Coating Characteristics of Fried Chicken Breasts Prepared With Different Particle Size Breading

Characteristics of coatings formed from breading of different particle sizes were investigated in breaded, fried chicken breasts. Breading was divided into three categories namely, small (particle size ≤ U.S. No. 60 mesh), medium (particle size between U.S. No. 20 and U.S. No. 60 mesh) and large (particle size > U.S. No. 20 mesh). Chicken breasts were battered, breaded and deep-fat fried for 240 s at 160C. Smaller breading particle size produced smoother and more uniform coatings. Compressive force at 80% strain was 14.3, 85.6 and 130.5 N for small medium and large particle size breading, respectively. With larger breading particle size, L* and a* color values increased, while b* values showed no significant change. Acoustical data taken during compression of coatings did not show any significant differences due to different breading particle sizes.