Jr. Claus et al., PINK COLOR DEVELOPMENT IN TURKEY MEAT AS AFFECTED BY NICOTINAMIDE, COOKING TEMPERATURE, CHILLING RATE, AND STORAGE TIME, Journal of food science, 59(6), 1994, pp. 1283-1285
Consumers associate pink color in cooked turkey with undercooking. ''P
inking'' has been attributed to several factors, but remains a problem
in the poultry industry. Effects of temperature, chilling rate, and s
torage time were investigated relative to pink color intensity of turk
ey meat cooked in the presence of 2% nicotinamide. As final cook tempe
rature increased, sensory pinkness increased as did CIE a values. Slo
wer chilling rate resulted in higher CIE a values and lower CIE b* va
lues. Increased storage time generally increased CIE a values and dec
reased b values while CIE L* values were not affected.