Steam-dried chicken tested

The general used drying method is hot air drying, but the final chicken meat product is affected in terms of loss of nutritional value and sensory quality. Therefore alternative drying technologies have been looked for. Two of these were used in the present study.

Two stage drying techniques, super-heated steam drying in the first stage followed by heat pump drying in the second and superheated steam drying in the first stage followed by hot air drying in the second stage, were tested. The effects of temperature and moisture content after the first phase of the drying process on the quality aspects as color, shrinkage and rehydration ability, of the dried chicken meat were evaluated. As a control  treatment purely superheated steam drying was applied.

Temperature in the first (superheated steam was applied at 120, 140 and 160 °C) and second phase (55 °C) of the drying process proved to be the important factor for a successful application of these technologies. Color was heavily affected by temperature (browning) as was shrinkage of the meat. A long exposure time at a high temperature makes proteins to denature and lose water solubility.

The superheated steam drying followed by heat pump drying proved to be the best suitable technique for drying chicken meat to be used as an ingredient in ready-to-cook noodle.