Processing & Products

S OF PAPERS 199 shallow Al pan using a standard oven (163C) to an 85C internal breast. Prior to freezing, all crop and body cavities had been filled with bread cubes having 50% added water by weight to increase RTW by 20%. Each of 4 treatments involved 7 RTC carcasses: 7 thawed to +5C when cooking was initiated with frozen repetitions at -5, -15 and -25 to enable regression analysis. Time to attain breast end-point was 44 min when starting temp was +5C which increased to 63 min when -5C with similar values at lower starting temperatures (P<***Q). Total cooking loss was similar among all treatments when stuffing was included (20.4%, P>NS), but calculation after its removal indicated a loss from +5C carcasses of 26.6% while it was greater those that had been frozen with similar values among treatments (28.3%, P<*Q). Total drip of cooking loss from stuffed carcasses was 26.2% when +5C but lower and similar among frozen treatments 22.9% (P<*,Q). Analysis of stuffing removed from a thawed +5C carcass that was not cooked indicated 64.9% moist and 16.6% fat , 11.8% CP, and 7.0% ash on a DM basis. Cooking led to 10.2% gain in weight for the crop-body cavity composite that was similar among treatments (P>NS); however, their moist content decreased from the level at initiation of cooking, particularly when frozen (crop, 59.4% at +5C vs 55.8% frozen,P<*Q: Body cavity, 56.9% at +5C vs 52.8% frozen,P<*Q). Accretion of fat accounted part of the reduction in moist with crop being similar to body cavity which was similar among treatments (21% DM, P<NS). while CP increase with crop was greater than body cavity (13.7% DM vs 11.7%, P<*) with each being similar, regardless of starting temperature (P<*,Q).Yield of parts as well as breast and thigh meat proportions were not affected nor were their compositions altered by method of cooking. Caloric increase for solid-liquid phase change dominated the increased cooking time when frozen and marginal changes in losses, yields, and compositions of stuffing occurred, regardless of starting carcass temperature.