Meat cooking techniques-Part 1: A preliminary study of the effect of the rate of heating in water

In an industrial scale experiment forty hams were deboned, trimmed and defatted. The hams were divided into two random groups of twenty, brined and drained and placed into ham moulds. The two groups were heat treated using a high and low rate (0·60°C/min and 0·12°C/min, respectively) of heating in cooking vats. Both groups were, however, heated to identical internal product temperatures defined as the continuous temperature gradient from thermal centre to product periphery (product thermal gradient). After processing and chilling the individual samples were weighed and evaluated by a sensory panel for juiciness and colour. The results show that heating at lower rates in a water bath can increase yield and improve quality, thus indicating that a kinetic effect of heat independent of final product temperature exists. The results thus justify further investigation into the existence and molecular mechanism of this kinetic effect.