Rheology and adhesion of fish batter coatings made from flour from Irish grown wheat varieties

The suitability of flours milled from six varieties (Brigadier, Hussar, Rib and, Rialto, Ritmo and Soissons) of Irish grown soft and hard milling winte r wheats as fish batter coating was assessed. Flour samples were tested for their pasting properties using a Brabender amylograph and a constant stres s rheometer in which flour suspensions were heated to 93 degrees C at a con stant rate. Constant shear rate tests (5, 25, 50, 100 and 150 per s) of 20 min duration were used to determine rheological behaviour. Fish portions we re coated with each of the batters and cooked to evaluate adhesion. There w as a significant linear relationship (P < 0.05) between the weight of coati ng on the raw fish and the viscosity, at almost all shear rates, of the bat ter mixture. Coating properties were unaffected by peak paste viscosity of the batters, alpha-amylase activity or protein content. Batters made with a commercial wheat blend and with the hard milling winter variety, Rialto, p erformed best under the cooking test.