Changes in fat content of pork and beef after pan-frying under different conditions

Various meats differing in fat contents were pan-fried in margarine or oil under various conditions to determine how much fat was gained or lost in absolute terms based on an initial 100 g of product. Beefsteaks and pork leg schnitzel having about, respectively, 6% and 2% fat initially gained no more than 2 g fat/100 g raw meat, even when pan-fried in a relatively large amount of margarine. Slight differences were observed depending on the frying time, slice thickness, frying fat type (oil or margarine), quantity of frying fat, or “resting” on the pan. Breaded pork schnitzel gained up to 8 g fat/100 g raw breaded schnitzel depending on the cooking conditions, due to the greater absorption properties of the coating. High-fat pork patties (18% fat initially) lost 2.7 g fat/100 g raw weight even when pan-fried with large amount of margarine, whilst low-fat pork patties (11% fat initially) gained 0.4 g. Similar results were obtained for low- (8%) and high-fat (12%) beef patties. Meatballs (7.5% fat initially) gained up to 2.4 g fat/100 g raw product depending on the cooking conditions. The greatest fat loss was 7.2 g for high fat ground beef (12% fat), which was pan-fried and then rinsed with boiling water.