Tenderizing spent fowl meat with calcium chloride. 1. Effects of delivery method and tumbling

Department of Poultry Science, Texas A&M University, College Station 77843-2472, USA.

In this study, different methods of 0.2 M or 0.3 M CaCl2 delivery into hot-boned spent Leghorn breast fillets followed by tumbling were evaluated. The CaCl2 was delivered by adding 10% (wt/wt) solution into the tumbler, injection 10% (wt/wt) into the fillet, or soaking at room temperature for 15 min followed by soaking at 2 C for 45 min. All these treatments were subjected to either tumbling at room temperature for 1 h or no tumbling. Water injected and untreated samples served as controls. All fillets were baked and sheared with an Allo-Kramer cell. Introduction of 0.2 M CaCl2 through different delivery methods was not sufficient to improve spent fowl meat tenderness, even when followed by tumbling. When 0.3 M CaCl2 injection was followed by tumbling, the mean shear value of the hot-boned spent hen fillets was reduced to near the tenderness level acceptable to consumers. However, when tumbling was performed on the fillets treated with calcium introduced by methods other than injection, the shear values were higher than samples using the calcium injection method. Therefore, tumbling in combination with injection of 0.3 M CaCl2 is essential for maximal tenderization of spent fowl meat.