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The Effects of Electrical Stimulation During Bleeding on Shear Values and Cook Loss of Breast Fillets From Mature Chickens Deboned at Two or Twenty-Four Hours Post-Evisceration

USDA-ARS Poultry Processing and Meat Quality Research Unit, Russell Research Center, Athens, GA 30604-5677; Phone (706) 546-3205; FAX: (706) 546-3633

Correspondence: J. A. Dickens, E-mail:adickens{at}saa.ars.usda.gov

Poultry processors continually seek methods to decrease the aging time prior to removal ofbreast muscles while optimizing tenderness of the cooked meat. The ultimate goal is to debone the carcasses directly out of the chillers. Research efforts have focused on reducing the aging time for broilers, but almost none have been reported for mature chickens. Electrical stimulation of broiler carcasses during bleed-out affects the functional and textural properties of breast fillets, therefore a study was initiated to evaluate the effects of electrical stimulation on the objective texture and cook loss of hen breast meat deboned 2 and 24 h post-evisceration. Birds were commercially processed, and the treated birds were electrically stimulated for 60 s with 200 V AC, 1 s on then 1 s off, during bleeding. When carcasses were removed from the chiller (2 h post-evisceration), the right fillets from electrically stimulated and non-stimulated birds were deboned, weighed, vacuum-bagged, and held at 4 C until the next morning. The carcass with the left fillet attached was held on ice for an additional 22 h. All breast fillets were then cooked and objectively evaluated for tenderness. Electrically stimulated fillets, deboned after a 2-h chill, required over 50% less force to shear and their cook loss was 1.8% less than the non-stimulated fillets. There were no significant differences due to treatment in shear values or cook losses for fillets deboned at 22 h postchill.

Key Words: electrical stimulation • broiler breeder hen • shear value • cook loss