The Effects of Time Interval between Slaughter and Freezing on Toughness of Fryers

MOST fryers become relatively tender when cooked. There are times, however, when an individual bird or an entire lot becomes tough and rubbery. Such birds are frequently found in frozen lots and are considered undesirable by consumers. The incidence of tough poultry has increased with improvements in speed and efficiency in processing plants, and with the increased use of low temperature blast freezers. This may indicate that sufficient time is not always allowed for cooling prior to freezing. Tenderness of chicken muscle is affected by a number of factors. One of the major factors is the extent of aging of the carcass after slaughter and prior to freezing. Lack of tenderness, frequently called “toughness” of the meat, is connected primarily with muscle fibers, and the biophysical changes which take place following slaughter. Immediately after slaughter, the pliable yet viscous muscle fibers of the living animal pass into a state of . . .