Effect of radio frequency cooking on the texture, colour and sensory properties of a large diameter comminuted meat product

Radio frequency (RF) cooking is a form of dielectric heating similar to microwave heating. In this study an optimised cooking protocol was developed for pasteurising 1 kg cased meat emulsion samples, which were immersed in 80 °C circulating water during cooking. Subsequently, selected quality attributes of RF pasteurised samples were compared to steam pasteurised samples, by instrumental and sensory methods. Instrumental assessments show that RF heated meat batters had a greater ability to hold water, were significantly harder, chewier and gummier (P<0.001), while having less cook colour development than their steam cooked counterparts. Differences were also detected by sensory methods. In conclusion, while differences were detected, it is possible that these could be eliminated by adjusting the cooking protocol to produce similar cook values in RF samples to those in products cooked by steam.