Effect of freezing and final frying conditions on physical properties of chicken nugget

Freezing is one of the important refrigeration processes widely applied in food preservation, but textural defects can occur during process depending on freezing rate. These phenomena usually occur during freezing but become visible in the shape of crust cracking and flaking after final frying. This paper represents the effect of freezing and final frying conditions on some physical properties of chicken nugget. Three freezing temperatures (-20, -30 and -40°C) was used in this study. A texture analyzer by compression and penetration tests were used to assess the rigidity of sample after freezing and final frying respectively. Video capturing method was used during compression test for acquiring poison ratio; also, crust cracking and flaking of chicken nugget after freezing and final deep fat frying were evaluated by image analysis. The results showed that reduction in freezing temperature causes an increase in Young’s modulus especially at around of freezing point. But poison ratio decreased gradually by temperature reduction with the greatest change at freezing point. After final frying Young modulus of crust increased significantly (P