Internal Temperature and Packaging System Affect Stability of Cooked Chicken Leg Patties during Refrigerated Storage

Internal end‐point temperature (EPT), packaging system and storage time affected chemical stability and microbiological quality of chicken meat. Patties of broiler leg muscle were heated to EPT of 60, 65, 70, 75, 80 or 85°C, packaged in polyethylene bags or vacuum skin packs and stored at 4°C up to 14 days. Microbial total plate counts were less than 10 colony forming units/g at EPT 70°C; with negligible growth during 7 days storage. EPT and packaging method did not affect initial thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) but higher EPT accelerated the increases in TBARS values upon storage. Several volatiles including hexanal and pentanal increased with EPT and storage time.