Mass Transfer Characteristics of Chicken Nuggets

Abstract

Chicken nuggets were either deep fat fried at three temperatures (150, 170 and 190oC) for 1 to 4 min or oven baked at three temperature levels (200, 220 and 240oC) for 5 to 25 min. The effects of these cooking methods on mass transfer characteristics of chicken nuggets were evaluated. Moisture loss profiles in the breading and core portions of the product were significantly different. There was a rapid moisture loss from the breading portion within the first 2 min of deep fat frying or within the first 15 min of oven baking followed by considerably reduced rates. Moisture loss in the core region changed only slightly in the early stages of frying or oven baking but increased afterwards. Moisture diffusivity in the breading region was evaluated using analytical solution of Fick’s second law diffusion equation. Values of moisture diffusivity were from 20.93x10-10 to 29.32x10-10 m2/s for deep fat frying and from 1.90x10-10 to 3.16x10-10 m2/s for oven baking. The activation energies were 8.04 and 25.7 kJ/mol for deep fat frying and oven baking, respectively.