A new approach to correlate textural and cooking parameters with operating conditions during double-sided cooking of meat patties

Abstract

Cooking and textural parameters during double-sided cooking of hamburger patties were correlated with volume-averaged temperature at the end of the cooking process and gap thickness between plates. Frozen patties were cooked in a clamshell grill set at different plate surface temperatures (177C; 191C; 204C; 218C), for different gap thicknesses (9.65 mm; 10.55 mm; 10.55 mm; 11.05 mm) for 120 s. A decrease in the gap thickness and an increase in the plate surface temperature resulted in an increase in the cooking loss values (24–36%) and in a decrease of press juice values (8–25%). The values of peak load (183–215 N), modulus (16–19 N/mm), work needed in shearing (2300–2800 Nmm), hardness (25–32 N), cohesiveness (0.76–0.83), and chewiness (107–152 Nmm) of the patties increased when the gap thickness decreased and the plate surface temperature increased. There was no effect of the variables studied on springiness. The correlation equations involving the operating variables and quality parameters obtained are simple and useful in developing optimal process conditions.