Acceptability of Frankfurters Made from Chicken, Rabbit, Beef, and Pork

Traditionally frankfurters are made from beef, pork and veal. Other meat animals, however, such as chicken and rabbit are excellent sources of protein and should make acceptable products. But in order to evaluate their acceptability in relation to those made from red meats, as much as possible of the psychological bias against frankfurters made from other meats should be removed. This project was undertaken to evaluate frankfurters made from chicken, rabbit, beef and pork when the panelists did not know the meat source and when red lighting was used to lessen color differences. Frankfurters were formulated from each of the four kinds of mean and from 50/50 combinations of each with chicken. They were evaluated by 13–14 trained judges, who rated them for tenderness, juiciness and overall acceptability. Shear press values and heating loss were also determined. Taste panel scores showed that, under the processing conditions used in this study, chicken alone and in combination with rabbit, produced frankfurters that were less firm, more juicy, better flavored and more preferred than beef alone. Heating loss and shear values were lower for chicken frankfurters.