Cooked and raw chicken meat: Emissivity in the mid-infrared region

A focal planar array infrared camera was used to measure emissivity in the 3.4 to 5.0-mu m spectral range for cooked samples of three types of chicken meat and for raw uncured chicken breast. Emissivity Iras measured during c ooking as a function of cooking time, and during the cooling-down process i mmediately after cooking. In the measurements during cooking, there was a s ignificant difference between emissivity of raw and well-cooked chicken bre ast meat. In the measurements after cooking, emissivity of the different ty pes of chicken meat remained constant during the cooling process. The proce dure presented for emissivity measurements provided consistent results for seasoned and uncured samples, and can be used for emissivity measurements i n other food products.