, 2Texas Tech University, Lubbock. The texture of chicken nuggets is a very important attribute to consumers. However, there is little data indicating textural properties of chicken nuggets during frying utilizing creep compliance. Therefore, the objective of this is to measure the texture of chicken nuggets in terms of creep compliance. The chicken nuggets were commercially prepared using a predust, batter, and breader and par fried at 350F or 375F for 26 to 30sec. Following freezing, the chicken nuggets were then fried at 350F or 375F for 0, 1, 2 or 4min. Following frying, a cylindrical portion from the nugget was separated followed by separation of the crust (breading) and the core (meat). The creep compliance (μm2/N) was measured using Dynamic Mechanical Analysis at a stress of 0.01Mpa and temperatures of 30C, 110C and 190C. The sample was held by the equipment at isothermal conditions for 1min, displaced for 2min and allowed to recover for 1min. The data were analyzed by ANOVA in a 2 (frying temperatures) x 2 (portionscrust or core) x 4 (testing temperatures) x 3 (trial) factorial design. No significant difference was observed between the nuggets fried at 350F and 375F at all the testing conditions (P ≥ 0.05). Though the creep compliance was not significantly different for frying times 1, 2, and 4 min., the creep compliance values decreased with frying time for all treatments as well as both the crust and core. This indicates that the chicken nuggets were becoming harder as the frying time increased. This may be attributed to loss of moisture from the sample as it was being fried. Therefore, the texture of the chicken nugget does change with cooking time but not the cooking temperatures used in this study.