Effects of Sex, Size and Time of Cutting on Processing Yields and Tenderness of Broilers

At a commercial processing plant, weight measurements were taken on male and female broilers of four different weight classes which were cut-up (1) after being chilled in a continuous drag-type chiller or (2) immediately after evisceration. Shear resistance was measured on the pectoralis major muscle of the cooked breast and on the illiotibialis muscle of the cooked thigh. Chill-cut birds had higher cut-up yields than hot-cut birds at the time of tray packing and after termination of a 10 day storage period at −2°C. Neither sex nor size had an effect on yield. Chill-cut birds lost more weight during the storage period than did the hot-cut birds. No difference in shear score was found between the outer 1.5 mm. slice and the second 1.5 mm. slice of breast muscle for the chill-cut birds, but a higher shear value was observed for the second slice from hot-cut birds. Cutting the muscle from the sternum on one breast piece resulted in a higher shear value than was recorded for the other side of the breast that was left intact. Only in hot-cut birds was this found to be significant. Sex and size had no effect on shear scores of thigh muscle for either the chill- or hot-cut broilers. Higher shear values for both breast and thigh muscle were obtained when birds were hot-cut.