EFFECTS OF CHILLING TIME AND BELT FLATTENING ON PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS, YIELD, AND TENDERNESS OF BROILER BREASTS

Removing the large breast muscle from broiler carcasses prior to the r esolution of rigor mortis results in tough cooked meat. However, the p ractice of holding carcasses or front halves 8 to 24 hr after chilling prior to deboning to ensure tenderness in the cooked meat is costly w ith regard to refrigerated space, equipment, and labor. This study det ermined the effects of extending the chilling time (1, 2 or 3 hr) and subjecting the debonded breast muscles to belt flattening on subsequen t physical dimensions (length and width), yield, and tenderness of he cooked meat. Maximum length, width, and weight of each muscle were rec orded before and after flattening, and cooked yield and objective text ure (tenderness) were evaluated to determine if a combination of the t wo treatments would eliminate the need to age carcasses for prolonged times prior to deboning. For objective texture, increasing the chillin g time resulted in less force necessary to shear the cooked meat, and flattened breasts required less force to shear than did the unflattene d breasts. Belt flattening resulted in a loss in weight and an increas e in surface area (length and width) of the raw muscle. The combinatio n of carcass chilling for 2 hr followed by belt flattening resulted in cooked meat that would be considered ''very tender''.